Revisiting The University

USTshots

I visited my university after a long time again last week and as what usually happens in this case, it brought back old memories. Of course it’s been yearssss since I graduated and I only studied here for a relatively short four years. Still it’s hard to imagine the kind of person I would have been today if I didn’t have the label “college graduate” to speak of.

You see, I almost didn’t finish college. It was brought by the fact that I was already working in the newspaper in my junior year and the adrenaline of chasing the news had swept me off my feet. I had quit schooling for one year and I think it was sheer willpower that made me attend my last few classes and finish my thesis. The stigma of being the only one among my five siblings not to graduate would also have been too hard to accept. So I soldiered on, paid for my own tuition and considered this one of the wisest decisions I have made. Graduating has given me more options with my career than if I were just a jaded, rugged reporter on the beat.

Anyway, looking around our sprawling old campus that Thursday afternoon, I noticed a few changes which is inevitable for a university that is already 400 years old! For example, I saw a multi-level structure for parking, electronic billboards announcing who topped which licensure exam and a row of branded fastfood restaurants which eliminated the need to venture outside the gates for a decent meal. Sigh! Life was much simpler in those days when email and the internet were not yet in vogue. And I was such a good girl then 😛 shuttling between home, school and the library.With only a measly allowance, I had no choice but to make the latter my favorite hang-out or tambayan. I wonder what’s happened to those musty books lying in those heavy wooden shelves.

For some people, school decides their destiny. For the others, it is just the beginning of a journey. Because everything is not learned by the book but through experience, dontcha think?