I Tell All (Part 1)

I'm going to blog a series of I Tell All posts about the real score of my UP life. For the sakes of updates for my loves back at home. This is the first part. I tell all about the culture shock and the new strange things I observed here in UP.

After spending 5 weeks of my life[the looongest five weeks of my life that is] inside the boundaries of the University of the Philippines, I can pretty much say I can give myself a good pat on the back. Having experienced the UP life myself, I'm darn happy I am surviving it. In this world of "radical" [as my former classmate would describe] people who exercise their freedom to the highest extent without any inhibitions, it is safe to say that getting your way around UP is not as easy as 1-2-3.

Although I haven't seen them all, I say I have seen enough. I've seen firsthand activists doing their thing, rallying on the streets carrying their banners that scream out rebellion and defiance. I've been to those college parties where dirty dancing and drinking is the highlight of the night, parties I would only see in shows like Gossip Girl. I've been to initiations where your'e interrogated of every word you say, as if you were the most wanted suspect in the world. I've met infamous people I wished I've never met before. I've learned a different kind of knowledge that somehow robbed me of my innocence. I've seen the typical college way of living here in UP. I've seen the other side of the world.

Coming from a safety zone, that is my Catholic high school, experiencing all these left me awestruck. This is surely a thousand times different from high school. High school is so pa twee tums. It's so petty. It is pathetic. High school sugarcoats reality that when a person is finally relieved of its pettiness and gets to college, he is immediately shocked by the real and actuaI bittersweetness of life. True enough, I've shed my coat of sugar and am in the process of finding my real flavor. Wala na 'yung pa twee tums na Charisse. She's dead and deader already. I'm tougher now.

Being here in UP is being in a better place. A much better place. In fact, the life I live now is exactly what I always wanted to have.I once read the blog of my bestfriend Nadine ranting about how her mom treats her like a kindergarten kid even now that she's in college. Her mom would bring her to school every day and strictly wait for her after classes in order to securely bring her home. I really feel bad for her. I mean here I am, having all the freedom I could get. Just imagine, I am all alone in this unfamiliar place, free to do anything and everything I want not having my parents around. I make my own decisions which means I can carefreely sleep at 3am everyday and skip meals anytime I want to. And the best part is, I have my own moolah [translation: cold hard cash]. Now isn't that the ideal college life?

As I recall the five looong weeks that passed me by, I've realized that I am gradually absorbing the UP way of life. I dunno.. but I feel like I've officially become a kolehiyala living the laidback, presko kind of lifestyle. My bedtime just got a little bit earlier, I go to school sometimes without taking a shower, I get drunk with coffee, and I made jeans my staple attire.

But mind you, besides living the presko way, I've dumped my high school tactics of getting involved for the sakes of attention and became a little bit more contemplative when it comes to academics and responsibilities. I do my own homework [without ANY help from others], copy my own notes, and find resources needed for class at my own expense. I simply just stopped relying and depending on other people to get what I want. I'm learning to do things on my own. There isn't a Luigi Caler here in UP whom is so selfless when it comes to things like this. [wink wink]

People here are sooo competitive that even just asking to try to take a peak at their notebook seems like a crime. Well, who can blame them? The bests of all high schools around the country are gathered here in UP. We are one big flock of the smarter class [this is what you call bragging rights as a UP student]. We are the cream of the crop here so all must come up with their own strategies to stand out from this excellent crowd. I've met a lot of people with crab mentality here in UP [wink wink] .

Simply put, all I am trying to tell here is that I am in the perfect place at the perfect time. I am in the stage of my life where I'm having euphoria. Yeah beybeh.