DRIVEN by the need to keep up with the pace of today’s world, we now see it only as a blur.

For almost four years now, I’ve been commuting from my home in Bulacan to attend classes in the University. During my freshman year, I was astounded by the bright lights and wide roads that led to the capital. Everything was new to me.

UST, Royal and Pontifical Catholic University of the Philippines, was simply majestic. The atmosphere of the Main Building was breathtaking. The vast open field was symbolic to the immense possibilities I could experience in this university.

With the help of my father, during my first few commutes, I tried all the possible routes to UST. I wanted to know each possible way for my plans B, C, D, and so on. I experienced the environment, observed the different people I came across with, and took mental notes of the landmarks.

But as I got tired of the scenery, when the people became familiar, and as the years passed, I just popped in my earphones, dozed off during the long bus ride and aimlessly slogged on to my destination.

The once magnificent University now seemed bland. The Main Building looked like just another old structure. The open field appeared like a rice field. It was just another day in UST.

Though it may be “graduation goggles,” as Robin from the foreign television series How I Met Your Mother put it, it’s still excruciatingly depressing to feel that you only get to appreciate your surroundings again when you know you’re about to leave it all soon.

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As casual football players, my friends and I are thankful for the spacious field where we play (where we also had our share of trouble with the authorities as apparently you’re not allowed to play there when it’s muddy).

I began to admire the murals at the Main Building lobby during trips to the Accounting department.

The students that populate UST, in all their shapes and sizes, are awesome. I literally bumped into a fellow Thomasian some few months back and was not surprised that we both apologized to one another.

More recently, the glamorous lights that adorn the trees and buildings in the University made me stop in astonishment and think about how we waste time by hurrying.

Danish philosopher Søren Kierkegaard once wrote in Either/Or, “Most men pursue pleasure with such breathless haste that they hurry past it.”

***

Last Dec. 1 to 3, the Varsitarian hosted the 16th Inkblots, the annual National Campus Journalism Fellowship.

After seeing fellows from all over the country enjoy the event, I cannot help but feel inspired. It brought me to the realization that ‘V’ is not simply a student publication.

Rest assured, that despite hostilities from whom I will not name, Varsi will remain committed to our service to the Thomasian community.

God bless and may you have a peaceful Christmas.

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