THIS might go a little bit unnoticed. With the annual tuition increase, the cost of education has skyrocketed in the past few years. And Thomasians directly feel its adverse effect.
If I remember it right, I shelled out at least P24,000 to pay for my tuition and matriculation last semester. I was surprised after I found out that incoming Journalism and Political Science juniors need to pay around P28,000 and P30,000 this semester, respectively.
Such is the price that every Thomasian has to pay. The administration constantly improves the facilities and services inside the University. It hopes, for example, that both the Internet and Intranet connections inside the University will be at its premium with the construction of the Data Center at the back of the Benavides-High School Bldg. Despite the physical changes, the University must also invest in improving the quality, not quantity of its personnel. The administration should see through the academic and professional development of each employee in order to improve the delivery of services to the students. Too often, the employees lack the notion of customer service. Moreover, some faculty members provide substandard instruction and often get away with their mediocrity.
The bottom line is – the tuition being paid by students should be used to improve the facilities and services of the University .
***
However as I try avoiding being personal, I could not help but ponder about the places in and around the University that made my college life complete.
I will surely miss St. Raymund’s Bldg. Along its corridors, inside its rooms, and at the pavilions outside of it rest countless memories of friendship, anger, camaraderie.
The library truly served its purpose as a catalog of knowledge with its vast collection of books from past to present. But unbeknownst to others, the library also served as a good pick-up point for dates and a good substitute for some sight seeing, especially in the Humanities section on the fourth floor.
Then there is the smoke-filled billiard hall along Navarra St.. The breaking sound of billiard balls clashing against each other, the medley of old songs being played on the radio, and the fine dust left flying in the air after chalking the cue stick are some of the images that will forever be etched in the memories of each class-weary soul who sought refuge inside it.
Finally, I will definitely miss Room 112 of the Main Bldg. It served as my home inside the University, a shelter whenever there was no class. My whole world seemed to have revolved around inside Room 112.
***
Grant me another second/Let me muddle through/So I can catch that second/And turn it to forever.
So wrote poet Maningning Miclat, for whose soul I ask for rest and peace.
Parting is such a poignant moment. At first glance, it hurts. We feel the pain of being severed from something or someone who made us complete. All the happy and blissful memories suddenly rush towards us, urging us to bask in and relive them.
Yet, reality bites. You can never bring them back.
Instead, we must realize how lucky we have been to have experienced such moments because we may not have grown like what we are now. They opened new horizons for us.
I had my share of unfulfilled dreams during my four-year stay in the University. And all that I can do is to cherish those that came true and to carry on.
Just like the final lines in an ending song of Japanese animé – “Still the road keeps on telling me to go on/ Something is pulling me/ I feel the gravity of it all.”
***
To a kitten who will just be entering the portals of the University, be brave. Follow your dream. Fulfill it.
