THERE is just something about commencement exercises that leaves a lot of people in tears.
It seems the idea of graduating has never been a welcome thought to most students. What this writer finds interesting is that most students hate being in school to the extent that they would even pray for hail and snow (in a tropical country?) just to receive tidings of joy (read: NO CLASSES). I mean, we must indeed be a masochistic society to love something we most of the time loathe. But I guess that’s just the way the cookie crumbles, and as the cliché goes, “We only appreciate our blessings when we find them being taken away from us.”
As I try to find sense in this peculiar Filipino trait, I look back to the days I spent inside the classroom chatting with colleagues while waiting for our often strict professors (who incidentally appear to get tougher by the year) to arrive. We all shared a laugh or two, and got scared and nervous at the same time while preparing for our exams and torturous recitations. Also memorable are the times we shared endless rounds of beer.
Indeed, it’s mind-boggling that when I look back to the years I spent in this University, it’s not the degree I earned that leaves a mark in my memory. Rather, it is those specks of humanity, camaraderie and kindness shared with one’s peers.
Maybe this is the reason why people find it hard to take the march out of the hallowed halls of this centuries-old institution that has served as shelter against the corrupting force that awaits a Thomasian outside. We can only pray that the University has provided us with the necessary tools to survive beyond its walls.
Truly, school may have ended for those who will be taking the march today (though I’d like to believe that people should continuously acquire knowledge—after all, it is a big world) but the real journey is about to begin. I hope you’re all set and packed.
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I would like to congratulate my sister, Joan M. Castor of the College of Education, a member of this UST batch 2003. Likewise, I am also congratulating the graduating batch of the UST Faculty of Civil Law and all of the V staffers who will be marching today.
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The author would like clarify that the article “Archi tops judo intrams” published in last issue of the Varsitarian dated Feb. 20, 2003, was written by Christian B. Bautista.
