Tag: December 19, 2007

What gift would you give your terror professor this Christmas?

“Rosary and prayers.”
– Vince Muñoz, Pharmacy senior, Faculty of Pharmacy

“Calming and age-defying pills.”
– Faye Enriquez, Nutrition and Dietetics junior, College of Education

“My drawing of his face with horns!”
– Caroline Jayne del Rosario, Advertising sophomore, College of Fine Arts and Design

“A book on anger management.”
– Edric Frey Cruz, Financial Management junior, College of Commerce

“An eraser, so he could erase and change my grades.”
– Paulo Pasiona, AMV College of Accountancy sophomore

“Five boxes of his favorite pizza.”
– Edree Estaura, Journalism junior, Faculty of Arts and Letters

CONSUMERS are anxiously completing their wish lists for 2008 to cope with the ephemeral technological demands of the new millennium. But what edgy gizmos can consumers look forward to next year?

‘Apple’ for the eyes and ears

JOURNALISM junior Khristine Joy Pulumbarit not only broke the two-year no-grand-prize drought in the Sanaysay category; she also won the Rector’s Literary Award of the 23rd Ustetika, held in splendid ceremonies amid the dancing fountain and bright Christmas lights of the UST Quadricentennial Park last Dec. 15.

Pulumbarit won the first prize in the essay-in-Filipino category with her entry, Sasampalin Kita ng Flip-flops e!, which scrutinizes how people’s attitudes are shaped by the nonsensical veneration of what’s “uso” or trendy. The category had no first prize for the last two years. For winning first prize, she was proclaimed Sanaysayista ng Taon.

ISSA, gising na! Mahuhuli na tayo sa ating pupuntahang party,” sigaw ni Daddy mula sa kabilang banda ng pinto.

Sandali akong nag-unat sa aking higaan. Bigla kong naalala na ngayon ang araw na gaganapin ang Christmas party namin sa eskuwela. Paspasan kong inayos ang aking kama bago dali-daling tumungo sa dining area kung saan naging pambungad sa aking umaga ang amoy ng sinangag at piniritong hotdog. Nakaligo at nakabihis na si Daddy nang abutan ko siya sa hapag na nagbabasa ng diyaryo.

“Ano ba’ng gagawin ng prinsesa ko mamaya? Kakanta ka ba?” usisa ni Daddy nang makaupo ako sa harap niya.

“Basta, Dad. Malalaman ninyo na lang,” sagot ko sa kaniya habang sumasandok ng sinangag. Bumalik din siya sa kaniyang pagbabasa.

Pagkatapos kong kumain ay naligo na ako. Tinulungan ako ni Tatay na mag-ayos ng aking sarili. Ganito ang araw-araw naming gawain sa nakaraang apat na taon simula nang magtrabaho sa Kuwait si Mommy.

“I sought my soul, but my soul I could not see. I sought my God, but my God eluded me. I sought my brother, and I found all three.” -William Blake

LOOKING down on the streets from a window one night, and with the slightest yuletide breeze touching my skin, I hear the Christmas songs sung by children caroling while people are busy decorating their houses with Christmas lights and lanterns. As these images, sounds, and feelings surround me, I long for the time when I was still a child, excited about Christmas.

Christmas was very special to me as a child because aside from the long school break, I got to decorate the Christmas tree with my mother; I got to wear the nicest clothes; I got to wake up at 12 in the morning to eat noche buena with the whole family; and I got to open Santa’s gifts.

“Growing up means letting go of the things that made us happy when we were kids.” - Marge Simpson to baby Maggie, The Simpsons Movie

*****

YOU HAVE gone a long way, dear minion.

This was the remark I nonchalantly told myself after I unexpectedly unearthed a 10-year-old doodle pad from the clutter that had swarmed my desk one Friday evening.

Stabbed by nostalgia, I gawkily mused, “This was how the pretender survived a decade ago.” Or so I thought.

But more that the memory-lane dusting that typified my chance encounter with a personal treasure teeming with the amateurish intellectual panting of the younger me, it was recalling the history of its acquisition years ago which almost led me to tears. Fortunately I was not in the mood to whimper since I had to finish a school paper due the next day.

THE INTENSITY four earthquake that struck Metro Manila and parts of Luzon around noon last November 27 disrupted classes in the University, particularly in buildings near Dapitan Street, but occupants of the Main Building – the country’s first earthquake-proof structure – were unperturbed.

Students from the Faculty of Medicine and Surgery, College of Nursing, and College of Rehabilitation Sciences, Faculty of Arts and Letters, and College of Commerce evacuated their respective buildings (San Martin Porres and St. Raymund’s) and gathered at the Quadricentennial Park. Students of the UST-Alfredo M. Velayo College of Accountancy also vacated their two-year old building and trooped to Plaza Mayor.

Classes resumed after 30 minutes following brief building inspections.