Tag: May 26, 2003

ENDURING the heat inside the classroom, earning for extra income, or working for an academic requirement is not anyone’s ideal summer vacation. But while others bum around, frolic on beaches, stroll in malls, and visit tourist destinations, there are some who have no choice but to work and slave this summer.

FINALLY, the University will be offering courses online.

A long-overdue project, UST will be introducing the Electronic Learning Access Program (e-LeAP) next semester. After pilot classes last semester, 14 web-enhanced courses, including the non-military components of the National Service Training Program (NSTP)—the Civic Welfare Training Service and the Literacy Training Service—will be offered online to UST undergraduate students.

“EVERYONE is having fun but you,” my horoscope said that day. I laughed out loud with my friend, but inside my head, that leering voice was back, chanting, “Bull’s eye!”

Yes, I admit, I’m not having fun this summer. While everyone is off to beaches, joyrides, and expeditions, I’m always locked out from the sun, either studying in the classroom or in my bedroom. I’m burrowing into a hole, trying to shut out distractions and temptations as I review for my upcoming nursing board exams.

IT IS one of the signs of getting older, together with the wrinkling of the skin. People often dread having the signs because they think being old will make them look and feel deteriorated.

People who bear these marks tend to have them altered. People with grey hair usually go to the parlor to have it colored or removed while people with wrinkled faces go to their dermatologist.

But people age, and we definitely can’t do anything about that.

* * *

I GUESS it is another case of ningas cugon.

When the city council of Manila passed Ordinance No. 8046 late last year, one could see barangay mobiles circling their place of jurisdiction and reminding minors (below 18 years old) to stay indoors from 10 p.m. to 4 a.m.

I believe the ordinance is good because it seeks to “lessen” criminality because it forces the younger ones to stay in the comforts of their houses, thus minimizing chances of getting involved in crimes—either as victims or perpetrators.

My Lola Pacing and my mother Dolly showed me the true meaning of what is beautiful early in life. Ever since I was a kid, I have marveled at my Lola’s uncanny trait of getting gifts regularly from everyone—be they relatives or friends. I’d look forward to our Sunday visits, and after the required mano pos and kumusta ka nas I’d rush to her room and be delighted at the various unopened bottles of scented powder, and body wash on her dresser table. Bars of French soap were piled over lace hankies in her cabinet.

So this is how it feels, writing one’s last column and having the chance to say “farewell” and “thank you” for the years spent full of memories. It’s so hard to believe that three years has now passed since I’ve joined the Varsitarian, three years full of fun, camaraderie, teamwork and hardships. And undoubtedly, being with the paper helped me grow and be a better man, proud to be part of the most respected school paper in the country, especially its staff.

After reading this article, personal acquaintances would scoff and say they were expecting that I’d write something like this. Frankly, I don’t care. I’m writing this because I want to set the record straight: that contrary to popular belief, feminism is not about hating men.

MY BROTHER and I have this weird theory—we are like two opposing poles balancing on a fulcrum where one goes up or down at the expense of another. For instance, when I got a final grade of 1.0, he failed one of his subjects. When he passed the specialized exams of the Varsitarian, I flunked one of my entrance tests.

So everytime our parents call us up from Gensan, it is expected that one give the good news, and the other one a dose of headache.