Wow... I am so sorry if the psycho article on school pride upset anyone. It wasn't my intention to offend anyone at all; I merely posted it for amusement. Everyone knows success isn't measured by the school you come from but by the person's character. I respect all aforementioned institutions--their beliefs and traditions. It's better to be in any of these schools rather than don't have one, right? Anyway, countless happenings passed since I've posted the controversial article so do expect a lot of catching up here. (And just so you know, I didn't write the article.)

Last May 8, of course, was Mother's Day. Did you know that 3 days before that I had a tow-in with Mama? But eventually things worked out and we're cool, thankfully. Here's what I got her:

I ordered them from Cake Ave. the same day the tow-in happened. Let's just say I couldn't predict it would also be one of those days we misunderstand each other.

I think I've heard some complaints how long my blog downloads just to show the page so I'm getting rid of the unicorns. (Sniff!) The replacement is goood, anyway!

I also remembered this article I found when I cleaned up the diskettes submitted to Screeve last year... (Walang pikunan, okay? )

which would you prefer?

Psycho Speaks Vol.10 - On School Pride


 

ATENEO
This school's trademark is arrogance. Nothing more, nothing less. I have, to this day, not met an Atenean who does not think that their school is THE best there is. Even La Sallites and um, uh, UP people (what do you call yourselves anyway?) are not this shamelessly boastful. This does not mean to say however, that they are all pricks and witches. Some of the best buds I have are Ateneans. All two of them. But come on! Seriously, the only thing Ateneo can claim to be the best in is creating a 2-hour gridlock over a road stretching 3 damned kilometers!!! Oh, and Interdisciplinary Studies is NOT a course. It's Jesuit charity for the incurably dumb and lazy.

ADAMSON
Hmmm, let's see what I can say about Adamson. Well, there's the fact their school color is blue like Ateneo. Their team mascot is a bird like Ateneo. Aside from that, there's not a shred else. Damn, this school is boring.

FEU and UE
Do any of you know what FEU stands for? ForEver Useless! Yes, I'm an ass. But joking aside, the Far Eastern University and the University of the East are two schools whose names imply that at least one of them was founded by a group of people who had the creative, artistic, and imaginative prowess of a pile of rocks. Seriously though, these are feel-good schools. If you don't believe me try visiting either campus. The moment you see them, you start feeling good that you don't go there.

UP
Here's a school that, for better or worse, is totally bereft of any identity. Some people regard it as THE premier educational institution in the country. There are those who, for good reason, look at it simply as one big vicious playground. And others see it as a breeding ground for militant wannabe rebels who try to lobby for whatever cause they deem to be in the country's best interest. For those of you who can truly relate with the latter you have to be in your late 40's or 50's. (Shit you're OLD!!! La lang.) I favor the first two views. It really IS the best educational institution there is. And I'm not just saying that because I'm surrounded all day by UP graduates who'd just as soon throw me off the 11th floor balcony given the slightest provocation as look at me. I really, really do believe...that they will kill me if I say anything bad against UP. Can you blame me? The only thing longer than the list of UP's distinguished alumni (Miriam Defensor included) is the list of all the in-campus violence. There's a psycho lurking deep inside each UP educated man/woman/child. This will be confirmed by the amount of hate mail I'll be receiving from them.

 

UST
Here's a school that will totally drag down one's social status just by being enrolled in it. I don't care how rich you are or how cultured you may be, if you're from UST it don't mean shit. That's not necessarily a bad thing. I know of several obnoxious AB kids who were brought down several pegs while studying there; they are now some of the nicest, most unassuming people to walk this planet. It's funny to note how much this place of learning mirrors the current social state of the country every time the UAAP season kicks in. Come the basketball tournament, they're all friends. You see them chanting, clapping, and giving each other high-fives. United by a common goal, the rich and the poor are united as one. After the event is passed, they all go back to hating each other.

DLSU
Di Lumusot Sa UPCAT. That's a classic, ain't it? It's as hilarious now as it was when I first heard it in 1994, which is to say, it's about as funny as getting kicked in the crotch. It's sad to note for a proud alumnus such as myself that a school with as impressive an academic pedigree as La Salle has become nothing more than a money-hungry institution whose only requirements for acceptance nowadays seem to be a pulse, an IQ over 80, and the financial capacity/ability to pay. Nowadays, whenever I incounter a person clayming to be from La Sall and they speech bad, have poor grammage, and cannot spill correctness, I am not surprice.

NU
I'm not even sure if this place is a real school. And I don't mean that in a snooty-you're-nothing-compared-to-my-school way. I mean I'm not even sure this place actually exists. I actually started believing that its initials really stood for Negative sa UPCAT. Think about it. Do any of you really know anyone from NU? Do any of you even know of anyone who knows anybody from NU? And if any of you even point to their basketball team and the audience that watches its games as proof of its existence, I beg you to think of this point. They act like absolute maniacs and they even look the part. If we go by that, then the National University is not a school. It's a correctional facility.

CSB
This school has had a bad rep since the day of its inception. Admittedly, it started out as a place where DLSU can deposit its non-performing students so as not to give up the sizeable revenues from those hopeless bastards who have the money to shell out but not the ability to count it. Everybody knows this already. What people don't know is that CSB now boasts of fine world class courses designed to equip the Benildean with the tools necessary to succeed in the real world. These courses include Basic Arithmetic majoring in the Multiplication Table, Whining with a specialization on Tantrums, and the ever popular Strategic Investments: What to do with your Parents' Money.

CRC/UA&P
Them Opus Dei folks can slap it with whatever initials they deem fit, it would still not change the fact that this school will forever be known not by its academic achievements but more by the fact that it is the only school with a car to student ratio nearing 1:1. (No my dear CSB students and alums, that is not read as one colon one.) The meanest thing one can say about CRC is that it's a school filled with students rich enough to be Ateneans, but will never be smart enough to be such. The nicest thing one can say about CRC is that it's near a Starbucks open until 2 am.

Well, initially I deemed it hilarious and comical. But getting on a more serious side, as an incoming freshman, well...it was hard not to get a bit defensive for these hardworking institutions. In the end, I just judged it superficial. (though I know most of them are quite true.)

I've been hanging a lot with my friends lately (hello to my "Sawi Family"! Haha...) for the yearbook. Man, it's taking lots of work, I had to lend one of my scanners (family's, of course) so as to help me scan a zillion pictures! But it's okay, really...Memories come flashing back as I save and edit them. (Sniff!)

I browsed through Geli's blog and god, her pictures of our St. Cecilia class indeed brought a nostalgic feeling! Sigh... If only we could only turn back time... Anyway, here's a picture of us (without Nikki & Ekha--sayang!) during the Grad Ball:

Miss you, chols!

(Thanks to Ajee for the shot.)

A lot of my batchmates have been enrolled in their respective colleges and universities already (hello, Thomasians!) and actually, that makes me quite frustrated. After weeks of so-called vacation, I have to say my mind is craving for collegiate learning. (Haha! I know--so not me!) Though of course, I can't help but think about high school. I know I'm going to miss it so much...the Monday assembly, lining up for chits at the canteen and listening to Mrs. Adri explain how an inverse function is derived by substituting the value of x for y (Ching!!!) are just some of what I'd always remember in my Alma Mater.

Anyway, since I'm so into the premier State University, I keep browsing the UP System for info's these days. I've found this article really enlightening and amusing. Read on, this is not only for Iska's and Isko's, but I think it could be useful for all incoming freshmen...

http://www.up.edu.ph/forum/2002/May-Jun02/freshguide.html

Good luck to your first day, everybody!!! Müah!!!

Hi, everyone! It does seem like a while since I've blogged in. Well, what can I say? It's my disease. Laziness. Anyway, alot have have happened since my last entry and I think I've lost track. First, there was Mel's debut... Then my first roundabout at UP alone... And then my GSIS Scholarship Exam... There's also the choir at EDSA Shrine... Oh, our trip to Bianky's house and to UST! Haha...and our swimming thing at Sea Breeze resort. It's just a pity I don't have pictures to post. A blog's boring without them.

I also changed my schedule. I decided to have College English the same time with Ajee since we're both having it. So here's the new sched:

Ching's NEW UPd sked

I still have the same subjects, just shuffled them. If you'll notice, I have breaks before Math 17. Those are for cramming and last-minute reviews. Haha!

This morning, the SCREEVE staff had a meeting at McDonalds, Power Plant. (I'm really curious...why are all meetings held there??!) It was schduled 10:30 AM but hell, know what time I woke up? 10 o'clock! I forgot to set the alarm on my mobile. But unbelievably, I was done in the shower just in 10 minutes. I was ready to leave by 10:30. Can you honestly believe that? A half-hour prep, which is equivalent to my usual bath time.

So we made follow-ups and reminded things. After that, we moved to G4. Actually, I was with 5 people: Wap, Bianky, Fay, Palma and RB. But something came up (more of like, sometwo came) and we split. RB, Fay, Bianx and I then ate lunch at Wendy's. It was almost uncanny; we all ate BMM meal (bacon mushroom melt) because it was all our favorite! Well, except for RB (frosty).

We were to watch The Wedding Date at 2:40 PM but we finished lunch as early as 1 PM. So to kill time? We goofed around!

The movie was surprisingly good. The leading man (don't know the name) was such a hunk and SUPAH-romantic!!! The most memorable line he said was: "I'd rather fight with you, than make love to anyone else."

That made his worth alot more than just $6,000. J

Today is one of those really refreshing days!

I woke up around 6 in the morning and went down to our playroom to fix up some of my stuff. Then I got downstairs when I heard my Papa's footsteps go up and about upstairs. I suddenly remembered he still hadn't kissed us goodbye, and I wasn't tucked in bed anymore. So what I did was...hid in the bathroom! I drew the curtain closed and turned off the lights. I heard his footsteps nearing and God, I could barely keep myself from laughing! I could feel he was searching the whole floor for me--in the kitchen and under the dining table. So of course, I wasn't in both places. Papa went back to our room and looked in our bathroom there and even on the terrace! He even searched our playroom once more. I could feel him coming down and again, and this time, I really could not contain myself any longer. I knew he was thinking the only place he hasn't looked into was the first floor bathroom where I was! So I could hear his footsteps and they stopped. The next thing I knew, he pushed away the curtain and there I was, laughing!!! The expression on Papa's face was priceless. He looked like he just realized he'd been had! LoL... Hide-and-Seek is always so much fun! Especially with someone like my Dad...J

Later in the morning (I think around 8:30 AM) I decided to go with Lola Itang on her trip to the market. At the same time, I shopped for our own ulam. We were going to have fried chicken, and Lola picked the meat since God knows how much I know about those things!

Lola and I bonded on the way home. (Honest to goodness, this was pretty much my agenda of going with her.Ü) I asked her questions about her parents, her childhood, just about everything her. I listened with delight and smiles as she talked so enthusiastically about her experiences. I love my Lola Itang!J

Oh, and by the way, I learned how to cook fried chicken today. One word: sudorific. *roll eyes*

It was just yesterday that I understood just how my classmates loathed Math subjects back in high school. (Oh my god..."back in H.S.", I can't believe it just has to be in past tense now.)

I took the APE (Advance Placement Examination) yesterday in Algebra and Trigonometry subjects. But sheesh, it was like the way I never had them before. I was so worried that my blue book was full of blank pages! And that I really wasn't sure of my answers. The Math 11 (algebra) test paper only had 3 pages and only 80 items. We took it for 2 whole hours (which wasn't even enough).

My mind must have drowned in oblivion due to the test's difficulty. I had forgotten the instructions. It stated that for every wrong answer, 0.5 points is deducted from the score. To hell with having forgotten that. I wonder what my score will be? God, it must have reached negative numbers!

I wasn't surprised at all when it was time for the second one, Math 14 (trigonometry). For instance, all classrooms were teeming with hopefuls during Math 11. By afternoon for Math 14, there were like only a bit more than half of the students who took algebra. Imagine that.

Wll, the bright side is...it's all over. But I'm not expecting anything.

 

Just hoping.J

U.P. Diliman Campus