Missing UPLB

I am now a certified law student in a school somewhere in Mendiola. I already have my identification card, pink slip (form 5 sa UP), and student's code. I am now a step ahead of fulfilling one of my grandest dreams - to become a lawyer.

Instead of happily embracing this milestone in my life, a part of me feels sad. I am now transferring to a new school. A school so different from the last one that I attended. I am now leaving the confines of University of the Philippines Los Banos, my alma mater. The school that I treated home for the past four years, an institution that molded me into a human being that I am now.

I have been accustomed to the environs and surroundings of the university. I have seen the good and bad things that happened to it. I have experienced my ups and downs on its grounds. I met some of my bestest friends there. I learned some of the greatest values in life that I now treasure. The school taught me to become critical and gullible, cynical and humane, all at the same time. UPLB introduced me into a world where people are struggling to be different, only to find out, that they all ended alike (pahiram ng quote).

I will definitely miss everything about UPLB Campus. The brown-outs, the falling debris, the fluctuating water supply, the terror instructors, the long walks to the Main Library, the dirty walk in the "dirt road", the crack in Dao Tree, the vandalisms found in wash rooms and arm chairs, the fishy smell of Palma Bridge, the twigs and leaves of the Fertility Tree, and even the presence of stray dogs in Humanities Building - I wouldn't trade these things to an air-conditioned room or concrete and clean painted walls in other universities.

I will never forget the tiangge during feb fair (kahit walang banda, kebs lang), the live shows of fraternity wars, the heated rivalries between acad organizations and sororities (one instance, nagtapunan pa ng tambayan sa likod ng main lib), the rumors of ghosts and urban legends, my org's tambayan (sa gilid ng hum), PalaCASan, the initiations and final rites (grabeng dusa!), the "usok" air freshener of ISIS, and best of all, the humid nights spent drinking in Elbi Square - the only place where everyone, (teachers, students, and outsiders) can be "legally" drunk and passed out and no one is going to care about it.

Months from now, when I am already well-adjusted to the environment and rules of my new school, I am sure that I will also learn to love it. I will have new friends, new experiences, and new hangouts. I will learn lots of new things. However, the four years that I spent in the ever beautiful UPLB campus will never be forgotten. The memories will always be cherished. The friends will always be remembered. The culture will always be embedded in me. Because no matter where I go, no matter how fair I end up, there will always be a thread that can make me find my way back to my beloved alma mater, the great UPLB.