The Summer of '05: Iskolar ng Bayan (Part III)

Saturday, May 14, 2005
Iskolar ng Bayan (Part III)

May 11
Day 3 (Freshman Orientation)

I arrived exactly 5 minutes to 12nn. The flyers and posters said I had to be there by 12. There was horde of freshmen outside the School of Economics Auditorium. People who know me know that I hate Eco. Eco pretty much ruined my life...haha...okay, not really, but I did get my lowest ever grade in high school in Eco. Anyway, my last encounter with the UP School of Economics prior to this orientation was when the church choir (in which I had a very brief stint) had rehearsals in one the classrooms.

There was a Nescafe Ice booth which gave out free ice coffee. I didn't know where to go since I was actually scheduled to attend the orientation the previous day. I went to the information booth and found out that I can attend this orientation, but I'll be the only Film person there. I figured it was okay since I'm pretty much the loner already anyway.

When I signed in, the gave me my block. I'm block K-4. I have no idea what that means, but in DLSU, Patty, Manna, Sam, and Moira are blockmates. Whoa! How fun! That's like AC all over again. That's the exact opposite of what I'm going through.

At the auditorium's entrance, there was a bunch of upperclassmen distributing stuff. They gave me this brown envelope that said, "Mabuhay Ka, Iskolar ng Bayan...UP Diliman." They gave me free Dough Boy Crossini. Now how did they know I was hungry? Haha...I didn't like it, but my sisters did.

The guy who checked my Form 5 suddenly cried out, "O! BA Film siya!"
Apparently, the folks at the entrance were from Mass Comm. One of them asked what high school I was from.
I said, "Assumption."
"Antipolo?!" said the other
"No, San Lo."
"Ah...AC..."

Inside, the auditorium was just half-filled. I was led to my seat. The guy beside me was not the talking type, and there was an aisle separating me from the Muslim girl on my right, so I practically spent the whole afternoon like a mute. I was pretty bored waiting for the whole thing to start. I took out the papers from the envelope. The schedule of activities said that the program was to start at 1pm. Great. What am I going to do for an hour?

I admired my surroundings. It was a pretty neat auditorium. They decorated the stage to welcome us. I looked around for familiar faces. Of course, I found none. After an endless wait, two hosts finally stepped onto the stage to start a 30-minute session of "unfreezing." Back in AC, we called this kind of thing "icebreaker."

They, among other things, made impersonations of the different personalities that are distinct from college to college. They made a survey on which colleges were the students present from. They called out those that were scheduled for today. When they jokingly asked if anyone from another college was present, I didn't raise my hand. I was shy again.

The two hosts were upperclassmen from the College of Home Economics and College of Mass Communication. They mostly made jokes about the Engineering people. They joked that we better clap for them now because next year, they'll no longer be Engineering students but Home Ec or Mass Comm students. Also, they told the Engineering students that, since jobs are hard to find nowadays, they should study hard because they were to become our future call center operators.

They impersonated College of Science people as weirdos who communicate without talking but by reading brain waves. The Bio majors are the plant lovers. The Public Administration people talk without parting their teeth. What about the Mass Comm people, you ask? Well, you know, they did the usual round of inaccurate Assumptionista impersonations. You know, how you can't go to CMC with a 3310. I found that part funny in particular because I'm going to CMC, and I use a 3310.

They finally started with the program proper with the National Anthem and an invocation. You'd think they'd forget the invocation, but we still had to pray. I couldn't stand it anymore, so I left for the CR. When I came back, they were introducing a video about the UP System and UP Diliman. Although it was a bit dated because the students depicted were still so 90's, it was very inspiring. You have to understand that this was my dream school, and finally facing the reality that I was there as a freshman was very moving for me. By the end of the video, I wanted to cry.

After a series of jokes (apparently, joking is the medium of orientation in UP) by 3 Speech Comm people, they introduced 3 College of Music singers who were to provide our intermission number. I wasn't too interested at first, but I suddenly jolted when one of them said, "We're going to sings some songs from Les Miserables."

I practically jumped. Some of you know that I've been planning to establish The Society of the Friends of the A B C here in UP. It's an organization patterned after the coterie in Les Miserables that was established by the fictional graduates of the other UP, the University of Paris (another UP I know of the Ivy League-member University of Pennsylvania).

Okay, maybe I was the only Les Mis fan in the auditorium, but why then did I hear sighs and squeals at the back? Those are the people to invite! Hmm...

They sang a medley. I was just mouthing the lyrics, but I'm sure I looked weird to some people. They first sang "At the End of the Day," and then a soloist sang the ever-popular "On My Own." After that, the other girl sang "I Dreamed a Dream." She was very good, but she was out of tempo. Then, the only guy tried his hand on "Bring Him Home." He was good as well, but you could really detect that he was training to be an opera singer. This is bad because the reason why Colm Wilkinson was chosen to play Valjean and why he was good as the Phantom was because of his rock voice.

They ended the medley with the rousing "Do You Hear the People Sing?" I would never take intermission numbers for granted ever again.

After the intermission, they introduced a final video. They joked that the videos being shown to us were very recent. Anyway, a few minutes into the mini-film, we found out that it was made by a Film student as part of his course requirements.

The video depicted life in UP. It was sort of like UP Life 101. A Freshman Survival Kit of sorts. The guy invited a couple of famous UP alums to be part of the film. The film ended with a clip of The Eraserheads performing in one of the many UP Sunken Garden concerts. This reminded of how Ely Buendia started out as a UP Film major. Then it hit me.

Is everyone in UP a Film major?! Aaargh!

After the film, we had an open forum. The hosts even stepped down from the stage. Unlucky for me, I was along the aisle, so I was attacked first. He "sensed" that I had a question. Well, I surely didn't sense the Force. He asked if I had any questions on where my classes were, but I knew where each building was, so he left me. That was a relief.

The questions varied from sensible to senseless. Someone asked if it was possible to get from Palma Hall to the Math Building in 15 mins. I guess I wasn't the only one who had that problem. Well, they said it was possible, but I'm still glad I don't have to go through that yet.

Someone asked why the Sunken Garden was sunken. UP people have wits to match that of the incoming wise guys. One of the hosts explained that the Sunken Garden falls along the Marikina Fault Line, causing it to sink an inch every year.

Someone also asked why maroon is the school color. The same host then jumped into the Legend of the Maroon:

Sometime in the early 1900's, one of the UP founding fathers wondered, "Why is that school green, while that other school is blue? Do we have a school color?"

"Meron yata."
"Ahh...Maroon..."

There ya go!

Anyway, after the open forum, they introduced the UP Pep Squad at which point I just starting laughing inside. I remembered Patty telling me that her brother said that in La Salle, your first class meetings are dedicated solely to teaching freshmen the various La Salle cheers. I can just imagine Manna and Sam flailing their fists about. Hahaha...

We did a series of UP cheers, starting from the classic "Push On UP" varsity song and ending with the popular "Unibersidad," which they claim was the first-ever Tagalog cheer. It was fun actually. One of the Pep Squad people wore a Rasta wristband. I remember telling Olivia that I will never wear my Rasta wristband in UP. Sure, I might find a Camileon or a reggae fan, but some others might think I smoke marijuana.

Before we left, we were invited to join the campus tour. I thought it would be unnecessary, but it's a good thing I waited for the next batch because a lot of tips were given through the tour. They jammed us into this UP bus which looked like that rickety AC bus that surprisingly took 4 sections to Baguio and back. Up to now, I still can't believe that that bus reached Baguio. Anyway, this bus is different in a way because it's not air-conditioned, and it's rustier.

The tour bus took the Ikot route. Here are just some of the things I learned in the tour:

The International Center is a dormitory that is unique in a way that you have a kitchen and your very own bathroom and Japanese roommate.
The isawan that I love is actually the Ilang-Ilang isawan. The isawan that I don't like is the Kalayaan isawan. Ilang-Ilang and Kalayaan are dorms.
There is a Persian restaurant hidden in the University Arcade which houses no arcade but an Olympic-sized pool.
Two ways of detecting if a student is a freshman: He/she calls the AS Building "Palma Hall." He/she calls the Infirmary "UP Health Service." My father joked that I'm even "older" than the upperclassmen because I call the Shopping Center "Dilimall."
We passed by the Kalayaan Dormitory, immortalized by the first line of The Eraserheads's song, "Minsan."
At the Procurement Center, dormers can buy P5 boxes in which they can pack their stuff for trips home to the province.
Bahay ng Alumni has the best CR and the fanciest restaurant, The Chocolate Kiss.
At the UP ISSI, they have a yearly Jag and Lee sale. They also have a Tree House, a great gimmick place for anyone who, of all things, wants to gimmick in UP.
The field in front of Plaridel Hall where daddy used to fly his kite is actually the UP Golf Course. Nothing fancy. Just dry grass.
The Balay Chanselor, contrary to it's name, isn't really where the Chancellor lives. It's just where dignitaries are welcomed in formal functions.
There is actually a shortcut from AS to Math Building. There is a path in the College of Science that can save you a couple of minutes.
The best lamb chops and steaks are found in some building that I forgot.
The College of Education is where you can find, at night, strange figures dressed in white. This is rumored to be the most haunted building in UP. It was a barrack in WWII.
The College of Music holds free jazz and classical music concerts.
The Carillon Tower bells peal every 5 or 6 pm...I'm not really sure.
Don't just swoop in the ROTC place because they have certain rules there. I think you have go inside running, and you have to tuck in your shirt. Our tour guide once went in without doing the necessary procedures, so everyone started saluting her. They thought she was an officer.
And of course, you can watch uncensored art films at the UP Film Center at very low ticket prices. I once watched Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace there for FREE.

I'd like to end this series of articles with an Ikot jeep anecdote told to us by one of the orientation hosts:

Passenger: (hands over her money) Manong, Bahay ng Aluminum, po.
Everyone on board looks shocked and stares at her.
Passenger: Ay! Sorry, house pala.
Everyone laughs.

-------------------
Ad astra per aspera

posted by Ana, sgtpepper72687@yahoo.com
4:43 PM

11 Comments:

Hi Uhnuh!

Buti naman at tumatataas na nang lubusan ang ating career! Album launch ha! Sa May 20! For the fans ito! :D

On a serious note, your Blog entries never fail to fascinate me. Nabasa ko yung three parts ng "Iskolar ng Bayan" mo, at ang masasabi ko lang ay sobrang natutuwa ako palagi kapag pinag-uusapan mo ang U.P. Diliman (or generally, pangkalahatang UP). Talagang hilig mo ang film, at matagal mo nang hinangad na mag-aral sa unibersidad na ito. Kasi kapag nagkukuwento ka ng kahit ano tungkol sa U.P. "life" (freshman na siyempre!), naaalala ko yung mga pinsan ko na halos ay taga-UP. Maraming taga-UP Manila; kaso, ganoon din yun kasi nag-masters rin naman sila sa Diliman e. Yung boyfriend ng nakatatandang pinsan ko (parang pinsan ko na rin yun), ang daming kinukuwento sa akin tungkol sa UP! Kung may time ka (para maintindihan mo ang UP raving ko), please please please do read my entry sa Tabulas. Ang pamagat noon ay "UP Naming Mahal." Ang dami kong kasiyahang na-experience doon kahit na isang araw lang ako tumambay ng UP Diliman. :-)

Proud na proud ako sa iyo, katoto! Hwaw Taga-UP na si Raspie! :-) God bless! Meesh na kita!

By Anonymous, at May 19, 2005 11:30 AM

Uh-yie! I'm very flattened!

FYI, nabasa ko na noon yung post mo...regular reader ako sa Tabulas moÜ

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