Beyond Parabolas and Paraphrasing

Being an average student when I was in high school, I was, characteristically, in utter disbelief when I discovered that I was one of the relatively few passers of the UPCAT. 

In the early months of my academic-calendar-extended-summer vacation, trying to sleep at night became an exercise in futility. My frequent musings led to thoughts ranging from the mundane and facile--"Lahat siguro ng tao 'dun English-speaking"--to the downright bizarre--"Bakit kaya 'yung bluebook pinang-eexam? Sa IMC, si Guard Bon lang naman gumagamit nun 'e." 

Then later on as enrollment was approaching, I started to develop an uncertainty towards studying there. Could you blame me though? I barely survived College Algebra and Trigonometry, how could I deal with the things they teach there?! I was shocked like meat fresh from the frying pan and into the flames of Olympus, conflicted like a girl undecided on what filter to use on that photo she took of a hotdog, and nervous and pathetic like LeBron James in the 4th quarter.

Luckily, I eventually mustered up enough courage to enroll in UP Clark--the campus where I passed. And now, having just completed my first year, it's safe to say that I've learned a lot already.
 

Like how many Right Nows a person is capable of saying

Of course, I will not be giving you a recap of all the lessons I learned inside the classrooms because I really can't remember any of them I'd much rather tell you what I've learned beyond the academic lessons so far. 

1.) For starters, you have to be open to change

CHANGE IS INEVITABLE, there's a reason the saying is so popular--because it's true. For better or for worse, you will change, and it's natural. Why? In college, you will meet new people, experience different personalities, and inhabit various worlds of thought.  There will be teachings that tackle ideologies and issues you either find foreign, sensitive, or both that will teach you to empathize, to keep an open mind, and most importantly, to think critically. And that's not even the half of it.

The other half involves you turning into a budget-meal-eating-zombie 

So, if you see yourself now struggling to do what used to be part of your routine, loathing something you once loved, or doing something you didn't even dream of doing back when Mondays had flag ceremonies and things made sense, chill the fuck out! Influences form, habits develop--it's all part of the process. What's important is that the changes you go through ultimately make you a smarter student, and more importantly, a bigger, badder badass mofo better human being.

2.) Talent and smarts are not enough

A decorated African-American athlete once said that

"Hard work beats talent when talent doesn't work hard."

Silly Floyd, not you! Inspirational quotes are for people who can actually READ.

Seriously though, if you want to succeed in college, you'll need to work your ASS off, and with the amount of sitting down it takes to review properly, you might just do.

                                                   
You'll be flooded with terms to memorize, problems to solve, Xs to reunite with their Ys, essays to write, sources to cite, tears to wipe, sacrifices to offer, blood to draw, rituals to perform--basically, you need to do a shitload of things, all of which takes a little more than know-how and can-do. 

You may have a certain amount of knowledge and skills that puts you a cut above the rest, but all will be utilized inefficiently, if not rendered useless, without discipline, patience, and smart decision-making--things you learn in college, provided that you pay attention, of course.

That's the thing, see: college isn't about how high you score on exams, or how erudite and scientific the words you use on your essays are; it's about learning to push through boredom, planning properly to reach goals, establishing healthy relationships and beneficial connections, and learning to quell bad habits in place of ones that invite a successful, secure, and happy future.

Cheesy ko amf 

In light of it all, it actually won't hurt to know how to graph functions, why sperm smells like detergent, and what happened during the Ming dynasty--more stories to tell at parties when you're balls-deep-wasted.

3.) SHIT happens

There will be days when life takes a shit on you so humongous that you will not be able to see the sun; sadly, it's normal. 

I've always questioned what purpose there is to the "happening" of this "shit". Why does misfortune happen mostly to those minding their own damn business? Like most people in this day and age, I found my answer to that question on Facebook. I chanced upon this quote posted by my professor; it stuck with me so much that I had to copy it and paste it on my Sticky Note  software. It says,

"Actual happiness always looks pretty squalid in comparison with the overcompensations for misery. And, of course, stability isn't nearly so spectacular as instability. And being contented has none of the glamour of a good fight against misfortune, none of the picturesqueness of a struggle with temptation, or a fatal overthrow by passion or doubt. Happiness is never grand." ~ Aldous Huxley, Brave New World

One of the things it tells us is that shit happens to remind us that shit doesn't always happen, and that we have to cherish the moments where shit doesn't happen. A life without shit happening, therefore, is a boring and sad life. 

Life is good, but most of the time as entitled teenage brats, we tend to forget that. Life in college will make you realize how life good is through the sleepless nights, stressful days, and the I-want-my-mommy-weeks it provides.

Also, upon pondering, I've realized that I might have asked the wrong question. I've realized that it's not that important to know why bad things happen to good people; the question we should be asking is: What happens to good people when bad things happen to them? 

Maybe being late for the class of that terror professor would help you become a more punctual person, maybe failing that exam you know you could've passed if it weren't for you not following instructions would help you pay more attention the details, maybe locking yourself outside your dorm will teach you not be a dumb fuck from time to time. Shit happens also, therefore, to help us touch up our kinks and flaws.

                                           

4.) Last but not the least, college is hard. Deal with it.

The thrill of being far away from home, living in a dorm, and eating alone most of the time; the profound serenity in reading a book in a coffee shop late at night, and the feeling of maturity in trying to budget your allowance--they all get old, eventually. 

It will come to a time when the thrills are gone, and all you're left with is the tediousness of having to live in a dorm with no television, no air-conditioning, and no Mom's restaurant-worthy Chicken Adobo; to add insult to injury are the tons-worth of papers and exams you have to attend to. 

College life gets tiring, and this is coming from a person who has two more years of studying to do. Such is the usual case for things that are worth it. The seeds of success can only be made to grow by being watered by blood, sweat, and tears. You must go through the necessary pains to be able to savor more the sweet spoils of success.

Remember, it doesn't take any effort to be a loser, that's why a lot of people become one. It takes strong core values and mucho grande cojones to pull off the hard stuff and come out a successful, fulfilled, human being.

That's essentially why you have to endure all the challenges in the long run: to prove that no matter how many sleepless nights you put your eyes through, how much hair you pull out, and no matter how many times you will have to pick yourself up, in the end, you will make it. After the fatigue comes the solace, the rainbow after the rain, the dessert after dinner, the---y'all get it. 

The four things I've learned so far are about being choked with new ideals, about talents and faculties being obsolete, bad things just happening for the heck of it, and college life being basically being a pain in the ass. It's not all so bad though, it just looks like I had more bad experiences than good because the good ones are either private, not safe for blogs, or usually both. 

Will what I experience be good or bad? I don't know, and quite frankly, I don't want to. People come and go, things happen deleterious and propitious; they all leave lessons to learn. And if it's two things college has plenty of, it's people and experiences.

Good night, I hope we got off to a good start. Keep changing for the good, developing your values, basking in the shit, and riding out the hustle-and-bustle of college life!