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Friday, April 15, 2005

some things are worth the wait


mood :: bipolar
sounds :: barbie's cradle - good day
random thought :: i want to go on a vacation... dominican republic perhaps?

i actually thought it would be a 'good day' *cut to a scene from the coffee commercial*. well, generally it was, although there were times when i just couldn't wait for the day to end. i thought it'd go the way i planned it... get course cards, scram then hang out with my high school friends. well, i could only hope it went that way.

bad morning? more like grouchy. my lower back hurt. aside from the usual back pain i go through every morning, i could feel a slight bruise swelling up from my pelvic bone (i hit it hard against a wooden piece of furniture the day before). i couldn't do crunches properly (imagine my awkward position). and then, while i made my way to school by bus, one of those passengers who just couldn't content themselves with what they were currently doing (one minute he'd yawn, then he'd open up a notebook he was holding, then he'd spread his legs apart as if he didn't have anyone sitting beside him) opted to to take a seat beside me during the trip. normally i don't mind, but when your back hurts and when you're about to find out if all your hard work in school paid off, you can't help but get a little affected.

course card days generate two things from me: excitement and dread. one good thing about the la salle system is that you can actually keep track of your academic progress (in other words, you can already predict the final grade you're going to get). i have to admit i am a little grade conscious (i'd like to think every educated person has a little academic achiever in them), and at times i am an over-achiever (self-confessed). i usually 'don't count the chicks before they are hatched', but when it comes to academics, i have my expectations. don't get me wrong, though. i am completely over the 'competing with other students' complex. there's no point in doing that. you're just adding more pressure to yourself, and in the end you're just going to blame yourself for not doing better. for me, it's more like competing with myself... trying to improve what i have and what i can do with it. after all, people are not going to perceive you by what you are in comparison to others.

anyway, like i said, i had my expectations for this third term. as much as i would like to say that i'm ecstatic with the outcome (in a way i was really happy... i think i made the first honors dean's list again... i hope), i can't help but wonder what went wrong with the subjects i actually thought i did better in. for instance, i got a higher grade in engltwo than in engltri (yeah, i took both subjects in the same term. both only require englone as a pre-requisite). i prefer speaking my mind (engltri) than writing (engltwo), and i actually thought i did better in engltri. surprise, surprise. anyway, i am contented with the grades i got. hopefully i can maintain my GPA until i graduate (with patience, determination and a lot of trips to starbucks).

the first course card i was supposed to get was from 8-9am (engltri... imagine how i felt... i didn't meet my expectations with the first card i got. i thought it would set the trend for all the rest. fortunately, it didn't.) the last one was supposed to be from 1.40-2.40. it was for artapre, one of the subjects i enjoyed taking up this term, not just because i'm interested in the subject, but because one of the best professors in dlsu is handling the class (ms. bam [pe], you rock! and i'm very sure all your previous students feel the same way). ms. pe was the type of prof who would motivate every single student in her class, however boring and corny the subject is (of course it wasn't to me, but others probably had that initial impression of artapre before ms. pe stepped in the room that first day. i remember everyone in the room falling dead silent when she threw a very simple question way back in january. 4 months after, a lot of students in the class couldn't wait to let everyone know about their insights on a painting or a film). she really knew what she was teaching, she was very considerate and she was very punctual during our classes... well, with the exception of this day that is.

i still admire ms. pe nevertheless, but it was already 2.40 and christine and i (i was supposed to go to atc with christine after i got all my cards. then we'd meet up with other high school friends so we could all hang out before francis leaves for the u.s. [francis, is there any way you could postpone your trip for... maybe, 5 more years?] longshot.) have been to the literature department and the 5th floor of the yuchengco building [then back to the literature department] looking for ms. bam but she was nowhere in sight. actually, i already somewhat knew what my grade would be, i just needed proof.

christine and i were supposed to leave dlsu at 2.40. we left at around 7.30. go figure. at around 2.50 ms. bam arrived and informed us that she lost track of time... and that she would be handing out our course cards at around 4 (it's okay though, i still think ms. bam is the best). so we decided to spend an hour over at mcdonald's (and i had my big mac meal as usual... super size me, i know, but it's a big mac. come on). by this time christine was already sending messages to venna and francis that we might be arriving late (of course then we didn't know we would be THAT late). we also figured aia should be done retrieving her course cards so we asked her if she could stop by. she did. bad vibes though. she told us something similar to my 5th paragraph for this entry (the expectations thing). we feel for you, aia.

we returned to the literature department at 4pm sharp and i had the feeling the cards weren't done yet. i was right. we had to wait along the crowded hall for our names to be called out. waiting. waiting some more. if there was one thing i got out from my freshman year in college, i'd like to think i became a more patient person. after all, some things are worth the wait (and i'm not just referring to grades). and since i already had an idea what my grade would be, i thought it would be in my best interest to wait it out (thanks to christine and aia for waiting with me). at around 5, i got what i've been waiting for. i thanked ms. bam and headed out of there.

by this time, christine and i figured we couldn't possibly catch up with the others at town so we decided to go to another place where we could possibly enjoy ourselves: aia's condo (typing that mere phrase sends images of food, food and more food to my brain. haha). but before we even got there, i did something i wasn't supposed to do.

all was going well until that moment. i'll give you a hint: take a few lines from john mayer's 'my stupid mouth'. but it was alright. she was cool with it. and even though i really felt sorry for what i did (of course i apologized), she reassured me it wasn't entirely my fault. what's done is done after all. i had to make it up to her, though. so i did.

after that whole incident, we headed up to aia's condo (with aia's first ever ice monster. hehe). venna called me up and we broke the news that we couldn't go. christine and i suggested if we could all go out again a week after (and i do hope everyone would be free then). up at the condo, we were kind of just bumming around for another hour or so, going online using aia's laptop, listening to a couple of her cds (btw, thanks aia for reminding me about jars of clay's 'unforgetful you'. that's one of their songs i really like. i knew i had to download it the minute i went online later that night) and, as usual, eating (i never leave that place without opening a tube of pringles. once you pop, you can't stop).

after helping ourselves with aia's junk food banquet (and after her obsessive talk on pheromones), christine and i decided it was time for us to finally go home. usually i'd want to go somewhere else on a friday night, but i just felt exhausted after all the 'waiting'. i thought i'd immediately hit the sack once i got home. of course i didn't. instead i stayed up all night (and i also tried the refridgerated cake one of my older cousins made. it was pretty good).

can't believe one whole schoolyear has passed. i really feel like i've been studying for 2 whole years already. all-in-all, i can say my freshman year in college was fun but stressful at the same time. it all went by so fast. everything sort of kicked in when i saw lower batch manresans while we were eating at mcdo, though i'm really looking forward to seeing new faces around dlsu (of course i'm going to be seeing a lot of new faces for at least five more years). everything's just surreal. after three terms in dlsu, i feel like i've actually grown. you know what i mean. my first year in college was an awesome ride, even if i had my own share of i-want-to-get-this-over-with days, like today. well at least i can name several things that made me smile. one would be the april fool's issue of the lasallian (lj, i'm still thinking of the proper answer to the question you asked me while we were waiting for ms. bam) and the other would be my cousin's cake (with the strawberry jam. haha!). i think that should do it for today.

ct scan :: 11:53 PM

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