Shooting School Spirit
Sunday, August 12, 2012 @ 4:50 PM | 0 comment(s)

For a long time, I haven’t been stating what school I go to at the moment, until I made the photo blog last week. To be honest, I’ve told only my closest friends about the school. I was having second thoughts and insecurities about it. Being the batch Valedictorian, people expected me to go to big time universities (see: UST, Ateneo, De La Salle) or be an “Iskolar ng Bayan”. I seriously wanted to exceed their expectations. I wanted to go to a prestigious school and proudly declare the school spirit. But chasing this dream proved unsuccessful. I was so desperate, hopeless and frustrated that I even stopped schooling for five months. Until I found the college I’m currently going to.

I can now proudly declare that I’m a Rooseveltian (at least that’s what they call us); I go to Roosevelt College System, located in Sumulong Highway, Cainta, Rizal. (Sometimes I say that it’s located in Marikina, since it’s just a few cartwheels away from the city.)


I went to an international school on my first year as a college student. I took a program which I only took because it sounded cool and because it’s the one that appealed to me the most. I’m not sure if I regret it. I don’t want to regret it. Maybe I hate myself for taking something I know I don’t like and don’t see myself doing in the future, but I’m grateful for the people I met in that school – and the medal plus flash drive I got for a blogging contest. I love the people I met there, up until now I try to communicate and hang out with them. And freakin’ heavens! I met my long time crush there! How can I even try to forget and regret? Yes, I regret the time I lost, but I definitely cherish the time I spent.



On the other hand, with Roosevelt, I can be myself. Unlike the first college I went to, I don’t have to worry about fitting in since almost a quarter of the student body is just as peculiar as me. It’s easier to make friends and goof around. We don’t know much about social etiquette but we’re socially acceptable. I’m taking Bachelor of Arts in Broadcasting, a program that I love and would definitely see myself doing in four years. We’ve been studying subjects that I enjoy and making projects that are, although weird and sometimes embarrassing, will help each one of us in the end. I’m part of a Society that pushes everyone to their limits, making us discover a lot about ourselves. They made me dance even though dancing hates me. We had done musicals even though my vocal range could pass as a cockroach’s. I wore super heels for the first time to attend the school’s acquaintance party even though I’m clumsy-to-the-point-of-disability.



The influence and knowledge I acquire in school also stretches outside it. For the past months I’ve been engaging in different awesome activities that I only imagined in my little world before. My article got published in The Philippine Daily Inquirer’s lifestyle section, 2bU; I participated in outreach projects with the Rotaract Club (August 11-12) to help those who were devastated by the bitch called Monsoon Rains; my first mountain-ish had been trekked for a tree planting ceremony hosted by the local government.

The people I met are just as awesome. From left to right, I have friends who I can ask questions about religion, politics, books and moral standards with – topics I hopelessly wanted to ask others about but couldn’t find anyone to answer until I met them. I have friends who don’t mind changing clothes in the same room with me and don’t care if I suddenly touch their chests. I have friends whose humor escalates higher each day. They make me cry, laugh and laugh and cry at the same time. They are fantastic friends. They may be different, weird and awkward all over, but they’re fantastic.



This isn’t to say that school is easy. It’s still hard – ass hard – but it’s fun. I like being in school. I like learning. I like seeing my friends. School seems so much easier when I know that there is something I look forward to each day. Being a secretary of two different, active clubs is killer, but I’m here to stay and live. I don’t have serious crushes in Roosevelt (the one I met in my first college is still crush-on going), but I don’t care. I’m filled with love and shooting stars.


It’s not about whether your school is big and famous and you have a basketball team who makes every game look like a TV commercial; it’s still about the experience and knowledge you get from it, and how it molds you to be a better student that will lead you to a better future.




Photos © x, xo

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a woeful & chaotic diary since 071409