Re: Inquiry

Hi Margaux! Thats such a nice name.

Anyway, yes, I do study at UP Manila. I’m the kind of student who cuts class a lot, doesn’t bring notebooks or paper and usually borrows a pen. And yet, I was one of the college scholars last semester since my general weighted average was 1.75.

Now, it sounds like a nice grade to have for someone who practically didn’t work for it. That’s because my course is Political Science. In my opinion, the course load is light and manageable enough that I can afford to be a delinquent student. If my course were, say, Biology, Nursing, Public Health, or Computer Science then I would have been kicked out of UP Manila long ago. I would never have been smart or determined enough.

It is my belief that your academic life in UPM is determined by your course and the professors you get. Of course, there’s also that bit about being actually intelligent enough to handle the whole thing, but that’s really relative. You also have to be emotionally and mentally stable enough to handle UP because studying here can really absolutely change your life and everything you ever believed in. No kidding. It’s a life-changing (and for some), life-shattering experience.

Let me tell you a story about a block mate of mine. She is very kind—one of the kindest people that I’ve ever met in my life. Not the fake kind of “kind”, but she shows genuine kindness in everything she does. She’s also very hardworking. She came from a poor family in a province far away to the north and I think she was determined to do her best to succeed in life, backed up by a good education from UP. I like her a lot.

Then one day, she went to the library, climbed on top of one of the huge tables there and started to scream about Jesus being her husband. She tried to remove her clothes. After she was pacified, she was confined to Ward 7 (the psychiatric ward) of the Philippine General Hospital. I didn’t see her for a few months, then she went back to school last year, but now I haven’t seen her again. I don’t know what happened to her.

I’m not trying to scare you and I’m not saying that this will happen to you. I just want to let you know that the pressure exerted on us by people, institutions, and events vary. Some people don’t feel the pressure at all and some people reach their breaking point easily. If you feel that you’re tough enough to handle UP then by all means, transfer. You will learn so many things that can make you a better person.

Look, I’ll even tell you a secret. In my first year studying in UP, I felt like the stupidest person in the university. I realized that my high school education was inferior to what my peers had. Hell, these people came from science high schools and schools that only rich kids can afford. Most of them had the best secondary education that this country can offer. And me? I went to a small private school in the province not knowing half of the things my classmates know. My first few months were really frustrating ones. I failed two subjects in my first year which dealt a terrible blow to my ego. I couldn’t believe it—I wasn’t as smart as I thought I was.

Eventually, I adjusted my attitude and expectations and learned how to handle the academics. It also really helped that there was barely any math in my second year, haha. The point is, the privilege to study in UP is worth all the stress, pressure, pain, and suffering. You don’t even need to get good grades to learn valuable things that you can carry with you for the rest of your life. 

So many things have happened and even more have changed in how I think and feel, handle my relationships, and ultimately, how I perceive the world. It’s all because of UP.

Hope this helped.