100 Kwentong Peyups... a centennial post

WALKING ON SUNSHINE

(published by the Philippine Daily Inquirer June 21, 2008)

Six years ago, I had the honor of listening to the late Raul Roco give the commencement address at UPLB. He tried to ease our discomfort of being exposed to the cruel April sun by saying that body parts exposed to the sun are the toughest parts, and cracked a green joke by asking us to think which parts of our body were always hidden and the reason for hiding them-- because they were extra sensitive. He said that those exposed to the sun survive the most difficult challenges so the graduates who weren't protected by the shad shouldn't feel so bad because they were the tough ones. Of course, he said this as he jokingly compared us to body parts.

I was educated in a private school from prep until high school. I was in the shade for too long. I was occasionally exposed to the sun, through my high school outreach program and the annual brown envelopes we were given around October-- for World Mission Sunday. Somehow, this paled in comparison to the glaring sunlight of my UP education-- both inside and outside the classroom.

UPLB was never my first choice when I took the UPCAT. It was only a back-up, and I planned on transferring to Diliman or Manila by the time I reached my second year. Of course, life got in the way. I joined a school organization and my weekly trips home were redulced to coming home twice a month. It alarmed my mother, to the point where she asked my cousins if there was anything wrong.

There are experiences that are uniquely UPLB. People say that you're not a UPLB student until you've crossed the never-ending bridge or noticed how the jar held by a statue of Maria Makiling changed positions. UPLB is also famous for its "Fertility Tree"-- a tree which, according to urban legend, makes you pregnant when you touch it. Being the dumb freshman during PE 1, I leaned against the tree while tying my shoelace in the middle of the one-mile run. No, I did not get pregnant if that was your next question.

I've crawled underneath the gates of the St. Therese compound when I didn't make the curfew. I walked around the campus at 2AM, guiding friends home as they stumbled through the streets half-drunk. I attended History I classes at the IAST, a building up in Forestry, and rushed down to the Humanities building for Philo I. I forced myself to wake up at 7AM to attend the late great Dean Payawal's NASC II class. I learned that we are all children of the stars. I was locked out of my building because the hard-core tibak orgs were protesting the increase in tuition. I heard my Soc 116 professor lament on the curren state of the nation during the impeachment proceedings. I went to Sagada on a class trip to be exposed to the situation of the Igorot tribes living there. I went to the relocation area in San Mateo for a Soc 160 paper. I learned that I cannot change the world alone.

I realized that even my best efforts would result in a scolding-- a loud and public one-- resulting in fear that not even a grade of 1.25 could wipe out. I found out that I could be one of the top 5 students of my Stat 1 Lab Class and yet get a 4.0 in Anthropology. I had friends that could solve all the problems of this country in one drunken discussion. I met professors that changed my view of the world and sent a spark through me, encouraging me to make every effort I can to help change the world. I was introduced to the chilling philosophies of Hitler, to the brilliance of Machiavelli, and the gruesome Yanomamo tribe. I learned to walk slow, eat fast, exceed my alcohol limit at least once, sing and dance in public, and to ask questions no matter how stupid they may be. And if I don't get answers, I learned where and how to look for them: with patience and perseverance brought on by a thirst for knowledge.

When I go back to UPLB, I can't help but miss sitting at the Humanities steps and watching people. I miss the tambayan where one of my best friends would take our org's logbook and ask all the questions she could think of from "Will a change in administration change the Philippine society?" to "Anong mas masarap: banana o tomato ketchup?" Of course these questions would have different answers. Opinions were always welcome in UP. Disagreements were part of our weekly agenda during general assemblies.

There are still questions left unanswered like "Bakit may taba sa dulo ng barbeque?" but this only reinforces my desire to learn new things. My mother and my grandmother always said that UP was the best place to get a college education and I am living proof of that. Back in high school, I only though of UP as a school that accepted brilliant minds. I came to understand that it also molded the most extraordinary people. It gave its students character, uniquely UP. I can't pinpoint what specific characteristic it is but I'm positive it's there.

Now, I see UPLB as the sun. It gave me the light I needed to see the world for what it really was-- a big and scary place, corrupted by men but not impossible to change.

Kristine Nicole M. Espiritu