First Day High

I woke up 3 hours before my class on my first day last July. I was so excited that my little brother Rain got annoyed with me for having woken him up that early too. What, is it my fault that our classes were scheduled on Saturday early mornings? I even remember that I purposely did not go out to drink the Friday before, which for as long as I remember, I haven't done in years.

Too excited? No. That's commitment. Haha!

Studying for a supposed mid-term exam

You see, it has been a number of years since I last stepped into a classroom. And for reasons I can't put my finger on, I felt the need to learn things in this kind of environment again. I want to thrive in the pressure of understanding new things in a timed class, in the joy of reciting in front of people, in cramming for tests that eventually will be cancelled and on performing your best because you know that at the end of a fixed number of months, you will be graded, among others.


When I was still in College, especially during my last year, I became grade-conscious. I wanted to achieve the highest possible scores I can get. Maybe it was because of this that I was so mindful of the things I did for school this July - August.

I made sure that I was in front of the class.. ALL the time. Haha!

Even Rain was serious with this class.. Well, sometimes..

It was just a short and fun course. But I took "studying" to heart. As a matter of fact, my brother would even complain that I don't talk to him on the way to school, because I'd rather review notes from the last session. I made sure that I was in the front row of every class. I answered questions for recitation every chance I got. I talked to my seatmates to ask about lessons more than to talk to them about other things. I insisted that we still go to school to check if there were classes, even though a typhoon with signal #2 was on the way. I didn't cut class even when it was a scheduled film-viewing session only. I was a nerd. Kind of.

But in that short span of time, I was able to re-live and experience the things I experienced 10 years or so ago..

- being late (good thing, our teacher was late too)

- class suspension

- make-up class

- homeworks

- group works

- group homeworks

- oral exams

- film viewing

- quizzes

- exams

In the end, my short stint at going back to school was well worth it! The fact that I went to the State University and getting an A for my final grade are just icing on the cake. What I'm more proud of is knowing that I still have the same fervor to study as I did years ago. I'm not sure if I'm too old to go back to school full time, but i'm sure that if I do, I'd still walk out of the classroom feeling the same high as I did months and years back. *yuck, baduy!*

My classmates (guess who the teacher is!)

Go back to a campus to study -- CHECK!

When: July - August 2011

Where: University of the Philippines