Centennial Graduation Bloopers Cum Diary

(April 24-25, 2009 - 37th commencement exercises as well as centennial celebration of the foundation of the University of the Philippines in Los Baños, Laguna)

April 24, 2009 – 1:00 p.m. – Pagod ako sa kakatakbo to and from SU, ACCI, Grove, Robinson’s for payments, room reservations, sa pagbili ng mga pinapabili, habilin, at etc.. since 8:00 kaninang umaga. Dumating ako ng IH ng 5:00 a.m. na walang tulog. Buti na lang at dito na si Tito with his sister na dumating pa raw kahapon ng 5:00 a.m. din all the way from Eastern Samar. He let me take a rest sa kanilang room sa Guest House ng IH while they went for their 6:00 mass sa St. Therese. Hindi na rin ako naka-attend ng Testimonial for Graduates sa Agronomy kaninang 9:00 a.m.

Took my lunch then immediately went to Geofe’s and Lizet’s room to iron our toga with Venus. Wow! Akala ko it would just take me 10 minutes to iron the two! It took me exactly one hour! 30 minutes each toga! Hindi pa maayos-ayos ang pagkaplantsa! Wahuhuhu…. After a few minutes na natapos na akong magplantsa –nagbrown out! Then umulan! Aba! Ano ba itong hapon na ito!

Mag-aalas kwatro na. Practice at the grounds starts at 4 pm pero paano makapagpractice eh, umuulan. Practice sana un then diretso na for the Recognition and Hooding ng 6:00 p.m. Anyway, we went down sa lobby ng Umali for the assembly. Aba, eh, ang init! Grabe! Na-aagnas na ang mga make-up hehehe… I saw the dedication talaga sa work ng mga taga Graduate School, sina Ma’m Pinky, Ma’m Cha, Ma’m Connie, Ma’m Dina at si Ate Luz. Pawisan silang nag-aayos ng mga dapat ayusin para matuwid ang flow ng program.

Buti na lang may snack before the start of the program. Gutom din ang mga gagraduate ehe. Sabi ni Jaime na nasa likod ko, “Wow, dinner! Heavy dinner ba yan?” Halatang gutom! Wahaha… At last nakakain na rin kahit nakatayo hohoho… Kumain kami ni Darwin sa malapit ng pintuan sa basement para man lang masimoyan ng kaunting hangin.

The Recognition and Hooding program started at 6:30 p.m. and was finished around 9:00 na ng gabi. Immediately upon the exit of the colors, eh, recessional na iyon, Ma’m Connie announced na sa ilang saglit eh mag-shishift ang lights for the normal power! Wow naman, si dakilang ilaw!!! Natapos na ang dapat tapusin tsaka ka dumating!

Ang grupo naman, nagkita kita after the program para kumain – eh, di sino pa sila? Ang mga muntik nang maiwanan sa biyahe. Ah, eh… biyahe ng 5 years allowed stay sa UPLB ang ibig kong sabihin! (!!!???). Si Darwin, Lizet, Dann Marie at si Jaime. Nadatnan namin si Geofe with her cousin and cousin’s friend sa LBSquare so nakiupo kami sa kanila. At wala pala atang planong kumain itong mga kasama ko. Pero ako, gutom na gutom kaya I had to stand up and order for food. Napatayo rin si Jaime na umorder ng pagkain kasi makikisimpatya raw sa gutom! Nnggiiiiiyyee… Walang nagawa ang iba kundi kumuha rin ng pagkain hehehehe…

After dinner, siyempre, lakad yan pabalik sa IH dorm. It was a cool night. The atmosphere reminded me that I will be missing the place and this group after the graduation. When will I come back again and be with this kengkoy group? No one knows! If ever I will come back for my PhD, it would be with different buddies. It would already be indifferent to be acting like a teenager like how I behave while with these pipol! The children in us always get on the loose when we are all together. I am the eldest in the group but it seems I am the youngest when it comes to kakulitan sa kakengkoyan hahahaha… although magkakalapit naman kami ng edad.. uuuuuuuuhhhh… At ako lang ang may asawa na….

Well, while we walked home, took shots from the carabao park until the grounds of Mariang Banga down the Umali Hall with all kinds of postures. You may ask for hard copies of the images from anyone of us. 12:30 na nang madaling araw nasa labas pa kami. Nauna na si Jaime na umuwi kasi pupunta pa raw sila ng Manila ng 6:00 a.m. kinabukasan bibili ng pang-graduation daw. O sige!

1:30 na ng madaling araw ng April 25 na kaya nung matulog na kami ni Lizet. Sinamahan ako sa transient room ko sa guest house ng IH…. Zzzzzzzzzzzzz…….

April 25, 2009 – 8:30 a.m. – Had some pictures sa likod ng PAS shop with Lizet and Dann Marie. (Dann Marie came all the way from Davao just to attend the graduation with us and her dear friends sa SESAM. She graduated last year). Had our “picture jumps” hahahaha… then left them while I went to see Venus and her sister sa Anest Tower where they checked in. Venus and I had quick things to do na hindi rin natupad kasi mahal pala, (Olive’s Photoshop) and besides, oras na for the preparation for the graduation. Mag-aalasdose na ng tanghali eh dito pa kami sa kung saan-saan. Eh, 2:30 ang assembly time kaya. We parted sa jeep after we bought hair blower each na tig-189.00 pesos hehehe sa Chinese shop near Robinson’s where Maida, Jaime and I bought the same aluminum cups one time last year.

1:00 p.m. – Nag-start na ang lahat magpabeauty kasabay ang pagkulog ng himpapawid na nagbibigay babala na malapit na niyang ibuhos ang kanyang balde-baldeng bendisyon para sa mga centennial graduates ng UP Los Baños.

2:30 p.m. – Umulan na nga. We waited for a few minutes na humupa ng konti ang ulan before we went down infront of the Umali Building. We were ordered by the Dean of the Graduate School, Dr. Oscar B. Zamora to proceed to SU where we waited again for further directions kasi umuulan pa rin. Mag-aalas kwatro na naman kagaya kahapon, we proceeded towards Baker Hall for the final assembly. Naawa uli ako sa mga staff ng GS na basa na ang dala nilang listahan at program sa pagchecheck ng kung sino ang dapat nasa linya. They checked 3x just to make sure everybody and everything is in order. Kagabi sa Recognition at Hooding, pawisan sila kasi nga brown out, ngayon basang-basa sila, pero whatever happens, they do it because of duty and service. I salute you all people from the Graduate School.

I didn’t bring with me my umbrella kaya ako nakisilong sa mga katabi ko kahit di ko kakilala.. (wa hiya.. haha).

6:00 p.m. – Ayan na. Nagsimula na rin ang procession. Umaambon-ambon na lang din kaya okey nang mag-smile sa shots na kinukunan ng mga nakapuwesto nang mga official photographers. Ang mga graduate students ang pinakalast sa order ng procession so when we finally entered the “sacred ground” na nasilongan ng apat na malalaking parachute and where our seats were waiting for us, aba, eh, naararo na ang daan kaya ayun, mga bagong graduation shoes, lumubog sa putikan! Para naman matest ah, kung gaano naman katibay ang biniling sapatos! Appear tayo jan Jaime!

We finally took our seats nung oras na ng pagpapakilala sa panauhing

pandangal na si Dr. Jaime Aristotle B. Alip. Grabe, ang sarap umupo. Pagod na pagod ang mga binti ko sa kakatayo mula pa nung 2:30 p.m. At last makapagpahinga na rin yung conductor ng banda, kung tama na banda ba ang mga nasa stage playing the instruments na tila kanina pang magsimula ang prosesyunal ay nagsimula na rin siyang mag-conduct exerting all her energy swaying her graceful hands just so that the musical background stays alive. (Iba yata ang grupo ng UPLB Chorale Ensemble).

The message of the guest speaker was about his managing the Center for Agriculture and Rural Development Mutually Reinforcing Institutions (CARD-MRI), an organization which he himself founded. It is providing microcredits mostly to marginalized women clients. At ang tumatak sa isipan ko hanggang ngayon na sinabi niya ay ang huwag mag-habol sa mga gadgets na lumalabas ngayon from the fast competition in new technologies.

Then came the awarding of diplomas. Buti na lang nung lumalalim na ang ceremony kasabay ang paglalim ng gabi, tumigil na rin ang medyo malakas-lakas na pag-ambon. Nagsimula na naman mag-conduct yung slim and energetic lady para sa marching music sa pag-akyat ng mga graduates sa stage. Bilib naman ako sa energy ng lady na yon!

I checked the time, it was 8:15. Parang kalahati pa lang ang natapos nang umakyat sa stage! Nakakabore din palang gumraduate heheheh… Hindi, naiinip kasi ako sa matagal na nakaupo. 9:00 na yata or a few minutes past pa nung tawagin na ang mga graduate students. At last, nakaakyat na rin sa stage to shake the hands of the Chancellor na tila hindi pa pagod.

Immediately, upon the mention of the name of the last graduate student to go up the stage, Mr. Jeric S. Alcala, B. S. Applied Mathematics, summa cum laude, delivered his graduation message. It was a humorous, challenging and simple message that almost everyone appreciated. I say that it was a very real, humble story that he shared to the graduates. The boy hails from Sto. Tomas, Batangas.

This centennial graduation was lead by two summa cum laude. The other one is Aidel Paul G. Belamide, BA in Communication Arts.

Natapos ang ceremonies around 9:30 p.m. Graduate na si Yoli, at last!

10:30 p.m. – Sinauli namin nila Venus, Geofe at Darwin ang mga toga namin sa Baker Hall before we went out for late dinner sa LBSquare. Were in our quarters around 12 midnight. I had to pack my things again… Bye, bye UPLB…