Tiara-Ra

highschool. sigh. that was sooo a long time ago. hehe. i can still remember how angry i was at the world back then. so different from what i am now. after hs, i moved on and busied myself with new pursuits, determined not to look back. i was never good at maintaining long distance relationships, so there. i kinda lost touch with everybody. reading aya’s thoughts about senior year made me realize though that without senior year’s ups and downs i wouldnt be the tiara that i am now.

so here’s a repost of aya’s senior year blog entry. hope some of my aromaz friends get to read this too. =)

Fill this out about your SENIOR year
of high school! The longer ago it was,
the more fun the answers will be.

1. Who was/were your best friends?
–well. aya, i guess and jayson, lindl and dean…rhea and joel. i remember being close to gen, tina, beth and rex too.but something happened that made me stay away from them. hehe. but we’re friends now.

2. what sport/s did u play?

–will camping count? =)

3. What kind of car did you drive?
– nyah. not uso here. hehe. im not a rich kid so it was either the jeepney or the tricycle. now its the habalhabal. wahehe.

4. It’s Friday night, where were you?
home, watching tv and eating loads of chicheria. or in school for a camp or something. laag… with friends from school or the downtown peeps.

5. Were you much of a party animal?
–hmm…a little. hehe. i remember being scolded a million times for going home late.

6. Were you considered a flirt/player?
–no. on the contrary i was so afraid of romance.

7. Ever skip school?
– haha! yes. some of my best memories happened while skipping school.;)

8. Were you a nerd?
– nope! and im glad i wasnt! being a nerd is sooo boring. i dont study much, to the consternation of my parents. but i dont regret it one bit. =)

9. What’s your funniest memory in skul?
– na mao. too many to mention. wahaha. the aromaz was a crazy bunch. i can still remember jabes having a swordfight with our chemistry teacher using a meter stick. hehehe.

10. Did you get suspended/expelled?
– almost. haha. but there were lots of times when my friends and i were called to the g. councilor’s office because of being noisy and for saying mean things to a teacher. and there was one time when a certain maam limusnero called me to her office to talk about my friendship with maam LT. she wanted me to end that friendship…but i told her to mind her own business. haha.

11. Can you sing the fight song?
– hmm… we had a fight song?? i dont remember. i can still sing the puto sa lubi song though.

12. Who were your favorite teachers?
– maam udarbe??wahaha.may she rest in peace. =) maam decolongon, of course.

13. Favorite class?
– lunch break.

14. Your school’s full name?
– Davao City National High School

15. School mascot?
– andrew villegas!wakeke.

16. Did you go to Prom?
–we didnt have a prom. but even if we did i doubt if i would have joined. i hated wearing gowns and heels, i still do.

17. If you could go back and do it
over, would you?
– yep. =)

18. What do you remember most about
graduation?
– uhm…boycott?. hehe. i was waging a war back then with my parents. boycotting my own graduation was my own way of showing them that they couldnt force me to do things i dont like. =)

19. Favorite memory of your Senior
Year?
ditching classes, getting drunk and science camp… the one where some of the boys (mostly our friends) were caught scaling the walls for pandesal and coke.

20. Did you have a job when you were
on your senior year?
– uhm… i was president of the gsp club. does that count?

21. Where did you go most often for
lunch?
– galaxy. with aya, jayson. lindl and the rest of the gang.

22. What did you do after graduation?
– refer to no. 18.

23. When did u graduate?
– March 2004

24. Who was your Senior prom date?
– none.

25. Are you going to your ten year
reunion?
– definitely! hehe.

26. Who was your homeroom teacher?
– maam botero.may she rest in peace too.

27. Who will repost this after you?
– highschool friends, i guess.

28. Who was President of your class?
– aya. she was a crazy president. hehe.

29. What were you voted as in your
senior year?
– the sewing machine girl???

30. What were your accomplishments in
your senior year?
– i learned to let go of things not meant for me. (char!)

just finished watching a lot like love…
sigh. i love the movie. and ashton kutcher’s body has nothing to do with it. i dunno why but lately ive been watching a lot of mushy movies…i used to dig movies about serial killers and all but now i find that i cant stand watching movies with dismembered body parts with blood almost covering the screen. i still watch bones and csi though. hehe.

hahay. its been days since i last went out of the house, wtaching tv 24/7. i believe i am now familiar with all the available cable channels including those whose language i cannot understand. i better go out soon…or i’ll rot in this house.tsk tsk.

*kakay: we better start talking bout ‘our business’…hehe. im starting to get bored with my life here at home.

pambabalaj.

The reason for the proposed tuition adjustment is inflation, so says UP President Erlinda Roman. The tuition, we are paying for today, according to the president, is worth only P98 and of we were to take the actual rate of increase of prices for educational services are, is worth P42.

What she failed to say is though is that inflation rates have also affected the incomes of our parents, drastically. And that some, may not be able to afford, should the increases will be implemented.

Parents and students chose to be in UP because of affordable and quality education and yet here comes the new tuition rates, whose prices are ceiling high, which most of the masses wont be able to afford.

Of course, Mrs. Roman, saw this argument coming, and the answer? The much lauded scheme by the Admin—STFAP. STFAP, according to Roman, will subsidize the education of those who are not in Bracket A. but who is she kidding?

STFAP, today, with the way it is being implemented could hardly make us believe that it will be the savior of all those who could not afford. Yeah right. Primers have been going around, explaining how STFAP will subsidize the education of those who won’t be in the highest income bracket.

But what the heck, those primers forgot to say that according to the Atanacio report ( the committee Roman formed to study STFAP), only 20% of incoming students may fall in bracket E, 20% may be paying P300 per unit, 40% will be paying P600 per unit, 16% will be paying P1,000 per unit and 4 to 5% will be paying P1,500 per unit. Which makes 80% of the incoming students will be affected by the tuition increase.

Lately, the office of the Chancellor have asked some of the teachers to discuss the increase in tuition rates with their students, and some have been doing it up to the point of selling the idea to the students. Which I guess, is because they believe that if tuition and other fee increases will be implemented, their salaries would also increase. They forget that they are under the Salary Standardization Law. And come to think of it, every time an increase in tuition rates is implemented in other universities, hardly a centavo goes to the salary of the teachers. What makes them think that we will be different?

Why should we care? Only freshmen students and transferees will be affected. A tactic meant to divide the students. But hey, an increase is an increase. That doesn’t make things different. UP education will be more expensive and harder to reach. Think of those who could barely afford today’s tuition rates. What more if per unit is P600?

We should be more critical. And in the current scheme of commercialization and privatization of the premier state university, we must continually assert and defend our right to a quality and affordable education. An iskolar ng bayan doesn’t think only of him/herself, but also of the future iskolar ng bayan.