So this morning my best friend Paolo sent me a photo of his x-ray, showing how he had scoliosis and I remembered that a photo of my x-ray existed on the Internet. Good thing I posted it on my blog four years ago because the Motorola flip-phone I used to take that picture is long gone.
So naturally, I checked my x-ray to see if I had (or was developing, after all it was taken 4 years ago) scoliosis, too, and if you were to go back to that post (I think it was the second one in April 2011) you would see that my spine kind of slants diagonally. I'm no doctor (and I didn't bother doing an extensive Google search) but I don't think that's scoliosis. BUT I have developed some really bad habits since then--like using my laptop while lying on my side and no, I'm not doing it now--so I'm about 87% sure I have scoliosis by now. It's NBD apparently.
But that is not the purpose of this post. As you can tell from the title, I am reacting to my first ever post on this failed 'College Blog.' I should have known I wouldn't have the (a) time and (b) discipline to maintain a college blog. I feel disappointed in myself and regretful of the situation because there was a myriad of college memories I cherish and wish I could reminisce through a college blog.
I have managed to capture some, like the Ateneo Freshman OrSem (back when it was still fun and they let the students actually run), the ME PrepCourse (the best and only MEA memory I ever had), my Adventure Time addiction and over-analysis, and a couple of small things. I regret not writing that much about AIESEC, one of the biggest changes in my entire life.
But it's not like I haven't tried writing about certain significant moments. I have more drafts in this blog than actual posts. Maybe after some refinement I will post them someday... like when I'm famous. Like, Hollywood famous... and I'll publish it as an autobiography... and it'll be bestseller...
Anyway, back to the point of this post. I will react to my first ever post, written back when I was sixteen years old. I am now twenty (eurgh). Let's see what cynical 20-year-old me has to say to naive 16-year-old me.
Ugh. You were way too excited about going to college. So many exclamation points! This doesn't sound (write) like me at all! But I love the offhanded blurring of the line between confirmation and enrollment. Very pre-rebellious phase.The First Post!
This is my first ever blog post as a bona fide college student! Well, actually, I'm not enrolled yet or anything, but I have a confirmed slot! That's pretty much like enrolling here anyway.
I'd like to say this was very nerdy of me (which it is) but I can't admit I wouldn't do the same thing in a future blog post--especially at 11:30 in the evening. I did not know I could stay up that late at 16. Note to 16-year-old me's future self: enjoy it while it lasts because you'll be sleeping at 10pm by the time you're in college.So for recording purposes, even though the technological properties of this blog already does it for me, I would like to formally announce that this blog, My College Blog, was created on Sunday, April 10 of 2011 in the late hour of 11:30. No, I will not consider it April 11.
Next on my list (there is no list) would be to state the intents and the purposes of creating this blog. For one thing, I'm done with High school and moving on up to Higher Education (EDIT: I originally wrote 'Secondary Education' until I realized, in 2015, that it was incorrect.)! Hurray! So, for this new chapter in my life, I am determined to record as many possible happenings during my 4 years at Ateneo de Man--oh wait, sorry. I forgot to put "the"... during my 4 years at The Ateneo de Manila University where I am a soon-to-be Management Engineering student.(I don't know why the formatting changed there. I suspect it's the line spacing but I see no option to edit that here so I'll just leave it.)
I see my humor hasn't changed much in four years. Also, I just edited that Secondary Education part half an hour ago. Yeah... just a lot of empty promises and a jab at the "the" in my school's name. Funnily enough, you learn to drop the "the" as you go along and be humbled by the school's name, which you will carry for the rest of your life (assuming you pass).
College is a very scary next step for nearly everybody. And the author feels the same (that's cool I think I will refer to myself as The Author from now on) way. I am fully aware of how demanding my course will be and I'm just not sure I'm ready to make the transition from barely-studying-high-school-student to nose-on-the-grindstone-college-student. I mean, it's true for most of us, right? We did NOT work that hard in high school because we all know that's the enjoyable part. When it comes to college... well, you can't do those things anymore.I don't think I ever referred to myself as The Author since this post haha. I may have, but I don't remember. Nope, you were not fully aware. You had expectations, which is different from being fully aware. I don't think anything could have prepared you for what M.E. was like and that's okay.
It was a very humbling experience and you utterly did not make a successful transition from a barely-studying-high-school-student to a nose-on-the-grindstone-college-student. You didn't study as much as you thought you would but don't get me wrong, you did study. You often crammed, which was the standard in the university. If I were to gauge it, you relied on your natural intelligence versus a disciplined intelligence, 70-30.
Oh, hells yes. Just the other day you were reminiscing about how much you missed High school. And not (just) your friends, you actually missed the classes and how easy they would be now that you are 20 years old and have had college-level classes.
What "things" were you thinking of, I wonder. We didn't do any fun stuff in high school besides waging an epic, all-out war against our 4th year adviser. I guess it was the hanging out with friends part that you envisioned would drastically decrease. You were half-right. Naturally, you drifted away from your friends who went to other universities, like Jill and your other friends grouped under that umbrella, and Lyca and your other friends grouped under that umbrella.
As luck would have it, your best friend Paolo made his way to Ateneo on your sophomore year. I wonder why you didn't write about that, knowing that he intentionally decided against applying. I think, even then, you knew that it was impossible for the two of you not to keep in touch, especially since he was alone (technically with Redmond but... you know) in that school.
Anyway, all is well now.
So I've got this whole [plan] worked out where all I do is study, blog, and explore the new environment. I would probably still be addicted to Facebook in the early months of my school year but sooner or later, I hope to drop the habit and just try to hit to books.Aha! Finally, something that did come true. You have been off the Facebook-grid for quite a long time now. I think it started when you were getting frustrated at all the AIESEC work coming in from Facebook, and by work I mean complaints and crises. Your favorite social media network is now Twitter, inspired largely by Anna Kendrick's funny Tweets--oh, and speaking of Anna Kendrick, you should know that an addiction that held you your entire senior year of college was a Pitch Perfect addiction.
And, yup, as I said earlier, it was difficult to maintain a schedule where all you do is study, blog, and "explore the new environment." What does that even mean? If that was code for experimenting then you failed that, too. You did not factor in how much movies, TV, and AIESEC would consume your time. But you know what? You end up with no regrets. Sure, you could have done better and eventually graduate with Latin Honors but you also learned along the way that that kind of stuff is a huge deal for like a moment of your life, and then you move on to live the rest of your life trying to be a decent human being to the world.
Oh, wow, I was actually serious about that being famous thing. Well, there you go, our ulterior motive for writing this thing was so that once we're famous, we can have our thoughts read and laughed at by millions of people.Yeah, nobody likes to hear about that. So anyway, hopefully a lot of exciting stuff will be happening in college very soon, so that I may talk about it online even though nobody reads my blogs. And by the way, when I'm all grown up and famous, people will be reading my blogs for sure. Right now it's just new so there isn't much to talk about. Quite possibly my next post will be about my medicals. It is a requirement for enrollment to get an X-ray and I'm really exited about how that will turn out. I will also be getting, like, 9 shots and the last time I had ever gotten a shot was so long ago I can't remember what it feels like so that will be a somewhat new experience for me.Good night!
And there is that x-ray post I mentioned earlier. You were quite an excitable 16-year-old, weren't you? I didn't get a shot (IIRC) but I did get a blood test. The most painful part was trying to get the needle to prick through the skin, but after that it was fine.
So there you go, I reacted to my first post. I definitely feel like a lot has changed in the last four years, which is a testament to my experience at Ateneo. My Philosophy and Theology classes have definitely got me thinking in a different way both rationally and spiritually (I have become a lot less religious since then). My Decision Science minor has changed the way I approach decision-making. My M.E. major has taught me pretty much how to be and think like a smart grown up. And how can I forget my four-year stint at AIESEC that took me through both ends of the emotional scale and gave me a lifetime's worth of experiences and friends.
After going through everything, I feel like I am more humble now, but at the same time more ambitious about what I want to do with my life for myself and for the world. That is probably something 16-year-old me would find anti-climactic and dull but it's actually a lot... freeing.
I don't mind writing more posts through this blog, but I may have to change the title since I am no longer in college. I considered switching platforms since having the adding '.blogspot' to the URL was kind of lame and outdated, but I've been a loyal Blogger since the Misadventures series (another blog I should consider revisiting) so I might stick around for a while longer.
Until next post,
The Author
