How UP Diliman changed me
When I was in sixth grade, I started learning how to make simple Java programs by watching YouTube tutorials with my 100kbps-fast broadband internet. I loved tinkering with software back then as I love tinkering (and playing) with them now. The thirteen-year-old me knew what I would go for — a computer science degree in the premier university in the Philippines: University of the Philippines, Diliman.
Before college
I studied in the largest public school in my province, Pampanga High School, and spent six years of my life learning almost everything there. The curriculum I was in (being in a science section) is if not the same, similar to the typical science high school’s curriculum, as we were given extra subjects dedicated to mathematics and the sciences. In addition, we were the high school’s de facto top section, we were the ones usually selected to compete outside of the school, and the intra-classroom competition was fierce.
For a number of years, I also served at the helm of my school’s election committee, for the student council. To be frank, the shoes of this position were tough to fill. To figure out the logistics, the scheduling, and the security of the votes of twelve thousand students was difficult. I also developed a computerized system for easier voting, hence making me lean towards a computer science degree.
With this, and with the help of excellent educators teaching in our section, my chances of getting into the University of the Philippines (UP) were considerably high. My first choice of degree program was BS Computer Science, in the flagship campus in Diliman. The entrance exam was in October, and the results came out May of the following year. I got in.
The “Pending Case”
The story of me getting in UP doesn’t end there, however. I was in a coffee shop with a couple of friends when I heard the news that I got in. My mother called me and exclaimed “Mipasar ka, pero bakit ‘Pending Case’ ka? (You passed, but why are you marked as a ‘Pending Case’?)” I got chills down my spine! However, I calmed down soon enough upon learning that all applicants from my school had been marked as “Pending Case” too.
For those who may not know, when the UP College Admission Test (UPCAT) results come out, it’s either one of three things: you don’t pass and you don’t see your name on the list; you pass and you see your name on the list along with the program granted to you; or you pass, but for a reason, you still aren’t processed by the system, and instead of showing the granted program, it shows the words Pending Case along with your name.
After a quick trip to the University’s Registrar and a week’s worth of waiting, we got resolved and got our actual results. I got in with my first choice degree program at the first choice campus. It was a dream come true!
The reason for the Pending Case? Our school principal’s signature had two different versions: a long version and a short version. That day, we all realized that the university registrar was as strict as a bank when it comes to these documents.
Before the first semester
The first semester was scheduled to start in August, and preparations were made as soon as I heard that I got in. We started looking for student lodging, as I had no plans to stay in the University’s dormitories. Pampanga, my home province, was just an hour away, and a slot I would have taken for the dormitories may be better suited for those coming from the far North, or from the far South. My parents and I scouted for boarding houses instead, which are a bit more pricey than the dorms, since they’re privately-owned houses with rooms that were rented out to students.
Student accommodation
Quickly, we scored a decent boarding house in Area 2, a residential area inside UP Diliman. Conveniently, the house was on JP Laurel Street, the famed “food street” within the university. The street was filled with food stalls, canteens, lemonade stands and mini-restaurants.
Area 2 is also featured in a music video of a song, Kalachuchi by Munimuni:
Back to the boarding house. I was to be with five other people in a room (it’s roomy, don’t worry), with air conditioning during the night, distilled water, electricity, and most importantly, 300Mbps wifi for the price of 3500 Php a month! All things considered, we bagged the boarding house mid-May.
UP: University of Pila (queues)
Enrollment and registration started in June, and the registration process was hell. It was a week of five-hour-long queues, half of the time spent standing, but all of the time spent in the searing summer heat.
The queues were so annoying I didn’t even bother getting a PE course of the semester, despite my priority status as a freshman. There was once a whole-day queue and the day ended without granting anyone PE courses. It happens.
There was also one time that I wasted two hours because I was in the wrong queue — someone thought I was a Ph.D. applicant and directed me to the queue for doctorate studies applicants. Certainly a story to tell!
With the seemingly unending queues, I made friends along the way. Coursemates who I’m still with right now, as the year ends. This wasn’t the province anymore. The friends I met were completely different from the friends I had from high school. Everyone had their own interesting story. There were people who barely knew Tagalog; thirty-year-olds taking up a second degree; children of business titans and magnates; and applicants who were sent on a one-way trip to Diliman because they couldn’t afford to travel back home. The University, especially Diliman, was a microcosm of the Philippines that I was unaware of in my 19-year-old life.
UP Diliman is BIG
Compared to my high school, and compared to any other school I have been, nothing compares to the size of UP Diliman’s campus. Sure, some people may point out that other campuses encompass a larger land area, but for something in the middle of bustling Quezon City, our campus sure is big. To get from class to class, most people take the campus jeepneys, called the ikot jeeps. These jeeps are iconic to Diliman, along with their backward-route counterpart jeepneys which are the toki jeeps. When people go to UP, usually you’d hear “sa laki ng UP, may jeep pa sa loob! (UP is so big, you have to take a jeep to go around!)”
If you didn’t take the jeep, it means that you’d rather walk, to save time, money, or to enjoy your time with friends. My classes in my first semester were from 9 A.M. — 3 P.M. and I usually hit ten thousand steps at lunchtime!
Sometimes, it’s great to walk. You could enjoy the trees and the breeze, enjoy talking with your friends for a good 10–15 minutes. It really feels like a walk in the park, because UP does look like a park. Most times, however, it isn’t. What I usually say is that walking every day in the searing 12 P.M. heat is like reliving the trek of the Fellowship in the Lord of the Rings, especially when you walk in a path without any kind of shade.
If it wasn’t searing heat, it’ll probably be an annoying downpour. Everyone goes for the jeeps, which means there’ll be no seats (in the jeep) left. Sure enough, you’ll come late and soaking wet to your next class.
The first semester
Your journey in Diliman usually begins with a group of coursemates you’re assigned to as a freshie (freshman), formally and commonly called as a “block.” If for some reason, you aren’t in one, you’re usually called “blockless”.
Blocks were assigned a premade schedule, and people in a block need nothing more but to enlist in a PE subject (which I have failed to do). Luckily, on the other hand, my journey began with a block. We were together for an average of five hours a week, every day for one whole semester (~5 months). Coincidentally, one of my blockmates was also my boarding house roommate, making going home very enjoyable.
The world-class history class
Our block was lucky, we got the good professors. We had a great Philosophy class under Sundiang, along with great teachers in our other classes. However, one class really stuck to me: Kasaysayan 1 (Philippine History).
Our history professor was no other than Maris Diokno, the National Historical Commission of the Philippine’s (NHCP) former chairperson, who is one of the country’s top historians. Everything about her course was world-class; the pedagogy and the expertise she taught us with was remarkable and second to none so far.
She taught us that history isn’t about seeking truth and finding a resolution to every dispute, but is about accepting conflict in historical accounts and letting one’s own critical thinking interpret what has happened.
History isn’t used to predict the future, but is used to understand the past; to ask why something has happened, not to prevent it from happening in the future; and to better understand how far we have come from civilizations past. Knowing that we were computer science students, she said that she couldn’t get us to shift to a History degree program. But then, she said that she should at least teach us how to be better thinkers.
The UPCAT is the easiest exam in UP
In my first semester, I realized several things. Most people struggle with the famously difficult entrance test of UP — the UPCAT. In fact, the acceptance rate for takers of the exam falls around 10–15%. Out of this, less than a fifth get into Diliman, the flagship campus.
What people, including myself, fail to see is that the UPCAT isn’t the end of it; staying in UP is much harder than getting into UP. I realized this when I took my first Math 21 (Elementary Analysis, or Calculus; pre-K-12 UP students know this as Math-53 instead) exam.
It was hell. The exam was worth 40 points in total, but only had 7–10 actual questions. I thought to myself, “this is going to be easy!” since the exam was an hour and a half long only.
I wasn’t used to getting such a low score on a math exam, as my math scores when I was in high school were almost always perfect. Back then, getting a grade higher than a 95 (95%) was preferable, now, I’m lucky I even got a 2.50 (75%) in my final Math grade.
The actual math course in UP is nowhere near the level of difficulty one experiences when taking the UPCAT. Half of my class voluntarily dropped the course because they knew it was too hard to pass the subject anyway. The lecture class I was in, started with around 100 people; before the semester ended, you could definitely count the 34 people who were dedicated enough to try and pass the course.
It wasn’t only the Math courses that were like this. All courses shared the same back-breaking difficulty when it came to examinations. Good thing they didn’t come as often as high school exams; usually, you’d take these exams once every month, or even less frequently than that.
Competing in College
My first semester wasn’t spent only on studying and taking exams. Even being in constant pressure, I still found myself participating in competitions along with my friends. One of these is HealthHacks PH 2018: Synapse. HealthHacks is a “hackathon,” where, we make prototype software in an attempt to improve community development in accordance with the theme.
We spent two days holed up in either The Globe Tower in Bonifacio Global City or in the 24-hour Starbucks in front of it. It was one of the more memorable parts of my first sem in UP; that college was more than rote studying and trying hard not to fail.
Other than the occasional parties with friends and exams, my first semester was over.
The second semester
Remember the blocks I told you about a while ago? Well, they’re gone now. Everyone’s on their own, and it was up to you on how to make your own schedule. I took my two required major courses in computer science, two English courses, the usual math course, an additional physics course, and luckily, this time, I bagged a PE course. I’ll get back to PE later.
How math courses work in Diliman
Typically, math courses are taken from Tuesday until Friday and will take up an hour each day. Then, in alternating days, either Tuesday-Thursday or Wednesday-Friday, you’d have lecture classes (often called “big classes”). Lecture classes would put you in a large room with possibly a hundred other students and you would be taught the major topic for that week.
Every other day, however, you’d have discussion classes (often called “small classes”). In these small classes, you’ll be in smaller classrooms, with fewer people (~10–20 students). Discussion classes give you the chance to ask questions about the major topic taught in the lecture class. Compared to lecture classes, these discussion classes are more focused, and teach students more effectively.
Luckily for me, I had awesome teachers for both my discussion and lecture classes (under Michael Baysauli and Gino Velasco, respectively). I was taking Math 22, the successor of last semester’s Math 21. Compared to last semester, the dropping rate of students was lower; fewer people failed this course, maybe because they already endured the hardships of the previous math course and got used to it. Either that or my instructors are just that great. Likely both.
Last semester, my discussion class had around 20+ people in the beginning, and by the time the semester ended, you could count on two hands the students who were still passing the subject.
To be more objective, I did get a higher grade in this Math compared to the Math last semester. It was a big leap, too. It was a combination of me adjusting to UP’s math, having better instructors, and improving as a student in general.
PE classes
In my second semester, it was my first time getting a PE class. I remember enlisting all PE classes for Mondays (because Monday is my most lax day) in the hope of getting at least any PE class. I didn’t want to be that guy who didn’t graduate just because he was missing a few required PE classes.
And yes, I’ve heard of accounts that the PE classes in UP are unconventional. I’ve also been asked this by younger people, and yes, it’s true. Our PE classes include classes for pistol marksmanship, bird watching, Scrabble, striptease aerobics, and belly dancing.
Lucky for me, the class I got was scuba diving.
Contrary to popular belief, taking the scuba class in UP doesn’t necessarily result in you getting an open water certification. You have to pay extra to participate in a checkout dive. I did, and I could say it was absolutely worth it.
UP wasn’t only the whetstone for the edge that is my mind, but was also the driving force to get my body back to shape. In addition to the 3-to-5-kilometer walks when you go to class every day, I found the drive to exercise and enjoy a healthier life.
Conclusion
I could confidently say that spending this one year in UP has changed me more significantly than most of my years in high school. I thought I would experience great difficulty fitting in, because of the culture shocks I had when I first came here, yet now I call the University home. UP has changed me, in many different ways, surely for the best.
