Batch 2001

Ten years ago today I graduated from college. I was batch 2001. I was not exactly super thrilled to earn a degree my dad chose for me (as mentioned in a previous blog entry). I was just happy – make that relieved – to finally finish university and start a new life and career.

Academically, I was absolutely mediocre, just passing every subject I took, except from Accounting, which I dropped once. I had a bunch of 3.0s (the lowest passing grade) in Natural Science, Math, Economics, and Statistics. My highest grades, somewhere around the 1.0 range, were in Literature, Art, Psychology, Philosophy, and Sociology. My grades in the major subjects were on the 2.0 range because I do not really care so much for Public Accounting and Budgeting, Techniques in Personnel Management, or Administrative Law (the horror!!!).

My social life as a student was not that bright either. I was a complete recluse in the dorm; instead I spent most of my time in the library or watching movies in the university's cinema. Except for one student organization, I wasn't a member of any other group because I was just too shy to even apply. I could not afford going out with my friends either.

Yes, I had friends; quite a good number of them actually, but I kept close to the people in my first year block. I did not make any effort to make new friends. I was super shy, awkward, and bereft of social skills, which I find normal anyway for people of my age then.

I don't want to make it appear that I had a miserable time in the university. Well, maybe for the first two years I was trying to make sense of a new life. After all, my university was worlds away form the small town I came from.

The university in fact developed my self confidence, or at least it eventually did. It takes loads and loads of work to survive in that university. Only in my junior year did I realize I earned a place among my peers. Living from home was also a test of my discipline and independence, and God knows how meager my allowance was.

So ten years ago today I wore the university sash (the traditional graduation garb of the university in lieu of togas), received my diploma, and took heaps of photos with my classmates. It was a time of uncertainty for many of us but we had grand dreams as well, say conquering the world, for instance. Well, we were young and idealistic...