I’m torn apart…by distance, by time, and by circumstances. For the first time, I went home to Palawan with great misery. I shall go home, be with my family and friends, and surely enjoy summer, but when I go back to MSU, I shall not see several faces of people I love. This is so depressing that even at this very moment that I’m writing this, I pause every now and then, lost in thoughts, and revived again with deep sighs. But still I’m gathering all the courage I can have, hold my tears as much as I can so that the screen won’t be blurred, and compel my mind to explore the ache I feel in my heart, and let it pass the message to my fingertips.
Truly, people come and people go. But oftentimes life is so cruel that people come easily, and then go in a hard way.
A Creative Damsel
I was once a freshman in college who was looking for new friends and finding a way to fit to the new world I was in. One afternoon, I was invited to a Bible study in a cottage (boarding house). That was the first time I saw her. She is a cute charming girl sitting on a small stool, one who you can tell to be surely a shy and silent type girl. I thought she was a freshman too but I later knew she’s a sophomore. An ate, although technically I am older than her. Too bad she’s accelerated, I’m not. Nevertheless, she was my ate, and will always be one of those memorable ates in MSU.
She became my co-Zion member and was also my co-Thursday Commune teammate before. We shared laughter and tears (still often caused by laughter) with other girls in Zion. She has very creative hands that could turn simple papers to colorful pieces of art. She is indeed very thoughtful. But above all, she was an ate that would listen. Her patience stretches so wide. But, mind you, it has limitations…proven and tested. :)
One time, it was almost midnight but we weren’t feeling sleepy. So with a guitar and a bench with Ate Jing, we loitered at our apartment’s corridor, and sang songs at our heart’s delight. It was one of those fortunate nights when the sky is clear and we can see the twinkling stars, perfect with the bone-chilling coldness of the MSU night’s breeze. This is the most unforgettable time I had with her.
She is one of the reasons why I never regretted going far just to have my college. The Mindanao State University, indeed, is the melting pot of the south because there, people from various places and cultures diverge. But sadly, again, they come so easily, but go in a hard way, because when people graduate and go, the whole world will be the rendezvous.
Of course, there are many experiences we shared together…not to mention the camps, intercessions, dine-outs, and overnight Bible sharing. Together, I believe we have grown in the Lord.
But as you graduate, Ate Kang, it’s our prayer that you will continue your purpose, and with your sparkling smile (it is indeed, sparkling), encourage people around you wherever you may be. Mupanaw man ka te, yaon gihapon kaw sa ako kasing-kasing, hinumduma ini.Salamat sa tanan-tanan!
A Laughing Machine
Yes, a laughing machine. I’ll prove it.
Going up to the next level in my course also means growing up as an ate. I am no longer the baby who will be cooed, but the ate who will take care of the manghuds. And there is this manghud I sure won’t forget.
I was the oldest ate left in MSU to take care of the incoming freshmen that time. She was Denise… or so I thought. She texted me with messages full of siran, niran, kamao, etc. I realized aside from the four dialects I am struggling to learn, she will add another one that would make me an alien to as far as Neptune. Obviously, we did not understand each other. First, because her nickname is not Denise but Love-love (Denise was her cousin’s name, actually Dennis, who accompanied her in her travel). Second, her first name is Mirzhay, and don’t ask me where the Love-love came from. Third, she left MSU as soon as she arrived, but only temporarily during this time. She came to our house, I invited her to come in, talked to her, and let her watch our TV. I thought she was enjoying it, but no sooner than later, she asked permission to go home…to Davao. She came back to enroll after some days.
After a year of laughing with her, especially with Bututoy and the Bibi’s, she finally decided to transfer to other school. Too bad. She always reminded me that taking decisions is one of the hardest things in life. One wrong turn, and you cannot tell how much can be ruined. But I know for sure that in the path that led her to MSU, it was a journey full of worthwhile lessons that she can bring with her around.
Love, I hope you would not hide the light you have in you.
(and this picture is the BEST I can post…because here I remember who you are.)
A Superman in a Body of a Matchstick
I’m sorry for the title, but it’s the best way I could describe this man. Yes, he is a superman. He’s talented, he’s smart, he’s a genius, he’s simply amazing, he’s a friend. But yes, he’s a matchstick, too. He is so thin and he’s so bony that the first thing image of him that would mark your brain is his killer super wide smile. So wide you would not think he has problems as big as the world. His smiles and jokes, though, lighten up the hearts of people around him…like a matchstick.
Normal people would say, “I went to the market.” Well, he’s not among the normal because as what Katrina and I once joked about (and I love putting that bold effect), he would describe everything, adding adjective to every phrase, until a sentence like that of I went to the market would be: “The fresh smell of salmons and seaweeds linger to my nose as I stepped onto the cemented muddy floor of the market. I see mothers buying meat and vegetables for tonight’s dinner from vendors already worn out by the day’s work…”, or something better than this. :)
He’s a trivia machine, someone you could ask just about anything. He’s so sharp he never leaves the top row of the students no matter how much extra-curricular he has. He’s very talented with his grooving body and distinctive voice. One time I ask him why he always dances even there’s no music. He told me he hears music inside his body, and do he dances. Wow.
Not to be a hypocrite, we cannot just afford to lose him even for a year…or else we may lose several contests to the conventions. But deeper than that, we couldn’t afford to lose someone whose presence is so enlightening and humorous. The class wouldn’t be the same without this guy who always cracks jokes even at the middle of a serious lecture or a mind-whacking exam.
But anyways, I won’t say goodbye, Norby. Not yet
.
The Angel-Bearer
Surely, this girl shall leave the campus for some time. She’s also an original (much like The Originals of Vampire Diaries). I don’t know why she’s also there, like Norbert, when one afternoon over a platter of pizza at Comamo’s, we coined our batch name the BALANCES. And now, though by heart she’ll still be a BALANCES, technically, she wouldn’t be anymore because she will soon welcome a blessing.
She’s beautiful, indeed. The greatest proof to that is while we are all striving to have the CPA title, she already got her own…indirectly. But one unforgettable thing that surely proves her guts was her introduction on the first day of our major class. I can still recall so clearly how this tall, skinny, fair girl with eyeglasses, stood up confidently and said, “We do not have any CPA’s in our family. Hopefully, I’ll be the first one.”
As her friend, I am so blessed to have this sweet girl. She will always hug me when she realized she missed me. She’s one of those people I could talk to untiringly for hours. Right now I imagine how happy we were, together with Katrina. But when I imagine the future without her…I can’t help but cry. Of course, we are happy she will soon come back and we will all soon be godparents…but whatever we had before, the joy and the difficulties we shared together as classmates and as friends, shall never be as it has always been.
Jas, I could not say more but thank you. And I’m sorry for our shortcomings, especially during those times that you needed us the most but we weren’t there. Continue growing as a lady, and take care of the responsibilities God has given you. After all, He gives tasks but not tasks too great for you to carry. Remember that His grace is sufficient in spite of your weaknesses.
P.S. The batch loves Maggi…or Yuan… so much. We love you too. Mwwah!
It was also called Mizpah (watchtower) because he said, “May the LORD keep watch between you and me when we are away from each other.”
-Genesis 31:49 (New International Version)
I love you all, guys. Ciao!
