First RegDay in Ateneo

Wow. Registration in Ateneo is quite hectic. Maybe because I don’t typically do things like this every start of the school year. But I’m quite sure it’s the easiest the reg process can get.

How it happened

I arrived at school around 7:30, but my ETA for claiming my regform (RN 305JGSOM) was 8:40. Leo arrived at 8. We went around the place a bit, and soon made our way to SEC C to claim our regforms. We were lucky to have gotten our forms around 8:20, as we arrived earlier than our ETA. After a little more waiting, ranting about schedules, and roaming around CTC-SOM, we broke into pockets and Impe and I ended up together as our random numbers were 305 and 306, coincidentally.

We settled inside another classroom across the hallway to wait for our turn on the online enlistment (for PE and NatSci). I am VERY thankful that I actually made it into Environmental Science, because the only other choice I have if I don’t make the slot cut in ES is Physics, as those two are the only NatSci’s permitted by my schedule. Besides, Physics’s lab is scheduled 0730-0930 of Monday - I don’t want to sleep early on weekend nights.

We were soon led into the deeper depths of SEC C, wherein a computer lab was situated. There, assessors were filed across each computer, aiding freshmen in inputting their PE and NatSci selections and ultimately embedding it into their final schedule. A panel reviewed our final schedules inside an adjacent room, and then off we went to pay.

The lines of the Xavier Hall cashiers were horrendously long. There are pros and cons to the different payment methods, but majority chose to pay by cash or card in Xavier, as both are flexible. Paying by check takes very little time only in Berchmans as lines aren’t as long, but making a mistake on the check details will cost you more dearly.

After we got the receipt for the transaction, I ran up to a second-floor classroom in Kostka Hall to claim my first Ateneo ID.

Tacitly mandatory schedule talk

So I’m quite happy with the schedule I got for first sem, most especially Mondays. It means I don’t need to sleep as early or wake up as early either. Wednesdays would also have been better, but Wednesdays begin earlier into the day due to ES12 (Lab for Environmental Science). But I’d prefer that over PS2 (Lab for Physics) which happens Monday same time. I don’t really mind ending at 4:30 during M-W-F as around that time, the car that fetches my fourth year brother (dismissed at 3:40, LSGH) would be around Katipunan already just in time to pick me up.

I like my Tuesdays and Thursdays in their own way, I guess. I know I start at an early 7:30 during those days but they’re Filipino classes anyway. I prompted my assessor to find me a PE that can squeeze itself between my Fil11 and Ma18a/b classes. Sure enough, we spotted a satisfactory PE110 (Soccer) Section L on the catalog at 0900-1000. I enlisted on the class. Problem is, it’s right after Fil11 at Berchmans, and it’s going to be held at the covered courts. That means I’ll have to run to make it in time for PE, if not barely late. Oh well XD

But it’s a good thing that I’m going home right on noontime on T-TH, as the car is under coding on Thursdays. That’s the prime reason as to why I wanted to have PE in the morning of T-TH.

Apparently upperclassmen were right about INTACT. It does destroy your sked. But then going to school two hours earlier than Mondays (and Wednesdays SUPPOSEDLY) isn’t so bad, right?

MEA PrepCourse 2008

MEA is the home organization of BS Management Engineering students. It caters to the needs, both academic and moral, of ME majors and fosters what they call “inter-batch communication” through many different activities drafted throughout the entire year, including the three-day PrepCourse, portmanteau for Preparatory Course, a seminar for incoming ME freshmen.

So instead of having to write one entry each day, I decided to write a summarized account of the entire thing in a single post.

Day 1: Talks, talks talks

Basically, the PrepCourse began on a Thursday, which was coding day for my car. Hence, I had to arrive at school (now officially changing “school” to mean ADMU rather than LSGH) early enough to let my mom get the car back into the garage by 7. I arrived at around 6:40 when the call time was 7:30. Luckily for me, Froilan was also in the same situation and was just dropped off when I arrived at Leong Hall. It was raining then, but we found it fun to get ourselves lost around a drenched campus finding the block listings at Kostka Hall, only to be led by the guard to the registrar’s office back at Leong Hall. When we arrived, soon, our classmates from high school who were also in the same course and were participating in the PrepCourse as well started arriving, keeping us in the Leong foyer until we were called inside.

When we registered, we were given these thin strips of paper with our name, student number, and a phrase that made no sense. It soon occurred to us after figuring out the theme and seeing the humiliations on being emo our to-be facilitators had to endure on stage that these were lines of songs from modern artists, particularly of the punk rock genre. I forgot what my line was, but it was from a song by The Ramones and I found it difficult to search for my group as I wasn’t familiar with the song. Soon as the tumultuous search was over, we were reseated around the auditorium to be within the proximity of our new group members.

If I recall right, I believe it was also on Day 1 that we had the “Are You Smarter Than A Rockstar” quizbee, in which our group (The Ramones) swept excellently through the easy round, but got nothing right in the difficult round, compiling demerits for us and relegating us to last place after the contest XD.

Nothing much for Day 1 except for a few talks on the course and dealing with it. The Business Game was a highlight of the day, for the first part was accomplished on Day 1: the making of a guitar prototype for advertising and selling.

Day 2: Humiliation, running around, and more humiliation

So Day 2 featured less talks compared to Day 1, putting more focus on stages 2 and 3 of The Business Game which were the advertising of the prototype-product, and the selling of the product to different stations scattered around the Loyola Campus.

We thought of an advertisement concept while we were making the prototype the day before, but it was only during the break right before the presentation itself that we ironed out the fine details of the skit. It featured Fael basically as some sort of rockstar in a concert when suddenly his amp breaks, forcing him to use the Nec(k)tar (prototype, portmanteau of Necklace and Guitar, thought of only during said break) which could play without an amp and be heard throughout the entire auditorium.

Stage 3 was the selling of the prototype. We were asked to run around the college campus and draw contracts with the scattered stations agreeing on a price and quantity. The interesting thing was that these stations were “scripted consumers” - they planned their consumption behavior beforehand. In so doing, we encountered quite a range of “consumer” stations, from the stall stations (still thinking if they would buy one guitar for half a unit - they were scripted not to buy anything) to the very kuripot (the guitar cost around 19 units to make, they were only willing to buy it for 1 to 5 units each) to the very loose (3 guitars for 75 to 100 units each). One common thing they asked was for us to dance, sing, or do ridiculous things before the contract was drawn. In other occasions even, the contract would depend and vary according to our performance of their task. Quite fun, some of them - throw a snack up in the air and catch it (Gonzaga caf station), eat a mouthful of chips and recite a praise phrase for the consumer (dollhouse benches station), stand on a newspaper as a group for 60 seconds (Xavier station), etc.

We were given 300 units to start with to make our prototype, and in the end, we made around 1200+ units with all the orders we got. Unfortunately, some other groups were lucky to sell 3 units for thousands, but only probably since their prototypes were bigger.

Day 3: Mass production and The Amazing Race

Day 3 was focused on the last stage of The Business Game, which was mass production - fulfilling the consumer orders we got the day before. We were quite unlucky as both our facilitators were late, causing all other groups to begin without us. We were quite uneasy as we had to fulfill 33 orders of our guitar, and we were given only an hour and 15 minutes to finish. Fortunately, Kevin (facilitator, same high school as mine) arrived panting with our materials. We began immediately and used an assembly-line approach which proved quite effective. We were given a 5% increase in profit as recompense due to our time loss, but we managed to finish all 33 orders right on time along with the other groups.

A few talks happened also: one by their former president (a parishioner in our church), one by a former student, and one by a professor who was with us all three days taking photos and seemed to be the favorite of the facilitators. He taught ITM11 (?), a mandatory summer term on programming (?) for ME majors after freshman year.

The real highlight of the last day, and the culminating activity for PrepCourse 2008, was the Amazing Race after lunch. It was differently structured in such a way that we had a list of stations we could go to (10 in all) and we had to complete all of them first and fastest to win. The stations were great - there was a Wii Guitar Hero station at the CTC, a fruit bobbing station (had to dunk your head in a cooler filled with water and get apples with your mouth) in the Zen Garden which got us all wet, a station in SEC which took two of our members and asked us to finish another station before coming back for them, a facts quizbee station (managed by Bea, another facilitator for our group, from DLS-Zobel) outside Faura Hall which we swept by storm, a Fear Factor Drinks station and a makeover station in Xavier, a Bring ME station in the dollhouse, a karaoke station in Leong itself (didn’t make it there), an ME Life station (had to listen to stories on ME life for a time period). Forgot the other one.

After the experience, we were tired and drenched and were asked to fix up before the last part of the PrepCourse, the conferring of little awards and the closing remarks by the MEA president.

The PrepCourse was a great experience. Thanks to all who made it possible, and also to my groupmates and new friends Michelle, Pam, Bea, Fael, Jules, Chad, Camilo, Cyrill, Abby, Iya, Denise (right?), and Jenina. OrSem in a few days, see you guys there!

For the first time, MEAmore!

Revival Post: Early 2008 (Warning: Long)

Clearly yet again, school work has eaten up blogging time in its entirety during my senior and final year as a student of La Salle Green Hills. Disappointingly yet again, there have been loopholes in the Month Archive dropdown this 2008, specifically March and April, as well as in 2007, specifically July and September. I’m quite happy at least that these unannounced hiatuses did not span the length of the Great Hiatus (some term huh) of July 2004 to January 2005 (seven months!).

Excuses, excuses

I don’t want to forget about blogging. It just struck me recently that I’ve written quite a lot in this little space of mine through the years, and I don’t want to approach the 22nd of May, the date of my first post in 2004, post-less. As I browsed other blogs, it came to me that my own has become more of a benefit and companion rather than a burden. It’s kept my command of English flexible, and it’s kept a chronicle of my life during its existence. Although quite a number of posts are pointless and even shameful (as I read them years after I wrote them… what was I thinking???), they are parcels of myself.

I will tell you that I did find fourth year quite challenging, but it was manageable. I undertook it at the expense of writing here, thus I don’t have a decent documentation of my senior year. Seeing the post of the first day of classes as well as the post on graduation practices on the same page quite describes the severity. But this entry will try to recap at least the significant events, especially toward the end of senior year and the summer break that was and is.

Graduation

So basically this is as it is. Graduation. For almost 99.9% of the batch, flashbacks of their entire over-a-decade stay in LSGH started hitting them during graduation rehearsals week and graduation itself. Despite the very inappropriate ruckus on the graduation song contest’s results, the feeling was still more of the premature, wistful nostalgia that was besetting everybody. Even though the graduation ceremonies were way simpler compared to grade school’s, what made it memorable was the exuberant chanting of our song along the Benilde walkway. It was a final breath of unity, a last bond before a physical severance, without attention to the perspiration and disheveled hair while on our elaborate Barong Tagalogs and green graduation sashes.

And the summer that is

Well I was granted a Macbook Black as a graduation present with a few more props to come along with it, but I couldn’t tinker with it long enough to understand how OS X Leopard works (yes, new convert from a Windows PC) as during that time, the medalist exams and finals are impending. But then when I did get the time, I found out that it was quite easy to learn. I also observed that stuff are quite simpler (ergo faster) in Mac and Leopard, avoiding crashes and hangs almost all of the time. So there, it’s a new best friend.

BTW, Al Gore inspired me to buy Apple after seeing his compelling presentation done in Keynote.

And I’ve also been hitting the gym recently, since the last day of March. Quite hard in terms of transportation. Must learn how to commute/drive/teleport.

Fast forward fast forward to…

The sixth of May

As a few of you would know, this day is my birthday. I went to the gym that day but I planned to treat my gym buddies Leo and Andrew out to lunch afterward. The day before, Andrew called up and asked about my plans for the next day. The treat was supposed to be a surprise, but I spilled it out. He was eager to put the phone down and call Leo up.

The day came. We did the usual gym routines, but I noticed Andrew’s unusual delays. He proposed to bathe first after working out (which we don’t usually do anymore), he took long in the infirmary acquiring a medical clearance, and all he kept saying was the slowness of time.

After we finally made our way out of Ateneo to lunch, it was decided in some way that we were to eat at Kenny Rogers. To Kenny’s we went, and Andrew did nothing but move fast during parking. When he finally pushed me into the restaurant, he screamed “Surprise!”, and while I was still trying to process what it was (I kept looking and failed to recognize anything), I saw Froilan and soon, everyone else. Quite surprisingly, almost half of the class was assembled inside with a cake amidst them. I was pleasantly befuddled at the entire set-up, which explained Andrew’s eagerness to put the phone down the day before (to set the go signal to prepare the surprise), his stalling (to ensure most of the class was already at Kenny’s), and his speeding in Kenny’s (to prevent me from seeing anybody seated inside).

It was a refreshingly great experience, something that I’d never forget. Indeed one of the most memorable birthdays I’ve had, thanks to both Drew and Leo’s efforts. Love you guys.

And today

I went to Galleria after overcoming the probability that transportation would yet again forbid my attendance. I carpooled with Leo going there after gym in the morning, and after lunch, we saw Speed Racer. It was an excellent movie, both effects and plot, considering that its nature isn’t my cup of tea. Maybe I’ll make one of those formatted reviews I used to on this if I have time.

In the near future

College life is looming around the corner, and in a few weeks we’ll all be immersed in an entirely new experience. I don’t exactly know how to describe the feelings right now - getting a schedule with serious long breaks and independence, meeting new friends, going from building to building for classes (LSGH failed to train us on that), and tackling the course itself - BS Management Engineering.

The course is prestigiously known in the school, yet with this luxury comes difficulty. I’ve seen people’s schedules and classes in Ateneo never having the word “Math” in them (well at least by second semester or second year). Mine has math until fourth year and gets worse as we continue on. Of all the courses you could choose, Mark.

The Management Engineering Association (MEA), our home org and thus the org that will gladly absorb us as ME majors, has kindly prepared an extensive preparatory course pertinent only to ME students to be held during the last three days of this month. I do interpret it though as more of a foreboding and foretaste of the next four torturous years of our lives. We’ll see.

Ateneo has also prepared a more university-wide orientation seminar, the OrSem, for all of the incoming freshmen on the fifth until the seventh of June. It’s themed Liyab: Share the Passion, Share the Dream in line with the approaching Olympics. We get to understand the many facets of the school concerned with our college lives here, and more excitingly, we meet and spend the day with our blockmates, our new friends for the next two years.

I’ll try to gauge how the course will affect my life. I always see things as heavy or difficult so I may be able to deal with them better when they come, or be relieved by a misinterpretation of them, rather than having to adjust to unprecedented difficulty. And this yet again threatens the continuity of this blog.

I’ll try to write about my first ever schedule for college and the OrSem happenings as these are memorables.

The Twilight of High School

Tomorrow, Thursday, the 21st of February, 2008, marks the final academic day in our high school life. 

This whole week, there have been so many goodbyes to our teachers, and at the same time, things start rushing back into my head about the first day of fourth year, past memories, and heck, even the first day of high school. I could remember all of them vividly. It’s just quite sad to realize that, well, tomorrow’s the last day. But we have to move on. 

Reality check though: I can’t continue writing sentiments right now as I have a test on Calculus and Oedipus Rex tomorrow, so yeah. Of course, they’re lasts, too. 

ACET Results Out

The results and freshman admission decisions of the Ateneo de Manila University for school year 2008-2009 are now out. It does not require your reference number.

And as for me…

I was accepted into my first choice of degree, which is BS Management Engineering, the most prestigious course of the university (or so I’ve heard)!

Last Name: Castillo
First and Middle Name: Mark Jerome Malabanan
Status: Accepted
Course: BS ME

DLSU Entrance Exam Results Out

The results and freshman admission decisions of De La Salle University for school year 2008-2009 are now out. It will require your reference number.

And as for me…

I was accepted into my first choice of degree, which is Applied Corporate Management.

Examinee Name: Castillo, Mark Jerome Malabanan
School: La Salle Green Hills, Mandaluyong
Degree: ACM
Status: Accepted (1st Choice)

The Twilight of 2007

We are witnessing the close of the year 2007. I could vividly remember seeing a clock at 12:15 AM after we ignited our fireworks during our last New Year’s celebration, amidst the cheering and screaming of everyone in and out of the house; and now here’s 2007, staging its last few hours for us all.

Apparently I have a major entry backlog. I’m quite scandalized to see my last first day at school entry still remaining at the Recent roster. There’s been so much school stuff going on lately, and I’ve got very little time to post. But that little time is often used to gasp for air instead of post. And there’s DeviantART. I’ve noticed that it’s very hard for me to manage two things at the same time.

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Spike Bids Farewell

After six years of giving us playful company, Spike bade farewell yesterday night at half past nine.

He’s been showing signs of degeneration recently. He has become very thin, he does not eat, and he does not urinate properly. Quite recently he cannot move as actively as before.

He was being accompanied outside for his nightly walk last night. The maids took notice that he cannot anymore move when he started to kneel on the ground and sink his nails into it. They tried to help him return back to the house, but on the gates, he lay down on the ground and started to hyperventilate.

One of the maids rushed to the master bedroom to inform us of the incident. We rushed outside, only to find already his remains lying on the road. We immediately had him sent inside, and within a few moments, he was carried away by those who would send him to his final resting place.

I don’t think where he will be sent, nor the amount of farewell that the family and I have given him, is commensurate to the love and affection that he gave us in the last six years. He was there every afternoon, wagging his tail, waiting for us to arrive from school. He was a companion when we were bored or sad. He was a playmate when we had nobody to play games with. It’s a great loss, at least for me, and we didn’t even do him justice.

After he was carried off, I chose to listen to music for a while. My playlist was on random, and it played Feels Like Today by Rascal Flatts. The lyrics of the song felt like a message from Spike, a last one before he went on his way up.

Departures

Well, it’s just been a few minutes ago when both my dad and my brother left.

Dad’s leaving to serve another contract in the ship; my brother, on the other hand, is leaving for the week-long NSYL event in Tagaytay.

Good news? Silence for at least a week.