Obra Kulasa: [event] a baptism of fire for every Scholastican Mass Communication senior

Last week, I plotted a very important date on my planner:

“25 January 2012: Obra Kulasa Day, major comprehensive exam, PUBLIC SCRUTINY.”

So the last two words were not included. My planner was a tad too small.

Now that we have gone through the most stressful yet fun-filled day of 2012, memories of the past year and a half came crashing like a tidal wave.

Almost a year ago, we sat among the audience, eagerly watching, patiently sitting through as much theses presentations as we can. Then came the open forum in which everyone was pointing fingers at each other.

“Marge, itanong mo na yan!”

“Magtanong na tayo! Hala, si Ms. A…”

“Oh, Jaika! Si Ms. A, tinitingnan ka! Magtanong ka na!”

“Krista, tapusin na yan para makauwi na tayo!”

Then we laughed, forgetting that a year from that moment, we will undergo the same interrogation.

Today was extra special, not simply because we successfully passed Obra Kulasa but because we renewed all ties.

We’ve known almost each other for almost four years now, but working with this incredible team of hardworking, creative individuals makes me more excited to march with them down the aisle on Graduation Day.

My heart is filled with so much gratitude. It was an honor working with each and every one of you: Karlyne Domingo, Mary Tayag, Bancy Ricafrente, Abby Versoza, Pauleen Ciriaco, Pamela Baltazar, Yeye Ignacio, Marge Davantes, Chek Uy, Zarina Ventajar, Shaun Javier, Mau Cruz, Pat Rey Lara, Laira Ocampo, Lyan Osayta, Yannah Cruz, Andy Rivera, Pya Salvanera, Mingky Esguerra, Arianne Bucar, Ingrid Angeles, Rye Andres,  and Nesley Matamorosa

Last but certainly not, to TROPANG THESIS/HABAL-HABAL PRODUCTIONS: Janica Mary Ricote, Jaimee Calupitan, and ever-famous BFF/frenemy Jacelle Soleil Manara:

I can’t ask for anything more. I am grateful to have worked with the three of you. I am glad you are my friends!

To the Mass Communication Department of St. Scholastica’s College, Manila, THANK YOU especially to all our professors. I am so proud to have been one of your students .

And finally, to our dear thesis adviser Professor Flordeliz Abanto, THANK YOU. Sa sobrang dami ng gusto kong sabihin, I’ve become speechless. Sa send-off na lang po :D Hihihi…

Sa aming mga pamilya at kaibigan na patuloy ang pagmamahal at moral support, MARAMING SALAMAT!

To my Constant Provider, my Personal Friend, my LORD and Saviour, Jesus Christ, this is all for you!

The thing is that I have this really bad habit of staring at other people wherever I go. And I try to eavesdrop at strangers’ conversations.

I don’t mean to dip my nose into some other people’s business for that matter. It’s just that I like to observe people. To hear what’s going on.

I know it’s rude to stare or listen to strangers’ conversations. Yet you just can’t quench that insatiable thirst to create the entire picture of what’s going on in the world. 

The real world knows nothing about the perfect, little fantasies we may have.

The real world is a collage of different stories from different people who have so much to say about how they view the world in their eyes. 

I’ve gone a long way from the girl who dreams of unicorns and everything perfect to that awkward adult who tries to make her way into the world where ironies and realities are a reflection of how cruel life can be for everybody. 

Perhaps that’s why I fell in love with Development Communication. You get to meet different people with different stories. You humbly realize that there is a different world apart from yours. 

And that’s why I stare at people. Listen to their conversations. I try to put the pieces of a complicated puzzle we call life. 

Heck, it’s tough. Well, the world doesn’t really need me; there are politicians and other individuals who at least try to save the world.

Guess what? They can’t do everything for me. And more often, they won’t do anything for you at all. They’re often self-indulgent. Selfish, self-centered arses. 

From these strangers, their faces and their stories, I get my inspiration to live. To write. To work in making things better not just for myself but for everyone else around me.

I’ll just have to keep remembering that it’s rude to stare at strangers. It’s rude to eavesdrop. 

Yet my heart pulls me in to look at their faces. To listen to what they have to say about everything. 

There is beauty in realizing that you indeed learn better when you go out into the real world. Wisdom flourishes from the experiences of the world. It blossoms when you feed your heart and soul into it.

Consumed in a whirlwind thought of you.

I fall apart.

Dazed. 

Confused and amazed.

You are my mystery. 

Such wonderful feeling,

Waking up every morning,

Knowing that I have another day with you. 

Maybe not today.

Perhaps tomorrow.

Wishing I could finally be with you.