And you guys thought I’ll be posting all about my experiences on the colleges and universities I’ve visited for my application purposes. You are so dead wrong. I’ll be bringing you now from here to overseas now that I’ll be sharing you my wonderful experience on two of the top universities in the United States where I actually wet there. For a while, I’ll be momentarily not tell about my adventures in USTE and DLSU.

Back in the Spring of 2002, my mom went back to the Philippines to attend to my grandfather’s funeral (which we the 4 Habitan siblings are unable to attend due to the circumstances) and left us in our apartment in the care of a Filipina friend of my mom’s co-worker in the World Bank (who is also a Filipina). She was very nice to us and was able to bear our behavior.

One time, we went into this place where our caretaker had many friends. She thought it’ll be a good experience for us to visit this place. Jorge and Kuya didn’t bother to come with us so it was only me, Ate Jade, and the caretaker. We took a subway near our place (West Falls Church Station, Orange Line from Vienna/Fairfax/GMU to New Carrolton, MD) and arrived at the Judiciary Square Station (I can’t exactly recall the exact station but CUA is located in Michigan Avenue). We went inside the campus and was verty much surprised on what it exactly looks ike.

thye campus is very large with a lot a greenery and stone buildings. Of course, there’s this big church (one of the largest churches in the DC area) with a dome which looks like a synagogue dome because of the way it was painted, it is The National Basilica of the Immaculate Concepcion. there was also a nearby convent/monastery where we encountered nuns in one of their prayer sessions.

Since the place is pretty huge, it didn’t really took us long to have our feet get tired. So we went into this place insde the campus where there was a cafeteria and a nearby bookstore. We bought some rosaries which we had them blessed (iwhere i will be using one of the rosaries we bought by the time i enrolled into SJA), and ate some snacks. It’s also good to saee some fellow kababayans since it’s a rarity to see one.

i can’t really recall on what happend to us during our visit to the Cathloic University of America. The reason for that i guess is that during that time, the weather is pretty much gloomy so i was felling with the weather.

to learn about CUA, go to: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catholic_University_of_America
(coming soon: Writer’s workshop in GMU)
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Clarification: We were accompanied by family friend tita Santi.
We just came out from the MCI Center after watching Disney On Ice.
We visited the “tianggihan” at Union Station
I was with Ate plus bunso. Kuya left behind
after union we went to CUA

Nung huling linggo ng August 2006 ay ang huling pag-ere ng ABS-CBN ng pinakmamahal kong drama series tuwing weekends, ang The Wedding kung saan tinatalakay ang talambuhay ng dalawang tao at ang buhay kasal nila. Sayang nga lang at hindi ako nakakuha ng pagkakataong panoorin iyon kasi ang mismong araw ding yon ay ang Entrance exam ko para sa UP.

sa totoo nga lang, dream school ko ang Pamantasan ng Pilipinas kasi doon ko pangarap kumuha ng kursong Fine Arts at maging Iskolar ng Bayan. Lalo  pa nga’t may utang na loob ako sa UP dahil ang mga interns nila ang tumulong sa’kin nung nagspi-Speech Therapy ako noon sa UP Manila noong 4 years old ako [galing lang kasi ako noon sa isang operasyon noon kung saan pinaikli ang dila ko na abnormally longer than usual] kaya nga lang ang naging resulta ay ang pagiging daldalaero ko kung nagkakataon.

Anyway, so 4 in the morning ako gumising, handa na ang mga gamit ko, dala ko rin ang mga necessary forms ko. ready na rin magulang ko kaya mga around five eh umalis na kami kaagd at tumungo na sa UP by way of EDSA den Quezon Circle then into the UP Diliman Campus. Papunta pa lang ako sa building kung saan makikita ang Oblation statue ni Fernando Poe Sr eh nagkalinya na ang mga sangkatutak na kotse, buti na lang at umabot kami sa UP ng maaga kaya nakaiwas kami sa matinding traffic jam. Nagpark ang sasakyan namin sa isang sulok malapit sa isang daan patungong P{alma Hall. Sinamahan na ako ng mommy ko na UP alumni at dating Dean’s Lister patungong Engineering Office, nadaanan namin ang Palma Hall at maraming mga batang nakalinya at naghihintay nang magtake ng exam. across the road kami kaya nga lang pagkatawid namin may dumarating na saskyang mukhang nagnmamadali. Nagalit ang mommy ko at sinabi niyang :TUMIGIL KA!, sabay labay ang kamay niya at gumawa ng stop sign, lumiyab ang mommy ko at nagpakita ng kakaibang aura. Lumaglab ang kanyang mga mata at deretso tingin niya sa driver ng sasakyang malapit nang bumunggo sa amin. Napatigil niya ang saskayan, GALING!

Sabi ko sa kanya “mommy, Taray powers niyo effective talaga, maasahan!”, Hirit ng mommy ko “Ako pa!”. Nagmamadali na kami at sabi ko sa mamommy ko na “Ma, baka laigaw tayo, alam niyo pa ba ang patungong Engineering?”, Hirit uli niya ” Ako pa dito ako nag-aral”. hehehehe talaga naman si mommy!

Well, nanadyan na ako sa EO, papasok na ang mga examinees at pinawish ko magulang ko nang luck sa akin. Supposed to be magkikita kami ni Jeeunice sa EO kasi sa parehong building at oras kami eh kaso napunta siya sa isang room sa ikalawang palapag kaya pala hindi kami nagkita.

nagtake ako nang exam, dala ko ang mga necessities ko, pagkian, inumin , pantasa at lapis. Tuminig rin ako around the room at mukhang wala akong nakita mga taong pamilyar ang mukha sa akin,except sa mga ilan na nagmumukhang mga kasamahan ko dati sa MSA sa makait branch. feeling ko kaya kong sagutin lahat kaya sagot ako ng sagot kaso di ko yata nasa isip ang pagiging right-minus wrong system ng UPCAT kaya hay, di ko sure nung sumunod na buwan ko papasa ako lao nat kakailangain ko pang magtake ng talent test (supposed to be pero di ko na tinuloy).

Ang akala ko super tagal na pagsusulit, naramdamankong parang mga 1 hours lang ang lumipas kasi parang talagang ang bilis at napakadali talaga ng mga eksamen promise!

Months after i took the UPCAT,di ako sure kung papapsa ako sa UP pero since Fine Arts ang inaplayan ko, siguro may pag-asa pa ako kasi sa FA, nagrrequire ito nang isang talent test para sigureaduhing may talento nga sa pagguhit at pagpinta. kaya ko nga naman, bakit hindi?

Nagulat na lang ako’t lumuha noong naalaman kong sa pagkatanggap ko ng admissions letter mulasa UP ang kinahihintatnan ng aking pagsusulit: Hindi ako nakapasa, doblara, wala,; by avergae, mga 9.78 plus ako over0-all 9.8, ilang puntos pababa na lang ay matatangap ako. ewan ok nga lang sa sistema nila dyan, kung ang ratio nang mga papasa ay mga below 9.4 or 9.5, kawawa naman siguro ang ibang lumagpas sa 9.5 na status quo.

Pero teka lang, hindi ba hindi quota course ang Fine Arts? Bakit naman ako hindi nakapasa, siguro kasi di pa lumalamang doon ang pagkuha ko ng Talent Test. Kung tumuloy sana ako sa talent test, eh pasado ako, kaso ewan ko, nawalan na yata ako nang pag-asa sa UP kasifeeling ko rin, hindi rin naman tatanggapin ng mga FA professors ng Up ang mga ipapakita ko sa kanilang mga art portfolio ko, considering hand-drawn ang kaya kong gawin at malimit lang ako gumawa ng mga potraits (ang pinakamagandang portrait siguro na ginawa ko ay ang potrait ko kay Laudale dati kaso niwala ni Sir Rivera kaya hindi na muli nakita.

Oh well, at least naranasan ko kahit isang araw ang pagiging aspiring Iskolar ng Bayan, sayang nga lang at hindi ko makikita ang mga sikat na UP students na nag-aaral pa doon gaya nina Patricia Evangelista ng y-Speak at ang mga UP Maroons na napapanood ko sa UAAP via studio 23 like Marvin Cruz (siya lang kilala ko doon kasi siya lang ang madalang marecognize at member siya ngayon ng National Team na sasabak sa SEABA at hopefully sa Olympics sa Beijing at sa Harbour Center ng PBL).

At least, mommy ko naranasan nang maging UP Iskolar ng Bayan pero paano na iyon, bumigo na rin ako sa pagtangka na pumasok sa premyadong pamantasang iyon? May susuond pa bang Habitan na magtatangka uli ang imposible? ABANGAN!

The University of teh East is probably the nearest respected educational instituition from my place in terms of distance. it’s only worth 2 short jeepney rides, Polo-Sangandaan and Malabon-Monumento via Sangandaan.

I wnet there when i heard that UE is now conducting entrance tests from january up until this summer. i tok the opportunity quickly especially that it is our winter break (that was early January of this year).

I already have an exisiting application form from UE, i have the necessary documents needed upon taking my test and i have inquired with the schedule of the tests with he UE admissions office.

when stopped into one of their gates, i walkked a few blocks back towards University Hills Subdivison which lies next to the main entrance of the University. UE’s location is not really a good one, considering it is near the PNR railroad tracks with squatter colonies existing from left and right (except on the tracks north of Samson since they were cleared away).

In fronty were several establishments, from internet cafes, to notary publics, to plain carinderias.

Just when i went in, the guard stopped me and interrogated me irst, demanding my purpose inside. i told him what i need and he let me in. sure, he let me inside the campus but hwere in the heck should i find the admissions office. now right next in the UE chapel is UE parking lot where i saw many students flocking into their cars, driven by themselves (oooh sosyal ha?).

Okay now there’s this walkway which i took and just ingore passing students who are looking at me. then of course i need to go somewhere so i saw two students individually and asked them where i can find the admissions, they told me to go right from the walkway and left again and there you have it!

okay, I’m now at admissions, i went to the lady at front and said to her “hi, i would like to take an entrance test please?”. sort of like in a fastfood resto. she ask for the requirements needed and so i gave it to her. not long after that, she ask me and two other guys to follow her so we could embark on a short tour around the university. As the young enthusiastic documentarist, i luckily brought along with me my wonderful digicam with its video-imaging recording skills to take shots around the campus for my ongoing movie project.

one of the new buildings was the Tan yabn Kee building which replaced one of UE’s old buildings and now house several UE colleges with Fine Arts at the fifth floor.

I took the exam at one of its builfding with the two other guys, it was like an aptitude test so i found it easy. not long after that, the results are out with the help of its answer-reading machine, and the result of my test…..*drum roll please*…………..I PASSED!

i got the necessary grade from the test but since i’m applying for Fine Arts, i’m required to take a talent test at the Tan Yan Kee Bldg at past noon. It was around 11 in the moring so i asked if i can take the test later that day. “OK” they sid but i have to w8 til noon and bring with me some necessary materials needed. so i went out the campus to buy cartolina and when i brought one back, i forgot to xerox one of my documents so i went out again, i looked for place where i could photocopy my documents. so okey, i had them all in all so since it is still early, i had lunch at the Jolibee branch in Sangandaan, i went back and was directed to go to the Tan Yan Kee bldg. thye trail there is long so i get to sight see he whole campus, it is very wide, enough for the UE to have its own soccer team.

The dean’s office was closed so i have to wait for an hour for them to open again so i hang out at the building’s stairs. it wasn’t really a good idea since i’ve encountered passing FA students walking and climbing the stairs so i just have to blend in even if i dont even wear their uniforms. i ahd my CD player with me and so for an hour, i listened to all 10 tracks of this CD.

later the dean’s office was open, took up their talent test and it was to sketch this object presented to me. whne i was done with that, they told me it’ll be sent to the dean of fine arts and it will be his decision if i pass the test altogether.

a few months later (around march really), i got a letter from Ue and it says there thatniw as accpeted,. it also sopwedmy grade in my super easy entrance test that i took and later it read there that i can now apply to UE Caloocan this April.

Unfortunately, i didn’t since I have alreayd reserved my slot in the College of Saint Benilde.

UE Caloocan’s potnetial loss is DLS-CSB’s latest gain.

but i’ll never forget UE since it has for a day a part of my life.

Kuha ko sa mga ten-something Albertans na pumunta sa reunion noong March 29

PIcs i took and pics my parents took last March 24th, 2007 Saturday