Turiano, Benvictor John P.

October 09,

2014
College of Engineering / BS Mechanical Engineering
Narrative Essay
2014 77413

Eng 1

WFR1

Ben Meets U.P. Diliman

Entering college is offbeat. Different from entering grade school and high
school. There is this strange feeling that I must think more mature than I was in
high school. I had my pre-enlistment online last summer and only got a few
subjects so I had to have advance registration in June and enlistment of the other
needed subjects.
On the day of registration, my mother and I had a hard time finding places
like OUR and Health Center because it was just our first time here in UP. It took us
about 30 minutes to find the Health Center where I had my medical. It didnt
consume much time because my medical was smooth. Then the next day, we went
to the Office of the University Registrar to submit the needed forms and stuffs. It
was still early about 10 am when I got my number, it was 347. I was shocked when
I saw that the line was so heavy. I didnt have any choice but to fall in line.
When I was waiting for my number to be called, I did not realize that I fell
asleep for more than an hour. The girl sitting next to me woke me up and it was so
embarrassing that my saliva was all over my face. It was epic. After about 4 hours
of waiting, my number was finally called. It was almost 3 pm when I was able to
submit the all-important files and stuffs. Then I had my advanced registration at
the 3rd floor of O.U.R., another 30 minutes was consumed waiting. After that, we
finally went home.
We went back here in Manila the week before the 1 st day of classes. I was
excited to meet new friends from all over the Philippines and to experience the
dorm here in UP. This is actually my 5th year to experience being a dormer. I feel
really happy when I found out that the policies here in Kalayaan dormitory is much
more loose compared to the very strict policies the all boys dormitory back when I

was in high school. I was also happy when I noticed that the comfort rooms were
restructured. The comfort rooms were like a better place to sleep than in our
rooms.
At the start of classes, there were these feelings of nervousness, curiosity,
fear, and excitement. Though I was in some sort of culture shock, the feeling of
coolness bearing the UP Pride overpowered my emotions. I saw swag on every
people wearing any UP shirt, jacket or even only I.D. I was also amazed on the
freedom the University gives to its scholars in regards to the dress code while in
classes. We are given the freedom to wear what we want. This experience in my
life changed the way I think. Deeper thoughts come in my mind like curiosity about
future life making me think more mature.
Just like in love, moving on from high school life to college life takes time. It
needs time for us to cope up with the surroundings and to adapt. There are fewer
subjects and more free time but I feel more pressure, maybe because college
expectation is a different thing. College feels. Welcome to college Ben, welcome to
U.P. Diliman.