A Freshman's Diary

By: Jasper Mariz Ishiwata, BA201P

Sometime last year, when I was still in 4th year high school, all of my classmates were really busy looking for a college or university where they would study. When all were busy applying for college entrance examinations and submitting credentials here and there, I was doing nothing. I thought that my mom would enroll me at Metro Manila College, the same school where I was studying.

Before our graduation, my mother told me that she could not afford to send me to college. I really felt sad that day, my dreams were shattered. But my sadness would not do me any good, so after graduation, I spent my time looking for a job. I also tried my luck in show business by doing some cameo roles for telenovelas and teleseryes like May Bukas Pa, I Love Betty La Fea, Paano Ba Ang Mangarap, etc. Though the talent fee was not that big of an amount, at least it could help me earn money to enroll myself to college.

Choosing a course was a little hard for me. When I was still in elementary, I thought of taking Medicine for college but when my grandmother told me that it would take me 10 years to finish that course, I've changed my mind. Computer Engineering was my choice when I was in Junior High School but before graduation, my career choice had changed thus I decided to take Business Administration.

Our Lady of Fatima University was the first school that I had an inquiry for my college. Unfortunately, I learned that I could not afford the tuition fees. The next thing I did was to ask a friend of mine who is studying at STI. After knowing how much would it cost me to enroll at STI, I went there and took a scholarship exam and ended up enrolling myself. I am now a college freshman, an STIer!

First day of school was very exciting because I got the chance to meet my classmates and instructors. And it became more exciting because my instructors were not boring during class discussions and they were also good in teaching.

Days passed, I tried my luck in joining this year's Mr. & Ms. STI. Fortunately, I won! I felt very lucky and the experience was very flattering. By winning Ms. STI Novaliches, I got the chance to represent my school to the Cluster Competition and with the support of all the people at STI Novaliches, I once again did it. My winning gave me the passport to further represent STI Novaliches in the National Finals. Unfortunately, I fell short of the judges' criteria. But for me, I had done my best in representing STI Novaliches and my experiences were truly remarkable.

After the night of the competition, I thought that everything would be okay but some students were putting me down and telling rumors about me. That was the time when I decided to drop-out from school. But then my classmates and instructors made me realized that these rumors were not big enough to let go of my studies, my dreams, and my future. Their encouragements and motivations made me stronger thus I decided to continue my studies.

My experiences as a freshman, even if I'm just at the middle of the road, were truly exciting and memorable. I'm really glad that my fate brought me at STI because in this school, my second home, I learned a lot of things. I believe that wherever my fate leads me in the future, I will forever carry the lessons I had and will be having as an STIer...