So I had a job. One problem down. Or so I thought. Only, ONLY, I was told that it would take THREE months to process my first paycheck. Great. I distinctly remember it was a penniless christmas, but I was with my family as always so that was a great thing.
But I am getting ahead.
The student loans
In UP, we have a thing called the loan board. At the start of every semester, you can file for a loan to cover a percentage of your tuition fees (75% of total tuition fees for undergrads; 80% for graduate students), excluding miscellaneous and other university fees. The student would decide when to pay the loan, as long as the total loan amount would be fully paid before the next registration period. Otherwise, you’ll be denied enrollment for the following semester.
I knew how it worked theoretically, but on the 2nd semester of my freshman year, and due to the fact that my employment papers were still being processed, I had to bring myself (gulp.) to apply for a student loan. Me? So yabang, ingglesera & often acting sosyalin, apply for a student loan??? Jolette, the master of almost everything (or so I think he thinks. Haha.), told me to swallow my pride, accept reality and go to vinzons.
Smiling but worried, I trekked to Vinzons to check if I would qualify for a student loan. The long queue didn’t even affect usually-cranky-i-hate-long-lines me. Beggars can’t really be choosers, and at that point, I felt like a complete beggar. When I got to the counter… Completely filled-up reg mats duly checked and assessed, check. ID picture, check. Application form duly accomplished, check. Co-guarantor, wtf??!!! I didn’t know any permanent employee of the University! Then it dawned on me: the staff! The helpful Ates! (twinkly eyes, goofy grin… sabay lakad pabalik sa law) Ate Alma at the College Secretary’s office was a God-send. She agreed to be my co-guarantor. As God and the Fates deemed it to be, I got my student loan check a few hours after I first went to Vinzons. I was alive and breathing again.
And so it was, on that fateful day, my student loan-self was born. That sem and for the following sems of my esteemed law school life, I was a happy, fully-leveraged student every semester.
Food, booze & (drunken) words
Yes, we had time to drink and be merry. (we had loves, too, thank you. Oh. And affairs too.)
Legally Blonde was a very, very welcome film that helped me explain to other friends how law school was like. Think Elle Woods. We (my blockmates & i) were Elle Woods, only the barako, typical , UP manginginom kind.
During our first week as freshmen, my blockmates and I would always go out after classes for dinner and beer, on the excuses that: (1) we had to bond. We were going to be together for the next 5 years! and (2) we all had to know each other really well. Those with the better jobs usually paid (they had to. Haha.). Afterwards, I think we went out because (3) we had no other choice. our friends outside law school were usually sloshed by the time our classes ended at 9.
From 9 in the evening until as late (err, early) as 4am, we would be trading woes about bad recitation episodes, really bad exam performances, the current political situation, law school chismis, our problems, etc., etc. Trellis and Treehouse were the usual haunts. Jolette also loved going to Canimog, until I refused to go there anymore coz they had flying ipis. I remember the guys would drink at Gulod before classes (yes, they did that) but I never got to go with them. Tapika and Katips were alternatives. When the guys discovered the beer mug and tapang usa at this place in timog, that became it. I wasn’t with them when this happened but this really cracked me up when they told me about it: one night, one of the guys had a problem so they decided to go to timog. They got really drunk that on their beer mugs (the mugs are sized like pitchers!), nag-trip sila to ask the waitress for those cocktail thingies (the fruit slice with mini-umbrella) which they put on the rims of their mugs. Then they asked for a straw and sipped their beer like a cosmo! Nice.
We also drank at our houses: at jard’s apartment, at my apartment(s), at jolaz & anna’s. During their family occasions, at mich’s and arlene’s houses. And we always, always got drunk at arlene’s family’s house in subic.
I remember with fondness (hehehe) that we would go to the videoke carinderias at The Wall (in Balara) when we had no money, just to quench our thirst & belt out a few songs after bad recitation nights. (Malen! Gloria Gaynor! Hehehe) We stopped going there though when we heard that a bar reviewee got shot because he didn’t want to share the mic with another customer. (that’s what I remember. God rest his soul.)
Our sem-enders & class parties were always excuses to get really drunk. Didit’s at Valle Verde was the favorite venue, followed by Arlene’s at Subic. but for purely personal reasons, the sem-ender that will always be at the top of my list would be the one we had in Tagaytay. (reminiscing edited for peace of mind. definitely not my mind alone. go figure.)
To those who kept the flame of dinner, beer & good conversation alive at that stage of my life, kudos: Jard, Jolette, Jolaz, Chizper, Henry, (always the late) Marlon, Ericson, Lan, Gerry, Malen and Mich (always with Spocky. Hehe. Sabit.). Luther, Alvin and Arnell were often there, but they seldom drank. (Presence counts. Haha.)
Unforgettable recitations
Every day in law school inside the classroom was h-e-l-l. especially for me who was never fully prepared: either I lacked time to finish the whole case assignment or I just really couldn’t force myself to study that day. The clammy, shaky hands and racing heart at the start of every class will never go away. From freshman year until I graduated, I was never kampante enough with what I had studied and read. Scratch that. Even while I was taking the bar, I never felt prepared.
In law school, it matters that you are seated beside friends whom you trust. Friends who will be your “TV” and “radyo” when the need arises. “TV” is when your seatmate writes down the key word or opens his/her book and points to the answer. “Radyo” happens when your seatmate whispers to you the answer, in the hope that (1) it’s the right answer and (2) you, the recitator, will be able to decipher the whisper.
However, because we will never be really prepared, visual and hearing aids aside, these happened. Believe me, they did.
Prof: After studying the whole Constitution and going back to the Preamble, what can we deduce from all of these? Mr… Mr. A?
A: Sir?
Prof: What is your answer? Don’t make me repeat my question.
A: Sir? I’m sorry, sir…
Prof: You, Mr. B?
B: Sir… that, uhm, that…
Prof: Ms. C?
C: (stands and remains silent)
Prof: Ms. D? (not me)
D: Sir, that our Constitution is the supreme law of the land.
Prof: And? But?
D: Uhmmm….
Prof: You haven’t learned anything at all aside from that? You knew that already! Mr. E?
E: (stands and looks at prof)
…… (half of the class is standing now, including me)
Prof: What? What can we deduce? We, the Filipino people… the people are what? The people are what??!!!! Mr. F!
F: The people are… uhm… The people are…
Prof: The people are supra-…. Supra what, Mr. F?
F: Sir… the people are supra…
Prof: SUPRA WHAT? SUPRA WHAT?
F: Sir… supra-man?
(mwehehehehe… Jard answered this correctly. The people are supra-constitutional. So what happened in EDSA 1 & 2 were not unconstitutional.)
Prof: Is an earthquake a fortuitous event, Mr. L?
L: Yes, sir.
Prof: Are you sure?
L: No, sir.
Prof: What? Why?
L: Sir, there are man-made earthquakes, sir.
Prof: Ha? Saan? Ms. Dumas, do you agree?
Me: Sir, I’m sorry, but I don’t agree. Earthquakes are acts of God, so they are fortuitous events.
Prof: Don’t you think earthquakes can be man-made like Mr. L says?
Me: Probably, sir, but I believe these only happen as effects of other man-made events, sir, like nuclear testing.
Prof: Nuclear testing? Bakit naman?
Me: Sir, when there are nuclear tests or other testings of bombs and armaments, when these big bombs explode, the earth will necessarily shake. So a small earthquake occurs.
Prof: Really? Define an earthquake, Ms. Dumas.
Me: Sir… uhm, an earthquake is when the earth shakes, sir, and sometimes the earth splits open.
(no shit. i said that. i really said that. i tell you, i watch too many movies.)
Prof: Why does the Supreme Court not allow the filing of this other case, Mr. M?
M: Because the law and the rules are clear sir. This is not allowed.
Prof: You know the law already. Why nga?
M: Sir, we should follow what the law says. The Supreme Court is only applying the law.
Prof: Hay naku. Ms. Dumas, why not?
Me: Sir, the law does not allow it. So this case cannot be filed.
Prof: But that is what Mr. M said… Give me a different answer.
Me: Uhm… Sir? Sir, because if the court allows cases like this to be filed, this case will just be a rehash of the first case. This will be an addition to the court dockets, sir.
Prof: What are you talking about, Ms. Dumas?
Me: The law does not allow it since this will clog the court dockets.
Prof: Huh? Why?
Me: Allowing this case to be filed will open the floodgates to the filing of more cases like this, sir.
Prof: Oh. So you’ve seen the floodgates open, Ms. Dumas?
Me: No, sir… (ngiti. ngiti. then I bow my head.)
(argh. kaasar… i remember I said these things just because I had to say something. Otherwise, that recit would have been an automatic 5.0.)
I actually have a lot of boo-boos inside the classroom. Lots more. But these two were my highest moments of glory. Smirk.
During our sophomore year, we would make fun of one of our professors for wearing the same Lacoste shirt to class every time we met. He caught us giggling over our ‘witticisms on scratch paper’ (those little notes you share with your seatmate while class is going on, where you talk about life, love, the prof & everything else in general except the topic at hand) and decided to call us for recitation though we had just had our turn.
Prof: Ms. P, what is commodatum?
P: Commodatum is… uhm, sir… (looks around and kicks me in the shin)
(I get it. I leafed through my book like mad to look for the exact definition. Found!)
P: Commodatum is when… (she reads from my book)
Prof: Amazing powers of reading, Ms. P. Ms. Dumas?
Me: Yes, sir. I agree with the definition stated by Ms. P, sir.
Prof: You’re answering a question which I haven’t asked.
(silence…)
Prof: Sit down, both of you.
(so we decided to be really good girls and listen. Then I went out to go to the ladies’ room. I felt like going out to eat fishballs at the parking lot, so I went there too. After fishballs, I realized I had been gone for a long time so I decided to get back to class. Outside the classroom, I met Jolette who had just come from another class and we got to talking.)
Prof: Ms. P, where is Ms. Dumas?
P: Sir, she had to go to the bathroom.
Prof: Really? She’s taking her own sweet time, eh?
P: Sir, I think she’s not feeling well.
Prof: Where is Mr. A? Are they both outside? Maybe they decided to go on a date! Or maybe they’re just outside the classroom!
(goes to the door, opens it, and actually finds me perched on an extra teacher’s desk in the hallway, talking to jolette!)
Prof: Ms. Dumas! You can tell me if you really don’t want to attend my class!
Me: Sir, I’m sorry. I just had to go to the bathroom because I wasn’t feeling well.
Prof: Oh. So you’re getting yourself cured now by hanging around the hallways. Good. Take your time, take your time… Until you feel better.
Me: (very embarassed. Very sorry. And very, very, very scared…) Sir, I deeply apologize sir…
(I run to the room, sit down, and I don’t even dare look at the prof’s direction until classes end.)
For that episode, I paid dearly. I had better recitations than Ms. P (yes, you, you know who you are!) and got higher exam grades. At the end of the semester, Ms. P got a 1.5, the rest of the class had grades ranging from 1.25 to 2.0, and I got a 2.5. At least he didn’t forcibly drop me from his class for my misdemeanor, which he could have done. Professors are gods immortal.
Arlene, Mich, Lumen, Pearl and Lyne (and those whom I was near enough to see or hear from UP Law Classes 2004E & 2005E): for being the best tv guides and radio announcers, thanks. These sablay moments were mine, and are mine alone to bear. Mea culpa.
