After a year of academic hiatus, I have decided to continue my journey as a student. But now in a more diverse place—here in Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Muntinlupa (State University of the City of Muntinlupa).
I think almost two months ago, I shared on my blog that I took an admission exam on PLMun. It was kinda late when I inquired about the said educational institution, but I am happy that they still accepted hundreds of late enrollees. A few weeks after that, a result was released, and luckily, I got accepted. Start of the misery, jk.
Our class started on August 30 and is still held online. I am quite amazed that their system is organized. The day before the class starts, everything is prepared. They already provided an institutional email to our student portal, which will be used for our online classes and other school-related stuff. Also, in our student portal, you can see the class schedules, the professors for each subject, and the codes to the Google Classroom.
Our first class is scheduled for around 7:30 am, which is too early for my body clock. I have no choice but to forcefully adjust myself and wake up early, feeling groggy. But hey, I miss this feeling where I feel annoyed when my alarm starts ringing and buzzing, wishing that the time will temporarily stop ticking just to give me an extra five minutes of sleeping time.
Our first subject is the fundamentals of programming, one of my major subjects. As usual, on the first day we need to introduce ourselves to the class. Fortunately, our prof allowed us not to open the camera. This is favorable to me because my face is not yet presentable, lol. Throughout the class introduction, I found out that the majority of the class lives on Muntinlupa, and just the two of us live outside, one from San Pedro, Laguna. My professor got surprised when he found out that I live in Bacoor, Cavite. He asked some questions like how long my travel time is and where exactly I live in Bacoor. I felt a little embarrassed with the attention, but I got through it.
For our second day, we have a schedule of face-to-face classes. Our university has a blended mode of learning where there’s a personal class once a week and online meetings for the rest of the week. So, last August 31, after a long time of studying behind the screen, I was finally able to go outside and attend a university. I left my home around 7:30 am and reached my destination after 30 minutes. The travel is kind of a hassle since I still need to ride 4 times and spend 70 pesos for the fare. Also, with the climate we have, I arrived at my destination bathing in my own sweat.
The university president is already talking in the quadrangle, welcoming the freshmen. He mentioned several things, including clubs that we can join, how lucky we are that we’re studying for free, etc. After the mini ceremony, we entered the main building where my classroom is located. It took me around 5 minutes before I found my room.
Upon entering our classroom, I saw the faces of the individuals who I only saw on our class group chat before. Since I don’t know any of them personally, I just sit somewhere else.
Our first two professors didn’t attend the class. According to rumors, we didn't yet have a professor on physical activity. While our instructor for the National Service Training Program already announced that she would not make it to the class because she was attending something important.
Knowing that, my classmates have time to talk and socialize with each other. As I observed them, I was getting anxious because I was starting to feel like an outcast. Thanks to 
I was surprised how liberated we are at that university. During the lunch break, we can freely go outside, actually ANYTIME. We can go to a mall during that time if we want to. I am not used to the freedom since, during my primary and secondary education, we were not allowed to go outside the university premises unless it was already dismissal time.
After we ate our lunch, we went back to our room and attended our next class, sitting next to my new friends.
That day passed, and my adjustment to my college journey still continued. I changed my routines and forced myself to change my unhealthy habits. I am already removing my procrastination, doing my pending work immediately, sleeping early, and taking breaks occasionally to prevent burnout.
So far, I am happy with my college environment. Just recently, I got myself some study buddies, and guess who's one of them? It's my two classmates that I approached last time. We’re forming a good bond already.
I don’t know if that’s a group study or just a Chismisan session, lol.
Anyway, thank you for reading this. This is my entry for the Week 2 contest of Hive PH.
Until next time!