Peyups

Read this article passed on to me by a co-alumnus and I must say, I was glad to see it written.

http://www.americanchronicle.com/articles/viewArticle.asp?articleID=11000

Many UP students take it for granted, the responsibility they have by being in the state university. They think that, after graduating, the rest of the country should bow low as they trek through the pot-holed streets and muddy dirt roads of the Philippines. On the contrary, there is so much they owe.

The article says that the state university mirrors what the Philippines is on a micro level. I can't help but agree. It brings me back to the days when I watch the tibaks in action and wonder, how are they doing in their classes? What are they telling their parents who break their backs in the fields to earn a the precious pesos to send them to school? In the same vein, what about the car-driving kids who hang around the lobby to see and be seen in their new threads? What do they tell their parents who think that they're getting the best education in the country?

Then they graduate and both groups are at a loss as to what to do once they've graduated. Do they go the ways of the professional activists who complain about everything and keep people from doing their jobs? Or do they join the ranks of the alleged "authorities" of the land who do nothing but flaunt their recent trips to Europe and their new Everests that cause more traffic jams by stopping every car in their wake to let them pass?

It's frustrating, to say the least, but I still believe there are a lot of them who are still in school, those who know just how much depend on them and the knowledge they can create and use. All for the country, all to make the alma matter the premiere university it once was. I wish that when UP students sing the alma matter song, they would mean it. I wish they won't just use it as a license or a badge to flaunt. "Taga-UP ako, bow to me!"

I'm watching the UAAP game against Adamson, and after leading by as much as 14 points in the first half, the UP squad is now trailing! This is classic UP: strong at the beginning, waning at the finish until eventually, the effort just dissipates. Time like these, UP students usually taunt the opposing team: "Mag pop-quiz na lang tayo!" or "Calculus, alam niyo?!" It's trash talk, but I find it laden with meaning. Since Up students can't win at sports, they'd challenge the opponents at intellectual pursuits. Times like these, I wish they'd mean it. I wish that if they do make good on those threats, they would come out on top, like they were meant to.

UP is still the best school, in my opinion, but I'm only one person. I need back-up from alumni and students of future generations to prove that assertion. I hope we all come together and seize the opportunity. It won't be easy, but it can be done.