Enrollment in UP as a Freshman

                College has passed by so fast.  It seems as if it was just yesterday when I first enrolled into the university.  I remember it as clear as day.  I was so excited that time.  I was finally going to be enrolled in UP Diliman, one of the most prestigious colleges in the country! I was going to meet new people, and maybe even the friends I would keep for the next four years. I thought nothing could go wrong that day. Well, I was wrong. Nothing in my life could have prepared me for the enrollment process UP had, and still has.

Lines.  Lines everywhere.

                Growing up in the province, I was used to my parents paying my tuition fees for me and fixing whatever it is that has to be fixed during enrollment time.  My father new a few people in the faculty so he did not have such a hard time enrolling me.  The hardest thing he probably had to do was get the money for my tuition fees.  So this spoiled little piggy had no idea what was in store for her during enrollment day.  I honestly thought that the worst that could happen was a couple of machines breaking down which would result in us waiting a while.

               

                Finally, doomsday came. Lo and behold the lines for everything was unimaginably long.  It was supposed to be a day where only freshmen could enroll.  How the heck could the university have so much freshmen?!?  To make matters worse I had to walk to different buildings in order to get everything done.  To this day  I still hope that they find a way around this.  You have no idea how much time is wasted by simply transferring to a different building just to have someone sign on your paper or tell you that the subject you wanted is not available.  Anyway, sometime during the afternoon I finally arrived in the OUR where we had to pay for my tuition fees.  Surprise, surprise, there was another line waiting for me yet again.  I felt like I was waiting for ages.  It was so hot at the waiting area, I could even see the sweat rolling off my seatmates face.  Now that I think about it, maybe those were tears of frustration. I am not that sure anymore.  By the time it was m turn to pay it felt so good to part with my money.  Never in my life had I thought I would be happy to see my money go into the hands of a total stranger and watch it disappear into a drawer full of cash of other sufferers like me.  It was my first taste of the enrollment process in UP.  A premonition of the next years to come.

              

               I thought it would not be that bad the second time since I already knew what to expect.  Guess what? I was wrong.  Always ALWAYS expect the unexpected from UPD.  The second semester was three times worse.  I could not get all the subjects I wanted in the CRS, so now I even had to line for the subjects I needed.  I had to line up for an hour or more for a single subject!!! Unfathomable.  Why do you have to line up for something that you are required to take? But as my high school religious teacher always told us “It could have been worse.” True to his word, the next enrollment was worse.  Enrollment as a ‘regular’ student is an all together different kind of hell, meant to test your patience to the utmost limit.  But that is a different story

Nicola Fionna F. Delos Santos

Source (Photos)

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