It’s just a little more than a week before school. I’m looking forward to being in UP again (as if I haven’t been there the past days).

Updates. My film org, UP CAST (Cinema Arts Society), failed to win the bid for the film freshmen block for the second year in a row despite gaining the highest number of FOPC (Freshmen Orientation Program Committee) points among the film orgs. The first time was really frustrating, what more a second time. Darn, darn, darn. I feel bad for the org, especially for those who worked hard this year. Well, there isn’t any feeling of contempt against any other org this year (unlike the last), but still, it can get really frustrating that after all the efforts and expectations, we don’t get the privilege we deserve, of facilitating the film block, just because of some technicalities.

My other Mass Comm org on the other hand, UP MCO (Mass Communicators Organization), got the two Mass Comm freshmen blocks it was planning to bid for. I just read an email from our chairperson and I’m really looking forward to the things that’s in store for us this coming semester.

I’ve also been doing student council work. We’re approaching crunch time in preparation for the Mass Comm freshmen week. I’m in charge of publicity and I’ve just done the layout of the event posters and streamers. I’ve also just bought a domain name and a webhost package for a Mass Comm student portal and I’m trying to fix it up now. I’ve also been doing the layout of council propaganda, with our contact details and faces in them. It can personally feel kind of awkward, as traditional politicians do the same. Some people might not sit well with the idea and might accuse us of gearing up for elections. But I believe it’s part of our job to be more visible/recognizable and reachable to our constituents and a “keep-in-touch” campaign is imperative.

I can barely wait to see everyone again in school.

My schedule this coming semester appears really loose. One three-hour class a day, from Monday to Thursday, which means I either have the entire morning or the entire afternoon off from school. If there’s one thing I lament, though, with the coming semester, it’s that all my classes are already in Mass Comm–which means, I don’t have classes in AS (Palma Hall) anymore.

I’ve always experienced a certain level of trust from my parents, which is why it takes them relatively little convincing from me to allow me to do stuff, spend vacations with friends, attend out of town semplannings, semenders, sleep-overs, night outs, going to places by myself with very little supervision and all that. I really appreciate that trust, that my parents know I can take care of myself and that I wouldn’t put myself into dangerous circumstances.

This is an offshoot of just having watched Failure to Launch, whose advanced screening I watched with Kid a few nights ago. I’m just 18, I know. But for months, I have started entertaining thoughts of starting to live by myself. I know that is an absurd idea right now, as I still have to, and I do recognize the fact that I still rely financially on my parents. The thing is, as I’ve said, all these years since grade school, I have proven to myself and to my parents that I can take care of myself well with relatively little supervision and much trust, that is why I think allowing me to live in my own place is the next step. If you just know, it’s been one of my petty frustrations that our family lives near the university, so it is impractical for me to stay in a dormitory or a boarding house. I’ve always wanted to experience that.

What I’m thinking right now, is that, once I find a job after college, I’ll move out and try to sort things out myself. But I’m not having delusions that it will all be fine right away and that I can totally be independent. I know I’ll run back home if things don’t work out. But see, it’s a challenge I’m eager to face on.

Okay. Soon enough I will realize this was easier typed out than actually done.