Senti Queen

Last weekend, I intimated to some friends that “tumatanda yata ako nang paurong.”  (”Ako nga rin eh,” sabi no’ng isa.) I am now in my mid-30s but I feel like I’m only in my 20s. I may think and act my age in some respects but generally, I don’t feel like this old at all. 

Well, I guess I am just a late bloomer.  There are a lot of things that I should have enjoyed and experienced before I hit my 30s. Yet I didn’t have the opportunity because I was already saddled with big responsibilities in my 20s. Or perhaps, I wasn’t able to go through the normal phases of a teenager’s life in high school.  It had all been home-school-home.  No parties. No gimmicks. No boyfriends. 

If there’s one chapter in my life that I did truly enjoy, it’s my college life! “Panalo!!!” ‘ika nga ng mga friends ko. When I entered UP Baguio for the first time, para talaga akong nakawala sa hawla! Kulang na lang, i-embrace ko si Oble with open arms din! Those were the days I learned what freedom, independence, responsibility, self-discipline, and excellence were really all about.

I felt that at that time when I was 16 to 19 years old, everything was normal at last.  I mean, I did get to enjoy and explore things a very curious teenager felt like doing or trying.  Though I kept my promise not to have a boyfriend until I graduate from college, not to give in to pressures for me to learn how to smoke, not to flunk any subject and graduate on time, I also had my share of some kalokohans sa buhay.

How could I forget our almost nightly visits to Heike Jade downing some bottles of Red Horse?  The tagayan and inuman sessions during overnights?  ‘Yong mga ka-M.U. ko na hindi naman pala?  ‘Yong mapilitan kaming matulog sa Burnham Park dahil naabutan kami ng curfew sa boarding house? ‘Yong teknik na gagawin para hindi mahalata ng driver na hindi kami nagbayad ‘pag wala kaming pera? ‘Yong paglalakad namin mula Session Road hanggang Mines View at kung saan-saan pa kahit alas onse na ng gabi?  Ang mga walang katapusang meetings at DGs (kaya nga ‘pag wala kang planner, ibig sabihin hindi ka pa “sikat”)?  At maraming-marami pang iba.

Honestly, I did learn more about life outside the classroom.  And I am just so thankful I learned it in an environment like UP Baguio.  The sub-culture in this place made me think and act more mature than my young age of 16 (to 19). Despite some influences that challenged my character and convictions, I have remained unperturbed because the people around me then are equally responsible, down-to-earth, sensible, and generally mababait. The UP Baguio campus is more than just a school.  It is a small community of people where excellence and greatness of minds, hearts, and souls reign. 

Now I know.  When I said, “tumatanda yata ako nang paurong,” I actually miss that period in my life when everything was pure bliss and close to perfection.