Written by Gab Lagmay

To our dear freshies, if you all think that going to college is like diving into a 10-feet pool, clueless about swimming and without any salbabida on, you are wrong.

College is no pool, it is an ocean – with sharks, mermaids, mermen, mermen na naging mermaids, hipon, fishes in the sea, ex-fishes in the sea, and more. In here, you will be devoting your body and soul to pass your subjects in hopes of making it out with whatever’s left of you.

All intimidation aside, we are all happy that you’ve made it here and whether you are staying here for good, for a year, or still clueless – I’m sure the UP Manila student body will be there to help. You’re about to accomplish your first month in college and hopefully, you have figured out a thing or two by yourself already. However, just to give you a headstart, I talked to some of my fellow upperclassmen to give you a headstart for the coming years.

Here are six tips that should set you up well in UP Manila.

1. Find your zone

First in the list is to find your zone. We all understand that the UP Manila campus, more so the Rizal Hall, isn’t exactly a space haven. As you may have observed, there are limited spots us students can go to in order to just sit down comfortably and perhaps study.

The reconstruction of the Gusaling Andres Bonifacio (GAB) is posing more problems as well so it’s really up to you to find your zone. Your zone is a place, possibly outside the campus, where you can go to relax or study during your breaks.

We will have a full feature on your possible choices through the OrCom Blog Orcomida articles in the coming months but for starters, you have Cafe Valentina, Serenitea, and the good old CAS library.

2. Get organized

You may have experienced hell weeks in high school but trust me, college is a different beast. I personally survived high school without having to write a single to-do list but that didn’t really work for me come college.

For those of you who have ingrained habits already when it comes to organizing academic and org work, just keep it up and hope for the best!

On the other hand, for people who have yet to discover their healthy organizing habits, fear not. Just go get yourself a planner or a file organizer perhaps and everything will really just follow.

3. Your upperclass people won’t bite, get to know them

I cannot fully stress the importance of this tip.

One thing that you have to learn as early as now is that surviving UP Manila isn’t entirely up to you. You can always choose to ask for help and I’m assuring you that your upperclass people are more than willing to offer you assistance.

In fact, I got a lot of help from my blockmates to give this article substance so I guess that really speaks a lot about their willingness, right?

You upperclass people can do so much for you from giving you tips for classes to connecting you to the rest of the community. Do not hesitate to forge connections with them and always remember that if someone looks too intimidating, puyat lang yun.

4. Before Anything Else: Your Health

Speaking of puyat, expect college to really test your health and that is something that I can assure you. With that said, the fourth tip I have for you is to, above all, prioritize your health.

Ironic as it may sound, but yes, students studying within the vicinity of one of the country’s largest hospitals must put their health above all. Truth be told, the Philippine General Hospital won’t exactly go running after you and whether it is your physical or mental health, your body is your responsibility.

According to one of my blockmates, Sam Flores, counseling services are readily available at the old Student Center located at the third floor of the OUR. You can schedule sessions to get a better grasp on your mental health and by doing so, you will also be helping the counselors in monitoring the general mental health of the student body.

On the other hand, the PGH health services are freely accessible to students so don’t hesitate to pay them a visit because they can really help.

As for my personal tip, take your FPF PE classes seriously and always put an effort on eating properly. I personally don’t drink coffee and I don’t really sleep that late simply because that’s what I’m comfortable doing, so find your habits and be sure to be critical about them in relation to your health.

5. By all means, help each other out

As I mentioned, you always have the option of getting through college by yourself but I personally think that it would be so much more fulfilling if you do it together with the people you cherish the most. Remember that these faces, whether you like it or not, will be right there beside you through your ups and downs.

With the right effort, you can finish college with top honors and there’s nothing wrong with that, but with the right people you can finish college with a new family.

In seeking for additional words about this topic, I got one of the most beautiful statements from my friend Paolo Buted:

Don’t aim to be number one; aim for everyone to be in the top spot. It’s not a competition.

It doesn’t get any better than that.

From simply gestures of responding to questions in the group chat when you know the answer or maybe studying together with your blockmates, do it. Foster camaraderie within your group and leave no one behind.

6. Eyes on the prize

Finally, set your goals and be sure to never lose sight of them. Along the way you may have to cross out goals and realign your priorities but that’s something you shouldn’t worry much about because that’s part of the process and you have to trust it.

As my blockmate, Sam Flores, puts it:

As hard as it is, failing isn’t the end of the world. Don’t be afraid of failures and mistakes.

Somewhere in June when you seniors finally check off college in their lists, you will realize the beauty in the struggle because as they say, “only in UP can failure be synonymous with triumph.”

With that said, list down your objectives every semester whether it is to get good grades, be more active in orgs, get fitter, get into a relationship – nobody is judging you. Just keep on working towards them one day at a time.

So, there you have it! These six tips should give you a good head start on your OrCom journey so I hope you really take your time to absorb them all. There are a lot more things out there but I’m pretty sure you will be able to learn them along the way.

Before I end, I would like to give a small shoutout to Ara Maniego, Paolo Buted, Sam Flores, and Alexis Villa Juan for their valuable insights that made this article possible. For the photos, I would like to thank Ria Herrera, Anina Miguel, and the one and only Axl Ofrecio!

Stay hungry, Orcom, but don’t forget to enjoy the ride! We’ll get to meet you more in the coming months so for now, we have nothing else to say but WELCOME TO THE FAMILY, OrCom 2022!