Written by Kiko Demigilio

First day in college—a fresh start and how exciting it was!

The 5-month break had flown past, and as I was thinking about what my first day would be like, I realized I was nervous—nervous that maybe my college blockmates wouldn’t be my kind of crowd. Maybe they were too serious about school or maybe they were to walwal—all these question popped into my head the night before my first day.

There I was walking with my roommate to the CAS parking lot. I was anxious to meet all my new blockmates (I had only met a few during the campus tour and block lunch), and when I got there, I was pleasantly surprised that they greeted me as if they had known me since long ago. “Hey Kiko, how was the your last few weeks of summer?”—That one small question made me think, “Hey, looks like this is going to be be a fun year.”

We proceeded to the GSP hall, and there we were given a feel of what the UP life ahead of us would be like (SEND HELP!!). On the serious note, I felt that UP was the place to be since freedom was encouraged and we could do whatever we wanted. Heck, there was even a mini-rally—if you could call it that. I was shocked because these types of stuff never happen in my previous school.

We ended the orientation with the UP alma mater—which none of us knew (UNTIL NOW HAHAHA). Nonetheless, I think that’s when our block started to bond; that moment when we all silently agreed to pretend to know the alma mater.

The orientation ended around 12:00 pm. Since our class next class was at 1:00 pm, we decided to have our first block lunch (WOOOO BONDING). This is the moment we truly became a block—not just people from the same course but ONE UNITED BLOCK. We were having fun, sharing stories, and genuinely enjoying each other’s company.

Let’s just say that this block is something else, and I guess we’ll see what’s in store for all of us.