kermin

... and still the only time I ever did was when I was 14, which was roughly 20 years ago. I was obviously very young, it was my first overseas trip, and the thought that I was finally going to see Disneyland – a place of my childhood fairy tales – really had me sleepless for nights.

Ten minutes after stepping into the park of my dreams, I saw (what I thought was the real) Snow White. I ran to her and spoke to her about how much I adore her. Imagine my complete shock when she spoke back – in Japanese. I turned cold and angry and called her a fake. “You’re not the real Snow White!” I screamed. I was heartbroken for months.

Thinking about it now, I thought it was very, very funny.

I spent four years of my life in U.P. Diliman. Fired up by my own parents’ inspiring theoretical and practical education in this same school, I entered U.P. While the situation my parents were in was different than the one I found when I came, there’s one thing that has not changed at all.

U.P. is still the bastion of critical thinking. I still hold the Oblation as the ultimate symbol of service and self-sacrifice for a greater good.

In U.P. I found my voice… and I still have it 15 years since I took my last undergraduate class.