As I write this, I can’t help but smile ear to ear because the week of my graduation turned out to be a blast I’ll never forget.
Yep, you read it right - I am now officially a proud graduate of De La Salle University with a degree in Bachelor of Arts major in Communication Arts! I graduated last June 20 with an honorable mention award for having achieved a minimum GPA of 3.000 which is so far the best accomplishment I’ve done in my life. Marching down the halls of PICC with a gigantic smile on my face as you shake hands with the chancellor to receive my hard-earned diploma was only a highlight of how awesome that week went.
Reunions, mocha frappes, celebrations, selfies, memories to cherish for a lifetime. What more could you ask for? So my dad and I returned to Manila from SG for my graduation activities on June 12, mom’s birthday. Before that, we learned that my mom was supposed to join us but for work-related reasons she couldn’t make it so there was no other choice but move on (cue sad music here). We arrived in NAIA Terminal 1 at around 9:45 PM where we were fetched by Tito Rodel, Tita Janet and my cousins Abby and Reese then headed over to their house in Cavite where we spent most of our stay in the days that followed.
The weekend was spent with mall trips, pizzas and family bonding at my grandparents’ (dad’s side) house despite the humid, intolerable weather in Cavite. June 15 marked the day of my return to my house where my mom’s side of the family currently lives in Manila. Right before I returned home, however, my Tito Dilts and I accompanied dad in renewing his driver’s license at the LTO outlet in SM Manila which was followed by a java chip frappe at Foss Coffee and lunch at Adobo Connection. Delicioso!
June 16 was my dad’s birthday but we decided to celebrate it with my mom’s side of the family instead on the 18th as it was a huge burden for him to drive back and forth from Cavite to Manila and vice versa daily. Nevertheless, it was a great day as I went to Starbucks Retiro after my dental appointment to meet up with Che who spent a month-long vacation here from Liverpool where she migrated shortly after our sixth grade graduation. Hurrah! We were exchanging delightful stories for about two hours until Nicole came from a writing assignment in the Inquirer to bond with us. A few minutes later, the three of us headed over to Bugis Singapore Street Food (as per Nicole’s suggestion) where we talked some more. Then at around 6PM, Camz finally arrived and the four of us had a merry time together over Singaporean food, travel plans in the future and France. It was great to catch up with three of my STC friends after years of not seeing with each other because of other commitments. What delighted me the most, however, was seeing them succeed in their own ways: Che with school, Camz with her diplomatic work with international embassies aside from a post-graduate degree in France, Nicole as a UAAP correspondent and Inquirer contributor. Isn’t it wonderful to see all of you be happy and accomplished?
Hold on for a second, I may be getting a little wordy as to explain why you might be falling asleep in the middle of reading this entry. No no no, how about keeping the details about what happened after June 16 short and concise as much as possible? Good, now keep on reading because I haven’t finished telling my story yet.
June 17 could be described wholly in one word: awesome. I attended the College Recognition Rites to formally receive my honorable mention medal, spent my free time with Comm Arts loves, bumped into old blockmates and friends also part of the same graduating class as mine, claimed our academic attires and took selfies of us proudly donning our “grad swag”, survived the boredom of a two-hour rehearsal in a Razon parking lot and finally capped off the day with a late night dinner at The Barn. I was supposed to order their signature beefy mushroom but there was none available anymore so I opted to order roasted chicken instead, and it was the best decision ever. Before heading home with my friends, Monzie treated us to a Magnum ice cream bar. Yummy!
The next day was just as fantastic. My dad and I along with my mom’s side of the family had lunch at Savory’s in SM San Lazaro then met up with my Ninong Georgie at Dencio’s Grill in Harbour Square for dinner. The sisig and gambas we ordered were O for outstanding for it was tasty and not greasy at all.
On Graduation Eve, my dad and I met up with his longtime friend for brunch at Aristocrat’s followed by a stroll around Robinsons Midtown before returning to Cavite. That night I was stricken with insomnia because I couldn’t sleep out of excitement as I knew I would finally call myself a college graduate in only a few hours.
Then the day arrived: June 20, 2015. PICC. Everything about that day was perfect with the exception of one thing: I forgot to pin my medal on my toga as I left it at home </3 Either way, it went everything I hoped. I felt like a rockstar when my name was called on stage to receive my diploma, there were a couple of pictures with friends, a lunch at Dampa that got us swimming in shrimps and squids and a cozy afternoon at SM Mall of Asia with my one and only squad. My meet-up with Monzie, Jeline and Mikhel at Jamba Juice and Krispy Kreme may have lasted for about four hours only but we still had a blast talking about future plans and the usual old-timers like those sweet, random nothings. We missed each other so much.
A sidenote: the great thing about DLSU’s commencement exercises is you could watch a livestream of the ceremony online which is how my mom was able to see me graduate with flying colors!
June 21 was Father’s Day slash my post-grad lunch with dad’s side of the family at this Chinese restaurant at The District plus J Co donuts for dessert at my grandparents’ house! After all these happenings, Tito Rodel and Tita Janet brought my dad and I to NAIA in the evening as our flight back to Singapore was scheduled at midnight. Boy, I really enjoyed this short trip to Manila because everything panned out smoothly plus I had so much fun bonding with family and friends.
I’ve been sending out resumes ever since I graduated two weeks ago with some of them being internships for experience. For the record, I attended two interviews the past week with another one this coming Monday. Fingers crossed, hope I finally land a job that I will love anytime soon!
Now I’m done telling my story, let’s move on to the pictures!
Lunch at Savory. It was also the first time my dad saw baby Caleb, and it was love at first sight!
I love these awesome people + dad! These photos were taken during the baccalaureate and graduation. Wish could’ve taken more photos with more people, but I’m still grateful to have keepsakes like these! Credits to the owners for some of the snapshots here.
Great to see Che, Nicole and Camz! <3 (Credits to Che)
Post-grad lunch + Father’s Day celebration!
“Pang-Vogue ito ha!” Reese remarked. Probably my new favorite photo of Abby, Reese and I. Abby’s only 12 but she’s already taller than me huhuhuhuhu =(((
Dampa for lunch on grad day with dad and Tito Dilts. Wish you were here in Manila, mom!
I love the college squad forever aka The A Team (insert Kevs and Tisha in here)
Animo Forever! Thank you Erika for this portrait (Forgive my campus pass’ presence lolz)
Bb. Pilipinas candidate number 20, Miss Candice! HAHAHA kiddin’ XD (Thanks April for this shot!)
My dream has been accomplished: to graduate with honors! Now I don’t feel bad about all those times I didn’t make the list of outstanding students back in elementary and high school. I’m more than grateful to God and my loved ones for guiding me throughout my journey.
These buttered garlic shrimps and garlic rice were so “humongous big” (quoting Bryzgalov’s infamous phrase hehe) we brought them home once we were full from eating them plus the calamares, bangus belly and veggies.
Chicken BBQ in Aristocrat’s is nothing but divine.
Tita Badet claimed my graduation photos for me last week, and here is one of me and the proudest man alive.
C and little C!
Once again, congratulations to all of the graduates! Thank you also to all those who congratulated me via Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, text and in-person. I truly appreciate each one of them *big hugs for everyone*
