let's not get all dramatic now...

first day of school today (or yesterday, technically). as I emerged from my apartment and strolled along what would be my commute to class everyday, I had a realization: holy shit this is the first day of class of my last year in college. it's kinda strange when I think about it. I remember the first day of class of my first year in college (I managed to fall asleep in class already). ah that's the first and last time I take a course in astrophysics.

but aside from that reflection, I ran into an interesting (or should I say predictable) debacle in class today. so I'm enrolled in Tagalog, right? but I was one of those unfortunate souls who happened to be on the waitlist (I've made it from 11 to 9, bitches!) however, the problem is that the class was capped and thus...us unfortunate 14 were not able to take the class. so we did what any good Filipino would do (after the proper incitement from our professors): bitch and complain about what we want and how it's sOo unfair because we're brown. "it's your ball game...it's your chance to tell people how we feel...because you have a right to take a Filipino-Tagalog class if you want to...is it because of racism?"

so that all said and with the right people pissed off (some of them went so far as to "call their mamas" to give the dean some lip), the waitlisted 14 convened outside the classroom and drafted a letter explaining our woes and what we wanted, which essentially was another section for our class. we got the letter signed by everyone in the class, typed it, printed it, and marched on over to the dean's office. as expected, we were stopped by the secretary, directed towards some other guy's office, and were redirected once again. at that point it had already been 2 hours and people had to go to other classes or whatever they were up to.

my conclusion? activism leads to...not much. let's be mature about this: it ain't personal so don't try and make it that way. we only lose credibility.

"it is in the nature of us Filipinos to complain to get what we want. that is the only way to make change."
-Prof. Andersson


...and that's why the country is in constant turmoil.