by Prince Thomas I. Siñel

June 2022

To my Baby Tam self, 

I know that this is your first time in college. It might be nerve-wracking, scary, fun, and exciting to you—and you might wanna have some perspectives from your gradwaiting/future self. I’m here. 

Of course, you’ll have a lot of courses, professors, and assessments that you must juggle. You’re a clown now, balancing all the balls while proving that you can put up a show. But, don’t worry because you’re performing just fine. Yeah, you might feel like giving up, or that there’s not enough time for the deadliest deadlines of simultaneous FAs and SAs, or you hate your prof, or you don’t have much physical and mental energy to do and absorb things. Take it from me: clowns can make people smile and clowns deserve all the applause and honor for what they do. 

You’ll meet a lot of good Tamaraws. You’ll have some friends who you’ll count on. Isn’t it so nice that we all have somebody who shares a big part of our Neverland? You might find them as seatmates at first or people you just like because you feel comfy whenever you talk to them. Fly like Tinkerbell or Peter Pan because FEU is your new home now. After all, we’re all just children who just wanna make our own stars while learning about what life is. And if you encounter a Captain Hook, you can always escape and run to your friends.

Explore the FEU. Our university is like the rose among leaves, the pearl in the ocean, the rainbow in the skies. Gosh, we have our own version of Rizal Park inside the campus! Maybe, you can prove with your jowa (who might turn out to be your classmate) that the lovers’ lane is especially for lovers. Make yourself comfortable in the library or auditorium (just don’t sleep!). You can rehearse your skit, just find a vacant room. Try expanding your social circle by joining organizations! By doing so, you learn about things beyond academics. It’s rebranding yourself to feel like you're a breath of fresh air. Enjoy the taste of the founding anniv! If you don’t like FLARE sessions, you’ll always find comfort in Concierto. Just don’t call that Christmas tree ‘a giant yema’ just because you think it’s ‘a giant yema’ (*whispers everyone knows it’s a giant yema). 

Years from now, you’ll definitely see your growth. You may not be a Baby Tam anymore, but you know better about yourself. You’d be a scholar, dean’s lister (even just once, it’s alright), cum laude, just a normal student, or a student with failed marks and dropped courses. In the end, you’ll know the key to the door that will lead you to a whole new world that you’ll be discovering. “Be brave” might be cliché in this environment, but your bravery will surely lead you to something good and beautiful. 

Your senior self,

Gradwaiting Tam

(Illustration by Jazmine Merry Veluya/FEU Advocate)