CHEERS FLOODED the UST campus as this year’s freshmen made their way to the Arch of the Centuries in a welcome ceremony that was repeatedly pushed back by rains, but whose spirit was salvaged by the sunny disposition of the newest members of the Thomasian community.
While graduating students who exited the Arch held balloons or paraphernalia representing their programs, the freshmen who underwent this year’s initiation rites held umbrellas as they anticipated the skies to “bless” the start of their UST journey.
The welcome walk that was supposed to take place on Aug. 6 was moved to Aug. 10, triggering expectations of yet another cancellation.
“I thought it would be cancelled again. I was like, ‘Okay, let’s just prepare,’” Sociology freshman Claire Tolete told The Flame.
On Thursday, Nature finally allowed the first year students to ritually assume the identity that many heroes, leaders, disruptors, innovators, shakers and icons worn centuries and decades before.
More than 13,000 freshmen took part in the onboarding activities, many of them in their soaked uniforms or faculty shirts as they entered the arch.
The drums of the UST Yellow Jackets boomed as the freshmen were greeted by wet roads, damp benches and the steady pitter-patter of rain.
Rain or shine
Just like in the previous years, the ROARientation became a de facto practice session for UAAP cheers.
Very few Thomasians, if at all, will be able to memorize the UST mission and vision or the names of the statues at the Main Building.
But everyone knows how to perform the iconic “Go Use,” and the ROARientation is one of the venues for learning about it, along with other chants such as “Black Gold Black White” and “Tigers Ready.”
The ROARientation also featured performances from the UST Salinggawi Dance Troupe, multimedia organization Mediartrix, theatre guild Teatro Tomasino, and choir Coro Tomasino.
While the freshmen were preoccupied with the ROARientation inside the Quadricentennial Pavilion, production staff and medical personnel stationed along España kept watch, waiting for updates as the weather threatened to delay the day’s activities.
Near the Arch, Communication junior and Central Student Council staffer Vince Matthew Henson remained at the help desk, ready to assist students despite the occasional rumble of thunder.
“If push comes to shove that another cancellation takes place, [we hope that] it would still be felt by the freshmen, that they’re welcome in UST because we are here, being their seniors, [welcoming] them with open arms,” Henson said.
The University had to adhere to the mid-day class suspension, deferring the afternoon session of the ROARientation to ensure the safety of students and event organizers. The suspension, which was announced before the freshmen entered the Arch, was in line with a Malacañang order to suspend classes at all levels.
Nonetheless, the new Thomasians proceeded to finally enter the Arch that rainy morning. The freshmen scheduled for the afternoon batch were allowed their moment, running through the iconic landmark despite the abrupt turn in the day.
Accountancy freshman Jarelle Macabe’s dream school is UST because of “how much it loves its students,” as seen in how the administration strived to celebrate its new students despite the gloomy weather.
“[The Welcome Walk] beat my expectations, actually… Rain or shine, Thomasians will always rise to the occasion and really step up when it matters the most,” Macabe told The Flame.
For College of Hospitality and Tourism Management freshman Filip Berame, crossing the Arch was enough.
“The [ROARientation program] is cancelled, but it’s still okay because becoming a Thomasian is already an achievement on its own,” Berame said.
Under different circumstances, passing through the Arch might have been a moment to slow down, take pictures and the feel of becoming a Tiger.
Instead, the freshmen learned early that not everything goes as planned when one is in college.
Sudden turns
The schedule changes caused by the inclement weather are similar to the sudden turns experienced by some of the freshmen who entered the Arch.
Civil Engineering student Gian de los Reyes is just in his first year in college, but he already knows too well how it feels to undergo shifts in priorities.
“If it was lenient in high school, well here… Like in my course, we have priorities to follow and there are some things that we need to let go [of] in order to pass.” de los Reyes said.
In the case of Tolete, the change is about pursuing what she prefers. After being encouraged by her parents to spend her senior high with numbers and formulas in the natural sciences, she now wears her college lace as a Sociology freshman, although she remains unsure where the program will take her.
“I’ve been thinking of doing humanities before… but I got into STEM because of my parents. It wasn’t fully my decision,” she said.
“And right now, I’m really glad I’m here.”
What she does know is that this uncertainty gives her room to find out.
“Nawala spark ko [no’ng grade 12]. ‘Di naman risk ngayon. (I lost my spark when I was in grade 12, This is not a risk now.) I’m still unsure right now. I know it’s (going to) help me figure it out [what I want],” she said.
Students arrive old enough to make their own choices, yet they are still too young to make sense of everything. For Tolete and the rest of this year’s freshmen, college is where they begin learning how to carry the weight of both.
Berame is learning this in the most ordinary episodes of college life. His mornings begin with getting himself out of bed in time for class. He has to resist the familiar temptation to cram and to keep track of deadlines without anyone reminding him.
While these tasks seem to be basic, it takes a steady effort to consistently stick to a disciplined routine, something Berame is prepared to carry out.
“I think that also teaches us to be responsible and [prepares] us for what’s coming,” he said.
For Journalism freshman Tomas Bermudez, the adjustment means making room for a different version of himself. He had to give up some of the leisurely activities and music that once filled his days to chase stories and beat deadlines in a field where every detail is open to scrutiny.
“I want to be able to look back four years later and say, ‘I am completely different from the person behind me.’ Maybe not completely, but different in the ways that I would like to be better,” he said.
A whole new world
Some left behind familiar classrooms. Others left the streets they knew by heart, the friends they could call without thinking and the homes they had always returned to after school.
At UST, they had to begin again.
For freshman Aleyyah Zahra Guro from the Faculty of Pharmacy, the move to Manila meant leaving behind the people and places of her formative years in Cotabato.
As a Moro Iranun student entering a Catholic university, Guro now finds herself adjusting to a more cosmopolitan setting that will allow her to see how much of home she carries with her and how much she might change along the way.
“I’m leaving behind everything — my friends, my family, my old school and specifically the environment that I [grew up in],” she said.
Berame came from a smaller school, a far cry from the 21.5 hectares of space UST holds. There are more nooks and crannies to discover and more people to meet and he is looking forward to finding his own corner in all of it.
Berame has more buildings to cross and more streets to memorize, but rather than be overwhelmed by the size of his new school, he is looking forward to making the most of the four years ahead.
Bermudez hopes that his first few months as a Journalism student will bring new experiences and learnings that will make him more confident and independent.
“I realized I was a very big fish in a very small pond, and now I have more big fishes to look up to, to learn from and to grow with,” Bermudez said.
Like other institutions, the University also has its own culture that the new Thomasians are slowly learning to inhabit.
Some of the stories they had only heard about are finally within reach.
“I hear that the workload is a lot, but I think I can handle it,” Tolete said, comparing the University’s standard 26 unit-load to the 18 units adopted by other schools.
Some of the freshmen are excited while others are anxious about what lies ahead, but one thing is for sure: More stories will unfold before them along the way.
A walk to remember
The statue of UST founder Archbishop Miguel de Benavides welcomed the freshmen who entered the Arch, his fingers pointing afterwards, as if reminding them to always aim high and to recognize the One who made their journey possible.
They have been baptized by water, quite literally, as their shoes were wet and their uniforms were damp during a welcome ceremony that looked nothing like the one they may have imagined.
There was rain on España and there were seniors waiting by the Arch, volunteers manning their posts and drums cutting through the downpour. There were also a batch of freshmen taking their first steps into a place that would eventually become familiar.
Berame had no grand words for the moment. He just walked alongside his Hospitality Leadership blockmates, energized by the fact that he had to go through a lot to get there.
“I really worked hard for and fought for this place,” Berame said.
“I’m here. I deserve it — I’m a Thomasian.” F – Mikyla Gusto and Bai Jehann Maharaynie Paz
