My College Life at Visayas State University Tolosa

 

College life is no easy journey to walk through, that’s for sure. And mine is a little too dramatic than that. Imagine being enrolled in one of the most outstanding and globally competitive schools in the Philippines? Isn’t it a little too overwhelming? However, I have to do an affirmation that my commitment to continue in college is irrevocable. Since online learning has ended, me and my husband had to sit and talk in-depth together concerning what would be our plans to my studies, to our kids. Should I pursue what I’ve started even if it means being apart from my kids for the very first time? Or should I quit for the second time, and focus my time and attention with my kids instead? My hesitations came back, I kept on asking myself, isn’t it the right thing to do? What if I fail? What if something happens to my children because of my absence? I had to be very particular in decision-making this time because once something happens which is not part of our plan, everything will fall down all at once, including my dreams for my family. But, I ended up packing things to move into my dormitory just nearby VSU Tolosa. My husband allowed me to stay in the dormitory for it is more expensive if I will commute everyday and that would be exhausting too. I have to take 3 rides every day, from our house to Dagami proper with a 50-peso fair, from Dagami proper to Tanauan with a 40-peso fair, then from Tanauan to Tolosa with a 30-peso fair, and that would be 240 pesos for a back and forth travel per day. Actually, I tried to commute for I guess 3 days, and almost all of my husband’s salary for a week were all spent for me.

I had a hard time falling asleep every night during my first 1-2 weeks in the dorm. Why not? it’s my first to sleep alone far from family. I cried for how many nights and attended my classes with swollen eyes. I can’t buy delicious and expensive viands thinking that my children would have just eaten plain and tasteless meals. Also, I have to do a very meticulous budgeting for my allowance to reach Fridays. And I have to restrict my self from the VSU cafeteria because I don’t want the smell of the air there. I can’t take the savory smell coming from the kitchen. I may salivate badly. And it’s a good thing also that my classmates are not that extravagant when it comes to food, they are yet pennywise. I am thankful that almost all of my classmates are full grown individuals already, and we really get along together. I am comfortable with them and they treat me as “Ate” or “Nanay” in our block. At least it lightens my struggles knowing that I am not an outcast in our class. Furthermore, I am feeling the pressure of being an old curriculum student back then, I can’t relate some of the lessons that appeared to be just a recap from the lesson in Senior High School only. Computer literacy was also one of my greatest weakness and I had a hard time utilizing these various social media platforms, software, and applications software to complete and submit a task. I had to learn on how to use these modern technologies because whether I like it or not, it is part of the modern educational paradigm, unlike before during my high school days that it was just pencil-paper mode of learning.

With my rigorous attempt to learn these technological advancements, and with the aid of my classmates that served as my scaffolding, I was finally started to learn how to use an application such as powerpoint presentation, canva, capcut, etc. I was introduced to social media platforms like googlemeet and google classroom and all. This modern learning fascinates me a lot. Education really have come a long way now, it is way modestly further from what I experienced during my high school days way back in 2000. Indeed, technology makes our learning in VSU Tolosa more exciting as we do the compliance in the 21^st century learning environment. Visayas State University would surely a rocky-road ride in my next 2-year rides left as BEEd Student. But, I am optimistic enough to think that after 2 years, me and classmates will walk altogether in the aisle towards the stage, grasping the token of our endeavor- our DIPLOMA.