Thursday, May 08, 2008 Off to college in Manila By Dorothy Bangayan The Unlonely Planet
SCHOOL is home away from home. This is said most especially for students who are sent to Manila or abroad for college. Suddenly, these kids face a new culture and way of life, not to mention a new standard of expectations from the universities.
Perhaps, half of the worrying comes from the parents too. To give a picture of what lies ahead, a few students share their experiences and tips on surviving life Manila bound.
Finding a place to live is the first problem. Samantha Uy from Ateneo suggests an on-campus dorm for security.
For Daphne Chu, a condominium unit near the school saves time and effort. Kathleen Uy of UP Diliman suggests that a dorm will instill discipline because of the rules imposed (e.g. lights off by 9 p.m.).
Living with relatives is also a safe option but most agreed that it would not teach them independence. To sum it up, Ryan Seng of DLSU suggests that, "the first year should be spent at the dorm, getting to meet new friends, take the time to adjust and learn as much as possible about the new environment. To be further independent and to be able to grow all the more, for the second year, the student should try living in a condo."
With the sudden independence, they realized that they have taken for granted many things like having someone to cook your meals or clean up after you or a driver to bring you around.
"It's hard getting to places cause I need to commute and Manila is a huge and scary place" says Daphne. Getting along with your roommates is also an issue. In terms of budgeting, they share their own tips.
Samantha suggests "I buy what I prioritize the most first like food before buying anything else (clothes, etc) and then keep track of what I spend in a little notebook. It is also wise to just borrow books from upper-class friends because you don't really have to spend P800+ for a book that you'll only be using for 1 semester."
Ryan, on the other hand, estimates his fixed cost each day by adding all his expenses and then dividing it for the month with the amount of his total allowance.
"It gives you an idea on how much you're going to spend and need to save on a daily basis," he said.
Michelle admits that she ended up spending too much in the beginning. "My advice is to set a limit on how much you spend per week, and keep receipts to keep track of what you've bought."
In the end, everyone agrees that they all learned independence and self-reliance. They also acknowledge that there is the danger of abusing the freedom.
Responsibility is a must to keep everything together.
Expectations from their schools vary. "Schoolwork is also heavy that you sometimes end up not sleeping for days just to finish a paper," Samantha recalls.
Michele and Daphne acknowledge the faster pace of life. "Everyone seems to be on the go," Daphne laments.
Ryan, for his part, thinks that it all depends on the school and the schedule. "You could be a bum for all you want or you could take an extra load. The student controls the pace actually."
As for the lifestyle, there were different levels of culture shock. "The way of life and the parties is quite different from what I experience back at home because it is, in a way, wilder" says Samantha, adding that "I find out that drinking/smoking is just normal; almost everyone does it.
Culture shock, yes -- just knowing that people do this and that (things I might find NOT normal), says Dapne Chu. Michele admits that people would openly talk about things considered as taboo back in Davao but would say that Davao is a little like Manila in terms of parties. Kathleen recalls that coming from Davao Christian High School, she was surprised to meet a lot of atheists and homosexuals in UP. "You get exposed to people from different backgrounds. There is a wider range of thinking and beliefs."
For Ryan "Language would probably be the biggest culture shock if the province from where you came from doesn't know how to speak fluent Tagalog."
One way of adjusting to the studies and independent lifestyle is by maintaining friendships with people in common. Michele says "It wasn't a hard adjustment for me because I have many friends from Davao as well and we all learned many things together." Although they also have friends from Manila, most of them feel that they are able to relate more to friends from Davao and Cebu. For the girls, it is the fact that they have the same background and culture. For Ryan, being able to converse in "bisaya" makes him feel more at home.
In the end, do these students want to go back home? We get different answers. Samantha and Michele both want to return to Davao because of the simple and laid back lifestyle. Kathleen does not know yet but admits that the job opportunities of her course (Computer Engineering) is limited in Davao. Daphne feels that it will not make sense to go back since there are more job opportunities in Manila. And Ryan wants to stay in Manila because of the independence.
