on eng501m

Truthfully, I have come to love my English class. I almost considered not pursuing my graduate studies when I found out that I was required to take the subject. I was crushed. The idea that I need to take a refresher is so retarded. It was so embarrassing. I talked to a couple of people and their rationale behind the misfortune knocked a bit of sense to me. More importantly, I was reminded that the ultimate purpose in seeking higher education is far more important than pride:

"Class, why are you taking your Master's degree," our Marketing Statistics professor asked. "Is it not because you want better and higher-paying jobs?"

"Para magka-love life," the class chorused, or at least my group did.

We are a crazy bunch. The adjective loud, in its non-flamboyant context, would best fit us. One time, I made a remark about the room being a bit warm. "Why is it so hot in here?" I asked.

"Because hot people like us have congregated inside," Pakak answered. "Gusto mo yun?"

However, I have a different set of classmates in English. I came in early on the first day of the term. I anticipated the fresh, young and hopefully, awe-inspiring faces that I will be spending fourteen meetings with. Imagine my dismay, and I will have to stop because I do not want to be mean. Saying that none of them are visually appealing or at the very least, fun, regardless if one is just being honest, is still rude.

I shared the sentiment to my friend and he said, "It's like you're in..."

"Limbo. I know," I said. "It's stressful. I'm so pressured to make sure that I get top grades just to prove to myself that I don't belong there."

While it takes me an hour or two to come up with a draft of a blog entry, the professor gives us 15 minutes to whip out an academic essay. Last week, she asked us to do a contrastive definition of fission and fusion. It was a bit challenging but it was fun. I got a 4.0, and another note to improve my penmanship. I should keep that in mind in case the world decides to go back to producing handwritten publications.

This is the upside. I get a chance to go back and re-learn the basics of writing. It is quite helpful because in my opinion, in the world that matters, grammar is still king.

I have never been this focused in class since high school and it is probably because of the general shortage in worthwhile distractions. So much for the ultimate purpose. It is saddening but I figured I would prefer someone who is rather eloquent anyway. I am kidding, of course.