Why I love UP

I went to UP Diliman last week without really having anything to do. This is one of my spontaneity trips that I do every once in a while especially when I get stuck at home for so long. I've always wanted to visit the UP campus having read a lot of some interesting things about it in different online fora.


 I also met up with Jan Robert Go of Politics, life and, everything else who is a teaching associate in the university. He was too nice and gave me a tour around the university. Thanks Sir Rob! :)







Of all the sights-to-see in the campus, I particularly liked The Oblation, the most prominent statue in the university which depicts a man with outstretched arms symbolizing man's selfless offering of oneself to his country. Sir Rob also told me that this statue is also used to air out protests, both on the government and the society. He told me that it was even used by the LGBT who were fighting for equality by placing butterfly's wings on The Oblation's back. But most of the time, placards or streamers bearing the protests are placed around it.

A possible counterpart of The Oblation in UP is UST's Miguel de Benavidez statue which fronts the UST Main Building. However, I doubt if the priests from UST would allow us to do such things to Benavidez like the UP students would do to the Oblation.

Another thing I noticed while I was walking around the UP Oval are the different colored ribbons tied around the street posts and trees. Later on, I found out that these too were symbolism for causes. For example, the red ribbons symbolize the Anti-RH bill cause while the purple ones represent the Pro-RH bill stand. They also had yellow ribbons with red stains which represent the Anti-NoyNoy faction in the university.

An amazing thing about thisis that these ribbons do not represent the stand of the whole university's population; and in fact, represent the varied opinions of the UP community. It's quite saddening that in our university, which hailed itself as Anti-RH bill, students and some faculty cannot openly express their support for such cause. I mean, as an academic institution, universities must encourage free thinking of its students and allow expression of such. To some extent, I believe that the title "Catholic University of the Philippines" limits the academic freedom of its scholars.

I also saw a banner along the College of Arts and Letters which looked like this:

 

It's  really inspiring to see that UP is active when it comes to government issues. When you come to think of it, it is but rational that all universities would get involved in these matters.  As they are the ones that are more informed that others, they should exercise this privilege by applying what they know in such issues.

Below is a signage along the university oval. Notice the "WANTED: KAPAYAPAAN" sign and the Rizal picture with RIP letters on it. Although, there is nothing wrong in expressing one's opinions, they should also do it in the right means. These kinds of vandalism are perennial problems in UP, as Sir Rob told me. 

The campus is like a community in itself. They have a shopping center, cooperatives, bank, church, etc. As some would put it, the UP campus is like a microcosm of the Philippines. I don't really know why I am drawn to the different sari-sari stores around the campus but it's really good that UP also provide jobs to community nearby. The picture below is a shake I tasted which tasted heavenly. It's called "Autumn" and is a blend of watermelon, mango, banana and pineapple.

This is one of my favorite spots in the campus. The road is wide and the trees are just beautiful. This photo, taken at Osmena St., makes me think of the poem "Trees" by Joyce Kilmer.haha Also, this street also looked like one road in Pampanga which brings some home-y feeling to me,

Overall, I like the vibrant feeling of freedom to think and do whatever you want in UP. The vast open spaces and the rich greenery is also a refreshing sight compared to the very cramped up and polluted  Manila.

My friends and classmates would always tell me, "Bakit di ka nag-UP? Filing namin bagay ka dun.". (probably due to my liberal style of thinking) Yes, I planned on going there for college but due to some circumstance I failed to submit the UPCAT requirements on time.Boo. Nevertheless, I'll probably do my post-graduate studies there in Diliman. Maybe MA in Psychology, MA in Education or MS in Community Organizing/ Social Work. What do you think?

I love UST but there are also things that are just lovable in UP. :)

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Title: Lupang Pinangako
Artist: Aiza Seguerra
Description: One of the the singer's original compositions for Rock Rizal project by RockEd Philippines.