Thesis Term Ends

And so the busiest and perhaps most critical term of mine in De La Salle University - Manila ends. Grades were alright (a not-so-impressive grade point average of 3.075), but I know I could have done much better. The coulda-woulda-shoulda questions are all over me, and I know I shouldn't be beating myself up too much, but the wasted possible-3.5s and possible-4.0s in FILDLAR (Writing and Research in Filipino - 3.0), KASPIL2 (Philippine history post-WW2 - 3.0), and TREDFOR (Theology 4 - 2.5) really crushed me. I know I shouldn't feel so bad because some other crazy and pretty shattering things happenened..

In my almost-three years in DLSU, I have heard of La Salle students being kicked out due to too many accumulated failures. Well I saw one live, and I have to say, it was heart-wrenching. My freshman friends have a classmate who's doing an engineering degree, and he has accumulated 18 units of failures - in one subject, he failed four units by just a measly 1.5 points - and therefore he's kicked out. He was crying so much at Agno (my university hang-out) and his mum was crying on the phone as well, and I felt so bad for the fella. :( I thought that perhaps his professor could have been a little more considerate considering the subject he failed with the heavy units was DIFFERENTIAL CALCULUS, and that he missed out on just 1.5 points, but it's really hard to say because as students, I suppose we're assumed to study whatever we need to for the examinations. It still doesn't take the sting off of it, and I was pretty much affected.

A lot of friends suffered heavily from professors this term. I think that for some reason, Lasallian professors were in a kill-mode this term; I was seeing friends get 8 units of failures just like that, or fail three subjects just like that - in ONE term. Amazing and heart-breaking.

It will be my final term as a university student come June, and I am excited and terrified at the same time. It is the last step; the final hurdle. Then I will either work or take up a Master's Degree. I have summer and one term to think over the next stage of my future. I can only hope - and pray - that my final term will be much like my past five-six terms: hard but fair, challenging but not mind-wrecking, and of course, exhausting but so fulfilling.

This is it. Final step before graduation! :D

Jay~