How to thrive inside U.P? (University of the Philippines)

Congratulations. You are now officially an isko (assuming you really are).

You may be reading this at your sophomore year, or at your final stages. Everything is clear the moment you signed up, convinced your parents that this is your way to greatness and whispered to your favorite goldfish that you have signed up for what would be a shining, shimmering ticket to a great helluvah career.

First things first: you are sure with the degree you have chosen. It may engineering, or journalism or a degree in community development. It should be clear that you are also signing up to give back to the country.

An uphill battle and nothing will be very easy for an isko who is about to partake of a walk in Jurassic Park; it is and it will be granting everybody thirsts for knowledge and belongingness. I mean this post to the one reading this because all throughout my six years (aha), I searched for what I wanted in my career and in what lies ahead.

What to expect?

Getting that UP education would mean going through the following: Deciding which degree to choose, STFAP Application, dormitory application and boarding house checking, laundry choice, where to buy groceries, church hunting, boyfriend/girlfriend adventures and so on and so forth.

STFAP Application is a test of patience.

Our batch was the very first lucky set of people to have experienced the wrath of budget misallocation and that was the Tuition and other fees increase amounting to  more than twice the usual tuition fee. But way before that, those of batches 2006 and older were still under this bracketing scheme solely basing on the income of the applicant’s parents.

UP is lucky enough to have had that ample budget to keep up with its operations and maintaining the quality of education by an average pay foundation to its professors. On your end, what you ought to do is for the very least, fight for a better bracket where you can have your parents save the most out of your education. Though professors had been furious about this pay scale compared to other four letter universities, these people believed in you and what you can do for the country. #Char

This is one tedious process where everything: Electric and water bill, land ownership, number of siblings working, even to the detail of the cellphones and appliances you own and the other properties your family own are noted. Everything has to be in black and white whether you like it or not because this university you are signing up for is State-managed university.

STFAP Application is no doubt one of the most time-consuming steps in the enrollment process but it is worth the fight and all the productive pila hours (I lined up for 3 hours just to have my photo taken). 

Student Loan

You will be faced in the midst of every end of each semester that your finances are dwindling. Your parents call you on how much is needed so you can enroll for next semester. That is life. Life makes you strong and this leads to you to this option: Student loan and it will be a good catch since you are allowed to enroll and pay utmost 20%. The Student Loan Board (SLB) is at the same building and please, don’t be afraid of the long queues because there is no other way to accomplish this.

Before anything else, you will need to accomplish the STFAP Application first or have the golden medal worn on you: Bracket A and let your hardworking parents pay the highest Php 1,500 per unit rate (which is still cheaper versus other four letter universities in U-belt). With this accomplished, you can now accomplish the SLB form. 

If you are afraid, then just to share my experience, there was not a single semester that resorting to this was not tackled. I had my own financial struggles since I started but I made it—and the same goes with you. 

UPLB has one of the coolest student body willing to help you and assist freshmen. There also is a student council body that becomes literally active during this process. 

Where to stay? 

The moment you had your name listed in the UPCAT website, I am pretty sure you have already started scouting where to stay. A simple advice would go a long way since you will be in a place where legends are to be born and you have to scrutinize the very details of your comfort room, the people you live with and the distance you would have to travel. I am not sure if you wash your own clothes or have a professional do it for you while you study. 

It boils down to choice and your financial constraints. Just make sure you choose a location that is near the market place (the one in LB crossing), photocopy center and some fast internet cafes. If you stay along grove area (which you will see later on), there are a lot of cafes which offer their services at 15 pesos to 20 pesos per hour. 

I had been a gypsy all my elbi life and I would admit that to you. I really did jump from one apartment to another to seek the better deals and comforts of my student life. Trust me, your parents will give out all the love and support to your student life granting they trust how the UP education molds you. 

I first stayed near the mosque which was a good start since my high school friend had an organization house where they were currently looking for possible housemates. It was a good place but too wooden to welcome insects and other dirt knowing how an org house operates. Honestly, living with an organization is at times noisy and sleep disruptive and when the tides go higher, you will be in petty fights over shampoo and soap thefts even underwears!

Dormitories are also available but have the most limited slots hence as early as weeks before, secure your slot at freshmen dorms which are very conducive for calisthenic activities around the freedom park. I personally stayed in MAREHA which is a dorm in the forest region (I mean this) and you will know how the dorms in this area are better in terms of the shower facilities and bed areas. The study areas in forestry dorms are well-lighted and the rural setting is conducive that you end up spending time in dream land. I mean this. 

Boarding houses are too conventional but are still the ones at the second spot. Demarces and this is the foodie place to be where you can get best deals also to where you can stay. I am sure that Micha's is still here to accommodate your craving for pastries and Sulyaw with its unlimited iced tea (never will you ever find something so economical even here in Cebu City). Going back, Demarces is a place that I've stayed and had wonderful memories here. This is a spot where it goes around a square with boarding houses here and there. Just look at how the comfort rooms can surely comfort you and how the landlady treats you. There is also a pizza store farther and a Thai restaurant which I wasn't able to visit for my entire stay. Bonitos is another area here where me and my family stayed during my graduation banquet. 

Down below will be the Raymundo gate and this is a hot spot of all kinds of students in the university. 

Raymundo

 I would say, the farther your boarding house is, or your apartment, the cheaper it is and this road here would lead you to a rather longer stretch where you can save a lot. The farther location is near the gym and is down the 7-eleven store. Milk tea shops, internet shops and the notories kwek-kweks are duly positioned to suit the rush of students craving to get a hold of a good night's sleep. Raymundo is the place to be with room for more apartments if you take the time to walk inside. 

I am hungry. 

This campus is rural in all sincerity but what keeps the folks awake are the food chains readily chained for you. Yes. Vega mall below fully illustrates all the coffee shops, and food stalls that you can choose from. There is a coffee shop at the 2nd floor where they serve the best carbonara pasta and another one at the ground floor where they serve a good speed for wifi and a hub for computer science students and those finishing their thesis (I did mine here and there are laptop sockets don't worry). 

The picture you see below is the grove area where it is the most crowded place and it serves as the junction for motorcycles (those stranded and left behind the usual route for the forestry vehicles), Kaliwa and Kanan jeepneys and all sorts of people in the campus. You would not even be surprised to see your PhD professors walking casually along the street in this area. 

Going on, the grove area has the best photocopy centers, piso-printing cafes and bakeshops which open until the wee hours for its clients. You can scout here for laundry shops along its stretch. Sulyaw, Chowking, KFC, We deliver (a silogan store) and McDonalds are just some of the food shops I enjoyed during my college years. There is also a bakeshop where they serve the famous kalamunggay bread which they serve hot for a good price. 

If you are hungry, please explore other options in this area and down the line in Robinson's place where cheaper siomai shops stand firm. See picture below for the road to the grove area from the gate perspective. We Deliver delivers affordable silogs and gives me the sensation upon remembering their cornsilog (If you are reading this ate, I so miss you na. lol). 



I will continuously update this. Stay tuned.