Read my rant

*for the last column of Reveille, the Weekly Sillimanian

This will not be a sappy farewell column after four years of getting published, which I am quite tempted to do given the pathetic emo state I’m in at the fact that I’m nearing graduation this October.

Instead, I give you this list of rants/opinions/pieces of advice that have been littering my brain in my five years of college.

1. There are some teachers that make me wonder how in the world they ever got hired by Silliman in the first place. Teachers who do not have substance behind their poses of competency, who outwardly flaunt preference for male or female students, who give second-rate examinations, who are such sticklers for attendance but give haphazard lessons. I am sure you can add your own complaints to this.

And what’s worse, I get the feeling no one is doing anything about it. Does anyone get fired from incompetence? Has anyone ever been? I don’t even know if the student evaluations work. Because come enrolment time, the crappy teachers are still there. Most students already know which ones to steer clear of, which give high grades to guys, and which are strict but have no right to be.

2. Most, but definitely not all, of my teachers are alright. But in my case, I have four I won’t forget.

I was a sophomore when I took up Ma’am Redillas’ (now Nacua) Philippine Constitution class. She was a law student at that time, but she came to class every session even during their midterms, and she made our textbook seem like a breeze. She made me want to study law, that’s how good she was.

Next is Ma’am Acedo who exerted the effort of flooding us with information on development communication that we really learned from the subject. I remember reading those, with orange highlighter in hand, and finding out the proper ways to cover corruption, to interview, to find sources. I still have two folders full of her notes in my bedroom drawer.

Third is Sir Jumuad whose logic class I took this summer. He memorized most of his lessons (or all of them I think), and got the class to do board work, interact and actually study in advance to be able to answer his surprise questions. I hate math and equations, but I loved logic because of him.

And last is Sir Casocot whose EL33 class changed my life. He organized the LitCritters Dumaguete too, among his many other contributions to the university, and it proved that there are still teachers who care. Without him, I’d never have been part of the National Writers Workshop; without him, I’d never even have the guts to think I am a writer.

Take these teachers’ classes. You’ll get far more than high grades.

3. Dorm life was interesting. I learned Bisaya there. I met people, most of whose names I have already unfortunately forgotten. But I suggest that you only do it on your first and second years. The moment you’re a junior, head out.

4. Apply for the Japan exchange scholarship. Apply for any scholarship so you’ll get out of a rut and learn new things.

5. As someone who has never attempted to enter it, I humbly opine that elections bring out the worst in student politics. To the higher ups, do you really think the student government over the years is simply just the student government? It is more or less a miniature replica of the politics we have in the national scale. And just think, it’s happening in most universities too. Students still can’t sit in. If my moments covering the city council sessions (how come the city government lets people in and our SG won’t?) have taught me anything, it is that too much politics waste people’s time. Samok man gud.

6. Last Friday, SolarGeneration-Pilipinas Visayas Chapter went to NORSU to inform more people about renewable energy. Afterwards, the students were invited to watch clips about it. Note the word “invited.” Meaning those who were interested and have free time. There was a decent turnout, almost a classroom-full. Compare that to Sillimanians who can only fill a classroom for seminars and workshops if it is required or will garner points for their organizations.

7. I truly, truly think that Silliman's imminent, possible, inevitable (perhaps partial) implementation of a dress code policy is heartbreaking. It’s like my semi-hypocritical elementary all-girls Catholic school all over again. Sheesh. I am so glad I’m graduating.

8. Since we are on the subject of confessions, I also truly think Miss Masscom did not deserve to just be second-runner up. She got all the speaking awards, except for Darling of the Press, after all. Honestly, bale wala nalang diay ang brains ron? Heaven forbid the Miss Silliman Pageant morph into just a better publicized Miss Dumaguete. Sorry, we at MassCom still haven’t recovered. And I also think Yumi deserved a title. I am not the only one who was shocked.

This list could go on and on. I am sorry if I offended anyone, but that’s life. We can’t all please everyone else.

Leaving Silliman is something I look forward to and fret over. But whatever rants/opinions/pieces of advice I learn from this point onwards, Reveille will no longer be there. I wish you all the best of luck. Signing off.