12-Duke (Class of '04) -- representing 24 of the most influencial people that

helped get my life back on track in one of the most important years of my life.

(ME far right, BELARMINO seated next to me, LIM dead center)

Of first-weeks-of-June gone by

FOUR YEARS AGO at this time of the year, I was preparing to attend regular classes for the first time in just over three years. My last memory of regular high school life (at the time) was of “dreaded” days not knowing my native tongue with a skin tone that made my heavy accent inexcusable for my peers back then.

I was fresh off of an emotional breakdown and therapy sessions with a clinical psychologist (which always ended up like having an argument with the guy). I was two years removed from the “battle of my life”—a battle fought in hospital rooms with IVs plugged into me.

THREE YEARS AGO at this time, I prepared for my shift from a section called Princeton to one called Duke. My junior year had gone well—not bad for my first year back in school. Finding myself was a challenge in Princeton, though; unwanted labels (like “inspiration”) were an annoying inevitability. My image was positive but based on a past I’d rather forget. Going into my senior year with Duke, I looked forward to a fresh start.

TWO YEARS AGO, college loomed, which didn’t sit too well with me. I turned down culinary school for the school I vowed never to attend (The Ateneo), a certain someone hadn’t been replying my texts for weeks, and the afterglow from the best senior year I could’ve ever hoped for was overshadowed by the reality of moving on.

My welcome to college? An orientation seminar that saw irritating upperclassmen barking at me to move faster in the rain.

A YEAR AGO was on ode to important people from my past. I was given the task of planning a video for the debut of a beloved sister from Duke (Regalado), while the then boyfriend of my favorite Duke sister (Lim) asked me to gather the rest of the group for a surprise birthday party.

Fresh off the success of a nationalistic play (para sa bayan), I was itching from having been bitten by the directing bug. After getting a blessing (of sorts) from Duke’s revered filmmaker (Belarmino), an enigma called Apak sa Damo was born with the aspirations of a few from E behind it.

TODAY—this year—if it weren’t for Lim’s birthday (Happy Birthday, Liana) Duke seems like a distant memory, and Apak has remained an enigma. But I’ve become a published writer (sort of…well, not really) with an award in my back pocket, I’m the newest writer of an independent publication (Katipunan), and my random number isn’t all that bad (66).

I’ll have to report my feelings at a later date; I’m not really sure what they are right now.