The Other Side of the Coin

I was frowning – hesitated to enter the well-known scholars’ university, the Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila. My mother took my quivering hand and we both crossed the threshold to have my entrance examination. With an undefined feeling, I took the PLMAT and luckily passed it. I still remember that day covered with accentuation.

I never had the initiative to process my application in the mentioned university. Indeed, I was reluctant to study there. Having lived in other country and in the province, I didn’t know anything about PLM. I took my high school years in a Montessori school and I was exposed to a very different type of teaching. I had limited number of classmates per section, complete facilities and friends who were aiming for famous and private universities for college. That time, I took entrance examinations from three private universities in Metro Manila and even tried for Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University in Beppu City, Japan but was not able to make a lucky break. From then on, my mind was attached to pursuing my college degree at UST conceivably because of peer pressure.

Unexpected predicaments arrived in our family when we experienced a financial crisis because of my mother’s sudden business breakdown. My mother, our sole breadwinner, decided to entrust me into a public university which at first I barely hated the idea. I cried the day my mother told me about that. With my siblings studying at exclusive schools, I felt it was totally unfair. We even had a soft fight where we hadn’t talked for a week. With enough time of emotional healing, friends who offered solace and the realization of our current family condition, I halfheartedly accepted my mother’s offer.

The application process in PLM was really tough. It’s like passing through a needle’s hole. My address had always been a question but giving the right sort of documents, I ended up getting my test permit.

From the day I passed the test to my first day of class, I was emotionally disturbed. I still wanted to study in other university. I absolutely experienced culture shock when I had plenty of classmates whom I never expected and hardly adjusted with them. I was also complaining about the classrooms’ hotness which I didn’t experience in my previous school. Instead of wearing a jacket, I was fanning myself all throughout the school hours. It’s really grueling to adjust at first where I tended to miss what I had in high school. I even told my mother that I wanted to transfer into another school.

Day after day, everything for me was changing. I met a lot of genuine friends, enjoyed the subjects, liked the school activities, handled by good professors and given with rare academic opportunities. I was abruptly altered to a true PLMayer. I was enjoying my stay in this university which continuously molds my talents and skills.

Though PLM could not be as great as UP, as expensive as Ateneo, as stylish as La Salle, this university has what it takes to convert an ordinary college student to a respected and successful individual in any industry. In this university, I learn how to work hard not just for myself but also for my family. Only PLM gives me the opportunities I never anticipated I’ll be involved with. But this isn’t a dream anymore because this university I once hated makes everything a reality.