Rambulan na!
It's that time of the semester again wherein we battle our way for our perfect and worry-free schedule. CRS, being a discriminative bitch, gives its priority to the freshmen and graduates this time. We sophomores are now second-class students receiving no royal treatment from the CRS team. Only a blessed few slip through the cracks and get lucky with the CRS bonanza. Hence, almost everyone's schedule is crap, crap, crap. The idealism of having the kick-ass professors and relaxed schedule is thrown away right after three batch runs and the desperation kicks in as soon as pre-rog season is on.
When I was a freshman, I thought I was already really "hardcore" in having to prerog subjects and begging professors for subjects but really, this semester has proven to be the worst. You know, people really complain about this whole process in UP when it comes to registration but nobody really cares to explain why it is so. I'll try my best to share first-hand and second-hand experiences people have encountered these past three days. (Yes, we re-lived hell for three consecutive days)
- Having only 9 units when most classes have already closed. There was also a rule at that time that you cannot validate when you are under loaded so the pressure is multiplied to infinity.
- Could not validate because you lack ONE freakin’ unit.
- By 10 am, you're already K.O. Your method of driving is already called the, "swerve and shoot"!
- You wake up early to line up for the Econ 101 class to pre-rog and after waiting they tell you that you need your class cards from pre-requisites. BUT OH MY GULAY, you left your class cards at home. Malas mo, ineng!
- GE’s open, but they’re all AH’s. What in the world? But you’ve finished up all your AH’s! Spend more hours finding the SSP and MST subject.
- You are told to go to BA at 9am; you go there by 7 am. You line up and the girl finally shows by 9 am. You wait for an hour only to have her come back and tell you that you’ve got to come back at 1pm. When you come back at 1pm, she tells you to come back at 4pm. And when you come back at 4pm, you wait for another hour or so for your turn to only be presented with a crappier schedule that you’ve already started with.
- The college takes away and over-nights your Form 5A and won’t release it till 9am the next day. And you wonder, how the hell am I going to get the damn GE when people start camping out at 5:30 am?!
- You try to get a free elective but end up with a combo elective which makes your supposedly “lighter” sem heavier totalling to a whopping 20 units from the measly 15 you were aiming for. Congrats.
- Waiting for an hour just to only have a secretary stamp your Form 5A for only ONE SUBJECT.
- Waiting in line for three hours to have you paper validated. It’s not only that. When you start filling up your form 5, your hands are shaky and sweaty as you try to write as neatly as you could.
- You use up the whole day trying to get your Form 5 A released because they’ve suddenly decided you’re under-assessed (which is not even your fault) so you’ve suddenly turned your GE-hunting day to paying my under-assessment mistake by the school.
- Lining up in a subject since 7 am and when hours have passed and you are three persons away from being next, the slots are gone. Sigh.
- Finding the professor who has promised you a slot the day before and coming back only to find him saying no to you. Oh my momma, what do you expect?
- Literally pushing your way to get that Stat class. Take note. Pushing and waving your Form 5A about. Not in an organized line method but in a Wowowee mode. Wild!
- It’s 5:45 pm and you still haven’t eaten that day and you’ve just been to every single building in the campus and you’ve seen all the faces of the people you’ve seen (classmates that go way back first sem) and never seen (people that you’ve wanted to see but never did) through out your whole year in the campus.
Of course to every disaster, there are inspirational stories.
- First batch run, accepted in all classes. (Oo AE, ikaw to. Mamatay ka.)
- Arriving in UP by 5 am to get that Math 2 subject. Good job, you’ve got a rare-find. AN MST!
- New Env Sci 1 section opens, good job! You’re there.
- Seeing your crush walking. Woot woot.
- Econ 101 under Canlas, you’ve got it! Thanks to a nice love-letter written by your Math prof stating that yes, you did pass Math 17, even with flying colors. Woot woot.
- Seeing your crush walking and filling up papers. YES BABY. :>
- Texts from other people suffering too. HAHA. That’s so inspirational. You’re not alone!
Pre-rogging brings out the animal in you. So here are so helpful tips for the next semester. (If they decide the stay with the method they use for this semester or totally freakin' kill us by making a new scheme next sem)
- Never allow the competition get to the prey first (every minute is precious and every slot is gold).
- You must be part of a pack. (Each one of you would be playing a key role in waiting in lines for hours or would give hints on where to find slots for subjects)
- You must always stay alert. (Keep your eyes peeled and ears open for last minute tips and instructions. Listen to other students converse. They might know about a subject you don’t know about.)
- Use your animal instincts. (When you feel the need to run, RUN! If you think that you're better off in another line, go for it. Just make sure you make the right decisions).
- Never give up. (SUDDENLY, it all becomes so clear…NOT.)
Lastly, let me present you with my hard work. I enlisted not only for myself but for Alin too. Woot woot, I pre-rogged for two. Thanks to all of my friends (Teresa, Lui, Chase, Kalaw and Andrew Y, etc [lahat nang nakausap ko, drinamahan ko, pinasakay sa kotse ko at kung ano pa].) for the help, moral support and woot woot powers. :)
Do leave comments if you know anything about my professors. THANKS. :)