Ang Probinsyano

Photo c/o wikipedia.org

46 years ago today, I arrived in Manila to start my second year of collegiate studies. Actually, I really wanted to study Agribusiness at the University of Philippines in Los Banos, perhaps as a result of growing up in my grandparent's farm. But due to financial constraints I passed the UPCAT but wasn't able to study at UPLB, and instead took a semester of preparatory Engineering at the Southern City Colleges, and another semester in Liberal Arts at the Zamboanga State College. That is probably the biggest failure I have in my entire life, the inability to study at UPLB to pursue my dreams. After my first collegiate year in the City of Flowers, I was ready to conquer the big, bad city, Manila. I was exposed to all the positive and negative aspects of big city life! My education was not just confined inside the campus. It was further expanded and enriched in the streets, nooks and crannies of the city that was eventually incorporated into Metro Manila. At one point, there were 12-million other students living and learning from the city. Yes students! All of us were learning how to cope and live in an ever changing world. It has been a roller-coaster ride until July 2008 when I had to leave for Aotearoa New Zealand, and that is another story!