Finally, I Am Officially Enrolled!

Congratulations to me! I finally have finished my enrollment procedure and I am now officially back to being a full-time student. I was able to take just enough number of units for the semester. I hope I can get all remaining units in the next semester. If not, I would be extending my schooling time until the summer of 2009.

After over two weeks since start of classes, I am now ready to face the challenges of being a student. Today was my first day, and because of being a late enrollee, I had missed some of the introductory lessons. No worries though, as I can catch up anytime.

I'm what you would call really, really old returnee at the University, but it's a good thing for me to see older faces. These older faces consist of several colleagues in the past, most of whom are instructors/professors already of the school. Julian, a former officemate, is also enrolled. So, my old friends and classmates may no longer be my school companions, at least I have these wonderful people to talk in the canteen, in the college office, or just outside by the guard's quarters. *sigh* old memories coming back :-(

Now, I won't be experiencing what most old returnees encounter after taking a leave off school for a long time. Returnees often encounter this feeling of alienation because somehow, they feel like they are entering a new school for a reason that a lot of changes can be seen inside and outside. Old colleagues, old batchmates, old classmates, and old school friends are nowhere to be seen and whom you see, except from old instructors and clerks/officers, are almost complete strangers: new classmates, new friends, new buildings.

Buildings were not the same, as well as their locations. My college, for example, is now different. I'm no longer a part of the CAS family. Instead, I belong to PI. No, not the pi = 3.14159265 that you know in Mathematics. PI is Polytechnic Institute. Science, Engineering, Architecture, and Fine Arts are under PI house. It's kind of odd, yeah? I am enrolled at a University, but my course program belongs to an Institute, and not even a College? Well, I figure, we'll have to wait years before it gets elevated and accredited by PAASCU.

Apart from the old faces, the only thing that did not change is the difficulty of tracking your records. Yes, same old school. Although most of the records in the offices or colleges were now automated, by using computers and online software applications to record students' information, they were not centralized. Which means, you have to go to one office to another in order that you complete your transaction. In fact, it would take not only a day but several days before you can complete a specific transaction you entered with them. Well, at least it's not like the world we knew five years ago, like what I remember was a slooww-paced, old-fashioned, manual way of transactions.

So, here's hoping I can do better in school now than before? An old colleague from school asked me how serious I am now with my studies. Damn, I'm dead serious at graduating in the next semester or no more than the summer next year! Take it from me, an old JIRLIE who needs to prioritize things now. So, see ya at my next post!