Now that High School is over I am out of the ghetto and into the pleasantville-esque suburbia of Irvine. It's quite a different experience. The air is cleaner and the beach is closer. The Valley's smog is absent from my lungs. College life so far has been an interesting experience in itself. I'm living in the dorms, which is cool since basically I live with my friends. Dorm food = spew, but that was expected. Classes are going well. I had a rough first quarter. My grades were kind of shabby and not up to my standards. My standards are low anyway, and the fact that i got below those standards discouraged me. But Winter quarter was better. I took my first film class, which was so easy. I got to watch film noir fliks like Citizen Kane and Scarlett Street as well as newer stuff like Chinatown, Blade Runner, and LA Confidential. My grades easily improved, which was such a plus. This quarter is starting out okay. I'm kind of in some boring classes, but my film class seems really cool. On our first day of class we saw the Hitchcock film North By Northwest. The fact that I get to watch Hitchcock for class is definitely a bonus.

College life has been interesting in that learning my limits when it comes to certain things. The people in my dorm have definitely bonded over some things....that Bond game and other things. All I'm gonna say is...151- NEVER AGAIN!!! Well...you should never say never...=)

The people here are pretty cool. It's kind of funny, but sometimes I feel like I've never left high school. There's the funny group who's always cracking jokes and is acting stupid. I see them and I feel like I've never left. There's the artsy smartsy people who have this air of superiority, but once you get to know them they're not all that bad. I'm just hanging around trying to make my mark here. I doubt it'll be a big mark, but I just want to see if I can leave a couple of footprints here.

It's definitely larger than high school. I went from 400 kids to 20,000 some odd students. Also I went from a 16 building school...to a campus with more than 16 buildings. The walking is a new thing, since there is definitely a lot of it.

That's pretty much my College Experience so far. Intersting people, interesting classes, interesting life.

~*~ 12 May 99 ~*~

Nearly a month has past from that entry and I only have about one month left here in Irivne. Gosh, How fast a year can go...oh what a cliche i just used!

Interesting things have happened. (I seem to use that word a lot, Interesting...)

I just experienced my first PCN, Pilipino Cultural Night. It was one week of hectic and tiring preparation and then one night that was an experience I will never forget. I totally bonded with my friends and new friends at PCN. Whether it would be just messing around playing stupid games like "clap, right, clap, bang!" to even the old fashioned slide. It was neat, yes i said neat, that people were really supportive of each other. Saying, "Good Job" and that kinds of stuff. PCN was May 1 and I must say I've had my withdrawals. I was so bored once I made junggay out of flyers. I was in Choir and Muslim...Muggigal. I know there's always next year...but it just feels weird that I don't have anymore practices to go to. No I have time to study...but when did I ever do that anyway!!

(I don't know what else to write...I'll think of something later...and then I'll mark it down here... like anyone is reading this anyway!)

~*~ 20 July 99 ~*~

Okay it's been quite a while since I've left Irvine. I left Irvine on June 18, Saturday. The day was tiring and kind of sad. My first year at Irvine was over. I realized that I would never be that close too all those ppl at once again. Next year I'm gonna be living with Twinky and Debby, which is cool, but I won't have "everyone" around. I won't have the ability to just walk upstairs and bug Mark or Phil. I won't be able to tease Ian about his fascination/obsession with Natalie Portman...but I can always bug him online!! Of course we will party together that's for sure! If there was one thing I learned with all you Ciudadians it was how to party...

The last nite there is a blur of memories. Basically it was packing and drinking?? Yeah that was it. I remember starting to drink early in the day...which some may consider as excessive, but come on, it was my last day/nite with these ppl...and we wanted to have fun. i guess fun = alcohol. :) college has taught me a lot of good and wise things...can you tell?

My fondest memory of that nite was just roaming Mesa Court with my friends and just hanging out with everyone before we all were kicked out of the place the next day. I've never seen Mesa Court so full of ppl that nite. Everyone was just bonding over the fact that finals were over and that we had finished our first year of college life. I remember taking pictures over and over again. That nite is etched in photographs of ppl being just being happy that the year was finally over. There was some drama with RAs busting up the party, but it didn't really matter because we were all having fun anyway...

Moving out the next day was a drag. It was hard getting up. It was hard because 1) i had to move out of a place that had given me so many memories and 2) i had to do it all hungover. Moving out hungover was not a good feeling. I was not pleasant company that morning. In fact I upchucked that morning. A reminder of what a good nite i had had the nite before. Moving all my things took quite a long time because I had accumalated a LOT OF CRAP! It's amazing how much a person can attain in one year alone! After several trips of walking in humid heat to a jam packed mini-van I was finally done packing up my things. I just didn't want to leave. Although some ppl had already left Ciudad, I wanted to stay a little longer and just soak it all in. More pictures were taken of that day and I left feeling sad, but happy too.

I had a great year. I learned a lot from this experience. I learned that Humanities Core is one of the hardest classes I've ever taken before in my life. It pushed me to work hard and not slack off...Well i still did anyway, but I wish i hadn't! (My grades are proof of that!) I learned that coming to Irvine and not going to RUTGERS was one of the best decisions I've ever made. I learned how to drink...more than i did b4. I learned my limit...I think, at least I hope i did! I learned that dorm life was really fun and the ppl I've met there are really cool friends.

I actually can't wait to get back to Irvine. I know next year will be a little harder where my classes are concerned, but It'll be cool to see everyone again... So that was my year, in general it was a good one, hope next year will be just as good as well!

top row: Richard, Melissa, Kelly Monica, Jack, Ian, Dennis, Ben, Kristy, Twinky, Rosa, Diana, Aki, and Donald

middle row: Orania, Debby, Carrie, Kamini, Tessa, Mina, Raymund, Howard, Jerwanda (my RA), Teresa, Shaya, Victor, Miki, Martin, and Mark

bottom row: Me, Cheryl, Quan, Ann, Yaijara, Karl, Joyce, Krista, Jane, Marisa, Arianne, Roland, and Jeff

(People missing: Todd, Phil, Tim, Peter, Seiji, Fred, Sergio, Benson, Gila, George, Jerry, Jack, and Cy)

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