.:A Fish Out Of The Water:.

… but a fairly happy fish, nonetheless.

On hindsight, the entirety of the Comm Roast was mostly organized by Comm students outside of block A2, which explains precisely why I’m not exactly as known or notorious. With that being said, I guess since I’m no social butterfly like Don, I really shouldn’t be too hard on myself for not feeling like I’m “with it”. I simply am not, and I really can’t help that, but so long as nobody’s antagonistic towards me, I guess that’s no big deal.

I’m deciding to take Ma’am Sining’s advice and think of the Comm Roast as a chance to enjoy myself. True, I certainly did. Paoie and Jethro are amazingly funny hosts, who had perfect timing when it came to delivering their punchlines and handing out their very funny comments. After the opening remarks from Mr. Escaler (Who, incidentally, was never my teacher. I guess I’d never know how well he teaches.), a few special awards for Comm students were handed out, mostly for people from other blocks, as only the sheer standouts from my block, such as Willard and Don, managed to get any. In any case, even Abby didn’t, and it’s not like she’d care, neh?

Anyways, some comedy gold from the hosts…

Jethro: So apparently, our Batch King is male. I guess that takes me and my co-host out of the running…

Bobby finally showed his short film entitled, “Puwede pa-kiss?” (“May I Kiss?”), which was hilarious. It featured Willard and Angie, as Willard tried to get cooey with Anj throughout the film, whether trying to hold her hand, or kiss her, or place his arm across her shoulders. The punchline was that he ended up kissing Mr. McRae, one of the gay teachers of the Comm department, who emits an aura of strictness and severity, so seeing him loosen up like that was pretty amusing.

There was a dance performance by Tina and her other friends, as they danced to Toxic. And then there was the Videoke marathon for the Comm Faculty present:

Sev Sarmenta: Somewhere Down The Road
Atty. Jo Imbong: Yesterday
Anjo Lorenzana: Like A Virgin
Andrew Ty: Boys Don’t Cry
Mark Escaler: Every Breath You Take

I swear, sir Mark’s groupies were crawling out of the woodwork. They were really screaming their lungs out for him, and I’m sure that though Mr. Dy-Liaco is more well-known because Theology 151 is a core subject, Mr. Escaler’s fans are more rabid than the best of Mr. Dy-Liaco’s… heh.

I think the highlight of the night that didn’t involve the faculty (At least, not much…) was the performance by Migs, Yda, and the rest of their band. They sang a few songs that, while was pretty long, was quite a line-up. Those I remember from the songs they did were “So Far Away”, “It Ain’t Over ‘Til It’s Over”, “Are You Strong Enough To Be My Man?”, “Head Over Feet”, “Crazy For You”, and “Baby I Love Your Way”. I really enjoyed that set, as they were playing good music, for the most part.

The food was okay. The conversations were fine, though I was amused at how sir Sev described my thesis with Imo: a purely professional relationship, where two acquaintances just got together to make a thesis and do it well, unlike most other people who aren’t doing their thesis alone, as they usually pick their closest friends to work on the thesis. With that being said, I have to say that his mentioning that fact, and Bianca concurring with it (As well as the oft-forgotten fact that she told me Mavic was lying when she accused Binx of insisting I was gay… not that there’s anything wrong with that, but it’s just not the case, of course…), made me realize how lucky I was to have gotten a thesis partner like Imo. We simply worked well together, and I think our being just okay friends but not really close friends was what helped us want to do the most that we could for the thesis… but I’ve talked about that before.

Sir Sev’s running commentary throughout the night was priceless. He was exposing a lot of inside jokes among the students for the most part, as well as making hilarious comments while Kyla and Kaia were making like “American Idol” and evaluating the faculty’s performances.

Kaia: Hi, Mark. Mark, right? Can I call you, “Ark”? Well, you’re a bit shy… but I like you. We like you.

Sir Sev: We love you!

In any case, it was a memorable night, although in my case, I really am not too overwhelmed with sentimentality. More on that later.

Carl Clemente: Comm King and Queen. Talk about androgyny.

Still, it’s hugging season, and I cannot be happier about it. Audrey Tanco is a really sweet and nice person. Her boyfriend (Who’s apparently a congressman.) is a really lucky schmuck (Although I believe Grace’s boyfriend is even luckier, but that’s just me.)… ah, well. I appreciate the hug. At least I know that while I may be a bit of a sore thumb in COM, I’m not exactly persona non grata, either.

.:No Sentimentality:.

I’d probably shed tears come graduation day, but I don’t think it will be over my course.

Do I hate my course? Of course not. I love Communication Arts with a passion. Inasmuch as I love Don Bosco Technical College with a passion, that did not translate to my missing everyone in my high school alma mater. I obviously could do without the fratboys, or the people who mostly made me feel like an insignificant little jabroni, among other people.

While none of that has happened in my College life, let’s just say that my love for the Communication Department is mostly because of familiar ground. People I know and care about, from Don to Angie to Willard to Abby, to a good chunk of the teachers, all of them really have a place in my heart, yet the sentimentality isn’t general. It’s mostly to a select few. I know that I’ll be shedding tears in the coming days, but they won’t be over the Ateneo as a whole, or so much as my course in its entirety.

My toxicity came from being in Comm. Let’s face it: my bitterness is mostly Comm-related, and I don’t think that helps me out much. I’m not one to recent my course, as I went through four years that I treasure, but I, for the life of me, cannot view and love Comm as an institution, the way I do with Don Bosco. Unlike Don Bosco, however, I look more to the specific people and things that I have to treasure about Comm. If anything, I’m closer to CS people in general, if only for that Economics class I ended up taking with a good deal of them, and Sacha Chua.

At the same time, I found my cure for bitterness in the Philosophy Department. I’ve explained already at length how I got to that point, so suffice it for me to say that I really feel that this is my path to fulfillment.

And so when I graduate on Saturday, yes, I will be happy. Yes, I will shed tears because there will be things and people I miss. But as I will still most likely be around, and as I will most likely keep up with the people and things I will miss, I really don’t think there’s much room for sentimentality in this small space I fondly refer to as my heart.

.:Justified, The Unsent Series Part VIII:.

Marcelle,

It doesn’t feel like eight years. Through the crazy and mundane; to the highly intellectual and rational; to the humorous and heartfelt; thank you for being there. I may not always say it, but sometimes our conversations are a comfort I need.

- Abby

All the questions I may have wanted to ask her, and all the hurts that we’ve inflicted upon one another for the past eight years, simply boils down to a friendship that has stood the test of time. I’ve resigned myself to my fate of being her one-way best friend. I’ve resigned myself to my fate that people will always end up asking us, after knowing our history, “Why aren’t you guys together?”

Dear Abby,

And so Marcelle shall let this letter remain unsent. Perhaps it's the smartest thing for him to do.