ARETE: Ateneo School of Law Orientation Seminar 2006

It probably will be one of the highlights of my 4 years in the law school. It was a great experience, to be given the chance to officially welcome the still happy freshmen before they realize how effin’ hard it is to be a law stude. It was just a year ago when I was like ‘em, just another hopeful face in a crowd of excited freshies hoping to excel. At that time I was thinking of how I would really want to host the OrSem the next year, or whenever I would be invited to. Well, I got my wish… and so much more.

I can’t take all the credit, I shared the stage with an equally or probably more entertaining host, AJ. I didn’t know AJ until enrollment, when he asked me if I was Eunice. That’s when I found out that we’ll be co-hosting the OrSem. I have nothing but praises for him; he’s a warm, hilariously funny and well, crazy man. We got to really interact when we sort of had a run through a week before the OrSem. I was amazed at how easy it was to jive with him, it didn’t take time before we got into the groove and the rest was history. Our batchmates were laughing at the things that we said, that’s when I felt sure that hosting the OrSem would be a breeze with him around. Gaya nga ng sinabi ni Anton, “may chemistry”. Pero Anton, mas matindi parin ang chemistry natin, don’t worry, hehe. You will forever be my Mr. OrSem. Hahahaha.

The speakers were all good, I found myself really listening, and it’s not that I didn’t listen a year ago. I agree with Mia when she said that it’s only now that we really get to appreciate these things. After a year, we can totally relate to what the speakers are saying. It’s like rediscovering the law school. I’m sure a lot of the freshmen are like me, I was in denial that law school’s going to be hard. What could be hard in memorizing and reading right? Oh well, I just hope we did a great job in making them realize that it’s definitely going to be far from being a walk in the park.

Three of my friends from UP are in the same section that I was in during my first year. [Side Kwento: The only reason why I’m not in Section C anymore is because the whole block was renamed as Section B… ] Gino, Lili Mae and Monette are all from The UP School of Economics and they were also my orgmates, we’re all from the UP Economics Society. [Haze, a fellow Upian, and I got into a conclusion that former UP students tend to sit on front of the class. I guess it’s a manifestation of our lack of fear in professors, a fear that I immediately retained after a sem, thus the change in my seat during the second semester…transferred to the 2nd row, and yes, it made a big difference, haha]. Anyway, there were a lot of interesting students from the new 1-C, one is … drumroll please… Mikko Samson. If you’re wondering who he is, uhmm, if you used to watch Gimik, he was Tonsi, 1/3 of the love triangle with Camille Pratts and Stefano Mori. Kamusta naman diba? Now I’m thinking of a Face off between Yves [our batch’s “artista”] who was from TGIS and Mikko. Hehe, kidding. Meron namang isang freshie na kinatatakutan namin ni Hazel, mabait naman sya guys, pero uhmm, parang any moment bubugbugin nya kami. Di ko na lang papangalanan. Meron naman isang freshie na kamukha ng vocalist ng Cueshe, seryoso. And di ko rin kinaya dahil meron kamukha ni Rico Blanco. This year’s Section C is surely star-studded. Sabi ng mga guys, marami daw maganda, sabi ko naman, di ko alam, di naman kasi ako naghahanap ng MAGANDA, duh!

Aside from my reunion with former orgmates, I was surprised when I saw another familiar face in the audience, Jericho Salenga. He was my classmate back in grade school, the last time I saw him was more than three years ago, i think. I was invited by his twin to their house. I have a funny anecdote pa pala, I went to their house to listen to his brother’s business proposal, in the middle of his business presentation, Jason [Jericho’s twin] told me that my mom’s on the phone. I felt confused because it was impossible for my mom to call me since she didn’t know where I was going and she didn’t know their house’s phone number plus she could always contact me through my cellphone. So I went to answer the phone, only to find out that there was no phone call. It was only Jericho who wanted to catch up because we haven’t seen each other since grade six. So we ended up chatting for an hour, yata. He’s a nice guy; it’s nice that he’s in law school. I heard his brother’s in med school, glad they’re both doing well.

During the OrSem Night, Section C’s Representatives for Mr. And Ms. OrSem, Monina and Eric bagged the first prize, C also won the “WHAT’S the LETTER? That’s the LETTER!” contest, Mikko also wowed the crowd through his rendition of Edwin McCain’s I’ll Be, their rep for the Olympics almost won, if only he UNDRESSED FASTER in front of me [that didn’t sound right, haha], and their rep for most number of words memorized also did ok. All in all, SECTION C was victorious in their own right. Aww yeah! Jeno’s worth menotioning, she really cared for the Freshies.

Kaya naman ang masasabi ko lang sa Section C…. C… nong tatay nyo?!

I’m happy that people had fun during the OrSem, it’s always a high to make people laugh. It’s nice to know that they appreciate the effort that AJ and I exerted. I went to the washroom for an “alone time” when a freshie entered. I felt touched when she said, “Ang galing mong mag-host. Kayo na nga lang nun kasama mo un nakakapagpagising sa amin e.” Tapos sabi ni Kay, sabi raw ng friend nya, nakakatuwa ako. It’s more than enough to make me feel that everything was worth it. Overall, the OrSem was more than fun; it was a wonderful experience especially because I was able to share it not only with old but also new friends.