How do they do it?

“Matapos lang talaga tong linggo na to”

what a UP student says weekly

Most of us are guilty that this is our mantra every week. After finishing a long tiring week, reality strikes that you still have many things to accomplish the next. The stress, sleepless nights, and demanding academic focus often makes us question how will we survive the semester, more importantly, how to graduate from our programs. What also comes to mind is how did the others do it? How does one go from being a student to becoming an alumni of University of the Philippines?

The girl in the green t-shirt in the photo above is Waranuch Lapitan. She is 36 years old and lives in Bayog, Los Banos. She graduated in UPLB under the program of AgriBusiness Management of the batch 2000.

I asked what her life was before UP. She replied “Easy easy lang”. Then came the time she actually got in the university. She became more focused on her studies and she aimed to collect as many incentives as she could. Like us, she also experienced challenges during her stay here in UPLB. She says that she had trouble with study habits because of the fast pacing life in the university. She also said that she failed a subject and had to retake it.

One of the key lessons that she shared is that it is okay to fail at some point during the stay here in UP. She says that students should see this as a challenge. She also emphasized that concurrent exams are a common thing and students should really allocate time to study for them. Moreover, she also says that joining organizations can help because one can get notes and make friends that could help an individual for upcoming exams. In her case however, she did not join any but she still managed to push through.

“Study palang yan, eh kung naka graduate ka na tapos pag nagka work ka na edi mas maraming challenges na kakaharapin.”

Another key lesson that UP has taught her is how to handle pressure.

“Pressure from sa world medyo kaya mo na rin itake kase nung during nandito ka sa UP may pressure na. Gawa sa mga studies, sa mga prof…Medyo nakukuha mo na kung pano mapressure”