Ateneo OrSem Tuklas 2014: Day 1

*The following photos are taken from several sources. The sources are recognized below the blog post. 

Upon taking a U-Turn in Katipunan Avenue, I caught a video announcement on the tall screen board just outside the campus. Ateneo seemed excited for its students to return back to school after a good summer break. It was an advertisement that parodied the Return of the Jedi movie of the Star Wars trilogy, which was among my favorite classics. Instead, it was called the Return of the Eagles and announced the several dates for the school openings of the several school levels. The thoughts of how the first day of school would be like came to my mind. I had mixed feelings of both excitement and anxiety.

            I also had feelings of excitement and a few expectations for the Ateneo Orientation Seminar or the OrSem, for short. The thought of being in OrSem was one thing glued to my mind during my entire summer. Friends and cousins of mine talked about how it was a big, fun rave party where I could meet my fellow Ateneans, as well as party and have fun to my heart’s desire. I had also been excited about this event since I was excited to meet friends from all over (the two schools I came from, the review center I attended, the musical theater workshop I attended, the tutorials I attended, etc.). It was something that I imagined as being one of the hallmarks of my college life and experience. Ateneo seemed to be among the few universities in the country to merge a college orientation with a rave party, concert, etc.

            When I had entered the college covered courts entrance spaces, a guard and several upperclassmen volunteers, also known as TnTs, directed my driver to a spot to park on. From the view of the car window, my heart beeped with excitement. There were hundreds of people lined up and gathering around to the OrSem entrance. It was truly going to be an exciting day. When I had dropped off from the car, I wore my shades (for a bad-ass effect…hahahaha), a blue shirt to represent my Loyola School, the School of Social Sciences or SOSS, for short, pants and sneakers. Soon, I lined up with them. Upon approaching the main entrance of the Covered Courts, I saw that there were several sponsors and advertisements around the place. McDonalds, Viber, etc. (a local chanel), Jack TV (another local chanel), Unilever, Manang’s Chicken (a local fast-food chain), etc. were among the many sponsors of the event. And I thought to myself, “Wow, ang grabe naman ang Ateneo sa itong orientation. Ang bongga!” (Wow, how grand Ateneo is in this orientation. How extravagant!)

            

        Entering the Covered Courts, a group of friendly TnTs were lined in the left and right parts of the registration booth. With various computer screens in the booth, I lined up to one of the computers and typed my Identification Number. With that finally finished, I proceeded to the seating area of where my Loyola School batch mates would be located in. It was a sea of blue shirts gathered around one area close to left of the stage. Upon finding my block, which was headed by an energetic and entertaining TnT, I sat down on one seat between two block mates of mine. It turned out that was seated behind my friend’s older sister and two seats behind a review center mate of mine. It first began with an introductory mass held by the Jesuit priests and the prominent school officials who had prayers and introductions.

            With that finished, the TnTs soon erupted into a dance when booming and loud music was played from the speakers. They were dancing to the song Classic by MKTO. Upon seeing them dance, I felt the excitement within me. This was truly going to be an exciting event. Soon, six dashing hosts entered into the stage with a dance number before introducing themselves. They were fun and accommodating with the interests of the audience in mind. Then, it came the time when the freshmen were asked to join in the dance. With contained energy within me, I leapt from my seat (not in the exaggerated manner) and joined the dance with the other freshmen. As I copied the dance moves, it then came to chorus where I lifted my hands up with great energy and began to dance happily to the chorus. Despite not being close in distance to my many friends in the Covered Courts, I could feel as if I was enjoying with many of my friends and that the 2,300 freshmen were dancing as one to the several songs.

            When the dances were finished, the students of the School of Humanities and the School of Management were asked to “move” to go into school tours organized by the TnTs. While they were in the school tours, the two other schools, the School of Social Sciences (my school) and the School of Science and Engineering were the ones left in the Covered Courts. While the two other schools were moving around the green, sprawling campus, we two Loyola Schools had professor speakers talking about life in Ateneo and a talk regarding the Sanggunian ng mga Paaralang Loyola (the student council) and the Council of Organizations of the Ateneo, COA for short, for a glimpse into the co-curricular and extra-curricular activities of the Ateneo. After the talk, members from the cheerleading team The Blue Babble Battalion and the accompanying marching band came. A few members of the cheering squad led the crowd into with a rally and taught several cheers used in the intercollegiate games, such as the NCAA and the UAAP. These cheers included the incomprehensible Halikinu and Fabilioh. As soon, as the crowd erupted into these cheers, the Blue Babble began to do their cheer dances while the marching band played their music. While this was going on, we students were eating small meals in baunans (containers) of various colors handed by the volunteers. Soon, dance groups, such as the Company of Ateneo Dancers, joined along and performed great dance numbers. After these dances were finished, we were taught the signature moves of the OrSem, such as the Pacific Ring of Fire and the Banana dances.

               In the middle of the OrSem, there was also the OrSem Idol competition where 10 singers and 10 dancers battled it out for a spot in the Top 6. The dances and songs were amazing and the judges were popular personalities in Ateneo. Knowing a friend who was dancing, I gave my loudest cheer for her dance. Sadly, she did not make it. With the Top 6 for both the singing and dancing categories announced, there was anticipation for the Finals tomorrow.

            Then, afterwards, our energetic and exciting TnTs led us to a classroom where we were to have bonding activities and games. The lead volunteer, a girl named Ate (a Filipino term for an older female or sister) Rica, introduced herself to us. We all knew her as the “Head Diva” and the most energetic, entertaining and funny dancer. Introducing herself, she revealed that she was a transgender and once named Ricardo. She joked about having made her high school, Ateneo de Manila High School (the high school unit of Ateneo is exclusive for boys), into a co-ed school. The other volunteers introduced themselves as Ate Madel and Ate Erika. When it was our turn to introduce ourselves, they told us introduce ourselves, our previous school, degree program, interesting points and do a performance or sample of a talent. When others introduced themselves as people interested in sports, the Ates would do funny imitations of sports. On the other hand, some people did accents or talked in a different language that they knew. Some, like me, decided to do a dance for Ate Rica. We soon did games and bonded with our other block mates. After the session, we went on to the Blue Eagle Gymnasium for our School Night for the School of Social Sciences known as Aliwan.

            When we arrived, we were seated with our respective blocks. We were soon called to the basketball court where we sat and listened to speakers regarding organizations and various other things. When our degree programs were each called, the Communication, Economics and Psychology students, due to the fact that they were numerous had loud cheers. When my degree program, History, was called, we History majors, few in number, stood up and were cheered by the other students. I felt touched that the other students recognized such a small degree program. However, the thing that I did not like about the School Night was the sound system and some boring aspects. Soon, near the end, the students and I began to dance to the music. We soon ended with a dance to our OrSem theme song Classic. With that over, I met up with my review center classmate and her Communication friends. We had a small talk before I left for home.

            In summary, OrSem was a wonderful experience. Incoming freshmen, for the next school year, should not skip this amazing event (you will get a cut for the Introduction to Ateneo Culture and Traditions, if you do) since it is a fun and exciting event. It is one of the hallmarks of freshmen life. Skipping this event would be like missing a part of your college experience. Also, you would not be able to meet your block mates. With regard to what I enjoyed, the songs, the music and the dancing were things that were glued to my mind. Lastly, all I can say was that OrSem was just purely amazing.

            Stay tuned for the Part 2. OrSem Tuklas 2014: Day 2 will be coming soon.

         All photo rights and copyright reserved for the Ateneo Physics Handbook Wordpress Blog, Facebook profile of the Ateneo OrSem Tuklas, the Facebook page of the Aliwan: SOSS Night 2014 and the photographers who took candid shots.