Kids, It's Back To School

When Wincy went home in Manila last April, we thought of touring each other in our schools. He brought me to Ateneo, gushed on how much it changed, reenacted the way he would fix his hair before approaching his college crush and explained the hierarchy of Ateneans based on the locations of their bench.

Of course I brought him to UP Diliman (but if St. Scho Manila was closer, I would’ve toured him there too.) At first, I thought there’s nothing I could elaborate about UP because I thought I didn’t have enough memories which are worth telling. I always saw myself as the one who just went to her classes, spent odd break times in the library and rushed home. I never really hung out and made friends. In fact, I would record my groupmates’ numbers in my mobile phone as “groupmate glasses <insert subject name>”. I didn’t mean to be aloof, I just really wanted to graduate and start working (and earning.) Yes, I’m the tin woman back then, I guess.

But as I stepped on the grasses and threaded the pathway from AS to the Fine Arts building, I found myself describing to Wincy how much I loved January mornings in UP. I recalled how much I loved PanPil 19, the time when it rained in the track oval, my feet got stuck into the mud and that it took two guy block mates had to pull and carry me. Suddenly, UP Diliman turned into a remembrance of my coming of age.

Cliche as it may sound, I realized that UP Diliman felt like home. Even if I’ve (figuratively) moved out four years ago, its still my sanctuary. School will always be the place where I can go back to innocence, where idealism is my everyday coffee and mistakes are fixable the next semester.

So here’s the BACK TO SCHOOL PLAYLIST I made inspired by my newfound memories of school.

1. Holiday by Weezer
2. You Only Live Once by The Strokes
3. My Emptiness by Ciudad
4. Holland, 1945 by Neutral Milk Hotel
5. Lover by Devendra Banhart
6. Young Folks by Peter Bjorn and John
7. Art School Lover (Death to Ordinary Girls) by Patience Dear Juggernaut
8. Like Or Like Like by Miniature Tigers
9. Trying To Say I Love You by Math and Physics Club
10. Little Secrets by Passion Pit
11. Our Weekends Dissolve by Us-2 Evil-0
12. Shut Up and Let Me Go by The Ting Tings
13. Take It Easy by Surfer Blood
14. Beetlebum by Blur
15. Maxwell’s Silver Hammer by The Beatles
16. When Life Gives Me Lemons I Make Lemonade by The Boy Least Likely To
17. Don’t You Forget About Me by Simple Minds