[BGmusic: Roxanne by The Police]

Quote for the day:

Earl: *straight face* “Umiinom na nga ako ng rootbeer.”
Everyone: *hands in the air* “WOAAAAAAAH!” 

- Erik’s younger brother (age 6?)
telling us of his experience with alcohol

Yesterday I emptied out the bag I most recently used for school.

I fished out things I hadn’t seen since my last day [March 31]:

• my planner
• a highlighter [pink Faber Castell - I've been using the same highlighter since sophomore year]
• photocopies of four chapters for Econ161 [Industrial Organization]
• two notebooks
• a used [marked, and recorded] blue book
• a gluestick [never used]
• two mints
• my 7 peso backup ballpen

Gutting my school bag was like finally acknowledging the end of an era.

Ladies and gentlemen, I am officially educated, and come graduation day on the 26th, officially unemployed.

And I’m not going to beat around the bush, it’s scary as hell.

I have a good degree from one of the best schools in the country, okay grades, supportive friends and family, exposure to different cultures and people [hardly anything surprises me anymore], and twenty-one years of life experience.  You’d think that I would have everything figured out by now.

Alas, that is not the case.  Yes I’m well-equipped. But I have no idea what for.  It’s like finding myself in the middle of the ocean, sitting in a sturdy boat with enough rations to last me a lifetime, but for navigation [aha! We must not forget our actual destination!], I have nothing but a badly-drawn map, a broken compass, and perpetually cloudy sky.  And the waves just keep on coming.

Ah, the promise of adventure.

I see exciting times ahead.  Someone please hold my hand.