Yes, the University of the Philippines still has a long way to go before it can join the ranks of esteemed Asian universities like the University of Tokyo, the National University of Singapore, or the Chulalongkorn University, but it’s no reason to celebrate the centennial of the Philippines’ premier university.

You should all know by now that I’m a proud alumnus of the University of the Philippines. My mom and my older sister are also alumnae and my younger sister is studying there as well. I already knew that I’d be studying in U.P. even before I finished high school and I would definitely say that my stay in U.P. has been some of the best years in my life. I’ve experienced much more in my five and a half years of stay in U.P. than in all of the years prior to that. I’ve grown quite a lot and have come into my own in Diliman.

It’s too bad that I couldn’t come to the Centennial Kick-off celebrations last Tuesday from U.P. Manila to U.P. Diliman because of time constraints. Good thing there’s fellow alumnus Juned to give us photos and a video of the culminating fireworks. There’s also plenty more on YouTube.

To my fellow Iskolar ng Bayan, Happy Centennial!