Photo Album 10: UST and Other Stories

The UST Main Building is the first earthquake-resistant structure in the country. It is designed by Fr. Roque Ruaño, OP, who is also a civil engineer

Let me be a little personal with this blog post by sharing the place where I spent the majority of my life (aside from home): my Alma mater. I spent almost a decade within (and around) the four walls of the University of Santo Tomas, from high school to college. If you have been following me on twitter for quite a while, I apologize for flooding you with UAAP-related tweets during the season. :)

After I graduated from college, I only went back to my beloved university twice: first was during the quadricentennial celebration and the second was late last year. My last visit was an impromptu decision with my college friends since our previous plans don't always push through.




UST has undergone lots of changes and has added more food establishments inside. The Chicken Rice Shop, 7-Eleven, Pancake House, and Chicken BonChon inside the campus. But thinking about it, if these establishments were already there back then, I couldn't really afford it. Being a student taught me how to budget wisely (and yes, save!)

The UST Quattromondial is the monument was unveiled last year, during the university's quadricentennial celebration. Created by Ramon Orlina, four figures were modeled by fellow Thomasians like Piolo Pascual, Charlene Gonzales-Muhlach, UST Rector Fr. Rolando Dela Rosa OP and Orlina's daughter Monina.

It was nice to go back to see again the place where I used to spend the whole day, either trying to finish some projects or just bond with friends. I miss eating campus style, I miss eating Almer's Sisig (preferably with gravy), Lovelite's Footlong with Gravy, Mang Tootz' Bananarhuma, our suking fishball and ihaw-ihaw vendor near España.

Found at the Quadricentennial Park

Found at the Roque Ruaño Building lobby (also known as Engineering building)

It was wonderful how we have fun back then despite the worries and the stress about difficult subjects like Mechanics (a physics subject that I still don't understand), Calculus, Differential Equations, projects, thesis, grades, or whether we are graduating on time.

UST Arch of the Centuries, urban legend has it that you shouldn't pass through the arch (unless it's the Freshman Rite of Passage), else you wouldn't graduate. We know it's just a myth, but we were really careful about NOT passing through it. hehe

All those difficulties are history now. And of course, my college friends and I see each other once in a while, though there are always be people who would just see virtually (maybe too busy to show up? I dunno).

Fr. Miguel de Benavides OP, the founder of the UST

Though I don't visit as much I could, I would always be a Thomasian. I wish I could visit again soon and share with you more about my beloved university.

How about you? Have you tried reminiscing lately?