college conversations

It is a cold Saturday night and I am in some fast food, sharing nostalgic chit-chats with three of my friends. Somehow, the scene reminded me of Sex and the City: four single people, sharing problems and updates over food. But this is not Sex and the City. We were in the middle of Davao, not New York. We were munching on Sundae-dipped fries, not coffee and bagels. And our lives paled in comparison with the exciting lives of the Carries and Samanthas of the world. We were nothing like the four chicks from Sex and the City: we had so much to prove and we did not know what to do with our lives. But the friendship between those four sassy women reminded me of the friendship I shared with the two guys and the girl I am with tonight.

And it made me realize, the women of Sex and the City were really good at what they did. They were climbing the corporate ladder; they were set for life. All they needed to complete their lives were significant others; and I wished that this was the case with my clique.

Unfortunately, we have yet to decide what to do with our lives, especially in the professional area; and there was nowhere to turn to. We had nothing to cling on to; there were no television shows to help us decide what to do after graduation. No one told us the steps to take after we were set out in the world to start fending for ourselves. We knew nothing about the real world. School helped us realize things about it; but there was nothing that could ever prepare us to realize what and how it really was.

This time last year, my friends and I were also huddled close together over some sundae-dipped fries. We were making a project we needed to accomplish before the graduation ceremonies. We never really quite understood what we were making, but the fact that our teacher gave us some time to work together was enough to motivate us to meet regularly. We knew that a couple of weeks later, we would be separated by the graduation ceremony and we might not be able to see each other as often as we wanted.

Yet, here we are, a year after graduating college, still sharing senseless conversations over some cheap fast food. And even if we still don’t know what we are doing with our lives, at least we have realized that friendship does not fade after graduation; although it now takes a lot more effort to keep the flames of friendship burning.

So now I know why College is such a big hit: it gives us an opportunity to meet friends who will accompany us in the journey to realizing what we truly want to do with our lives. It made it possible to meet people who were going through pretty much the same thing that we did. More importantly, it gave us an opportunity to find the people who were willing to play the parts of Samantha, Miranda, Charlotte and Carrie in the stories of our sad, confused lives; and be there for us no matter what.

To all the Graduates of 2009: Congratulations! I hope you enjoy the time you have left with your College friends, and realize (sooner than I did, hopefully) that life isn’t one big party… but it sure does feel like it when you are with great friends, sharing nostalgic chit-chats over some sundae-dipped fries.

Confession #34:

I used to always complain about how boring our lectures were. Now I realize, maybe our lectures were never really that boring; somehow I just knew that the person in the desk across mine could provide a more exciting conversation than the one-sided talk my teacher was making; I never hesitated to stop listening to an important lecture just to start a conversation with my seat mate. And that is what I really miss most about college: talking about nothing and thinking the world of it; feeling alright with making mistakes; not having to calculate each and every decision we made; and being content with living for the day. And that realization, I am sure, would make, even the cynical, Miranda proud.