Tomorrow, January 8 kicks off the year-long centennial celebration of the University of the Philippines. Spearheading the kick-off rites is the UP Alumni Association (UPAA). While everyone celebrates in their own unique way, I will celebrate my University of the Philippines (U.P.) Student days’ memories in this blog. Excuse me for my unabashed display of school pride.

mommy_in_UP.jpgThe opportunity to study in the U.P. Diliman campus would never have been possible without the motivation from my mother, the late Salustiana Veloso. She graduated Cum Laude, 1954 with two degrees, BA in Education, Major in English and Minor in Music (Voice). Mom envisioned her children studying in her alma mater, In college, you will study in U.P.. As far back as I could remember, mom always ingrained those words in our minds. (six out of seven siblings eventually did. One chose to study in Ateneo).

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andrew olmstead[tag]Andrew Olmsted[/tag], also known as G’Kar the blogger, was killed yesterday in Iraq. Andy gave a friend a post to publish in the event of his death; the last revisions to it were made in July. Here is Andy’s final post. His actual blog is here. Andy must have known of his imminent death since he prepared his final post last July. Losing someone who can write well from the dreaded war zone is a tremendous loss – most people never get the chance to know how, when, and where they might probably die. Andrew knew death was a possible outcome enough to write this last post . For me, some of the most insightful parts are the following: (The quotes are from Andy and my comments are below it.)

It’s not easy asking anyone to do something for you in the event of your death, and it is a testament to her quality that she didn’t hesitate to accept the charge. As with many bloggers, I have a disgustingly large ego, and so I just couldn’t bear the thought of not being able to have the last word if the need arose.

I would never ask anyone to post a final post for me. I know we will all die eventually. I guess if you’re a blogger and based in Iraq, death is a big possibility. It was Andy’s way of immortalizing his life through this last post.

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You know how it is at the start of the New Year. If one is in business, you have to get permits and other papers from the City Hall. One of these paper requirements is the NBI clearance. I cannot forget the incredulous look of the NBI data personnel when he asked me “What’s your address?” I stated my address but he pointed to what I wrote down on the data sheet.

“Let me take a look” as I turned the paper around. What was I thinking?

greenthumb.gif(For privacy reasons, I am modifying parts of my complete home address). Horrified, I saw the words Green Thumb instead of Green Village.

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New Year 2008Happy New Year 2008! I greeted the New Year by taking a slice of this evil Dairy Queen Peppermint Ice Cream cake. Let’s all greet the new year on a positive note by setting goals for ourselves. It’s a good thing that my sister reminded me of my New Year goals last year. Yesterday, she read the Review of New Year Goals for 2007 and it reminded her to set her goals. Butch loved the idea of writing down my goals when I told him that I achieved 8 out of my 11 goals for the New Year.

I realize that goals need to be written down. It serves as an affirmation of myself, my life, and my ability to choose. Then I let it go. New Year goals are something we need to dig within and discover what we would like to happen in our life this year. It is an affirmation that we are interested in living life in the year to come.

So the questions evolved. What would I like to attain? Where would I like to go? What would I like to happen in my marriage and family life? I have to remember that I am not out to control others with my goals but rather giving direction to my life. So I continue on pondering. What problems would I like to be solved? What decisions would I like to make? What would I like to happen in my business?

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