First Time as an Alumni of GCA



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By Patricia Ann P. Guina
GCA Alumni (2011-2012)

 

              

​Last March 29 of 2012, I graduated with my batch of more than 40 students as the Salutatorian by the grace of God. The last words I spoke before I ended my speech was that “…I still believe that anything is possible” which was attributed to my favorite author. Bringing this with me, I face the first year of my college life. From being a GCAian, I’ve now become a PLMayer, a bonafide student of the Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila in Intramuros, Manila, taking up BS Psychology.

And for the most part, despite my doubts and fears, my college life has been an amazing ride for me so far. For my first year, I’ve been blessed in so many ways.



Seeing new faces and meeting new people. Before the first day of school and during my last few days in GCA, I wondered how I would fare with classmates whom I’ve never met before. Starting from scratch. A clean slate. I didn’t imagine my news schoolmates to be “monsters” so I wasn’t scared. But I couldn’t picture them as the friendliest people on earth so I wasn’t relaxed either. These were my pre-college thoughts of my block mates.

But now, after finishing one whole year with my block, I can absolutely say that God really placed me here in PLM. My block mates are one of the reasons why I felt so comfortable and so thankful that I got to enroll in PLM. They’re not perfect. We’ve had some tough spots along the way. But nevertheless, I’m very happy with the set of classmates I have now and I really hope we won’t get reblocked this coming second year.



Getting used to different professors. Back in GCA, teachers and students were friends. Although we still give due respect to our teachers, GCAians were comfortable with their teachers and they could even joke around with them sometimes. In college, I wondered if this could happen too. After one year in PLM, I have to admit that there are professors in which I had a hard time being in synced with, but to my surprised, there are also a couple of professors who not only teaches the subject matter they held, but also teach matters about life. These professors are the ones that inspired me. One of my professors’ even motivated me to take up a Masters Degree after graduating—something I never even considered before.

Being a teacher is a very fulfilling job, and with professors’ like these, I can definitely say that being their student is an honor.

Every thing else— events, programs, seminars, exams, reports, thesis making— I’ve gone through them all in my first year of College and it’s definitely been one fun ride. I never thought I’d be ready for College. I was preparing myself for the worst case scenario during the last few months of my high school life. But things definitely did not go as what I expected. And I believe, in a big way, GCA has helped me face this new chapter in my life.  Yes, I’ve graduated from GCA but that doesn’t mean I’m no longer part of the family. During my stay in GCA, my teachers have instilled in me the values that I carry with me at all times to be a model student and always do my best to, not only pass, but get high grades as well. My classmates, with their encouraging words and boosts, have given me a kind of confidence that makes me believe that I can do anything I set my mind out to do; that I don’t have to be perfect or “the” best as long as I gave “my” best.

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I say goodbye to my high school life, but not to GCA. One year down, three more years of College left. The same with my life in GCA, I plan on making every second count.