By John Macklien A. Olandag | Contributor
Vol. XCI No. 10
Nov. 22, 2019
Wiping his sweat he reached out to the priority number on the table. Around him were noises escorting the cold atmosphere to create a picture of the day he’s about to face. At the window appeared the lush green trees moving with the salty wind calling for a calm feeling amidst a hectic day. And he walked down to the seats, looking at his own number, then to the current number served. He got number 117, but as he looked at those digital red numbers it appeared as number 32; still eighty-five to go. He then heated up but then sat down to wait for his turn. He is your typical Sillimanian during the enrollment season.
First days are always the noisiest moments. The first day of school is a day of chitchats all around, a first day in work, a celebration, but Silliman has her own first day of not just noises but scenes of enrollees in the business centers and college offices where one should really take tons of patience to be accommodated. And what can you imagine with such a situation? There’s more than that. People proceed to partner banks to pay their starting fees yet take the hurdle of going into offices for them to be officially enrolled. It’s not surprising seeing the business and finance center crammed with people during the first days of enrollment, yet when you join as an aspiring student, you stand steady activating patient mode while the time moves until it gets you. Testing your mettle, are you patient enough to “make this stand”?
Once there was a student caught in the act of sleeping. He couldn’t take the time moving while he remained static, sitting there for hours. Adding to the fuel was that great red number on the wall still far behind his priority number. His one leg enticed him to leave but his other leg couldn’t move and simply wanted to stay and wait. He had enough, he fell asleep in the air conditioned halls temporarily experiencing peace amidst the heating moment. Who among you fell asleep waiting? You don’t need to raise your hand. Just recall those moments and be excited to experience it again in your succeeding semesters.
That was an option for the patient ones. Are you looking for more convenient hurdle? Take banking instead. A student might opt to pay in the university’s partner banks like PhilTrust and Security Bank. There are less queues, yet a student might forget also to go to the Business and Finance Center to show his transaction receipt to Counter 1. Now, who among you weren’t able to do so? You waited for at least a business day for your proposed subjects to appear in your MySilliman account if that was the case. For those who really find waiting an inept one, you really found ways and were able to go to Counter 1 to have your receipt checked.
Yet with all these money matters another hurdle takes the stands. How about confirming your enrollment? A Sillimanian now has his proposed subjects and has chosen his schedule, then he already submits his chosen loads for advising. Now, who among you plays hide-and-seek with your advisers? They can be crafty or they can be just “hard-to-get.” These Ma’ams or Sirs draw a green check mark in your MySilliman account indicating that you’re officially enrolled. Some colleges give you a receipt to further prove your legit status in the official enrolled list while some just do it with a click. Passing all these processes, you’re now ready for ID validation.
Will Sillimanians still have to take another walk? Some delay it, some will, and some won’t even bother to. The ID Validation room in the Oriental Hall is the next destination to cram to, or even at instances you will see yourself alone as you take your ID for validation, and it’s good if you had been through that. If you’re a new Sillimanian, you will receive the whole ID with that sling. If you’re a continuing student, you have your sticker turned from blue to yellow, then back to blue for another school year starter. Whatever the matter is, students really see the importance of a validated ID for numerous transactions. Did you already have your ID validated? The validation sticker is one memory of all these enrollment journeys which will continue until you leave the halls of Silliman.
Which of these experiences give you happy or funny moments? This is seemingly a tedious journey yet this is an initiation every Sillimanian goes through to be a student of the campus by the sea. The only starter packs the enrollment requires is patience (and money).
