"Dear Freshies,

 

I can imagine the smile you had on your face when you first heard you passed the UPCAT. I know, because I had one exactly like it when I learned the same news last year.

 

Everyone was so happy for me. My mother cried with joy, my teachers gave me a pat on the back, and soon I found my face on a banner outside of my high school. My curiosity about my future alma mater would lead me to many, many stories about UP, and I came to my first day the way you probably did: armed with this grand fantasy of what the University is like.

 

The fantasy eventually crumbled as the days and months passed..."

"... When I passed the UPCAT, the congratulatory letter from UP administration said, “Lack of financial resources should not be a hindrance to obtaining a UP education.”

 

It calmed my mother somehow.

 

Attached to the letter was a pamphlet about the Socialized Tuition and Financial Assistance Program (STFAP), one that is touted to democratize access to UP by providing calculated tuition discounts to students. The STFAP uses economic indicators such as your family income and properties to determine your subsidy ranging from 40 to 100 percent..."

"... If your family had to pawn your inherited necklace, or your father had to take another job just so you can enroll this semester, you probably now understand that obtaining UP education actually comes with a price –a hefty one. And as the government continues to deprive UP of sufficient funds, the university is also forced to submit to agreements that compromise its public character..."

"... Entering the Diliman campus, you will be greeted by The Oblation, his arms outstretched and head tilted to the sky, symbolizing service to the country. Over the next years, UP is supposed to instill in you this noble mission, the meaning of being an iskolar ng bayan. But many things send the wrong message.

 

For one, UP has been partnering with private entities to support itself. Properties that should have been allocated for academic use had been handed to the highest bidder for them to run however they like.

 

... As you are welcomed into UP today, you will be congratulated for the nth time by speakers who will praise you for being among the cream of the crop. But most of them will avoid treading on the realities of UP life, of UP education. Points will be sugarcoated as to not antagonize you this early.

Although it may have taken me a year before shattering my own personal assumptions about the university, sifting through what is fact and myth now would lead you to the real university scene. And see for yourself what action needs to be done..."