Another Ending
03.31.10

Hello there pretty sem. Two years into college and it already seems to me that second semesters are way harder than first semesters (as obvious and as should be expected) but are also more awesome. Just as I was glad to see last sem go, I'll be sad to see you go. Why should good things come to an end?

This semester has been rather chaotic that to tell its story I would have to backtrack all the way into the start just so I can retrace everything and give justice to the wonders of my story. I will not gloss over the details in this post but I have been humbled by rigor, beauty, passion, questions and the coincidences that didn't really happen by chance. And that is just the start of all the marvels. I can create a blog entry to eat up your whole weekend just listing all that I found marvel-worthy.

But before I go in depth and lose myself in the stream of paths I have traversed this sem, allow me first to relate my regret that I wasn't able to attend Neil Gaiman's event here at the Philippines last March 17. It feels so bummer to admit that I didn't go to make way for academics. Damn. That was the Neil Gaiman. I've nothing left to do but hope and wait that he'll return again someday, during a more favorable time for me, and that the organizers of the event won't limit the number of books he'll sign.

But that is not to say that I still don't have an autographed book, after about four years of building up a library (I started at around Second Year Highschool). Look at what I got, just yesterday:

Which brings me to the first part of my semester end storytelling...

Meet Professor Evangel Quiwa, computer scientist, pioneer, master teacher. Sir Quiwa is the author of the book used in UPD-DCS Data Structures (CS32) classes (title page pictured above). I took my CS32 under him this semester. Also, this is his last semester teaching. He'll be retiring next sem.

While most teachers (especially in Computer Science) glitz on Macbooks or on the latest Windows/Linux release, Sir Quiwa used acetate slides, rugged from years of teaching, carefully preserved with bond papers in between each of them. The picture above, in which he is facing a laptop (loaded with Windows XP, by the way) was the only time in which he used a laptop in our class. While everyone used Microsoft Word, Sir Quiwa used LaTeX, placing much emphasis on elegance, even in documents. While everyone is jumping on the bandwagon of coding superficiality, Sir Quiwa focused on rigor, the details, the algorithms in their pure, math-abstract form.

But what I will remember the most from Sir Quiwa will be his smile. While the stereotypical professor raises his voice to intimidate and command respect, Sir Quiwa uses his smile. I will always remember how he smiled when I asked him to sign my copy of his book, or when he inserted life-lessons in his computer science lectures. It was the kind of smile that connects. As such his lectures were never boring. I may have slept through some of them but the fault is not his. I was particularly surprised when he cracked jokes on Windows Vista and DLSU (a very UP-tribe-pride kind of joke, insert my evil grin here).

My classroom life aside, I had a lot more other things of awesomeness to share (remember our camping?). This semester I did not hit the books as rigorously as I did in the previous semesters (except perhaps Sir Quiwa's book, but I've already told you about that). I had a hard time in exams but I was establishing connections, making it a point that I am more than numbers. I played more and worked less...oh procrastination how I love thee.

I encountered a lot of new people and found myself rediscovering old acquaintances. Out of some I made secrets, and with some others I shared secrets. Blasting the books, I was immersed in the crowd. Back at high school, when my library was still a measly collection numbering to more or less fifty, I never saw myself saying this. But now I will. And so I say: Books are nice. They keep you company when everyone else is busy keeping other people company or doing something not of your business. Books won't mind if you don't greet them for months. What's more is that the best of books change on every re-read, oftentimes being more beautiful. But books can only get as beautiful as up to a certain point. When you are immersed in humanity, there is no telling where the beauty stops. It is advisable to lay down your book every once in a while and read life, other people. The wise man, after all, reads not only books but life itself.

This semester has been difficult and challenging. Problems in computer science range from the obvious to the arcane, and the solutions to those arcane problems work just like magic. But then I've realized that, though most (of the interesting) computer science problems are hard, they all pale in comparison to the challenge of showing the people around us how much we care. Connecting with other people is a problem that is harder than intractable but is always solvable.

Over already?

I wanted this sem not for the subjects I took but for the people I've been with.

I did not want you to go, second sem. Why do good things come to an end?

I guess so that better things can start taking place.

Let them start. I can hardly wait.

Thank you. All of you. Beautiful human beings.

Hoping to be more awesome next time we meet,
Your Skymeister