has it really been ten years already?

It was in 2002. I was roasting under the harsh April sun in black academic garb along with fellow graduates. We were seated right there on the greenest portion of Freedom Park, listening (supposedly) to the message being delivered by then Education Secretary Raul Roco. Thanks to the bright glare of the afternoon sun, I couldn't help but wear sunglasses even though we discouraged to do so by the marshals.

Today, I went back to the same green field where I had received the "diploma" (it, instead, contained instructions on returning the academic robes). Just like clockwork, the people who take care of the grass had cordoned off the graduates' sitting area and set up sprinklers to keep the grass continuously watered in the morning.  In a week, the backdrop for the next commencement exercises will be set up; then it would look like a fresh start for those leaving the hallowed halls of the University of the Philippines Los Banos.

As I walked under the shade of a nearby acacia tree, I marveled at how far the people from the Microbiology Majors of Class of 2002 have gone in the span of ten years. We've got people in the medical field, in the food industry, in sales and marketing, in research, in academia. Many have gone to work overseas. A number have even left the field of Microbiology altogether. Some have started their own families; others, due to the circumstances they're in, are still single.

That day, April 20th, 2002, the Microbiology students in the same Class were all together one last time. And I can't believe that it's been a decade since!