Young Voice
Enrolling with pink folders
I woke up with a jolt; my body was triggered to get up from bed at the sound of my punctual alarm clock. Young students, like me, were all dashing up to be on time for school. We all gobbled up our breakfast like some pack of wolves, held a dressing marathon contest, and constantly checking our wristwatches if we were on time. There may be only one thing that differs me from the other early birds; they brought along a school bag loaded with books while I had my brown envelope containing some documents and my registration form. Oh yes, I'm going to school too, but for a slightly different purpose, that is to undergo the tedious process of enrolling. I'm no high school anymore, the comforts of simple enrollment process was out of my midst, what fogs my way is the vague uncertainty of my college enrollment.
Even before enrollment, (as I was taking up the today's most in-demand course, Nursing) a lot of screening and filing up sessions made me realize the benefits of having a girl scout training. The undying lesson of: Always Be Prepared, indeed worked. Take the sacrifice of packing some extra stuff inside your bag. Although you'll look like someone who brings a mini bookstore, it's all worth it, than experiencing the pain of crossing to the other side of the street just to buy a one peso paste from the nearby convenience store. It really pays to be extra prepared. Trust me, you don't want to see yourself having the same fate of unprepared noodle heads sitting under the tree, murmuring he has to go back again for tomorrow.
It's nice to share a seat with a friendly stranger then share some stories while waiting for your turn to enroll. But, just don't depend too much with what you hear from the others. You might fall to being a "victim" of a prank! Take my experience, one time I overheared some students saying, "You know, one girl said that one guy told him we need some pink folders for our application forms." Huh? I told myself, who said who, what said what? Nevertheless that group of students immediately went outside and bought some six pesos worth of long pink folders. Well, I follow what they did. I went outside and bought two pink folders. I finished enrollment, but the pink folders were actually not needed. The lesson? If you seem too unsure of your requirements, go ask the officers-in-charge or someone credible enough to give you specific and accurate information.
Perhaps you've heard of the popular note, "The Law Excuses No One"; well during my enrollment it was revised to a suitable quote, "The Line Excuses No One". Really, there are some pretending-to-be-dumb people who don't respect others in a line. Hello? Wasn't lining up step by step explained clearly by our teacher way back in kindergarten? I arrived at the university 6:15 a.m., being early I was able to be third in the line, but a mother and her daughter swept passed us first three and rushed to go first. As I understand, what we did was right; it was human enough to let that mother know she's teaching wrong decorum to her daughter. We told the ROTC Cadets to tell her off and send her at the back of the long line where she appropriately belongs. How could someone who arrived 7:30 a.m. be ahead of someone who arrived at 6:15 a.m.?
Another observation I had during enrollment was the lack "human consideration" on the part of those school staff involved in the enrollment process. I was one of the many poor come-back-again-tomorrow people. Everyone that is seated inside the assessment room had been expecting to be entertained, for having to wait more than three hours. But what do you know, the cut-off for the first twenty was made, and I was number thirty seven, because it was already nearing their service closing times. Technically, the clerks were correct. But just for the love of work and exercise of government service (being a state university) can't you sacrifice going home late for a noble cause that is to assess the fees of worthy scholars (like me perhaps)?
This is quite one-sided. That is why, courtesy should come from the service givers and the service receivers, as well. Customer's are always right, but let us not abuse that right. Remember your simple "please" and "thank you" lessons and practicing them on the clerks and facilitators. You might not know, your simple smile and thank you would lessen their burden and brighten them up, thus giving them more energy and vigor to accommodate more people. To get good service you must encourage good service. A two way process, treat and relate with the clerks kindly and they'll have the interest in the world to quicken up your documents; the cycle of life as we call it.
I was amazed how a few days of enrollment would lead me to learn some practical lessons on Girl Scout skills, pink folders, line pretenders and the basic courtesy. I may know less, some might disagree with my thoughts, but as a "fresh"man and so are my "fresh" thoughts would say, I'll remain true to my observations and reflections until the next enrollment period. I'll let you know.
(For comments and reactions send an email to reylangarcia@yahoo.com)