ONAT LOPERA

Yesterday was STI College Olongapo’s 12th Commencement Exercises. Yesterday was my graduation and now I’m a degree holder: Bachelor in Science in Computer Science. Now, I am officially a bum. :))

With my dad.

My mom and Kyekye, my niece. And I did got my original diploma with my solo graduation pictures, or what I prefer to call them as my burial pictures. LOL

more pictures: Graduation Day »

And to sweeten the whole occasion a bit more, it was on the last practice day when I first found out. At first I couldn’t believe it myself when my thesis mate said that she just noticed it while they were making the invitations. I reacted quickly and demanded to hand me an invitation. After I saw my name, I said bluntly in front of a couple of my classmates and a few instructions on the faculty room that it is a typographical error or something. I’m one of the “Honorable Mentions” for BSCS. I had one serious case of goosebumps after I had absorbed it all. I was shocked by what I read! I couldn’t believe it. Even one of the instructors on the room said that if my name is a typo error on the invitation, then he had to reprint all 400+ invitations. It had to be correct, right? I was just not expecting that at all.

When I left school, I said to them that I won’t tell it my family. I would be a nice surprise on the big day. After I arrived from the very last practice, my mom asked for the invitation and I handed it to her. I was hoping that she would not notice my name on the invitation and she didn’t. Before the baccalaureate mass started, my mom and I were sitting then and I decided that it was the right time to tell. I asked for the invitation, I turned to the page and asked her to read that page. My mom saw my name and asked me why I didn’t told them about the award. I replied, “you didn’t read the invitation”.

Hence, that medal on the pictures above. And the coolest part is that it has my name engraved on the back of it.

I had been to 5 graduations already (nursery, elementary, high school, associate degree and bachelor degree) and this one holds the most number I went up the stage; first was for the diploma, second was for the thesis handover to our client and the last was for that medal. What an awesome way to end it all.

The graduation ended at about 10PM. We headed to Sam’s for a little celebration last night. Sure feels great that it’s all over now, the academic quest, that is. Now I need to find a job.