The UV centennial

Got many things to write about today. Thanks to some friends volunteering to help me fill my space and earn my pay easy.

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Look at this guy who didn’t sign his name except this in all caps: “SOME BUDDY.” He texted: “I know you’re a bookworm, so I thought you could help me find these books.”

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He gave me the titles of the books which had me scratching my head. Book one: “What To Say When You Talk To Yourself.” Book two: “How To Write While You Sleep.” Book three: “How to Correct by Mispronounce Some Cebuano Words.”

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Those are how-to books as you can see. And if that is not enough, here’s the fourth book “Some Buddy” is looking for and wants me to help find it for him: “How to Write a How-To Book.”

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This bit of history tells us: “There was a time when all rubber shoes were called tennis.” Yes, right. That was the shoes I wore (brand name: Elpo) when an uncle took me to the old Visayan Institute (VI) to enrol me in Grade 5.

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That was soon after the war. We called it the Liberation period. So, okay, I was to be enrolled at VI. But it was getting late so we had to complete the enrollment the next day. But that next day never came.

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I run a high fever the night of that next day. I had chills. Symptoms of the chickenpox that had hit me. I was in bed for two weeks. When I was up and about, my uncle took me to another school to be enrolled. I was enrolled even if the chickenpox had not yet fully healed. The pock marks were still there which was maybe the reason why the VI ma’ams of 50 or so years ago shunned me.

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On hindsight, I keep telling myself that if it were not for the chickenpox, I would’ve been a member of the Visayanian staffers club today.

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Oh, well, Pacman calls that destiny. And it looks like I’m still destined to be in the company of Visayanian top guns led by Sir Dodong and Sir Eddiegul when the University of the Visayas (then VI, now UV) celebrates its centenary (100th year) in the year 2019. God willing.

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The countdown for UV’s centennial celebration has begun. The big celebration is set on January 12, 2019 coinciding with the birth anniversary of Don Vicente A. Gullas, the venerable founder of the university. Cebu’s first.

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I have been told that the centenary fete, as current preparations indicate, promises to be one of the biggest school affairs in the country. Airliners carrying Visayanians from all over the globe will be landing at Mactan.

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As part of the celebration, many programs and projects are now being put in place. And these we’ll take up one by one.