final chance

                Sembreak is basically a break in between two semesters. Since it is called a break, it’s a time to relax and catch up on sleep. It is a period to spend quality time with your family because school usually takes up eight to ten hours of your day. Leaving the remaining hours left to do your home works, projects and other school requirements.

                Here in the University of the Philippines, sembreak is from December up to January. It also includes the Christmas vacation since the university applied the calendar shift. It means that the first semester started last August. Everyone just had to adjust to the new schedule, which means that the upcoming freshmen of school year 2014-2015 had almost four months of summer vacation.

                I am one of those freshmen lucky enough to enter the University of the Philippines. I took up five courses namely:  Math 17, English 1, Communication 3, STS and economics 11. Time went by so fast that I didn’t realize Christmas was fast approaching. The feeling of cold winds, the smell of ham and all the usual Christmas preparations was surrounding me. Unlike the other freshmen who were enjoying the last few days of the first semester, I was different. I completely knew that I would be failing my Math 17 course.

                When finals were over, I was relieved that the pressure was uplifted, but then again the worst was yet to come. My professor uploaded our scores in facebook and I saw that I had to take removals. It is another exam, officially the last exam of the first semester. It is a one shot exam, either you pass or fail.

                Turns out my sembreak was not a break after all. I had to study harder. As soon as I saw that depressing grade, I went to my professor the next day and consulted him. He advised me to start studying because the removal exam was suppose to be as difficult as the finals. I spent my sembreak in front of math books, scratch papers and time limits. Amidst the Christmas vacation my mind set was that I needed to pass. I can’t retake this course because it would delay me