I don't exactly remember how I discovered AME. All I know is that I knew it before I started studying in UP (so... like 6 years ago?). If my memory serves me right, it was because of a high school teacher who fascinated me. She liked anime, singing, yaoi... and if gossip were to be believed, my long time high school crush. She was from the early batches of AME... an officer even, perhaps.

So there... I told myself that I wanted to apply there. Unfortunately, my mom didn't like the idea of my applying for an org since it was too much of a distraction. But eventually, I joined UP Circuit during the second semester of my freshman year. I became engrossed with the org, friends and acads for the next couple of years. I eventually joined 2 other orgs: UP IECEP and SME-UPD. Both were Engineering-based.

Somewhere during my stay in college, I realized that my knowledge and fandom for anime was so limited, that I felt that I wasn't worthy to be called an otaku, or an anime fanatic. I wasn't updated with new series, I didn't read manga, I barely knew Japanese, I didn't cosplay nor attend anime conventions that often. So I kinda realized that AME might not be the place for me. Besides, I've learned that their application process was year-long and it was as tedious, if not more difficult, than Circuit's. So somewhere along the way, I gave up my dream (yuck. andrama xD)

So fast forward to the present semester.

I'm currently a 6th year Engineering student. I'm someone who needs to be focused with thesis work and delayed subjects. For some reasons, I'm not. Read the previous blog post.

Anyways, sometime last month, Patty shared AME's app's orientation poster on my wall. Nagbabaka-sakali na gusto ko mag-apply. That time, I shrugged it off. I'm too old for this.

Strangely, some 09 guys tagged Jethro in their comments. I thought he was interested in applying but was hesitant or didn't know about it. Turns out that the girl he's eyeing right now is an AME member. Being a good friend (or someone na mahilig mantrip), I invited him to attend just to see her. "Punta lang tayo sa orientation. Tapos wag tayo mag-apply." It took some time and effort to convince him, but he eventually relented.

I suddenly remember Carlo and his 5-minute life-changing decisions. It was on a Sunday, the day before the apps orientation. It was after my decision to drop EEE 190, which meant that my Monday afternoon was free. Which also meant that I could attend the orientation. However, Jethro messaged me that he didn't want to go because he found out that she had class during that time. So much for that.

Call me strange and silly, but I usually listen to signs. I'm currently learning 1 Kanji character per day. When I started this, I listed all the words/characters I wanted to know and assigned a day to each of them.  The following day, I realized the word for that day. It was the Kanji character for rain... 雨, or ame. That was it. That was all that was needed to convince me to attend.

After CoE 143 lab and taking lunch, I headed to the CAL building (whew, when was the last time I had classes there? ._.) and I was just in time for the introductions. They held icebreakers such as Pinoy Henyo and Human Bingo. They also introduced the org and the committees. A guy from the documentation committee even caught my eye. He was my type: strawberry hair, average stature, fair skinned, a bit squint-eyed with glasses. The best part: he likes cats and made this cute face when he saw an animated kitty on the projector screen. Hoho.

I still don't know if I want to continue this. As I mentioned, there's a huge gap I need to overcome: le tambayan distance from EEE, my limited knowledge in anime and manga, the hard work le app process entails, le age gap, and much more. Also, I'm finally doing my thesis next sem. I don't know if I can juggle everything else.

But I really want this. It's an early college dream. I had a lot of broken ones already, but this is a chance to get one right. I hope I can do it :)

Labels: cogitations, hobbies, interludes