When I was in college, I commuted everyday from our house in Tondo to the UP Diliman campus. It usually took me two hours on the road, one way. So that’s a total of four hours wasted everyday while waiting for jeepney rides, running after buses, and inhaling the carbon monoxide exhaust from the smoke belchers. Needless to say, even if I had left the house smelling fresh and cool from the morning shower, I would usually arrive in school two hours later all sweaty, smelling of smoke and virtually coated in soot and dust from head to toe. That was my daily routine. I happily endured it, all in the name of education.
During a particularly crowded day, together with several people I rushed towards a jeepney and squeezed myself into an available seat, unmindful of the people around me. I was intent on getting a seat, and that was all that mattered.
As soon as I sat down, to my horror I found that my bag had been unzipped and my wallet was missing. That was the first time that something like that happened to me, and I almost cried out in frustration. I couldn’t believe that someone would actually steal from a college student who only wanted to study hard and change the direction of her life for the better.