Then again, I never expected a lot of things coming into the experience of being a TnT in the Ateneo OrSem. I never expected the welcoming arms of the TnT core members to willingly accept more than one-hundred and twenty TnTs exactly the same way as they treated their old friends. I'd never expect that our CIP head, the guy who's supposed to make sure everyone is doing what they're supposed to, to be scary, friendly and approachable all at the same time. It's one hell of an entirely different feeling.
The narration, of course, starts from TnT interviews. It was of course, scary for me, but since Teriz, TnT core, was pretty nice, but I had to sing, and I wasn't a singer... I made it happen. The second interview was a lot worse. It was like I had all the life and energy sucked out of me. Margaux, another TnT core member, was pretty harsh, and Eddy and Sam looked pretty much as strict. However, it was all an act. I didn't realize it at that time, but I really wanted to be a TnT. It came late, good thing I was accepted.
Then, we proceed to training days...
I'll never forget that first day of training. The moment I stepped atop the MVP-CSL roofdeck, I was greeted by a few familiar faces, and over a hundred fresh faces. Some I see walking around campus, some I don't at all. Jam approached me first, probably recognizing I was a newbie. She explained the improvement in the TNT operations. While we had the new Filed folders (previous years had plastic envelopes). Our batch was probably special, and I picked the perfect time to be a newbie. Then again, everything was so new to me, and I was still shy to be among everyone else. After all I didn't know anyone there, save for a few. But, as the day went on, I met new people, more and more friends. It was one hell of an experience, to go through one whole day of TNT training was crazy enough. Just one day was life changing. All the activities were one of a kind, it was unique, it was party all-day with a little bit of team-building. TNTs party hard, in a different kind of way, we don't need alcohol to party hard.
The second day became even better. The games, GD's, team-building activities were much more fun than the first day. And all the TNTs somewhat became closer to one another, we all started meeting each other, we all started mingling. The groups were broken up, and we seemed more like a... (inhale) family.
The third day was somewhat the same, except we met the logistics crew already, those who were going to assist us on the actual OrSem. We had GD's and situationers with them already. It was an experience for a lifetime, and it was just training.
And, about a week later, OrSem had arrived...
The first day was... scary... I never really knew what to expect... I didn't know what to do either. All I knew was that we had to have energy. The energy of our culture was based upon the energy of others. The TNTs get their energies off other TNTs. It's amazing, everyone's helping each other, the energies of everyone boosting everyone else's.
However, it was priceless... Before the gates opened, all the TNT's were at the cage area, welcoming the freshmen, cheering for them, while enjoying, partying. It was a good feeling to be a part of something that big. It was immensely a great feeling. When the freshmen started to flood in the covered courts, it was amazing. The TNTs were all dancing on the chairs, all of us, until the freshmen had filled up the chairs, and there were no places for us to stand and dance upon. It was indeed one hell of a party. The entire 8am-430pm, one whole day of music, dance and it was all for the freshmen!
It was for three days. It was an experience I don't ever want to forget. Despite the loss of voice, the tired legs, and the exhaustion and all the hardships we all went through, it was one hell of a ride, and I'll definitely be a part of next year's... (inhale) FAMILY.
