The Day I Almost Die

As we grow old we become adventurous. We want to try something new. I was in on my first year on college when all these stupid things happen. One of my friends encourages me to join a fraternity. Fraternity…hmm my first impression to that is trouble. And that’s what I want. I’m tired of doing things over and over again. During that time was my “kalokohan days” and I join the fraternity and my reason is “trip trip lang”.
Well I don’t care about the pain of initiation. That time I always think that your in if you’re a frat member. You’ll be popular at school and they are afraid to hurt you.
Before you join there are many things you need to undergo. First, they have what they call baptism. It’s done by a three hard slaps on the face. The slaps that I receive was painful. I could compare it to a spike on a volleyball…ouch! My recruiter told me that never have an eye to eye contact and always bow and also to say Lord to the president when you talk to him. Another thing you would do is you’ll be a servant for few days. You’ll be obeying what the senior’s asks you to do. You’ll have to follow or else bear the consequences like punches and kicks. You’ll be doing things that you don’t do at home. My hand as ashtray, my hand used to clean dog’s poof, wash the clothes of others are some things that I did. I also have my lecture. Through that you’ll be learning the real purpose of your brotherhood.
After I completed my role as a servant, finally my initiation day comes and the date is July 26, 2006. I am with two neophytes. We were brought to a rural place. Then they ordered us to clean the initiators house first. The place was near the cemetery. Whoa creepy. One stupid thing that I did that time is to smile when the initiator is talking to us. He didn’t like it. He screamed at me and get the long paddle and point it to my face and he said “hindi ba sinabi sa inyo na bawal ngumiti? Humanda ka mamaya kaw papahirapan ko!”. My legs started to shake. I’m now so scared. Tension is building, I’m sweating a lot. Many things are circling in my mind. Many questions are coming on my mind.What would they do to me?..what if I die..what about my dreams. “Oh my God ano tong pinasok ko” I said to myself. I began praying on my mind. I look at the paddle and its size was terrible. It was 1 ½ inch thick and was about 4 feet long. They put blindfolds on us and start paddling us. I can still bear the pain from the first 10 paddles. My thighs started to swollen. I almost loose my balance at the 15th paddle. The 20th paddle makes me kneel. And up to the final paddle I said to myself “ finally its done”. Then the initiator and the other members congratulates me and have a shake hand with me. After that my eyes get blurred and I fall to the floor straight. I loose my consciousness. My brothers in the fraternity panic. They took a calamansi leaf from their backyard and let me smell it. After few minutes I gain my consciousness. They told me that I scared them. And we all began to laugh.
When I get home, I wear a short that was enough to cover the markings from the paddle. When I look at it in the bathroom, it has the same color with an eggplant. The pain still continues and I still go to school with my condition. Riding a jeep was a hard one. Everytime the jeep encounters a hump my thighs hurts. I sit on the jeep only with my ass..hahaha
And WTF I remember my rooms are on the 4th and 5th floor. Every step I take on the stairs is painful.

The thing I learned with this experience is to thinks first. One wrong move could blow you out in this world. Always look at the good sides of life. Be ready for what you choose. Bear the consequences of your actions. Life is a challenge in this world full of trials.

And another thing – “Kung magtritrip ka, wag yung nakamamatay. Ang masaya para sa iyo ay pwedeng maging dahilan ng kalungkutan ng iba”