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Before I was accepted by UP, I was rejected


During UPCAT weekend, Jica Lapeña, who graduated in 2013 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree (magna cum laude) from the University of the Philippines in Diliman, reflects on what getting into the premier state university meant to her.

My sixteen-year-old self had great ambitions. I had just graduated from high school and during those years I’d already had a taste of what I wanted for my future. I wanted to go abroad and study in London in what I deemed the ultimate dream school. I was going to be a fashion designer and my bucket list included the following entries: sell a work of art, get published, and bake an entire cake from scratch.

Those last months in high school were filled with a palpable excitement and fear that can only come when you are at the threshold of something wonderful. During those days, my friends and I were constantly worrying about the future. We awaited test results anxiously, embracing after triumphant applications and trying our best to get over the rejections.

It wasn't something you could easily share either because saying which school you were going to said something about what you planned to do with your life.

At the time, it seemed to me that the school I chose would determine everything else that would happen to me, from the kinds of friends I would have to the place I would be living in. It was the be-all and end-all decision.

That is why when I didn’t pass the UPCAT, I was devastated.



The University of the Philippines wasn’t exactly my dream school, but I wanted to at least pass the notorious UPCAT to prove that I could. It was a huge blow for me because I’d always been accustomed to getting high grades, and I wanted that kind of validation.

Overcoming her initial rejection by UP, Jica Lapeña graduated in 2013 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree (magna cum laude) from UP Diliman.
At the same time, it felt like a rite of passage in my family, since my parents, siblings and so many of my relatives were products of the state university.

My sisters reassured me that if I really wanted to go to UP, there were other ways to get in. Many choose to study elsewhere for their first year and just transfer afterwards.

For me, there was the option of taking the Talent Determination Test at the College of Fine Arts. Taking the talent test as my sole basis for entry into the university meant I would start out in a certificate course. It meant waiting a little bit longer than everyone else before I could know whether or not I was accepted for sure and that meant making other plans to fall back on.

I had a great fall-back plan, which included a full grant to take Fashion Design and Merchandising at a school with a building that made my heart stop as soon as I’d set foot in it. That’s how you know you really want something – when it makes your heart stop. It was exactly the course I wanted to take and in a location entirely familiar to me. What’s more was the fact that the institution was willing to invest so much in me.

It was everything I wanted but the Diliman campus beckoned to me still. There’s something enchanting about UP. The wild, unhindered landscape is so alive with possibilities you can feel it breathing beneath your feet, inspiring you to create and to act.

It was a 17th of April when I learned that I passed the talent test, and I had to choose between going to UP and accepting the grant at the other school. Although I still remember the date, I cannot quite recall what it was that finally made me choose UP. All I knew at the time was that I wanted to be part of that atmosphere so alive with intellect and passion and creativity.

My decision to go to UP was all the more satisfying not only because I chose it, but because in admitting me through its doors, it had chosen me as well. In my four years in college I learned everything I expected to and more. I met wonderful people and experienced many trials and triumphs, like anyone else at any university. But what I came to realize about UP was it was not just about what the school could give to me, but what I learned to give back.

Being a student in UP means that the country is investing in you, and that is better than any scholarship abroad; for what can be more honorable than dedicating your skills and talents to the country that raised you?

I’ve made it a point to give back to my country in any way that I can. And because I learned from and among the best, I can do it in the best way I can. If you are now at the threshold and you have the option to go to UP, take it, because beyond getting a good education, it means becoming a symbol of hope for our country – that and so much more. — DVM/HS, GMA News
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