Margin of Error

Chapter One

It's a bad day. Pinatawag na naman ako sa Dean's office dahil sa kumakalat na chismis na ako raw ang salarin sa nagpost sa confession page ng University namin tungkol sa hindi nila pag aksyon laban sa mga nangongopyang mga estudyante. Of course it wasn't me, nangongopya rin kasi ako kaya bakit ko gagawin iyon? 

I sighed loudly while I'm walking. My friends are waiting for me in the canteen. Makikichismis lang din sila tungkol sa nangyari. Kakasimula pa lang ng second sem namin sa third year ay ito na agad ang nangyari. Every year na lang may drama talaga akong entry. Patay na naman ako sa Tita ko nito kapag nalaman niya. Isusumbong na naman niya ako sa isa kong Tita at baka tuluyan na talaga nilang gawin yung palaging pangtakot nila sa akin. 

"Anong nangyari?" Jin asked me when I sat down beside her, everyone looked at me, waiting for my response. 

"Just baseless accusations. They don't listen although they also don't have any evidence to hold me accountable for it." I shrugged and picked a piece of Jin's fries at uminom din ako sa coke ni Jerm. 

"What's happening to our profs? Mukha silang hindi mga professional. Namamaratang ng tao na wala naman silang ebedinsya." Rena said while angrily shoving a mouthful of rice to her mouth. Among the seven of us she is a very short tempered person.

"Chill guys, ganyan talaga ang buhay." Ani ko naman habang kumukuha sa mga pagkain nila. One household na kasi kami dahil lahat na lang ay nagsheshare kami. May it be with things or foods. 

"Wala pa ba tayong prof sa Survey Op?" Yvonne asked me because apparently, I am also the mayor of our class. 

"Wala pang balita but they said that we should wait in EN 205, the prof might come at wala tayo roon baka mapatay tayo. Another issue na naman for our block section." Lintaya ko kaya tumango naman sila.

Matapos naming kumain ay patapos narin ang lunch time kaya umakyat na kami sa EN building at pumasok sa computer lab ito kasi yung EN 205 at katabi lang nito ang office ng Chairman ng department namin. 

"This University sucks. Dalawang linggo na pero wala parin tayong mga instructors sa ibang subjects." Reklamo ko habang umuupo kami sa usual spot namin dito sa computer lab. Ako ang nasa pinakalikod at pinakadulo at katabi ko naman si Jerm at nasa harapan naman namin ang ibang kaibigan namin. 

"Wala na tayong magagawa diyan kundi maghintay." Irish said which I gave her a nod. 

Ilang minuto lang ang lumipas ay nagsipasukan narin ang mga kaklase ko at tahimik silang umupo sa mga bakanteng upuan. Which is rare to happen. Habang nagsiupuan sila ay may nakita akong hindi pamilyar na pigura na nakasunod sa kanila. The woman holding a marker and an ipad walked in front and sat down in the teacher's table. 

We looked at her curiously as she surveyed us through her eyes. Her eyes linger at me for more than a second which is weird dahil parang may galit ito sa akin. I can feel it. 

"I am Eliza Castro, your professor in Survey Operations. Without further ado, let's start with our class. Get a whole sheet of paper we will be having a test." She said strictly while her eyes are on me. I sighed, what's with the professor's problem with me. Kanina pa siya ha. Kumuha na lang ako ng papel at nagsulat ng pangalan ko. 

"Dang, that test was hard." I sighed after we went out of the lab.

"Buti na lang may meeting sila at hindi na siya nagpa oral recitation." Pagpapasalamat ni Marie at tumabi sa akin sa paglalakad papuntang gate dahil uuwi na kami. 

"Si Deahya pa naman yung unang tinawag." Natatawang saad ni Irish, and everyone in the group, laughed. Napailing na lang ako. 

I was about to get screwed kanina dahil wala naman akong alam sa survey operations. I barely know anything about this degree program that I am taking.  Hindi naman ako matalino at hindi rin bobo. Isa lang akong hamak na estudyante na palaging may issue taga academic year. Napailing na lang ako sa sarili ko. Ako na ang umiiwas sa gulo pero ako pa talaga ang hinahabol. 

"Pero napansin niyo na parang may galit si Miss sa Mayor natin." Tumingin sila sa akin na parang nanghihingi ng sagot. I sighed because I noticed that also. Maybe because of the issue I am currently facing? I really don't know. Maraming galit sa akin dito sa University namin, specifically my department. Dahil kinalaban ko lang naman yung presidente namin. 

"Maybe because of the issue?" Irish asked, unsure also. 

"Hayaan niyo na." I said, dismissing the topic even though it bothers me. 

Nagkanya-kanya na kaming pumunta sa mga bus stop namin. Irish and Angel walked together. While Yvonne and Rena were together since they have the same baranggays. Jin, me and Jerm went to different route also. 

As I was passing the 7 11, I saw a glimpse of our new professor, looking at me from head to toe. Scanning my whole body, and I know that she can see me eyeing her too. She gave me sharp look and rolled her eyes before turning around. 

I just shook my head and continued walking. 

Pagkarating ko sa bahay ay agad kong iniopen yung laptop ko para gawin narin yung side hustle ko. I have been financially independent with my family. Pero nakatira parin ako sa isang bubong sa kanila because my mother won't let me move out unless I am married. 

I am in my third year now, taking Bachelor of Science in Statistics. Only few people really know about this degree program. Even here in Cebu, only my university and the University of the Philippines offer this kind of degree program. But I never really liked this degree program. I only pursued this because three years ago this was the safest choice. Out of the seven people of our friendship, only Rena was the one who choose Statistics as her first choice. The rest of us were forced to take this due to different circumstances. We have different things we would love to pursue but we still ended up here. Hindi naman ako nagsisi, dahil  nakilala ko naman yung mga kaibigan ko. They are the most treasured people I have in my college journey. 

A sound of my messenger popped, so I opened my messenger and there was a message request from my new instructor. 

'add me on the gc' 

It was a short message, not even a professional way of typing it. I replied to it with a short message too after I added her inn our gc. 

'Good day Miss, I already added you in the gc. Please see message request.' I pressed the sent button and closed my phone. 

But other sounds popped, I opened my phone again to see who it was. 

I saw that she messaged the gc and grouped us randomly for our final project to be submitted before the semester ends. We need to develop a survey tool. This is likely a dissertation already. I doubt we could finish this in just four months. 

I opened our groupchat with the barkada. Everyone was ranting there and I ranted too. 

I think this is the highlight of my college journey, to have friends that you can rant to.