My CIIT Culture Shock Story

My Culture Shock Story

by: Ella Mariano

I remember applying to different universities for college back in 2018. My goal was to get into a university with a film course. I was done with being in a private catholic school for 16 years. I wanted a new environment. I wanted to be with people who have the same passion for film, and I wanted to express myself through my clothes. I just want to see and experience something new.

Photo by: CIIT Philippines

So when I applied for CIIT with my schoolmates and went to the famous Interweave Building, my eyes widened, and my jaw dropped. I got so excited because the 7-floor building is not like your ordinary school. CIIT has this industrial-looking interior that got me interested. Then, when we went up, I was, once again, gobsmacked. A cafe and library intersecting? Mural paintings on the walls? Is this heaven or what? And students with their hair bleached with all these vibrant colors passed by. I haven’t even started my entrance exam. And yet, I already knew that I wanted to study here. I was hooked.

When orientation day came, I was filled with excitement and social anxiety. I was excited to be in college but afraid that I might not make friends or simply talk to the other freshies because of my shyness. My friend who also passed (Hi, Klarize!) was in a different orientation room, leaving me to fend for myself in this new wilderness. But when the orientation started, I never thought that I would be able to meet such friendly people. I’m now looking forward to what CIIT has in store for us.

Photo by: CIIT Philippines

Photo by: Ella Mariano

When classes started, I had no clue where Klarize and I would eat because eating at the 2nd-floor cafe was still intimidating for us at the time. So we would eat at the 7th-floor bleachers (which was quite chill, actually). And that was the time when we were still so shy to talk to our other block mates because we still don’t know how to approach them. That is until we got close to them in class when our block was preparing for the Magpasikat event. Getting to know my other block mates at that moment and finding more people to call friends was something I never expected would happen. We were sad that we won’t be in one class after the first term. On the bright side, that taught me a lot about independence and having a mutual agreement with your friends on what classes to get so you’ll still be together (separation anxiety be like). Other than that, I get to meet more people because of joining organizations. I never felt more welcomed once I joined different organizations because this was the kind of community that I was looking for in my past schools. Despite passing the exams in other universities, I knew that I wanted to be here at CIIT. This was my dream, and I’m finally living it.

Photo by: Ella Mariano

Before the pandemic, I had the chance to experience CIIT - a chill campus space with numerous organizations, fully-equipped facilities, and an overall top-of-the-line academic experience. Those few months felt like years because of how much I got to do a lot in school.

As the face-to-face classes are within arm’s reach, I hope more students could try and explore outside their comfort zones and make the most of their college life. It might seem intimidating that we have to adapt to another kind of environment. It is intimidating and frightening when we’re so used to our comfort zones. But just think about how there are more challenging things we’ll be experiencing in the future. So why not take the first step now? Who knows, it might not be so bad after all.

Photo by: Ella Mariano