Word of the Day: Elation

I never understood what the meaning of the word Elation really was until yesterday. When I learned that I passed the Civil Service Commission's Professional Examination held in November last year.

www.dictionary.com explains:

elation
noun
1.	an exhilarating psychological state of pride and optimism; an absence of depression [ant: depression]
2.	a feeling of joy and pride

...

I was in an intense mixture of emotions when a good pal at the gym told me that the list of the examination passers was already posted on CSC's website. I got no hold of internet that morning , leaving me uneasy throughout my fitness routine. Between optimism and pessimism, I stood on the parameter of pessimism. I never had an ounce of hope that I would make it! All these times, I believed that I failed the test. Starting with my negligence at reviewing for the exam. I only gave it barely a week to scan through the pages of the Civil Service examination reviewer I bought at the United Bookstore. And I had a partial run-through. I only went deeper for English ,Filipino and Clerical. I can't for the life of me do the Mathematics! Thus, reaching the 80% mark on the scale was nearly impossible, or so it seemed!

Finally I took a seat infront of desktop PC and went to http://www.csc.gov.ph/. I looked for a link somewhere on their homepage for the list of passers. And there it was! I clicked it. I clicked not in the hope of seeing my name on the list. I clicked to confirm the absence of my name on the list! It took about a life-time to load the whole page of family names in alphabetical order. And since my family name falls on letter U, I had to struggle and wait til the page drops to letter U! There must have been tons of users accessing the same link around the country so that loading was at a snail speed. I had to refresh the page again and again. At last, the status was done. The list was now loaded completely. And so the final verdict. I scrolled the down to the bottom. My sight missed letter U and went straight to letter Z. So I looked back up to letter U...

Uh-oh!

I couldn't believe my eyes. It read in capital letters: UDASCO, VINCENT TOM I

Could I be dreaming? No, I couldn't! Then I scrolled up again and look for the header of the page. It read: Civil Service Commission Examination Passers. I noticed I was starting to smile. And that smile turned into a chuckle. And that chuckle turned into a burst of laughter! God, I passed the exam! I couldn't believe! Thank God! I was totally elated!

Finally, Napanood na Ko nAPO Sila!

One of my good ol' 80's reminiscence were the music of Apo Hiking Society played through a cassette tape on a cassette player - mp3 players and iPods were nowhere conceived then! Don't get me wrong, I was only in grade school then; who could blame me if I liked that 'Doo-bie-doo-bie-doo' brain-itcher? The ever sensual 'Yakap sa Dilim', the satirical 'Blue Jeans' and the national anthem of friendship, Awit ng Barkada, were among my top five Apo favorites. And then there was the all-time favorite love song 'When I Met You', completing my own top five chart! As a kid, I never had any hint what these songs were talking about. All I dug for was the very core of music that Buboy, Danny and Jim offered.

Back in February of 2007, the versatile trio came here in Cagayan de Oro to perform in a concert at the Lim Ket Kai Atrium, followed by a tree planting activity held the next day in Mapawa Reforestation Area, Mapawa, Gusa, this city. Days before the concert, I was hoping to see them perform live. But being financially constrained then, I missed the event (aaaawe). Luckily, my MCDII (Mindanao Community Development Innovations, Incorporated) family invited me to join the tree planting, with the special participation of the Apo Hiking Society. Having interacted with them up close and personal was one of the most unforgettable experiences in my life. We took pictures with them and ate lunch with them at the Ranch House of the Pelaez Family, the owner of the vast Mapawa land. I did have fun with them. But, at the end of the day, I still regretted missing their concert.

More than a year later, December 2008, the Apo Hiking Society entertained the Cagay-anon's once again at the Lim Ket Kai Atrium, for the 10th anniversary celebration of a famous local restaurant. And for the second time, I missed the opportunity of seeing and listening to them live. But for unknown reason, I just let this opportunity pass me by. I believed the right time would eventually come for me to watch Apo Hiking Society in a concert. And yes, two months after, they came back!

For a cause!

Oh yes! Apo Hiking Society came back for the Cagay-anons, this time, with a good cause. And that is to help the displaced families of the great Cagayan de Oro flood last January. In line with Xavier University's Jubilee Celebration in December of 2008, a concert by Apo Hiking Society was set to go in February, as the finale. Danny Javier related during the concert that they were reluctant to accept the invitation to perform for the third time at a close interval here in Cagayan de Oro. But it might have come out later with a profound reason being the good cause of helping the victims of the flood that sent them back here . What was really special about this concert is that they performed right at the heart of Xavier University - Ateneo de Cagayan, the sister school of Ateneo de Manila University, Apo Hiking Society's Alma Mater!

As an alumnus of XU, I was proud myself to be a part of such a great endeavor, hand in hand with my musical pedestal, the Apo Hiking Society. I was like hitting two birds with one stone. While I was able to help my fellow Cagay-anons, I also took the rare opportunity to finally enjoy the music of Apo live.

February 2, 2008. I will never forget this date!