Author's Note: This was my entry for the Regional Short Story Writing Contest, Technology-related. I won't clarify more about the contest because it was somehow a sensitive topic anyway. Unfortunately, I didn't won the contest but it wasn't the reason for me to stop my passion in writing. That's why I posted this story to share it with you. Enjoy reading!
**
“APIRRRRRRRRRRRR!”
Dreya and Glenn said as they passed the University of the Philippines College Admission Test (UPCAT). They have seen the result via online. They browsed on the UP’s website for them to know if they passed the exam or not without going at the UP campuses. Meanwhile, University of the Philippines (UP) is the national university of the Philippines. It has the most National Centers of Excellence and Development among higher education institutions in the country.
So, they were both happy knowing that they passed that very challenging UPCAT that could be taken once in a lifetime. They told themselves, “We have made it to the top! This is the beginning of our journey. This is the fruit of what we have planted!”
Happiness and excitement filled their hearts. Because of this, they tried to remember the time they were about to take the UPCAT...
The two best of friends were quiet nervous and excited. Glenn was bringing lots of UPCAT reviewer with him while Dreya didn’t bring any materials for her to review. Only her gadgets were enough for her. They ensure themselves that they have already eaten their lunch so that their mind can function well during the examination.
After five hours, they’ve already done taking the UPCAT..
On their way going home, they stopped at the Jollibee and ate their dinner. It was already 6:30 in the evening. Their schedule of examination was afternoon session of last batch of examinees.
“Bess, I’m so hungry. You know what? It was cold in our testing room. There was no break time or recess in the schedule. You were allowed to eat but you could only take a small bite of your snack because it was very time pressured”, Glenn said.
“Oh! Same as what I’ve experienced, Bess. I was looking for a comfort room during our testing hours but then I took control of myself. Ha ha ha! You know what I mean”, Dreya said.
“Yeah. I know what you are talking about. Just watch your words because we are in a public place”, Glenn said.
“Uhh? Okay”, Dreya whispered.
They were already done eating their dinner. They went to bus terminal and waited for the bus to come. After half of an hour, they've already got home.
On the other hand, Dreya’s full name is Andrea Mikaela Colminares. She likes to be called ‘Dreya’ for short. She’s an only child of Mrs. Michelle and Mr. Alfredo Colminares. Her parents provide her everything she needs. But most of the time they give her all the luxuries all teenagers could ever hope for--- from the stylish dresses and heels to the expensive gadgets of today. But what she loves most are the coolest devices that maybe a caveman under a haystack inside a cave in a faraway place would never know. Some of these are laptop, iPhone, iPad, Smartphones, tablet, videocam, PSP and many more. Life for her is easy. She takes this and takes that! Her mom said that those are big help in her social life and education, but honestly she doesn’t see the benefits of the said gadgets on her studies aside from the “Copy + Paste” process she usually does whenever she has homework. One time, she told her mom that she would do some researching so she let her use the computer. When her mom left, she immediately opened her Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr and YouTube accounts. She also opened a Google tab in case her mom passed by. She was browsing through the Facebook News Feed when a post from an unknown friend caught her eyes: Help their School, Donate some Computers. She read the article and some queries invaded her mind.At first, she thought of two things. ‘Is it proper to inquire to an unknown person here in social networking site?’ and ‘If I would not try to ask, I would not be satisfy’. He immediately dropped a message to an unknown friend in Facebook with a name ‘Glenn Jayson Hernandez’. The message goes like this:
