There are some things in life that you would still do even if it tells you to go literally crazy, sleepless, and tired. Things you wouldn't want in any other way. Things you would do for your friends.

Like things I did for my friend Eds.

Her thesis defense was one of those things I was talking about but that's not all. Last Thursday, 9 February, was another event that entailed being up all night to finish a requirement for her graduation.

The College of Science annually celebrates the Science Week. It is during this week that students rejoice because most classes are suspended (I say most because this does not apply to Chem majors); activities are here, there, and everywhere; students get to watch their professors do the outrageous things during the Variety Show; and seniors get to exhibit their research output through posters.

Yeah, posters. Posters stuck on every panel board that can be found along the corridors of the 3rd floor. And it's not just an exhibit. It's a competition.

Because we love cramming, Eds and I decided to do her poster a day before the deadline. Another reason why we did it the last minute was that Eds needed to do one more experiment, results of which will be included in the poster.

I got dismissed from my Thursday class early so I went straight to the Instru Lab where Eds was doing her last-minute experiment.


Few minutes later Oyet came from Tep's place.


Because Eds' trial for one sample requires 30 minutes of reaction time (and she has 8 samples, meaning 4 hours of analysis), we braced ourselves for a really late departure time from school. We knew that we would leave at around 11:00 pm. I played some music to keep us company while waiting for Eds to finish.

At around 10:30 pm, Oyet went dancing galore and requested Average Joe to be played.


Yes, that song Average Joe.


With the nah nah nah nah nah nah nah part which Oyet loved.


It was past 11 pm when Eds finished. The guards had to pull us out of the building. Good thing Eds' adviser was with us. That prevented the guards from kicking our butts.

Noemi and Erick wanted to come with us and stay at Eds' place so we picked them up somewhere along Lacson St. Erick helped Noemi with her poster and they've been doing the poster all night. We were all starving and I suggested that we eat somewhere near Eds' place. We checked out Greenhills if there were open food chains.

It was Thursday night and the night life was dead. Except for bars and coffee shops, only a few food stores were open. We chose Teriyaki Boy...


...where some divine light was over Noemi.

Anyway, we were the last customers and nobody else was in the resto except for the crew cleaning up the place. While waiting for our orders, our ears were fed with Japanese songs like those you hear in animes. Not to mention the Very Japanese mood inside the resto.

Anime and Japanese people. Those who take pics with a peace sign.


Noemi was more pa-cute than Japanese.


I was more OA than Japanese.


The waiting continued and Oyet started to toy around with the chopsticks.


Finally, the food arrived and did we say we were starving? Suddenly, with a snap of a finger, the food was wiped out.


We got our coffees and went straight to Eds' place. Erick and Noemi finished their poster already so they were just bumming around. Oyet had nothing to do. It was just me and Eds who stayed up all night doing the poster.

The night (and my caramel macchiato!) was not enough to finish the poster. Eds and Noemi had to attend an early class so we were forced to leave with Eds' poster unfinished. Tep was kind enough to let us stay at his place and use his computer.

After Eds' class, she went straight to Tep's place. I was half done with the poster.


I checked the time, it was 2:00 pm. The deadline is at 7 pm. I was getting upset. I was sleepless, powerless, and bathless (haha!). There was little time.


Finally, I finished the poster at 6 pm. We hurried to Joli's to have it printed. And when the printer started printing, I nearly cried.


I was overwhelmed. All the hard work and now dizzizzit! Eds, Oyet, and I were so happy to see the poster get printed.


It felt different when I personally saw it come out of the printer. I had my own poster made last year but I didn't get to see it printed because I had to attend to something really important. My partner Garet had it printed and so I didn't really know how it felt like seeing the poster on paper for the first time.

We got to pass the poster on the dot. For the first time in two days, we felt relieved.

On my way home, I realized that sometimes there are things that you will do because you ought to do it. It's like something voluntary, something that you value doing because it's for a friend. And after doing these things, even if you were sleepless or tired or hungry, you don't have a hint of regret because you realize that if it's for a friend, then it's all worth it.

Now I can't wait for Monday to come. I have to see Eds' poster on one of those panel boards!