I am not impressed

Last week was the kickoff ceremony of UP's Centennial. I went to Diliman with some DAC friends - not by choice, but not exactly by force either. I was wondering why everyone was jumping up and down, rejoicing at the 100 years of UP's excellence, while I had no school spirit. Don't get me wrong - I love UP. I do. It's just sometimes, familiarity truly breeds contempt. Here's proof:

I had my first round of Impromptu speeches today. The students had to draw three topics from three different boxes - one box contained an emotion or an adjective, another contained an element of pop culture, and the last contained something about current world affairs or historical figures. A lot of the students did not know some of the topics - topics which, I thought, were taught in high school and re-taught in college as a freshman. Or at least, topics which any intelligent human being should be able to discuss.

Example:

The French Revolution. Student: "I don't know anything about this."

The Berlin Wall. Student: "I don't know anything about this."

Incompetent. A definition: Incapable of competing.

Loathing. A definition: Extreme heat.

Monica Lewinsky. Student: "Who's that, po?" So I answer. During student's speech: "I don't really know who Monica Lewinsky is, but she had an affair with Bill Clinton. I don't know if he's married." I'm paraphrasing, of course.

My god! I know I'm not getting any smarter, so why does it seem that people are getting more and more stupid. I apologize. I expected more from students of the Philippines' premier University. I am not impressed.