The Address of Greatness, 1

Mention the words "Doltz Hall" in Silliman University, and you'd surely get a collective reaction of disapproval, with a slight hit of hostility.

With its dilapidated walls, older-than-Mampur structure, Superferry-like windows, a creepy gigantic Acacia tree in the front yard, hundreds of ghost stories, resident druggies, frat people, a penguin (!), secret societies of reinas and maias; the dorm certainly lives up to its name, Doltz Hell.

Here, you can meet and greet, and get acquainted with people from the extremes; frat men and geeks, druggies and Christian fanatics, reinas and maias, social climbers and silent millionaires, achievers and bums, humans and animals.

Aside from the haunted house reputation, it’s the people that make this dorm famous (or infamous!). However, if you put Doltz side by side with other dorms, hands down! Doltz gonna go for the kill, baby! And if you mix a Doltz haller amidst all kinds of dormers, no he's not gonna kill the other dormers, but he'd stand out as well. With the bad reputation and all ... kidding!

One can't help but wonder how these people, despite their Heaven-Hades differences, survive with each other and live harmoniously under the same roof. It's the same amazement you'd get upon seeing a snake and a frog sharing the same cage.

I lived (and mutated) in this dorm for about … three years. Three years of adventure, of fun, of brotherhood. I can even remember the time when my Mom dragged me to Doltz hall (since the first choice was the modern, concrete, relatively-welcoming New Men's Dorm), it was pure horror.

The same horror you used to get when you were 5 years old, and you accidentally swallowed a calamansi seed. Oooh, the branches will be sprouting out of your ears!

(to be concluded…)