Lakbay with UP AstroSoc

The UP Astronomical Society (UP AstroSoc) frequently organizes public astronomy activities to inspire people with the wonders of the universe. A member-favorite is the "Lakbay", where the organization gets invited by schools (usually high schools) to share our knowledge of astronomy with their students. All the exhaustion of planning activity stations and rehearsing lecture topics vanishes once we interact with the students and fill the night with cosmic chattering.

I remember my first Lakbay at the Manila Waldorf School. The lecture session had been finished for a while when a student asked me about white holes—a concept I could only vaguely explain from a book I had read a long time ago. The students there were some of the most curious and most friendly ones I have interacted in Lakbays. That Lakbay ran late into the night-- we started to doze off and ended up having the most random conversations under the stars. That night, along with many others spent with the organization, are the nights I’ll fondly remember from my college days.