Entries for May, 2007
It hasn't been that long, has it?
I'm writing this entry while my stomach's grumbling. PJ has my iPod. My Dad is coming over. This day is becoming aweful every minute. Not really. I just love to exaggerate.
I can't get to Marion's blog. There's something wrong with it.
How I wish I just could get away the way Rai can in the States. Living in an archipelago is such a diss. Last week, Gen and I spent an hour or so leafing through pages of Philippine travel books and swore to ourselves that we'll visit the places we've seen someday. Gen wants to go to Vigan. I want to go the Lagen Island in Palawan. I also want to visit Camiguin and Siquijor again. Yes, You read right, Siquijor. The island is great so don't get fazed by all the old wives' tales and movie stereotypes. If you don't understand what I'm saying, you see, I have my own dictionary just like JJ. HAHA Speaking of traveling, I also want to travel abroad. I want to go to Japan, France and the US. European and American Roadtrips are prospects I'm looking forward to.
Che, what can I say to your latest entry? Hear! Hear! HAHAHA
GM (Group Messaging) to BSAc Bears are so tiring but nonetheless fun especially when we're antagonizing JJ. HEHE Card games rule the BSAc Bears' past time. UNO, Fish, and Crazy 8s. All these courtesy of Kristal. Go Tal!
We already got our Accounting grades and I'm relieved not to mention happy with how it turned out.
I love Gen. She's a lifesaver, a very good buddy. Thanks, Henebel! Heny, heny, henebelly!
I wish the Beauty Queens will win the Amazing Race. I hate Charla and Mirna. They're so goody-goody. I don't like Eric and Danielle either. They can't seem to grasp the reality of the game.
Did I miss something?!
{ book } The Historian-Elizabeth Kostova
{ mood } thankful
Someone erased Marion's blog. Marion has always been careless with his passwords. He says someone whom he name-dropped must have done the dirty deed. He has his suspect. If it were my blog, I'd be so infuriated, I'll cry myself sick. Of course, another exaggeration.
I just finished my second Stat exam and I'm jittery. I hope the results will be fine. We'll have our last Lit exam tomorrow. It'll cover all assigned short stories. In fairness to Mr. I'm-going-to-die-any-minute, some of the stories he assigned were really good. Nevertheless, this doesn't erase the fact that he's still an imposer of ideas like we don't have our own minds and can't deduce on our own.
Let me talk on more important matters. The elections are coming up. Actually, in five days yet. I'm a registered voter of Isabela City and so I'm voting there. I'm expecting a bloody election this year. Mr. Wahab Akbar and his harem are running for public office in almost all the municipalities of Basilan. There's also the Biels who are very guilty of the so-called Political Dynasty (I forgot the other term for that.) I would very much like to abstain but I feel that I should not. I read in the Inquirer that we should not vote for the lesser evil but for the good. But what if we're given lousy choices? Sidetrack: I feel so sorry for Mr. Prospero Pichay. He spent so much yet he doesn't seem to move forward or anywhere for that matter. If he wins, then it's money well spent. If not, Mr Pichay: "You could have spent that money to build homes for GK, idiot!" Going back: I joined Namfrel Zamboanga. Which means after voting I'm going back to Zamboanga to encode and tally votes. I'm preparing myself for endless election returns.
Eric and Danielle won the Amazing Race All Stars. Oh, well. At least Charla and Mirna didn't win. I'm so mean.
Bobbie has a phone! HAHAHA
{ book } The Historian-Elizabeth Kostova
{ mood } flighty
I watched Spiderman 3 a week ago but neglected to write something about it. So here goes... I think it's better than the first two movies because: 1. There's now a "real" villain, VENOM. Sandman is the same good-turned-bad villain. 2. I love Venom! At least he made Peter Parker dance and cool. That alone makes it worth watching.
Summer is mainly movies for me now. No vacation whatsoever. There's Shrek The Third, Pirates of the Carribean III: At World's End, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix and a whole bunch of other more.
As I'm writing this, my friends are enjoying Mae-Mae's birthday celebration at the Ecozone Pool. I wasn't able to join them since I was supposed to pick up my aunt at the airport at 7AM this morning but the trip got delayed and delayed and so I'm picking her up at 6.30PM instead. I could've gone. Damn Asian Spirit! In the first place, I don't know why my aunt took that a trip with that airline when it's really unreliable. Why didn't she take the trip Shy took yesterday to Zamboanga?! It just sucks!
I'm going back and forth Zambo-Isabela tomorrow since I still have a graveyard shift (9PM-3AM) for NAMFREL Quick Count later that day. The morning of my graveyard shift, I have another Stat exam. God help me through tomorrow and the day after!
NB: This layout is the one I requested Biey to make for me. How do you find it?
{ music } Nothing In This World-Paris Hilton
{ book } The Historian-Elizabeth Kostova
{ mood } tired
ADZoo, Fetish | 2 hollered back
Happy Mother's Day! MA
Life was easier when you were around. We lived for each other. Now that you're gone, I'm trying to live for me but it's hard. It's hard when you suddenly lose your direction. You have always been mine. I wish you had the chance to live for yourself. You deserve it more than anyone.
I won't ever forget to remember you. I love you.
{ music } Cool-Gwen Stefani
{ book } The Historian-Elizabeth Kostova
{ mood } melancholy
Volunteering for NAMFREL was tiresome but enjoyable. Lace, Leah and Liezl and I were the only ones from the BSAc Bears who attended the graveyard shift. Coincidentally, I just realized this, all our names start with the same letter. Nice! Our Quick Count started at around 8PM. I stayed until around 3AM, then Lace and I went home. The Quick Count, contrary to its purpose, started slow since the election returns weren't delivered as fast. If there was a volunteer who worked very hard, it's Tara. After returning from her retrieval area at around 5AM of May 15(their work started at 8AM of May 14), she still proceeded on encoding election returns. She said just this morning that it was to compensate for not being able to vote since she wasn't able to register. All I can say is, Awoooh! HAHA
Since I came home late, I wasn't able to wake up early enough to attend Lit class. I woke up at 8AM, after four hours of sleep which was more than some volunteers had. I rushed because I was worried that we'll have a quiz in History. We had film viewing.
This summer's issue of Beacon was better than usual. The articles are more cohesive and better written. I particularly liked MR Andrada's AdZU: Trapped in the Triangle.
There's also this year's Marejada. Marejada is the literary folio of the university while Beacon is its news magazine. Marejada is very morbid but like the Beacon has improved it's content since last issue.
Somebody told me I should join the Beacon. I'm flattered but I find the staff intimidating. I don't think I will match their verbal prowess. HEHE Besides, I'm enjoying every inch of not being organization-bound. I'm a fairly good writer but I reserve my writing in my blog.
{ mood } relaxed
A lot of people seem to like my new layout. But like Rizal , I must give to Caesar what is Caesar's. I chose the picture from Photobucket and listed my specifications but it was all Biey. Biey did the hard work. Her layouts can be downloaded from this site: http://tabulas.com/~up4grabs
Just read through her blog. It's very user-friendly. It was certainly friendly to me and I don't even know anything about CSS or coding. Just follow her rules and everything will be fine. IPR should be properly exercised. Intellectual Property Rights that is.
Or you can request her to make a layout just for you. She accepts layout requests ever so often. Just check her blog for openings. I think there is one right now.
Thanks Biey!
{ music } Say It Right-Nelly Furtado
{ mood } working
Ian and I have been corresponding regularly this past few days. He's a classmate in grade school. Thanks to Friendster, we got to communicate after almost five years of nothing. Grade School was great and my friends are entirely to blame for that.
Ian Psalmuel (yep, that's his name) is now studying Nursing at Arellano University.
Here's our exchange.
IAN: hi zeth..mustah??,..hai..super gusto ko na mag vacation diyan sa zamboanga..hai...cge ingat
ME: fine, ian. ikaw, musta? cge vacation ka na para magkita naman tayo. hehe
IAN: hai,...kung my time lng talaga..grabe yung duty ko..to think na student pa lang ako..hmp..gusto ko bumalik sa elementary days natin..sobrang wala kng iniisip kundi laro..wahaha.;.those days are the best..i miss basilan..i miss our school..musta na kaya si mam almazan??..
ME: nakaka-miss nga talaga. ok lng si mam almazan. nakikita ko siya paminsan-minsan kung nandun ako basilan. i think basilan misses you, too. hehehe anyway, i miss you. 
IAN: missssss youuuuuu toooooooooo...u take care..ders a saying na the only permanent thing in this world is change..well i can say na nag change na tayo pare..physically and emotionally..bt theres a thing that binds as all...our past..wahaha..drama noh..lol..ingatz
ME: lolz. hehehe pero, totoo. we all had a very memorable time together. i know we'll see each other sooner or later. and when that time comes, expect a very tight hug from me. hehehe take care always ian. see you soon.
{ music } I Love Your Way-Bob Marley
I always think of stories to write--my mind has this unstoppable tendency to set plots but as I move more into it, I lose everything. It just crumbles. I want to write a story--I guess it's one of my goals in life.
I always dream big. Like for example, after graduation, it's set that I review for the CPA Board Exams but I never saw myself as a practicing accountant nay auditor. Don't get me wrong, studying accountancy isn't completely useless. Actually, it's very useful since I want to work for a multinational company here or better, out of the country.
I want to go away, not in search of a better future because I'm pretty well-off staying here in the Philippines but to be far away as I can get away from people who miscontrue my being who I am. People are just so invasive of other people's lives and they just can't seem to stop talking about it like its some overly-dramatic soap opera. Take PBB and other reality-based TV shows.
People see me as a bad girl--an ungrateful daughter and an angsty rebellious teenager. Truthfully, maybe I am that but I am not only that. I believe I am more than what people see me as. I am more than what people see me as.
When I was young, people, parents and teachers most especially looked up to me. I was the good kid--smart, responsible--the character awardee. A classmate once cried to me and said that her mother scolded her why she couldn't be more like me. It's funny how things take a sudden 180° turn. It never really got into my head--the recognition and the praises. I reiterate the Cheerleader Nation mantra, I'm not cocky, I'm just confident.
Now, here I am. I'm pushing 20. Sure, there are a few things I want to change in the past but that's just wishful thinking. There's nothing I can do about it. Besides, lingering on regrets is not good.
I have made plans for the future. I guess it's a step towards growing up--really growing up this time and not the premature traumatic kind grown-ups expect of you when they tell you the "aweful truth". I am on the road towards becoming the person I want to be, not necessarily the person people expect me to become but that's just it, I'm learning to stop living on other people's expectation and be trapped because of what people might think. And I find every bit of these equally exhilarating.
Yeah! I guess I am finally growing up.
{ book } Hotel Du Lac-Anita Brookner
{ mood } rejuvenated
Ai-Love-Amor | 4 hollered back
ESMYUSKEE [Ahye Chua]
(Esmyuskee!)
Yoursmyus
Kung si Jen ay GO,
Sino naman si Gen?
(Sino raw?!)
E di, ka-loveteam ni GO.
(Ngyeh!)
(Esmyuskee!)
Yoursmyus
Kung si Jen ay GO
At si Gen may GO,
Kanino naman si Kar?
(Kanino raw?!)
E di kay Ra-GO.
(Ngyeh!)
(Esmyuskee!)
Yoursmyus
Kung si Jen ay GO,
Si Gen may GO,
at si Kar kay RaGO,
Ano naman kay Winmark?
(Ano raw?!)
E di, mong-GO.
(Ngyeh!)
(Esmyuskee!)
Yourmyus
Kung mongGO and hilig ni Winmark,
Saan naman mahilig sina Pearl at Jen?
(Saan?!)
E di sa TAN-GO.
(Ngyeh!)
BARKADA TRIP (BSAc Version) [Pearl Tan]
Where did JENNIFER GO?
Why did JOYCE MARry (MARIE) NONO?
What did KRIS TELl NATIVIDAD?
How did MARIE kiss TAL?
Where did JET tHROw DE GUZMAN?
When did JOHN CAR LOSt WEE?
Where did LACE ANNE PASs?
Why did JEFF free PEREZ?
Totoo bang FERNANDEZ KA REEN?
TARA! MAy TORRES dun.
Wo AHYE CHUA. (I love paper. -in Mandarin)
Do you want to see JJ undress (ANDRES)?
Is it true that ROW wILl ban (VAN) SANGGAYAN?
Has CRISTINA SIN BUEN?
Have you lay a (LEAH) JOY, SILVA?
Did RIZ sell (RIZELLE) TORRALBA?
Did you MARK VINCENT cool, JARA (CULAJARA)?
Pwede ba si CHUCK CABE, ROY?
Did PAMUNAG marry CRIS (MARICRIS)?
Did MIKE kill (MICHAEL) AGENCIA?
Is KERZA lean (KERZALENE), BABEH?
Why did BOBBY SUe NGA?
When did APRIL ROSE?
Where did JHOE VIN sent (VINCENT) MARIANO?
Why did JUL use (JULIUS) CAESAR AMORA?
Are SHERYL PEARL and MARIE KRISTAL TAN?
How much did ELIZA bet (ELIZABETH) sa pare niyo (PARREÑO)?
Where did LIZETTE send Iza (CENIZA)?
Why did PASTOR feed the (PASTORFIDE) dog?
Why do you call MAE fat, Ima (FATIMA)?
{ book } By The River Piedra I Sat Down and Wept-Paulo Coelho
I don't know what to write. I'm not reading anything quite interesting right now. I just finished reading By the River Piedra I Sat Down and Wept by Paulo Coelho. It was insightful as usual but I found it too preachy. I guess all Paulo Coelho books are meant to be preachy.
I got to watch Pirates of the Carribean: At World's End last week. Che, her sister, her sister's classmates and I watched it together. It was fantastic. I love Johnny Depp. Despite Marion's retort that it doesn't have pace, I didn't even notice that three hours has passed when we finished watching it. It has a nice story and I guess that compensates for the length of the movie. There are no time limits for a nice story. It has a beautiful sad ending for Elizabeth and Will. Jack and Barbossa are quite a couple. It's a string of stories united by the fact that all of them are pirates of the carribean and that their fates are intertwined. I'm not really a good critic but I liked it and that's that.
I'm busy downloading songs from LimeWire for Ahye and my iPod. I am so bored.
We had this Facilitators' Training at the JMRFC last Friday and Saturday. It was a stay-in so we ended kind of late. Marion was hovering over me all of a sudden for reasons I don't know. He kept on talking about not getting laid for almost a month and said that I was sexually frustrated when in fact it was him who was counting his "dry period". I am not one to discuss my sex life especially explicitly discussing things such as orgasms and penetrations. That's just completely disgusting. I feel those things should be kept in the confines of the bedroom. Urgh!
I had a shock when I saw this picture on Friendster. Angie and I discussed it on YM. I think he has every right to upload it since it's his and all but I wasn't just used to him doing things and being like that. I guess everybody's changing...
ADZoo, Fetish | 10 hollered back
This e-mail is from Tara, a pure-blooded Atenean and Brebeuf Gargoyle. It shows us what really matters and what education and learning really mean. From an Atenean to another Atenean to another Atenean, the cycle goes on...
Graduation Speech AHS Class of 2007
Fr. Hizon, Revered Faculty, Graduates of Class 2007, Parents, Relatives and Friends
Good Evening.
I would like to thank all of you for the rare privilege of speaking to the graduating HS class of Ateneo.
Let me start by asking the graduates to stand up and take an oath with me. Please stand. “I/ state your name/ hereby greet you all/ a Happy April Fool’s Day.” Thank you. You may now take your seats.
Pasensya na kayo kasi pang-anim na akong nagsalita at inaantok na kayong lahat. Konting pampagising lang. Where’s 4C? Ahhhh my favorite class. They’re the only ones who know me, so let me start by telling you about myself.
I graduated from Ateneo HS in 1975. In my batch, the 6 sections spelled out WISDOM, and I belonged to 4i. My class was really notorious. I know now for example, that 7 years after we graduated, the prefect of discipline was still talking about us to students we never met.
As early as first year, our entire class was posted for a chalk war during recess. We had no computer games then, so we had to use our imagination to play. Chalk was amazing. Cut to the right size, and hurled with sufficient force, it would explode and leave marks on your hapless victims.
Unfortunately, one day, during a full scale gang war, the teacher next door walked by to see what the noise was all about. I can still remember it in slow motion: a classmate hurled, another ducked, and the piece of chalk hit him right in the middle of the forehead, and exploded. Suddenly it was over and we were convicted for war crimes. There was no trial. Our whole class was posted, and from then on, we became known as the dishonors class.
I had my share of problems as an individual too. When I was 3rd year high school, I was called to the principals office in the middle of class. On the way to the office, I wasn’t worried. Fr. Raymond Miller was the principal then, and he was one of the gentlest priests I knew.
I gingerly opened the door, then froze in my tracks. My parents were there! Between them was a huge pile of fake letters excusing me from going to school for health reasons. I confessed right there and then, and expected to be expelled. But for some reason, the school decided to be lenient on me, and my sentence was commuted to several hours post and 6 months probation with no allowance. (That’s the part that hurt.)
Now that I recall this, I realize that I was really lucky. I was never able to say this before, but I say it now, I would like to thank the school for its leniency in handling this case… and several others I had.
You know, what you do in high school will haunt you forever. I thought I had outlived my high school mistakes when I became a doctor, but several years ago, by the strangest coincidence, guess who became our hospital priest? - Fr. Miller!
In his first few weeks there, he met Dr Rogie Tangco, walking in the corridor. Rogie is 2 years ahead of me. We’re about the same height but he is not as good-looking. When Fr. Miller saw him he said – Tony Dans right? Rogie raised his 2 hands immediately and vehemently denied it “Father hindi ako yon! Si Rogie po ako!” Needless to say, they had a good laugh at my expense. Rogie has been very kind to needle me in public many times for this.
Now I understand why they invited me here today - maybe they thought I was Rogie! I’m sure that if my records still existed, the administration would have had second thoughts inviting me.
But not to worry, they still have time to regret this.
Before I totally lose my credibility, let me get on with my talk. For tonight, I was chosing between 1) saying something so inspiring it would change your entire life, or 2) telling you more pointless stories of high school days.
I decided to do the latter.
To give you an idea about 4i, I did a survey of my classmates last week – by email or SMS. I had a good response rate. There were 37 of us when we graduated. Of the 35 still alive, 30 still keep in touch regularly. We used to see each other at weddings, where everyone became best man for someone else. Then it became baptisms - ninong nanaman lahat. But now, more and more, we see each other at funerals. That’s the natural history of gatherings we attend.
Other than these, we have so many reunions, you cant really call them reunions anymore. Imagine I received 24 responses from 30 contacts - a whopping 80% after 32 years, considering I just had a few days to do this.
Anyway, my question to them was this: What is the most important thing you learned in high school?
I thought this was a good question. I was sure the faculty would be interested in the answers… and the students too. You’re going home today with 4 years worth of knowledge, and you aren’t sure exactly which things to hang on to, that might help you through life. Well we have the perspective of 32 years to tell you what has helped us. So listen well.
First let me share some responses with you at random.
Choy Cojuangco – buwisit ka ang hirap ng tanong mo at paiba-iba.
Jorge Yuzon – pare pasensya na, wala yata akong natutunan.
Hmm. Let’s look for better ones.
Jev Ramos – Kung maitim ka noon, hindi ka na puputi, kung kalbo ang tatay mo, makakalbo ka rin.
Claro Gomez (read) – this one I have to censor.
You know what, just let me go straight to the summary, because you may misunderstand my classmates. With these guys, you need to read between the lines.
My summary is based not just on how my classmates responded, but also on observations about what they did and said in HS.
What’s the most important thing we learned in high school? The best summary of our answers would be this -
“I HAVE TO GET GOOD GRADES BY HOOK OR BY CROOK.”
Oops that was the Greenhills survey.
Wait…. Ah ok, here’s the Ateneo survey. “DON’T BELIEVE YOUR REPORT CARDS”.
Teachers please don’t walk out. Let me explain myself. Despite our notoriety, the remarkable thing about our class was our attitude towards learning. As early as first year high school, we had this disdain for grades, and we constantly reminded each other of its inherent problems. Did grades really measure how good you were? Should we even bother about what we got? As a class, we didn’t believe so, and we tried our best to remind each other: focus on learning and don’t get too concerned with grades. The phrase “grade-conscious” became a jeer for us. If you made the mistake of publicly asking what percent of the grade came from the final exam and small quizzes, or if you complained about the cutoff for passing, you would regret it. You would be labeled grade conscious and never hear the end of it for a week. Classmates would walk by you and you would hear them say “grade conscious”, soft enough to seem like a whisper, but loud enough for you to hear. This ideology became inculcated in us, so by our 2nd year, some of us felt ashamed when our grades were too high.
Now I am sure that to a certain extent, this was just rationalization for low grades, but in retrospect our disdain may have had some basis. There are 3 reasons I say this.
1. Grades, by default, measure mainly knowledge. Multiple choice, true or false, enumeration, fill in the blanks – they’re designed to measure how much knowledge is in your head. But in education, knowledge is just a decoy. It is NOT the most important intellectual faculty. My mother was an art teacher in grade school for many years, and she believed that creativity and curiosity were more important. I laughed at that thought for a few years, until I learned that someone else said exactly the same thing - Albert Einstein. My mom doesn’t know it, but she was a genius. With knowledge alone you become stagnant like an old textbook. With curiosity, and creativity you can actually discover new knowledge, and write the books yourself! Unfortunately, creativity is harder to grade, and curiosity - almost impossible. They don’t give credit for asking questions right? If they did, I would have been valedictorian.
When you realize that knowledge is a decoy, sometimes you notice funny things in the curriculum. I cringe when when I hear my children memorizing things like DOST or SEC or CSI. I have often told them, to their consternation, forget memorizing. Just fail the darn subject. Criticize what you’re being taught. But when I see them doing projects, organizing affairs, and planning for events, I heave a sigh of relief and say - their tuition is worth every cent.
Don’t get me wrong. I am not saying that Ateneo hasn’t taught you creativity or intellectual curiosity. In fact these are distinguishing traits of our education. All I’m saying is that these are difficult to measure, and therefore your report cards underestimate your worth.
4i was a bundle of curiosity and creativity. We looked at things under the miscroscope that would have shocked the teacher. We had long distance spitting contests, and trash paper basketball tournaments, and other things I cannot mention. Juvenile delinquence, you might say. I prefer to view them as exercises in creativity, and I treasure them as much as lessons inside the classroom.
2. The other thing measured by your report card is effort – how hard you work. Now this looks innocent but there are several traps here.
First, it is very difficult to grade effort. If you’re super smart and math is effortless for you, shouldn’t you get a low mark in effort?
Second, assuming you could put a valid score on effort, do we really want to emphasize hard work? While it is often espoused as a virtue, it can also lead become a vice. We need balance in our life. I have seen people work so hard, they neglect their family, their spirituality, and even their own physical health.
Third, hard work makes life sound like a prison sentence. Congratulations graduates, from now on, you are condemned to a life of hard work! You see dear graduates, the report card plays tricks on you! Hard work is OK, but Ateneo has given you something better – passion. There’s a big difference. Hard workers do things because they have to. People with passion do things because they want to. Hard work consumes energy, but passion builds it up. When you have passion for your work, then it isn’t really work!
Fr. Hizon I have a suggestion. Next year, in the report cards, lets remove the column on effort. Instead, lets put in a column on passion.
3. And then there’s this 3rd thing measured by your report card – conduct. Conduct is measured by the degree to which we conform to acceptable behaviour. But there are 2 reasons why people don’t conform. Either they’re rebelling or simply misbehaving. On the surface, they look the same. But when you rebel, you’re expressing a belief or fighting for a cause. When you misbehave, you are simply being obnoxious. Is it important to distinguish the two? Of course. We discourage misbehaviour, but rebelling – that’s what you’re in Ateneo for – to prepare you to rebel and change the world.
Sometimes its not so easy to tell the difference. When a student asserts his right to hairstyle – is that misbehaving or rebelling? When he wears slippers to school because it is in fashion, is that misbehaving or rebelling? Do we listen to their views to distinguish the two? While we implement rules of conduct and grade how well students conform, I agree that we are nurturing discipline. But sometimes this may be at the cost of suppressing their other half – the one who wants to be different. The one that wants to rebel against society, change the status quo, and fight for a better world. We honor conformists in school because they have discipline and they don’t rock the boat – but after school, it’s the rebel we honor – the people who saw what is, and tried to change it into what ought to be – people like Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Jose Rizal, and Ninoy Aquino.
I’m not saying we remove conduct from the report card. I’m saying we need to be careful in dealing with apparent misconduct. Sometimes we may be suppressing exactly the values and characteristics that we espouse.
In summary, we have given you three reasons why you shouldn’t believe your report card. It misses measuring the important things:
- creativity and curiosity, rather than knowledge per se,
- passion for work, rather than effort, and
- the desire to be different and change things, rather than just proper conduct or good behaviour.
To end, dear graduates, I would like to give you a 4th reason why grades underestimate you. When I fielded my survey to my classmates last week, I received many different themes on what was the most important lesson in high school. Can you guess what the most common answer was?
I assure you, nobody said Kreb’s cycle, or the quadratic equation. By far the most common answer was - the lesson of friendship. This is something we didn’t get from books or lectures, this is something we learned from each other. For sure, it can never be measured by grades.
So savour this last moment of HS and look around you. Look at the wonderful friends you found. You don’t know this yet – your HS friends are unlike any. They will last forever. You may be parting ways now, but your paths will cross again like ours has, regardless of the profession you have chosen.
How many of you plan to be doctors? Remember them. They will take care of you when your sick, and they will not charge you.
And how many are leaving the country? Remember them as well. You are going to live in their homes when you travel. Free!
There might even be a priest in here somewhere. He will preside at your wedding, baptize your child. I’m not sure you would want to confess to them. What a horrible thought.
There will be politicians amongst you too – governors, mayors, cabinet members, maybe even a president? Even they will seek refuge in your reunions, because it is only there that they can be themselves, with people they truly trust.
It doesn’t matter what they do, when you are down and out, your classmates will get together to pull you up. They will chip in for your hospital expenses, or help send your kids abroad, even when they themselves are in need.
I can spend the entire day with you talking about high school friends. My main difficulty preparing for this talk was choosing which anecdotes to share just to show how close we were 32 years ago, and how much closer we’ve become since then.
The point is this - I, am immensely proud of the people I grew up with in high school.
When I hear stories of principles they have had to stand up for in their life, I can see the same principles we nurtured together as classmates. Our futures have diversified us, but our values remain one and the same. Today, we remain comrades in the same rebellion, fighting the battle in different zones.
Savour this moment. Say your goodbyes for now… but know that your paths WILL cross again. With graduation, your friendship has become more binding than marriage. Remember, you cannot divorce a HS classmate, even if it is ordered by the Vatican. It’s illegal.
Savor this moment dear graduates, no matter what your grades. You have Ateneo behind you , and your friends beside you, so you have no choice. Like the blue eagle that has symbolized you, you WILL fly high.
Congratulations to one and all!
{ music } The Best Damn Thing-Avril Lavigne
{ show } Basilan Election Fraud
I've been unceremoniously talked into going back here (Zamboanga) and yet he is asking me why I'm here. If he only knows the pathetic reason I'm here but I can't tell him nor can she. We wouldn't like to hurt his feelings, would we? What feelings am I talking about?! Stupid as it may seem, we argue about the most ludicrous things like toothbrushes and Batman. I am so getting tired of this.
{ book } Hotel Du Lac-Anita Brookner
{ show } Stranger-Hilary Duff
{ mood } sick