LOOKING BACK: A Testimonial to Dominican College Batch '99

Here's my first post after two weeks of being isolated. Hehe.

Background of the Essay (hehe): This is a long and pending task designated by Coralyn Bermundo and Fritzie Aguado as we are putting up an official website for our highschool batch. I believe this is still subject to editing but I hope this little work is able to provide justice to our class' dignity. :)

LOOKING BACK…

I could but cringe whenever I open my Highschool Annual, especially when I open this certain account of our Batch History. This lengthy and glorifying essay begins with a very corny cliché: A person cannot move towards his future unless he will not (sic) look back at the past.

TOINK!

And always after which do I read back the title: THE ANNALS OF THE BATCH WITH A LEGACY.

MALAMANG! (uli.) No batch can stand without even a microscopic legacy. Then I read more: Though tagged as the “underdogs”… we suddenly turned out to be one of the newest breed of activists… yes we became FIGHTERS.

It is at that part when my stamina to criticize is always tamed. Dominican College High School Batch 1999 as FIGHTERS – that could not be small. And so I begin to stride the memory lane all the way from 1996 to 1999, thinking about all the strife, victories, heartbreaks (uhhhmm…) as well as the earliest streaks of insomnia and Parkinsons (panginginig to what/whoever… grades, CAT Officers – ehem to MOCCs, Ms. Bayugo, etc.). With such memories are remarkable trends, teeny-bopper flicks, soaps, hit songs, campus heartthrobs (hehe), club weeks, pa-sosyal field trips (that I always brag to college friends), retreats (na di pala dapat laging iniiyakan), school-wide epidemics, annual tsubibos and monthly masses (and opportunities to boywatch) at the Santuario. These also include our “unforgettable bond” with that embroidered blue garterized necktie, jumper-cullotes. low-waisted belt, kung-fu shoes, white hankies and GLO metal-polisher; as well as the beginning of our love stories with papers, ledgers, sketchpads, Longwood typewriters, scientific calculators, MS Office (in its most humble beginnings), books, kitchen and baking tools, keyboards and guitar, and yea – even with compact powder, lipstick, curlash, brow-pluckers, nailpolish, Nokia, alcohol and boys.

But what about our legacy as FIGHTERS? Perhaps, this entails a rise of vision. I kind of admit that we do not truly understand that very claim ten years ago; but now, I can attest to its truth. We are indeed fighters. But how?

Let us return to all of the abovementioned “small things” -- such trends, events, rules and others that seemed so ordinary. Then, let’s take a higher stance so that we can see how everything went about, and finally a deep plunge in order to revive the feel. Yes, let us remember; but let us remember high and then deep. Have we been fighters?

YES, WE FOUGHT FOR LIFE – Individually, we studied dead hard in order to graduate (of course!). Collectively, we accompanied a good friend as she struggled for both human and Eternal lives. (God bless Melina; and Melina, may God bless us okay? *wink*)

YES, WE FOUGHT FOR FRIENDSHIPS – As we were always aware that the school is meant to be one’s second home, Dominican College had been a witness not just to our first virtues and vices, but also to the beautiful ties we have forged with numerous people. Girls are naturally sociable as we operate in groups. We lined up for canteen chits, ate, studied, played, prayed, went to the locker, drinking fountain, and even to the CR together. But it is through these little things where we have formed lifetime bonds. We baptized our groups with corny names (Angels, Parasites, Katok, Bomba Gels, etc.) – all of which stand even up to date. We promised each other to join common Friday clubs. We surprised each other with unique gimmicks on special days. (Ehem to Veritas Club and Bro Lio) We cried when we apologize to each other during retreats. And despite being bashed because of such deep sentimentality, we did not mind because it’s just normal for girls to go senti.

And then with the depth of our friendships, we called ourselves a family, with our teachers as second parents and with each other as siblings. And just how a family should be, we deemed that such relationships should be indissoluble. And yes, such ties exist even up to now. Isn’t this the very exigency for a reunion? (…and why Fritzie and Corps have been finding ways to put us together?) Yes we have a big happy family – which must have gone bigger because we are already Titas or Ninangs to our classmates’ kids and Kumares to some “friends-in-laws”.

YES, WE FOUGHT FOR EXCELLENCE – Now, this calls for a lengthy enumeration: we strided our way to the top, in and outside of the campus in terms of academics, student leadership as well as in various co and extra-curricular activities. This family can boast of bright minds, well-rounded leaders, creative artists, assertive speakers, honest entrepreneurs and plain prim and proper colegialas – of whose heads the school hardly pounded lessons on bearing witness to the Truth, living in Love and fighting for Justice. The results of these bouts for excellence can only be evident today. And of course, our list of achievements could but go on and on.

Batch 1999 though always divided into four sections is able to come up with a collective spirit that rises in time of strife, activated and blazing-hot when its time to fight. Oh no, we are not warfreaks! We fight in order to conquer complacency, to be the best in the paths we have chosen, to give gratitude to our Alma Mater who taught us that the weight of existence is meant to be carried than dragged.

Some might not have felt it, but our school is able to imbibe in us a culture of good character. As I have been teaching in college, I have learned how professors invest on character in forming a student. I have handled several juniors coming from DC as students, and I’m proud to have seen in all of them the conscience to study (albeit cramming), the readiness to work on big tasks, openness to change despite reverence for tradition, prudence in resolves, and the steadfast heart for justice. All the Dcans that I have encountered in UST (both young and old) are dignified women, graced with moderation – with nobody underrated or overrated. (I’ve never seen a blondie for a Dcan-Thomasian, not even a super-bibba.)

Perhaps paying gratitude to one’s school is very easy for those who chose to be in the academe, but being so while carrying the Dominican pride is something else. (I remember being told that to be a Dominican educator is to substitute for Dominic’s dog.) To be educated and to educate others, both the Dominican-way, is a round-song of receiving and sharing God’s unending grace. On my end, I am happy to be with this group of women who are carrying our school’s seal in a bigger Dominican community. Telling these girls how I have been a Dominican since birth is always a bragging experience. Nonetheless, it also reminds me of a dignity to keep.

Indeed, it is always good to remember since digging-deep brings us back to our souls. Memories remind us not just of how we have been, but also tell a lot of who we truly are. Ten years have passed, and perhaps it’s about time –neither for a mental anamnesis nor for a simple reminiscence, but for a real homecoming. And when it occurs, may it not just be a time to look back since it’s already high-time to give back.

Tus alumnas, prometemos, Se enseñanza no olvidar. Your students have pledged not to forget your teachings.

Cheers!