Those Years (Part Two)

High school life was so different from the grade school years I spent in the province. The probinsiyana kid was now a city girl 🙂

I was actually late in taking the admission test for high school at the University of Santo Tomas but since my father worked at the university, the high school principal accommodated me. I even took the exams at the principal’s office.

Though my brothers and I spent summer break  in Manila during our grade school  years to be with Dad, residing permanently in a city was a challenge for me.  I have to take a commute from our place in Quezon City to Espana in Manila. Back then, there were buses traveling the long road passing in front of the University gates. Jeepneys were plenty too and traffic was unheard of. The girl sections in all years usually had their class in the morning while our brother sections had theirs in the afternoon.  We only get to mingle with them during joint school activities like sports fests, spelling bee contests and the like.

I do remember the very first day during my freshman year. We prayed the Morning Offering after the flag ceremony then our Spiritual Director gave us each a blessed rosary.  In every subject, we had to introduce ourselves to our teachers. I felt so conscious back then. My classmates looked so smart and well-dressed. Eventually we had to wear our uniforms. It took me a while to adjust to high school life.  The grammar was okay but the diction was a little hard on the ears if you know what I mean.

I have always loved our English subjects. I didn’t like  Algebra much because I could not understand all those symbols but  I adored Chemistry and Physics.  Religion subject was also part of our curriculum from first to fourth year. We had yearly retreats and once a month  celebration of the mass in school where we had to wear our gala uniform.

It was a tradition in our school that before we leave its portals, we had to make a presentation for the lower years and for our teachers.  Each of the senior students was given assignments. We had to brainstorm on a title of our presentation but  ended with Walang Pamagat  meaning No Title. We adapted various television programs and made our own scripts. Other graduating class after us followed  suit with the same title but added numbers like Walang Pamagat  One, Walang Pamagat Two.

We started having reunions back in 2003 and it is now a regular thing every three years. Every year, the organizers are able to trace more classmates and school mates. Some groups have get-together every time a high school friend takes a vacation from abroad. Half of us are working and staying abroad now. Some of them had become doctors, engineers and lawyers.

My high school life at a glance.

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