Throwback Thursday: Growing Up in a Catholic School

A few years ago my manager told me that I was the only person in my team who met deadlines. He asked me what was different from my upbringing. I thought about it and realized maybe it was my Catholic school upbringing that developed discipline in me. 

The nuns in our school were very strict. During rehearsals for our first Holy communion we had to sing the songs repeatedly until it was perfect. Noise was not tolerated. Our teachers would always remind us how to be proper. 

Would've been cute to post an older photo, but my scrapbooks are still in storage.

And there was that thing about uniforms. There were restrictions you had to follow. Huge wallets were not allowed because the bulge was unsightly. They later on imposed colors on hair clips you're allowed to wear. I loved wearing frilly socks back then, but they later on advised to wear normal looking socks. I wore hand-me-down uniforms for a time and I was flagged because the color was lighter. The funny thing is most of my clothes are blue. My high school friends also wear the same color whenever we meet up. 

I think we have an upcoming homecoming soon. I think it's on my birthday, LOL.

They taught us a hodge-podge of skills.  Aside from the usual academic stuff, we were taught how to debate, make speeches, cook and even carpentry and how to make lamps (discontinued in the next batch though due to many injuries and electrical failures). And more importantly, how to hold on to our faith. Probably all of us still carry a rosary in our pocket/bag. They also made sure we all learned how to fight for ourselves. 

I wrote a piece about my alma mater back in 2016 when it was accused of brainwashing students and it still holds true to this day. We may have been cloistered while we were growing up, but we were certainly prepared to face the outside world. "Ora et Labora," pray and work is what each of emulate. 

What It Means to be a Scholastican

Recently a supposedly influential person accused my alma mater that it was brainwashing and forcing students to take to the streets to protest the burial of the dictator president at Libingan ng mga Bayani. The post was eventually clarified with a message from one of the school administrators. This does not change the fact that our reputation was smeared already with the accusation.

I spent ten years of my life at St. Scholastica's College (Manila) for my primary and secondary education. It's where I learned all the basics. My values, how I think, how I perceive things, how I act was shaped in that institution. My manager always tells me that he is amazed with my discipline. I always tell him that it's because of the education I got from the nuns.

From my job I learned that we must teach students the following skills: communication, critical thinking, collaboration, analyzing information and problem solving. Why? Because we have to prepare students for their future. They will eventually become part of the work force and will be leading the country. Jobs, situations, issues will always be different so they need to be equipped with proper skills to cope. These were the skills I learned from SSC.

I was in fourth grade when the 1986 EDSA Revolution happened. Classes were suspended a lot of times. One of the activities that was assigned to us during that time was to collect newspaper clippings about what was happening. I remember compiling a thick collection of clippings. My teacher returned it to me and said that I needed to give a reflection for each and every article. I went back home and read each and every article and shared my thoughts at the bottom of each page.

We were always made aware of what was happening in our surroundings. Former President Corazon Aquino being a Scholastican visited our campus before the 1986 snap elections. A circular was sent out before that asking our parents permission to join the school event. We always had an option to join or not. I was selected to be one of the flower girls to welcome Mrs. Aquino to the campus. After the EDSA Revolution we participated also in the campaign for the ratification of the 1987 Constitution. In high school when our teachers did a labor protest we were also very much aware of what was happening. Our field trips were always tied to deeper learning like the time we went to do outreach in Pampanga after the eruption of Mt. Pinatubo. And being part of the the REC class we also went to Apelo weekly to teach catechism to kids.

Scholasticans have a different kind of education and it's the same for all of its campuses. We were brought up to think critically and plan proper actions after reviewing correct information. Each of us have a different calling. I am in tech for education. I have classmates who are doctors, lawyers, judges, politicians, marketing gurus, teachers etc., but each of us put a different stamp to our work because we are guided with the basic principle "Ora et Labora" (Prayer and Work). And you could expect that each of our children will be brought up similarly (you could try debating politics with my son).

So to the children who are being accused of being brainwashed, just stick to what you believe in. I was doing exactly what you are doing now 30 years ago. We all have to come together to ensure that we protect the freedom our parents (your lolos and lolas) fought for.

Thank you St. Scho for shaping me to be the person I am today.

20 Years After High School

I never really thought about my future when I was in high school. It seemed pretty weird to me back then and my immediate plans revolved around graduating from college and finding a nice job. Things jumbled up a bit when I had Miguel in college, but things pretty much fell into place eventually.

My life was pretty routine when I was in high school. I'd get up at around 4:30 in the morning and the school bus would swing by for me at around 5:15am and I'd be in school at around 7. I ate with the same set of friends from my freshman year until senior year. And they're still my buddies until today. Come to think of it my science laboratory partner, Rica, was my partner for all four years too. She took care of all the gory stuff (think: frog dissection) and I did all the reports. We had a good team despite being complete opposites (she's now an awarded independent film director!).

I had to attend our high school reunion even though I was a bit freaked out about celebrating "20 years after high school". My seatmate/laboratory partner, Rica, was in the committee and she managed to bamboozle me to go home for it (I certainly had to  give up helping in a huge project for this!). So I arrived almost on time last Saturday to attend the reunion (but everyone else was almost 2 hours late!).

I should've watched "Romy and Michelle" again before attending the reunion. I had planned to wear a shirt and shorts +sneakers ensemble, but since I was scheduled to accompany Sweetie to another appointment I decided to wear blouse and jeans (minus the sneakers). Good thing I had bothered to get a hair spa on the same day because I was pretty surprised that everyone seemed to have worn make-up for the party (I guess it's just probably me who thought otherwise, the perils of working for a company which doesn't require you to dress up).

Our section wanted to win the "Hakot Award", but we had a low turnout and so there was only 9 of us. I realized then that a lot of my batchmates are already based in other countries and I was mightily surprised that I had batchmates who live in Singapore too! It was a fun evening reminiscing about high school. The short skit done by some batchmates highlighted our heavy use of the following back then -- Trapper Keeper, Denman brush, Aquanet and our bulging pockets which housed all of those things plus our wallet/album. Of course there had to be a dance number. I took a short video but I'm not going to upload it (I'm not sure it will be welcomed.).

I wouldn't be where I am today if not for the discipline instilled on to me by my teachers (especially the terror ones). I was really happy to see some of them in the flesh - Ms. Galan (P.E.), Ms. Mina (Filipino), Mrs. Se and Ms. Dehesa (now Mrs. Isidro). My Filipino teacher I mentioned in a previous blog post gave us a message through a video. We all shrieked when she appeared on screen. She still has the power to make us sweat even after all these years (haha). One of the things I remember she kept harping on back then was, "Always be prepared even with the small things." If you didn't bring your own paper you weren't allowed to take a quiz.

That's Rica, my high school seatmate/laboratory partner. Still makulit as ever. 

It was great to see my classmates again and I think in the coming years the the "section border" is going to blur and we'd eventually just remember we're from one batch. It was also interesting to see how people have changed physically and mentally in the past 2 decades. I gained 30 pounds since high school! It doesn't look like it, but I used to be reed thin back then (I'm just hiding everything now in my pata). And I can say a lot of us from the "quiet group" have come out of our shell (probably wreaking more havoc than the notorious ones back then).

Well girls, see you in "the nearest Sunday to February 10" in 2017 for our silver jubilee! Block your calendars now!

High School Live Oh My High School Life!

My high school life could be described with the following keywords (and some thoughts about it):

blue and white uniform (donated all of it during graduation)
tin-grin button pin (always had it pinned on my uniform)
C.A.T. (arggghhh! hated it!)
physics, geometry, biology (still a mystery to me!)
spaghetti (my daily grub)

I haven't seen most of my high school classmates though. I still hang-out though with my high school barkada, but haven't seen my other classmates for the longest time. The opportunity presented itself when my forever lab-partner called me up to remind me to show up for lunch since our student council president (and class president) was arriving from the US.

We were a small group, but it was definitely fun to see my classmates again. So many things do happen after high school and we couldn't help but kid each other with the question, "What happens to the student council president after high school?" Hehehe... that question was answered during lunch and if you're from 4A, sorry na lang amiga absent ka eh!

Here's the small group of Kulasas (and an import from college and SOs) who had lunch at Chi's Brick Oven Kitchen:


And here's a glimpse of the dessert we had:


See more of the sumptuous meal we had over at Lakwatsera Ako.

Caught by the High School Principal!

I haven't been to my high school alma mater for more than a decade now (whoops! buking ang age ko!) and I guess I just never had a reason to visit. The last time I visited was when I got my yearbook.

I was quite excited to visit when I got an invitation. I was so atat I arrived 30 minutes before my appointment and asked permission to go and explore the campus first before settling down for the meeting. I wanted to bonk my head for wearing heeled shoes since I couldn't move around the place as fast as I could. I just had a chance to go check out the high school department and wasn't able to peek at the new buildings at the grade school area.

While walking around I couldn't help but remember the mundane things I used to do back when I was a kid.

The field where we would hang out after eating, marched during CAT, held field dances and where I usually got dizzy whenever we had Misa ng Bayan.


The hall where we held carpentry and electricity class. My alma mater's an all-girls school so you can just imagine how many times we blew up the fuse box because of our lamp projects. I was also in this area when the 90s big earthquake happened.


The stairs where I slipped several times. It's also near the prayer room which I visited every morning before class. And that door at the bottom of the stairs was my homeroom when I was a junior in high school.


Both grade school and high school memories came flooding back when I passed by the hall where my grade 4 classroom was. I couldn't help but look for the lunch counter where I ate with my high school friends everyday (and I still hang-out with them actually). Each step I took on the stairs (where I slipped several times) brought back a lot of happy memories and memories of feeling anxious due to Physics, Geometry and my-all-time-not-favorite Filipino-Balarila class. I even felt like I was wearing my uniform once again (I'm sure it wouldn't fit me now because I'm so huge already).

The classrooms were closed. Back in high school we only had aircons in AVRs, so I felt like the place was deserted. When I started walking towards the high school principal's office I automatically straightened my back, patted my hair down and walked the way we were taught ("carry your shoes girls! don't drag it!"). I saw a nun walking towards me and I felt a bit sheepish. I was loitering around and I thought I was going to get a scolding, but then she smiled, said hello and asked if I was looking for an office. I realized too that high school was already half my life ago and that I am my own person now. So I smiled back and introduced myself as an alumna wandering around. I was glad to meet the Sister Mikey, the current high school principal.
I'm sure my teachers from grade school and high school would be surprised on how I turned out. I was a shy, gawky kid with braces (ala Betty Lafea? LOL!), who'd go tongue-tied during speech classes and I never really raised my hand to recite (and here I am forcing my kid to do it ha-ha-ha). Well I'm still the same, just a bit crazier! I realize though that if it wasn't for my third grade teacher who scolded me a lot about my English compositions I don't think I would've pushed hard to learn how to write better. Or if not for my super bait and matyagang speech class teacher I wouldn't have that teenie-bit of self-confidence to believe that I could actually do speaking engagements "when I grow up".

LOL. So much drama, but ya-know I'm sure it's what you'll feel too if you have not gone to your high school alma mater for more than a decade.

Have you visited your high school recently?