High School Life
Monday, March 26th, 2007"High school life, oh my high school life
ev’ry memory kay ganda
high school days, oh my high school days
are exciting kay saya"
My high school batch celebrated its 10th anniversary last year, with a (supposedly) grand alumni homecoming last December. I told myself many times before that I will never show up at a high school reunion because I simply didn’t want to. But I was forced to go to the alumni homecoming because my father and I were to receive a special citation for being "a father and son tandem celebrating their jubilee year together." My dad graduated in 1966, while I graduated from high school in 1996.
Though I still wasn’t keen on going, I decided to go anyway. Somehow, I was a bit excited at the thought of seeing some high school classmates 10 years after we all left that "school on a hill." Sure, I get to see some of them at the supermarket, the airport or where ever my work takes me, but I wanted to see the bigger picture. How is batch ‘96?
I remember our last day as a class. We were to take our final quarterly exams a week earlier than the rest of the student body, that is why we had to vacate our classrooms a week early too. Our last subject was Filipino, and our male teacher, with the help of a female teacher, just seranaded the class with a farewell song. Tears instantly welled in my eyes; I was the first one to cry. My classmates looked at me and soon, almost all of them started crying too. Aahhh, what a scene that was!
There are times may problema ka
kung ang homework left undone
pray ka lang, wag tawagin ka
upang di pagtawanan.
Things were different at our high school, mainly because I had the same set of classmates for all 4 years of my secondary education. That it is why it’s an understatement to say that we went through a lot together. One’s victory was everyone’s victory, one’s defeat was everyone else’s too. More than being a class, we were a band of brothers.
I remember my first year homeroom adviser telling us that we should consider our classroom, our class, our brotherhood as a "safe place." Indeed it was. Even though there was competition and the occasional in-fighting, we were solid. We were one.
High school love, my one high school love
not infatuation or crush
tunay ‘to, siya ang buhay ko
di n’yo lang alam ako’y nagba-blush
bakit nga ba ang first love ko
ay di serious, so it seems?
kung alam lang ng first love ko
he is always in my dreams.
Ours was an all boys school, an environment overflowing with testosterone. But sure, there was room for infatuation, there was room for love. But I dare not speak of it here lest readers start to freak out. Hehehe
Ang saya ng high school sev’ral years in my high school
di na mapapantayan
t’yak ganyan ang buhay na sadyang makulay
alaala kailan man.
Truly, high school was filled with fond and wonderful memories. The years I spent in high school were the best 4 years of my life. I very much wanted to relive those memories when I went to the grand alumni homecoming. Unfortunately, however, not a single one of my classmates came. Sure, my batch mates were there, but my family, my brotherhood was not. It was sad.
High school life, ba’t ang high school life
ay walang kasing saya
bakit kung graduation na’y
luluha kang talaga?
But I guess that is part of growing up. At some point in our lives, we want to be detached from something safe, something secure, something that makes us merely content. We become more adventurous, we want to see new faces, we want a breath of fresh air.
Probably that’s the reason why I didn’t want to go to the reunion in the first place. I was afraid that the 10 years of separation would make everybody indifferent. Seasons change and people do too.
But there’s a part of me that wants to believe that someday, that special bond of friendship will all bring us back together.
Hope to see you in another 10 years guys…
Ang saya ng high school sev’ral years in my high school
di na mapapantayan
t’yak ganyan ang buhay na sadyang makulay
alaala kailan man.
