Coming home

On Saturday, February 5, 2011, an estimated 4,000 UST High School alumni from various parts of the country and the world will be returning to their Alma Mater as they gather to celebrate what looks to be the biggest homecoming in the High School’s history so far. The grand affair will be held at the UST Plaza Mayor right in front of the historic UST Main Building starting 5 p.m. onwards.

My high school class ’55 batch-mates and thousands of other high school alumni are really looking forward to this occasion because it also coincides with the four hundredth anniversary of the famous and legendary school itself, the Royal and Pontifical University of Santo Tomas (UST),one of the oldest, if not the oldest University in the world.

With a very catchy theme of “just can’t get enough of UST High School”, the homecoming is sure to draw unprecedented number of “boys and girls” of yesteryears who would surely want to relive their unforgettable four years of fun and camaraderie within the campus as well as the “blood, sweat and tears” they shed inside the classrooms.

Come to think of it, even with the passing of so many years and as we heed the counsel of Max Erhmann in “Desiderata” to “gracefully surrender the things of the youth”, some events of our high school days just keep on coming back and bring pleasant memories that somehow arouse that deep yearning to visit the campus and feel like teenagers again.

But over and above reliving and reminiscing those memorable teenage years, our intense desire to return to our Alma Mater really stems from the sense of gratitude that we all feel because of how the school has molded us not only academically but also morally, spiritually, socially and even physically.

Indeed those years of secondary schooling are years when first impressions have great and lasting impacts in many other facets of our lives aside from learning the subjects taught inside the classroom that prepare us to pursue higher education. Those are the years when our character and personality are molded, and the basic Christian values of love of God and neighbor are formed, which serve as the solid foundations of our life in the outside world after school.

Undoubtedly, the primary source of these first and lasting impressions were our high school teachers. Their erudition and extensive knowledge of the subjects they taught and their competence in the art of imparting them to their students were indeed awesome and inspiring. But more impressive and awe-inspiring were their traits and personalities. They all personified the virtues of self-discipline, hard work, and dedication to their profession and to truth, justice and fairness which their students have absorbed.

Our high school teachers really have a great influence in our lives so that up to now, even after so many years, we can still remember their names as they have been deeply etched in our hearts. Presumably, most of them may have already been rewarded by God with eternal rest for jobs well done. So on high school reunions, it would be good that we also remember them and thank God for giving them to us. I am sure my classmates can still remember our English teachers Mrs. Araceli Murillo and Mrs. Gloria Hernandez, our teacher in Physics, Mr. Eduardo Molano, Mr. Bonifacio Torres in Biology, Mr. Matias, Mr. Castillanes, in Geometry, Mr. Gregorio Hernandez, in History, Mr. Justino Surla, in Economics, Ms. Villanueva, in Mathematics, Mrs. Emiliana Cruz-Roa, Mrs. Betty Quintos, in Chemistry, Mrs. Jacinta Constantino, in Social Science, Mr. Cenon Rivera, in Arts, our Religion teachers Ms. Benilda Marfori, Ms. Ester Abesamis, and Ms. Josefina Sevilla, and a few others whose names unfortunately slipped my mind due to advancing age.

Another important value in life we acquired during those teen years was derived from the close bonding among classmates. Our relationship then was founded more on compassion than competition such that we developed that strong spirit of brotherhood. Hence up to present or at least in recent years, some of us still regularly see or get in touch with each other to extend any kind of assistance or simply exchange notes about our past and present life. Immediately coming to mind among these classmates are: Aury Abella, Vic Brion, Nonie Castillo, Ding Coronel (deceased), Nardy Custodio, the late Gen. Jun Dumlao, Tito Gelano, Joe Isidro, Mon Nunez, Tony Miranda, Temy Ordinario, Tony Orlina (deceased), Doming Santiago, Rudy Santos, Cholo Syquia, Tony Syyap, Jack Uy and many others whose names I cannot recall right now. One thing these guys have in common is that all of them have excelled in their respective fields of endeavor.

Actually, it is in UST where I had most of my schooling. I finished my Elementary, High School and Pre-Law course (Associate in Arts) there. My parents served the University as educators. My father, Bienvenido A. Sison, Sr was the high school general principal when it re-opened after the war while my mother Natalia Celestial-Sison was one of the pioneer teachers in the Intermediate school when it opened in the late forties. My family is really a brood of Thomasians as my six sisters and three other brothers also graduated there.

Indeed we just can’t get enough of our high school in UST so about 4,000 or more of us are returning on February 5, 2011 starting 5 pm at the Plaza Mayor for the Grand Alumni Homecoming. This year’s organizing committee for the reunion is again headed by the tireless and indomitable lady , Leebai Esquivias-Gamboa, who have seen to it that tickets are available in accessible outlets like TicketNet at Araneta Coliseum and at all SM Department Stores. So, all high school alumni who have not yet gotten their tickets better get them now because seats are on a “first come first served” basis. Proceeds of the affair will go to the joint scholarship program of the USTHS and the alumni association.

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