VIVA 77 Celebrates 45 Years!

Going to our class reunion made me brave our company requirement of swab tests. I honestly abhor having swabs because of that uncomfortable feeling of being poked in the nose.  But well, nothing could stop me from going to our batch meet so off I went, packing all the courage to drive on my own for the first time to dear old Silliman University!

It is always refreshing to attend our class gathering, it is cathartic to see old friends again, and relive those young days when we were either shy or boisterous. It somehow makes me feel young again, and the good supply of laughter brings out the endorphins that have long been dormant due to life’s cares.

Reunions allow a pause in the daily grind to catch up with people we meet with and find out beneath the sheen of accomplishments and failures, how each of us have been coping with life and strived to surface above trials. We continue to fight the good flight just as every Sillimanian would do.

My friends who are not from the same university would ask me, “what’s in Silliman that makes the Sillimanians always want to go back to Dumaguete? What is this they call the Silliman Spirit?”

I wondered about that for some time too. Why the tug to go home and see old classmates?  Why the nostalgia when we enter our school? And that urge to roam the campus again? Even a trip to the high school comfort room already evokes many memories, of high school life. And how we would take time yawning off a difficult bout of math with a splash of water. Or how to get off the jitters before a play, or how to avoid bumping into a crush or cunningly time the exit as he exits his class as well. Teenage kiligs!

I read in a book by Dr. Processo Udarbe that the intangible spirit of the Sillimanian is in the Christianity that each spreads. And it is worthwhile to note that among the outstanding Sillimanians is a classmate, Dr. Nella Fe Pineda-Marcon for her outstanding work in disaster relief and climate justice advocacy in 2021, in the midst of the COVID threat.

Am so proud to be part of Viva ’77, that is the name of our batch. Not just for the stellar contributions of some of our batchmates to humanity, but for the bond that we have shared for the past 45 years. The strength of this tie has made each classmate like family to us. This has become an inspiration to care more deeply for one another and to express our concern not only in material support but through valuable prayers.

At the height of COVID 19, we had some classmates who were affected. Either by the disease itself or by the depression brought about by the restrictions that constricted our world.  We had to cheer each other up online and keep in touch that way, boosting one another through texts, posts and calls. There are many stories of hope in the middle of each VIVA 77 table, when one sits and listens.

And online, even if I am not a participant in most of the conversations, I found encouragement from how each of our classmates who posted, gave those in our batch the much needed lift.

We lost some of our batchmates and their family members in those two years not only to COVID but to other ailments as well and we miss them. But their absence has reminded us of the preciousness of time, and the gifts we have to enjoy while we still can. The time to walk together in the parade, or ride together when our knees become feeble. The gift to listen while we still can before our hearing loss sets in. The gift to remembering good times and times we were able to overcome, because they became lessons that led to our strength. 

Yes, Viva indeed! Now we look forward to 50 years!