BULALAKAW - Pandan Antique Newsletter
Official Publication of
Pandan Antique Foundation and Pagtatap Foundation, Inc.
HIGH SCHOOL FUN
By Thea Lorraine R. Tugon, Philippines
Photography by Devreyn NepomucenoWhen I was young, I used to watch my older sisters bring their high school friends home to work on their school projects and activities or to have a little party. I remember how they made our rooftop hangout noisy and chaotic when they practiced their ballroom dancing, how harangued they were after getting drunk, and how they guffawed about incidents at school.

My older sister, Joemilia, did this first, and when she left home to look for tougher challenges, my sister Renebe and her friends took over. But Renebe mellowed down, and I have taken over. Just like my two sisters, I have made our house a 'tambayan' place where we shared girlish talks, bitter arguments, and danced and laughed all night long.

It has been four years… four years of struggle and happy memories. But March is already here with a sad smile bearing congratulations and goodbye. It means that I will also leave high school. It's just like yesterday when I was young, watching and envying my sisters. But time is a cruel thing. It got me into high school, let me enjoy it inch by inch, but all of a sudden snatches it away from me.

June 2002. I remember the first time I set foot at Pandan Bay Institute. Picturing myself, I was then insecure, immature, and childish. I hated waking up early in the morning for school. How I suffered getting up those five days a week for lack of sleep, getting into our blue-and-white school uniform. I would find myself running just to arrive at school in time. Sometimes I ended up with other latecomers in the middle of the school quadrangle joining the singing of the National Anthem. How I hated that school buzzer!!

My friends have made my high school life colourful. They're the sugar, not the spice. I remember how we talked about guys, how we stood by our St. Cecilia classroom watching our 'senior crushes' doing their CAT drills. I'm forever thankful to the seats that witnessed all my daydreaming about those guys.

Our major rule is to run to the canteen during recess to make time. It's funny because I could squeeze myself into the crowd and shout, "Auntie, Pepsi akon!' before the buzzer rings for the end of recess.

I'll always laugh when I reminisce on how we crammed on our projects to meet the deadlines. Once, I cried while redoing my stoichiometry project because the floppy disk containing my project got lost. I'll always remember the stairs to the former St. Cecilia classroom, now the Discipline Office, where my friends and I tripped and rolled down the stairs. I'll always remember how we felt guilty every time we saw our rector carrying tools to fix things around. I'll always remember our Principal greeting us during our morning assembly with a sermon. I'll always remember our standing in line for two hours in front of the cashier's office the day before our Departmental Tests.

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