Wanna ride with me?
Tarlac, here we coooooooooome!
I had a change of heart.
I got to pivot!
Let's goooooooo to East Ocean Palace instead for the Biyaheng T2K:An OPM Night for the Judenite.
This event, which I chose over my 13th marathon (one-day allowance for the trip and settling down for Sunday run), was the Silver Jubilee of my third batch in Saint Jude Catholic School (SJCS) on November 22.
Within almost two months of deciding whether to attend or not, it dawned on me that reuniting with my class after 32 years of being their adviser-teacher, outweighed my other passion. In truth, I didn't like to disappoint the person who invited me. He belonged to my only grade four advisory class which had several old photos with me as Ms. Maureen M. Mediavillo (M3). I suppose I was already able to save well to buy my own "pang-Kodak" aka camera in 1993! Hahahahahahaha...
In addition their alumni homecoming batch president was also in my Grade IV-A class. These reasons, plus meeting again my former colleagues/friends which has become a yearly schedule among us, had me arriving early in the venue. I had a broader smile upon seeing my last department head in SJCS and mentor/friend at the lobby.
Observing the American time was the wisest course of action that Saturday since I avoided the traffic woes, and I was given sufficient opportunity in mingling with my well-missed SVD (Lat.: Societas Verbi Divini; Eng.: Society of the Divine Word) family. Of course, photo-op bingeing was another agenda! *chuckles*
So, before the program commenced I swapped updates and stories with these familiar people. I spent a little longer talking with my former co-teachers whom I didn't see for more than two decades. Then, the two live wire hosts formally opened the celebration following the singing of the National Anthem and SJCS Hymn, Tell the World of His Love video viewing, and invocation.
Gradually and dramatically the different activities unfolded:
… the well-choreographed production number…
...the teachers' pride walk …
... kwarta o bayong game...
… an all OPM serenade from the honorees…
… raffle of minor prizes…
… Chinese lauriat…
… raffle of major prizes...
…batch picture-taking…
… Freestyle concert …
It was almost 11:00 pm when I remembered that I hadn't approached one of our erstwhile administrators to at least say "hi." An SVD priest, he became our vice-principal and finance officer when I was still in SJCS. He is a Bicolano and since we're also FB friends, he's familiar with my sport; thus, he inquired about my next run. It was a good gambit for our brief interaction. Hehehehe.
Now, these were the homecoming additional highlights.
First was touching base with my two tutees and their parents. Dear me! The eldest is already a family man with one son! Tempus fugit.
Second was being approached by my former students, one of them an expat and the other was the fraternal twin sister of a non-former student, whose connection with me after being under my tutelage was only via the social media.
And third was to be searched for and found by someone who did not become my student.
Allow me to share the story behind the sweetest gesture of this PYT (pretty young thing).
Conclusively Biyaheng Y2K was a triumphant accomplishment. With a powerhouse composition of the organizing committee (the president standing at my left on the succeeding photo), they delivered an epic night. Excellence is one of Judenites' constants, and it made me proud that I became a part of their "biyahe" (journey). Huge CONGRATULATIONS!
I might be unlucky in raffle draws, but being present in this reunion had me receiving post-event messages that were more than the grand prize. These were the answers which I sought during those moments when I doubted myself as an educator.
This third batch was my last year as a probationary teacher in SJCS. Thank God, I succeeded in convincing my superiors that I should already be a tenured faculty. Yay!
Undeniably when I decided to be an educator, I had made sure to keep my oath. Jill Wolf's literary piece, which I was tasked to read in front of the SVD community for the first time in 1991, became my guiding prayer as I heeded its message.
Photo and video credits:
Susan Diwa
Mel Iglesia
Zaids Manrique
Denice Monica Sy
Kristine Leechiu-Tan
Grace Wong
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