Third Year High School

Third year high school. Academically, it got harder. Suddenly, we had Chemistry with Mrs. Malanyaon, Geometry with Mrs. Gonzaga (?) These subjects were just not like any other math or science subject you’ve had before, so life got a little complicated. When Rina Macasaet told me her older sister Rona got exempted from Geometry finals, then my Algebra exemption meant nothing. Geometry exemption was going to be the goal this year.

From the first scene where the three witches come in, I was hooked. Banquo, Macduff, Thane of Cawdor. Mix in Chrisostomo Ibarra, Maria Clara, Padre Damaso, Capitan Tiago. Wow! What a reading year this was!

We had Miss Reynoso for English. Our literature studies went from colonizer to colony: Shakespeare to Rama and Sita. I think we all looked forward to having Miss Reynoso because we heard from the older girls how she was different from all the other teachers we ever had. Different she was alright. She was more interesting, more bold, really ahead of her time. I think this is just a memory of what was told to us by the older girls: she conducted one class while dressed in a caftan, in a dark room lit by candles and incense! I am convinced that by the time it was our turn, she had already been told not to do this again! Too bad, the higher ups always killed the innovators!

I cannot remember the name of our Oriental History teacher, but we broke out in giggles every time she prayed at the beginning of class. She said something like “In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy SPIWIT” at which point most of us lost it. Yes, we were young, and irreverent, and irrepressible. I did love this class though: at one point in time I actually knew each ancient Indian and Chinese dynasty by heart, and in the right order. Since then, I’ve never lost my fascination for the history and culture of India and China. Decades later, it is not even politically correct to say “Oriental” anymore. I wonder if that subject is still called that at Assumption.

For work education, we had Miss Luz Marcelo, who taught us Interior Decoration. That class was so much fun, for many of us anyway. We had to make plates of all the rooms of the house. I still remember my bedroom plate: it was for boys with a nautical motif, with a whale painted on the wall as a mural. Too bad I don’t have boys, or I would have replicated it! Parts of my home today though, oddly enough, are in the same color scheme as my 3rd year high school plate: blue with brown and orange accents! You just never know how long something will stay with you and affect the rest of your life!

For Religion, we had Mrs. Villafania, and this year, we studied the gospels in depth, except John. We were told it was too complicated, and it was not part of the “synoptic gospels.” Later on, I found out that John’s gospel is more esoteric and mystical. So, they did not want our 3rd year selves to get into it? Wait ‘til they find out I have read the gospels of Thomas, Mary Magdalene, and soon I will read the gospel of Judas!

Our retreat this year was at Mary Ridge in Tagaytay, the school for the naughty girls. I don’t remember too much about it. I never really got into any of our retreats in school, until the senior one. I used to wonder at girls who spent the entire retreat just crying their eyes out, while I was usually tear- free. Little did I realize then, I should have considered myself lucky, and not the odd one out.

Our class president was Toni Feliciano. One of our classmates was Rosette Monteverde, daughter of Mother Lily. Not many of you know, but Mother Lily’s sister is actually an Assumption nun, Sister ????. Rosette’s family opened a restaurant on Pasay Road called “Mother China.” You can imagine that Rosette’s group at cooking class always had the best décor, garnished with carrot roses and all that, fresh from a couple of blocks away!

We had an underground prom this year, together with some other sections, I can’t remember exactly which ones, but for sure Sections 3 & 4. We had it at the Century Plaza Hotel. Section 4 has a lot of pictures in their yahoo group from this prom. The Section 7 website also has a few.

Karina Galang left for the States, to spend junior year there. Our class was maybe a little more quiet since she was gone? Maybe not. I still remember that it was noisy, but we didn’t bother too many people since we were the last room at the end of the hallway, and only poor Section 6 had to suffer our antics.

With Macbeth for English, and Noli Me Tangere for Pilipino, we had a lot of plays during the school year. Those were fun, the dressing up part, and bringing props and all that, no matter that we probably butchered Shakespeare and Rizal that they’re probably still spinning in their graves. Between Sisa and Lady Macbeth, we had many insane women acting out in class. I decided not to cheat and read Noli in Tagalog in its entirety. Hey, it was like watching Sine Siete in my mind, why not?

I remember spending a lot of breaks and vacations with Gigi Anido and family. Once, while up in Baguio, we girls deemed ourselves way more grown up than our brothers and cousins who followed us around. Someone coined the derogatory term “boylets” just to minimize them even more, and that is what we called them. I remember us running around Hyatt Baguio, trying to dodge the boylets and hoping to lose them. To this day, any immature boy, or man, is called a “boylet” by me. And alas, Hyatt Baguio is no more.

Is this the year we had yoga with Mrs. Tenna? I can’t remember if it was this year, or senior year. Anyway, I loved yoga since then, and have practiced it now and then through the years.

I did get exempted from Geometry finals, hooray. Next goal: get exempted from Physics and Trig.