Sakya Alumni Homecoming - Part 3

I've been putting this off for quite a while now. Come to think of it, I've been putting off a lot of things lately. Probably due to my recent addictions, Bleach and Monk.

Before I completely lost track of all the happenings that day, I've decided to finish it right now. :P

The first two was about the place and the people, this time it's going to be about the event. So, why was there an alumni homecoming event in the first place?

Let me go back 8 years, while we were still in high school. At that time, I should say that the school was in its prime. I'm not saying that it was the best school in town, but I do believe that it is very capable and competitive.

But that started to change after we graduated. Some of the more experienced teachers began leaving the school. Some students started transferring to neighboring schools as well.

I don't really know the reason why the parents have decided that way, but I do have some observations which might explain it. I'll try to be as objective as possible.

If you're paying for something, you would want value for your money, in this case, good education. However, the school seemed to have given more attention, resources and incentives to student athletes while those performing well in academics were ignored. The tuition fee continued to increase while the parents are not seeing significant improvement in the school education and facilities. :(

The other major observation would be the increase in the acceptance of students who were kicked-out from neighboring schools. The school have been known for its compassion to students who've failed. But it won't be a surprise to see parents pulling out their children so they won't be influenced by these bad students. :S

Lastly, our school, like most schools, also suffer from "budget" problems, while some top school officials "mysteriously" get a new car every few months. And, I forgot to mention that the school is operated by the Buddhist monks. (I have a bad feeling that I shouldn't have said this.) >:)

Anyhow, those are only "observations", I'm not implying anything, OK? O:)

------

The student and faculty population continued to diminish and there were rumors that they are closing the school down soon. Until recently, Philip Go from Batch 77, organized an alumni homecoming event, which aims to restart the operations of the alumni association, which have been inactive for several years now.

So they invited some big names in some of the major industries to impart some inspirational message to the school alumni in the hopes that they would extend their support to revive that school. Another thing to note is that 2 years from now is the 50th anniversary of the school foundation, so they would really like to gather as much support from the school alumni.

The guest speakers were Tony Tan Caktiong and Albert Yu. Both are Sakya alumni, though I'm not really sure how many years did they spend in Sakya. Even if you stayed for 1 semester, you'll still be considered as an alumni. :P

Tony Tan just happened to be the owner of the largest fast food chain in the Philippines, Jollibee. I saw his name before in an issue of Varsitarian, UST's school paper. He is a UST graduate, but I was surprised to learn that he was once a student of my high school.

Albert Yu, is a well-known architect who runs his own architectural firm, ASYA Design Partners. He also happened to be the consultant hired by The Beacon.

Tony Tan recently funded the upgrade of the computer units of the school. Unfortunately, Tony Tan wasn't able to come. He was represented by his brother, who delivered the message from Tony. I wasn't able to listen to his message very well due to the noisy crowd. Too bad. >:P

------

After the speeches, we lined up to get our lunch. While eating, there were production numbers from different groups like the Lion Dance Club, Anklung Club, Sakya Dance Troupe, Wushu Club and more. There were also raffle draws in-between the presentations.

And as expected, after the free lunch, people started leaving. :P We stayed until the program ended where Philip Go gave a final message to thank the people who attended and the people who gave their efforts in making the event possible.

While many have thought the event would be a failure, I think it was a big success. I'm looking forward to the next alumni homecoming and the 50th anniversary celebration.

Finally, I really hope that the School Gym Project, which was supposed to be due in 2002, gets to be started and completed soon.

Sakya Alumni Homecoming - Part 2

This is the continuation of my previous entry here.

After wandering for half an hour, Sze Tin informed me that he's already upstairs with some of our classmates. The school auditorium is located at the 5th floor.

I went up and met Sze Tin. Herwin and Marc were also there. Sze Tin is a Marketing Manager of Novelle Office Furnitures Inc., Herwin is managing their family business, while Marc is working in the sales department of a certain PC supplier. After some short greetings, I bought 5 'raffle for a cause' tickets. Marc got some tickets as well. Then, we proceeded to the auditorium.

Inside, some of our batch mates who came early already got a table so we joined them. They were Ingrid, Jessica, Lea and Grace. Jessica is helping out in their family business, Lea is a licensed architect working for a firm in Ortigas, Grace is working for NEC Toppan, I forgot what Ingrid is doing... :?

A few moments later, Maristel and Eirene came. Both of them are managing their own businesses in Raon. Eirene just got married recently, while Maristel has a 3-year old son. Marc also added that he saw Maristel appeared on a TV show. :O

At first, the auditorium was almost empty, it took more than 2 hours for the remaining guests to fill the place up. They even had to add more tables for the latecomers. :P

It took forever before the program started! They probably didn't want to start without the important guests. And as expected, lunch would be served AFTER the speeches. It was pure torture for my tummy... :|

Everybody was excited to see their old classmates and teachers that they didn't bother to listen to the speakers. I only managed to remember these lines... "Good Afternoon" and "Thank You" with people clapping. Some things just never change. >:)

I still remember when an old member of the Chinese faculty, codename: popeye, makes a 30-minute speech at the school assembly during Fridays. Then we pretend to listen to him and even clap after the speech, which actually means it's the start of weekend. >:D

By the way, Ellyson came before the program started, even though he wasn't feeling well. He was our high school valedictorian. Lia also came but left immediately. She was our elementary valedictorian and a lot of people had a crush on her during those days. :))

Melody and Aldrich were the last to arrive. Aldrich, who went "out" during high school, works in the marketing/purchasing department in SM. While Melody, just became our official batch representative after being volunteered by us. >:P

It's just too bad that only a few of us came, it would have been nicer if more of our batch mates came. :(

To be continued...

Sakya Alumni Homecoming - Part 1

After 7 years I finally had the chance to revisit the place where I have spent at least 13 years of life.

Last Sunday (January 13) was the 1st alumni homecoming since the day I graduated from high school.

In an effort to re-launch the alumni association after being dormant for quite a long time; Philip Go, from Batch 77, who happened to be one of the owners of Accel, thought that the idea of a homecoming event would be a great start.

I got there a little early because I was planning to spend some time checking out the school. I was greeted by a group of boy scouts who gave me a form to fill-up. After completing the form I went to the registration area to sign in the guest list.

The not-so-old-lady initially gave me the list for batch 2007 even though I asked for batch 2000. Either I really look that young or the graduates today look much older... He he... >:)

After I got my ticket and food stub, I went to meet Sir Harry, who was the scouting movement head when I was still an active boy scout. Not much to talk about so I left quickly. :?

Before I went upstairs I saw the organization chart of the school which includes the faculty. I was surprised to see that a lot of my teachers have already left. Only a few loyal and dedicated teachers were left. :(

I toured the 3rd and 4th floors of the building, where I spent my elementary and high school days respectively. Watching the classrooms instantly reminded me of my younger years, a lot of memories, and mostly good ones, nostalgic indeed. T_T

Nothing really much has changed except the noticeable drop in the number of chairs. I already heard before that the school is in some situation but to be there and actually see it made me feel a bit sad and somehow wanting to do something for my school. After all, the school is undeniably a part of who I am and I also owe my successes today to my alma mater.

This post is getting a bit long so I'm going to stop here for now and continue my story in the next post.