Skip to main content

WQ: Graduation memories


Graduation memories, I might have a few:

Elementary Graduation. The impact of our homeroom adviser's lethally big-time revenge on one of our classmates is something I don't think I will ever forget. I was about 12 then and I observed our teacher was having personal and professional issues with the school board. Once in a class meeting I remember him saying, "and then some of you will report me to your father, aunt and grandfather..." Three of my classmates had family elders who sat in the school board. The one whose got her father in the board, J was terribly spoiled in class. She treated our teacher with utter disrespect, you would think our teacher was a wimp. She led the class in all sorts of meanness, defiance of authority, and trouble-making; and mind you, she was also the class president. I silently felt sorry for our teacher. I was a transferee and seething at my fate, thinking how unfair it was to be a member of a graduating class whose president behaved like a wretched hag on her best day.

Graduation came; and with it the announcing of those who would go up on stage to receive their awards. I was beginning to feel ok when even the classmate who was bottom of the class got a ribbon for some good deed demonstrated throughout the school year. And then we started exchanging glances. What could J's award be... maybe she was getting the highest award of all. But our teacher calmly folded his list, gazed down on us and concluded, "Congratulations! Parents, friends and guests, shall we give our graduates a big hand..." J slumped on her chair like an empty sack. Her legs splayed on the floor we thought she was going to have a fit. But she dared not make a scene in front of all those people. What made it memorable to me was not the discomfort we all felt at what happened. Maybe it was not revenge on our teacher's part. I like to think it was a subtle execution of a punishment long overdue. For the record, J's my cousin and I hope the humiliation did her some good. It was the final lesson I learned from that academic rung: Never underestimate a teacher's power.

On a lighter note, our graduation speaker later turned out to be my suitor's mom :)

Highschool Graduation
. You probably remember the now defunct NCEE? (National College Entrance Examination) That was a hullabaloo surrounding Philippine high school graduations. There was always the thrill of being one of those in the top 10. I was truant in high school. Difficult subjects didn't motivate me and the only thing I cared about was to pass and move on to wherever my parents were sending me next. But when that NCEE medal was hung on my neck, it felt great. My crush (elementary graduation speaker's son didn't know I had a crush on him) who was videotaping the ceremony shook my hand as I made my way back to my seat from the stage. Heaven! Teen crush felt a lot more fantastic than all the NCEE medals in the world hahahah... Silly but it's nice to reminisce:)

College Graduation. Nothing much, except that I was head over heels in love with a guy who weeks later vanished into the blue and years later rang me halfway around the world to apologize for treating me like shit. This is mental, lol.... Oh, I remember the college orchestra playing Pomp and Circumstance as we marched down the aisle and the CMU president remarking in jest: "Here graduates are pampered. Look at how slow you march, you're really enjoying every minute. In CMU, graduates do not march. They do a walkathon because we want to get rid of them as fast as we can."

Gradschool Graduation. The picture changed. There were a few hiccups like the parking spot that I rented which got taken by someone else. My son had a tantrum and spilled formula all over his suit. The civil part was the attendance of the ex-husband whom I invited. He financed the study; a fairly recent discipline and a very expensive schooling as lecturers in the international program where I belonged were imported from the US and the UK. I can't hate while I am grateful for something beyond the reach of my poverty-stricken pocket.

Besides that, I found something remarkable during the ceremony. There were thousands of us getting our diplomas that day. Private cameras were not allowed inside Queen Sirikit National Convention Center. What's amazing was the way we were made to go up on stage in perfect order, and how the cameras captured every graduate as his/her name was called. It was pure military precision and I was impressed. Then we swore in front of an image of the Thai King. I had no idea what it was but a co-graduate translated the oath for me. I understood that we swore to use our knowledge and practise our profession with always the country in mind, and that no matter how challenging things get, we will continually contribute to the development of the nation and the growth of the economy.

I like the "always-the-country-in-mind" bit. That must be one of the secrets why the Thai economy is not really that behind in Southeast Asia.

Comments

maiylah said…
interesting memories.
i agree about that "always-the-country-in-mind" bit, too. sana meron din dito ... oh, yeah, i remember the NCEE, too! lol.
Anonymous said…
So,how is J now? I hope she learned her lesson ;)

I LOLed (as if it is a word) with the CMU remark :D

Its nice that the always-the-country-in-mind is instilled,if that is what the educators do to the students, then this country would have progressed. Well, yeah, dream on :)

Thanks for doing the WQ. I enjoyed reading your experiences :)

Have a great week!
Hazel said…
J? ay naku hayun spoiled pa rin hahah...she met out teacher a few years later and they're now on speaking terms. But truth be told, blood was NOT thicker to me during that graduation moment - I took the teacher's side. J's gonna murder me if she reads this LOL....

yeah, the-country-in-mind. during classes i noticed professors were making references to the economy now and then. even if the topic was 'advertising tactics,' discussions always boiled down to economic stability and growth. if we had a similar concept in the Philippines maybe that could turn things around somehow.
Anonymous said…
THose are pretty interesting memories!

I especially LOLed at the J episode. Subtle punishment dully given.

We didn't have NCEE in high school but an achievement test of some sort. I forgot what it was called...heheheh
Hazel said…
Oh Ezrah, you forgot?... now you make me feel so old. LOL....
Genefaith said…
love reading your blog...like i was led to your past..he..he..you really have the gift of the writer..Stay blessed always...
Anonymous said…
zel, i can relate to that NCEE thing though wala lang ko medal. but the feeling of everyone ..my buong pilipinas siguro.

the college (loveless) ay pareho diay ta or u become loveless after graduation na?

i played. pasensya na ha sa kahaba ng post ko. hehehee
Hazel said…
genebei, i tend to go on and on. an indicator that i'm bored .. lol... thanks for the visit.
Hazel said…
len, i was a bit annoyed at my mother who did an excellent job of keeping mum about my passing the NCEE. a week before graduation she met the academy registrar who told her i passed. while i was dying to know if i passed or not, she pretended to be innocent of the whole thing. mothers!

NCEE and boys. they sound like they have become synonymous with each other for girls during graduation season.
Heart of Rachel said…
Thanks for sharing the highlights of each graduation.

J must have learned her lesson the hard way. I could just imagine her shock.

Yes, I remember the NCEE. Wow, I didn't know you can get a medal because of NCEE.

It's inspiring to dedicate one's efforts for the good of the country.

Thanks for visiting my other blog.

Popular posts from this blog

The Hunchback of Abella

A Duet When I was about 8 years old, I sang Something's Happened to Daddy in church. My father was not a church-goer so the guy I sang with was my mother's friend's husband. Papa keeps coming to my mind these days. January is the month he was felled by a massive coronary. Next week on the 14th is the anniversary of his death. The only times he ever set foot in church were during weddings and funerals of family and friends. I remember him being present in church eagerly when I was a flower girl at an aunt's wedding. Finally he entered church one more time. At his own funeral. I made sure church was the very place he went to before the cemetery. I only wished he was the one I sang with. Amy hosts head over to Signs, Miracles and Wonders for more music or to join ************************************ Guns n' Roses and the Hunchback of Abella My childhood was what can most likely be called normal. There was a balance of happy and sad memories. Today's

Sense and Sensibility: 200th anniversary

In 1811 Thomas Egerton of Whitehall, London published Sense and Sensibility . Quick math shows it has been two centuries since Jane Austen became a full-fledged author. Quite an anniversary, indeed. A celebration, I declare . Blogs regarding the publication anniversary of this romance novel picture Jane Austen 's engagements whilst making the final touches of her manuscript from Sloane Street. In letters to her sister Cassandra, Jane gave accounts of her shopping for muslin, the party that their brother Henry and SIL Eliza gave; mentioned several acquaintances, and referred to her book as S and S . As a fan I wonder which between sense and sensibility did JA deem more important since she portrayed both attributes equally well. I'm obliged to enthuse over my S & S reading experience. Alas, I only managed fourteen chapters before getting sidetracked by another novel, the very first that JA wrote. I will resume and complete my affair with the celebrant before 2011 end

Thirteen 13-word Quotes

1. I may be wrong , but I have never found deserting friends conciliates enemies. Margot Asquith , British Political Hostess (1864-1945) 2. Man's love is of man's life a thing apart; Girls aren't like that Kingsley Amis , English novelist and poet (1922-1995) "A Book Idyll" ~ see possible origin, also a 13- word quote: M an's love is of man's life a thing apart, 'Tis woman's whole existence Lord Byron (1788-1824) 3. An autobiography is an obituary in serial form with the last instalment missing. Quentin Crisp , English writer The Naked Civil Servant (1968) 4. Happy the hare at morning for she cannot read the hunter's waking thoughts. W.H. Auden , English poet (1907-73) Dog Beneath the Skin 5. Kissenger brought peace to Vietnam the same way Napoleon brought peace to Europe. (by losing) Joseph Heller, American novelist (1923- ) 6. Guns aren't lawful; Nooses give; Gas smells awful; You might as well live. Dorothy Parker ,