Hello, Cyberspace.
I never expected to find so much use for this blog as a medium for releasing my thoughts and sharing it with everyone so fast. Masaya pala ito gamitin at napakadali pa. Nasanay kasi ako na panulat-kamay lamang ang gamit bilang pagtala ng aking mga kurokuro. Dapat ninyong malaman na hindi matahimik ang aking isipan sapagkat malaki ang pagnanais kong maibahagi ang aking mga kwento at prinsipyo sa kapwa Pilipino- sa henerasyon na ito o sa mga susunod man. Kaya ngayon ay masasabi ko na tunay akong nagagalak sa paggamit ko nitong teknolohiya (napakabilis ng pagunlad ng agham ano?). At hindi naman sa pagiging madrama, ngunit, ito’y, sa tingin ko, ang pagsisimula ng isang matagal at matamis na pagsasama. So before I proceed with my usual blather, I feel the need to give justice to this blog by giving a little background on it.
Rizallikesfriendsterandblogspot.
Not so long ago, my good friend Marcelo del Pilar, gave me what people call a Macbook Pro (13-inches, flat screen – see picture). Cool, isn’t it? It sustained my interest and for the past week I have been busy trying out different programs and settings on it. I also tested out the internet and was amazed at how information travelled at the speed of light (3 x 10^8 m/s). As I became more and more fascinated by this exchange of knowledge, my interest was used to direct me to different sites. One worth noting is www.friendster.com. At first, I could not understand the hype that my friends have built upon this. Once I joined though, I became hooked. The instant communication, the connectedness, the way I got to know my friends better got me interested. And because many Filipinos used this social networking site, it was my first public virtual hub for airing my views and to my delight, hearing what they thought about it. Believe it or not, I was able to sustain many debates there in friendster. My initial complaint was of the lack of attention people gave to things like grammar, but that, I realized, was forgettable. I cud typ lyk diZ poWh waKeke, yet the meaning transcends the form. It still came down to its ability to keep me connected with my people as we exchanged our opinions on worthwhile matters such as the condition of our country today. I sure do have a lot to say about that. I am a proud user of Friendster. It was there where rizalj, my virtual counterpart, was born. I feel that I should give it tribute, the same way I feel we should give our Motherland the respect she deserves.
Some call this jologs.
I call it nationalistic.
Add mo me poh mga koya at atehh! rizalj09@yahoo.com
So I was there just before typing up this blog entry when I came across these pictures in my brother’s page (Paciano’s).
Now I know what you’re thinking. (“What a handsome fellow.”) ;) Seriously though, for me, this picture gave me a new wave of memories. I had this portrait taken sometime in my youth, perhaps during my school years. I studied in the Ateneo Municipal de Manila with a Bachelor of Arts degree. It wasn’t the easiest thing to go through, I am telling you. Despite my self-imposed schedules that some people thought of as too much (study and reading until four p.m.; four to five, exercise; five to six social and miscellaneous obligations), one would think I would breeze through my schooling. Unfortunately (or should I say, fortunately), I had a bit of a challenge here. I remember the anger and extreme unsatisfaction I had felt during those years as I experienced first-hand, the discrimination and unfair treatment of the Spanish instructors on us, illustrados compared to the pure Spanish. They would let the peninsulares sit in front while the rest of us stayed at the back. There was an obvious preference for the Spaniards and the system of education was really defective. Through hardwork, I was able to get Sobresaliente in my subjects. Some of these were School year 1873-74: Greek, Latin, Spanish, Universal Geography; SY 1874-75: Latin, Spanish, Greek, Universal History, History of Spain and the Philippines, Arithmetic and Algebra; SY 1875-76: Rhetoric and Poetics, French, Geometry and Trigonometry; SY 1876-77: Philosophy, Mineralogy and Chemistry, Physics, Botany and Zoology.
On that fateful day March 14, 1877, I graduated from the Ateneo. ¿Felicitaciones? Honestly, it wasn’t my proudest moment. It did feel good to be able to survive because as I recall, we were only down to 12 graduates in my year. Still, I felt that I could have gone further, if only given the chance with a fair and good educational system. In the end I did not graduate on top, despite my numerous grades of Sobresalientes. Some Spaniard was given this honour. It made my blood boil. Well… not as much really. Mostly I just accepted this result because I knew, studying with this rigged system would be hard especially if you were a Filipino. It just ignited the spirit in me to strive for more. I wanted to learn despite these setbacks. I wanted to push for my education. It was a good thing I did this too. I think I have succeeded in overcoming the intellectual goals I have set for myself. I have also put it to good use throughout the years. If there was one thing it made me realize, it was that the power of the mind should not be taken for granted. This is one treasure that could never be taken from us. With this, we could change the course of our lives. We could create change that would create a better society, and eventually, a better country.
La sabia educación, vital aliento,
Infunde una virtud encantadora.
~ Jose R.
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Darlene Haw
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