My parents enrolled me in the same school because it was near home and my brother was there, too. It was a big adjustment on my part, because all of my elementary barkada went to a different school, and I felt I was alone. Well, most of my classmates were still my classmates, so somehow all was still okay.
While I made friends with pretty much everyone in the class, somehow I was still an outsider. Cliques are a big part of high school, and I don't have one. Hahahaha. Well, there was a clique formed - they were new students, but they were connected somehow. All of them were straight students; maybe because three of them were firstborns, and although two had an older brother, they were still pretty much the ones doing most of the chores. They're the school-home type of people, and their very down to earth nature made hang out with them more, although I wasn't really part of their clique. This picture was taken during our field trip, and this was taken at the now closed Nayong Pilipino. One of them had a camera, and since a roll of film and developing would be a bit expensive for students like us, we decided to divide the expenses amongst us. However, unlike them, I only had one solo picture, because yeah... I was an outsider. With us in the picture was our adviser, Mrs. Apostol.
Memorable moments in 1st Year HS:
- I had my first school crush. His name? I am not going to tell - because I will link this entry on my FB and I got a lot of classmates there. :)
- I was voted the treasurer of the class, and for the Acquaintance Party, I was able to collect about 200+ pesos from my classmates, and I don't know for some reason, the container where I put the money in went missing! I don't know if it fell from my bag, or someone stole it, but of course, I had to produce the money. For a student having 5 pesos as daily allowance, talking to my parents was a difficult thing, and although my father nagged me tremendously (he was the nagger between my parents), he still gave me the amount I needed.
- Our school was a small one, each level having one class of about 45 students, so even 1st year students can join the CAT (Citizens Army Training). I had no plans of joining actually, but because one of our teachers announced she will be giving a recitation and a quiz, I decided to join - just so I will be excused. :)
- CAT proved to be one of the toughest things I had to endure - even if my brother was one of the officers, I didn't have any edge, drats! It was funny... him and I walking to school together, yet near the gate, I had to run past him so when he entered the gate, I could greet him with a salute. Want to hear something funnier? I would wait for him at the gate, gave him a salute, and he would wait for me outside the gate. Then we would walk together home - chit chatting as if he wasn't my officer. :) He never gave me any punishment, but he would really pound my hand on the table (at home) whenever I practice the salute - just to help straighten my hand.
- August 1992, my paternal grandfather died, and I was absent in school for a whole week. It was also during that time I had my first period. My mom wasn't there (my sister got sick and they had to come home), but it was a good thing one of dad's younger sister is a nurse.
- A big typhoon came, and because the high school building was at a lower part of the neighborhood, it became the catch basin of all the rain water. A part of the wall was destroyed, and the whole building was flooded. We had to take our classes in some bare houses just so we could continue with the lessons.
I finished 5th that school year. I am not sure if mom was angry, but I guess at this point - with many new classmates, it didn't matter as long as I was still part of the top 10. Now that I got matured a little, I would always insist my dad to pin my medal, and I was happy he did. Well, mom still made it to the stage, my brother had an award, too, and she pinned his medal.
*** Jenn ***
