"GRATITUDE, THE MEMORY OF THE HEART"

 

"Alumni come home because of their gratitude to their alma mater," said Fr. Isabelo R. San Luis, SVD (born in Laoag, Ilocos Norte) in his homily during the thanksgiving Mass on the  Golden Jubilee Homecoming of Divine Word College High School Department Batch 1968-1972.

Fr. Bel says, "gratitude is the memory of the heart". 

Thus, the high school boys 50 years ago came home on July 7-10, 2022, full of memories and grateful for having been molded in the ideals of Divine Word College of Legazpi, grateful for the friendship, the bond, and solidarity with everyone in the Class of 1972, and fondly remember the "Divine Days", then an "all-boys high school". 

 

We came home to our alma mater because Batch '72 to share the "mga pasalubong", or gifts, with Divine Word College. Fr. Jhonatan A. Letada, SVD (from Clavertia, Masbate) said, these are GIFTS, GRATITUDE, AND GIVING BACK. 

 

We, the alumni, are the GIFTS to the institution, for being what we are. The second gift is our GRATITUDE, as our presence is an expression of our deepest gratitude to our alma mater.  Lastly, out of gratitude, we have the gift of GIVING BACK not only to the institution but to our family, friends, and community. because we have been blessed. 

 

What have we gained from my alma matter during our academic years? DUC IN ALTUM, to launch into the deep, unafraid, and with confidence. To launch into the deep without pretensions, with self-respect, and with humility, to uphold one’s principles even at the cost of being unpopular.

 

Nobody can set sail unprepared, as the sea is perilous with the high winds of reality and the dangers of the squalls of avarice and selfishness. 

 

Fortunate are we to have been forged in values, ethics, service, and academic excellence typified by the quad letters DWCL. 

 

DISCIPLINE, coupled with ethical principles is lacking in contemporary times. Like honesty, even if it is such a lonely word as a song goes.

 

As high school students, discipline is a way of life that is metamorphosed into self-discipline. Surely, many were sent to this school not only for academic excellence but for the discipline imposed by the administrators. 

 

Erring students, including me, are often sent outside, to kneel with arms outstretched in the corridor because of misbehavior; or the entire class is made to stand on the basketball court under the heat of the mid-afternoon sun, or made to run on the court for five to ten rounds for unruly behavior while the Father President, Fr. Florante Camacho, SVD, reads the breviary in the shade.

 

The same punishment applies to tardiness that seldom is late for school. 

 

While the Divine Word College of Legazpi is not run by the Benedictine order, the rule of “ora et labora” (working and praying) had become a part of our discipline. In high school the Friday afternoon mass and prayers before each class are mandatory, and we were required to do manual work as part of the curriculum, like ground preparation and hollow blocks making for the construction of the high school building, aside from the usual gardening chores. 

 

We attended so many Eucharistic Celebrations by week that Arnold M. and I have memorized the missal.

 

Personal conflicts are often settled with the challenge, "Peace Corp?".  Fist fights to settle an issue are usually done after classes at the nearby yard of where the US Peace Corps has its official residence, and never within the school premises.

 

It was discipline coupled with dignity preserved that we carried over to college life and until now.  Still have the eyes of being mischievous, but never arrogant or proud. Classmates have remained humble and wittingly funny.

 

Discipline has contemporarily become a rarity because of ridiculous laws, erroneous appreciation of human rights, or simply because of indifference attendant to poor upbringing. Proper values are the true mark of a good pedigree or breeding. How a person conducts himself is reflective of the kind of family that he was raised from.

 

Consistency of actions, firm decisions, and loyalty are attributes of discipline. As in our morning prayers, we always proclaim to “Christ the King, Loyalty!”

 

But it was not all about adversity as one may call it. So much support was extended by the school in terms of facilities, extensive reference collections, and even magazines that are a delight to high school boys. Never mind if the fathers have the vow of poverty to keep as long as the student has what they basically need, including discounted food at the canteen during "school feeding days". The Father Principal sees to it that the library has a regular and updated copy of Sports Illustrated, Time Magazine, Newsweek, Life Magazine, and other foreign publications. Good reading materials were then our luxury provided by the school.

 

Discipline, it all adds up to what we are today.

 

WISDOM– There is a difference between wisdom and knowledge. The latter is nothing more than the absorption of information or the gain of skills, but wisdom is the integration of both skills and information and putting that into positive action.

 

This is the difference between liberal education which teaches the “why’s” of things, while other courses provide the “how’s” of skills. 

 

Of course, there is the wisdom to balance personal needs and social needs; and personal preferences over family preferences. With these, we carry on social responsibilities in whatever discipline we pursued.

 

In all ways, the alumni have been competitive, not only in local industries but in other parts of the country and the world.  

 

What we are today we all owe it to our teachers. Many teachers came to the homecoming, but we missed Ms. Myrick (who attended the dedication of the school chapel on December 2021, and still, as ever, a smiling Fraulein, Mr. Donald E. Morisky (II-D Class Adviser, from Phoenix, Arizona, USA, and migrated to Los Angeles, California),, Fr. Valentine, Fr. Mulrennan,   Ms. Hemady, Ms. Vallejo (to whom we run for help in our Spanish assignments), and of course Fr. Flor Camacho, SVD, our school principal then. Instead came Fr. Bel San Luis, SVD, who also handled some subjects like Ethics, Philosophy, and Theology subjects in college. 

 

CHARACTER – Our characters were molded by discipline and wisdom, to be productive members of society, and to earn the mark of the integrity of a Divinian.

 

Almost no day pass that a high school student gets into trouble and gets a scolding from the Father Principal, Fr. Joseph L. Bates, and how he dislikes it if the student bows down his head in remorse or shame. 

 

The good priest, a benevolent disciplinarian, would always say while scolding a misbehaving guy: “Look at me. Be a man. Don’t just stand there like an ikus (bicol for cat) or a kabayow (horse). Look at me in the eye.” The point is we should be responsible for our actions, to reason out if right, and take responsibility for our actions.

 

Some fraters have also shaped our characters and views, to take action in times of wrong, and be able to answer the next generation as to what we have done during our times to correct a wrong, says Frater Gillo.

 

LEADERSHIP – As the school had aptly wrought its students, many have emerged as leaders. There became mayors, congressmen, and other political figures, while others have become leaders in the professional and corporate worlds.

Nothing much has changed beyond physical appearance. the same humility, playfulness, and sense of humor.  The only thing noticeable is the metamorphosis of many into self-confidence.

Our challenge to the next generations:

After several decades, is the school the same as before in values and excellence? Are the graduates of today similarly trained? It is only them that have the precise answer, or perhaps the answer was blown by the wind.

 

Graduates of today however seem to have forgotten the importance of social responsibility as the work or academic institutions themselves have similarly forgotten so. 

 

There are things more important than money. If one pursues nothing but money, there will always be this emptiness, this longing for the unknown which is actually the thirst for meaning in life that can only be quenched through service to others.

 

We were like that before, with meaning, purpose, and direction. How are you today?