THIS USED TO BE MY PLAYGROUND

Life is a journey. And in each stop overs we do, we touch someone’s life, meet friends and take along with us memories that we will treasure as we continue to move on. Human beings are nomads. We travel continuously. Searching for a place where we feel we belong.

One such journey ended twenty five years ago, my college days. It ended before I even had the chance to cherish the moments and capture the memories that I have been intending to keep.

Twenty five years ago, I left the portals of my Alma Mater with one goal in mind: to change the world. It was a spine tingling moment the first time I wore my graduation toga. There were butterflies in my stomach when our school president ordered us, “Tussles to the right”. Then came the rain of our graduation cap. When I left the portals of Sacred Heart College, I never looked back. I wanted to change the world, immediately.

But, when I walked the last few steps to the main gate, memories came rushing back at me.

The wild chase to submit our practice sets. The happy go lucky attitude knowing that as college students, I am responsible for my education. That every quizzes and exams will reflect on my grades which will reflect on my standing, which will reflect on my job hunting prospects.

But being young and free, I didn’t care. I was enjoying the newfound freedom that accompanied being a college student. Not young anymore, but not an adult as well.

Friends call my school as a “bulokis” school. But again, I didn’t care. For in this school, I found acceptance. I found true friends. I found my self- worth. 

Within the walls, I gained the option to become who and what I wanted to become. There were few and fleeting moments when I felt I cannot go on, but the drive to have my own identity beckoned.

Sacred Heart College gave me that rare opportunity to be who I am, not someone other people wanted me to become. I entered this school as a sign of protest when I wasn’t allowed to pursue my dream of becoming an engineer and study in Manila. But that protest turned to be an opportunity to be who I really wanted to be.

SHC taught me to be self-reliant. To depend on no one except myself. It was a dog eat dog world when I faced the rat race, but I was amply equipped with necessary tools to survive the race.

SHC taught me to get to know my Redeemer. Some say it was a waste of units, but the real test and usage of what I learned from those “unnecessary units” came when I faced the corporate world. Being a banker then gave me access to all the client’s and bank’s resources. But tempting as it may sound, SHC solidly built in me that trait that trust and honor far stood important than any riches in the world.

There are so many treasured memories I have in college. Most of my true and close friends I met in college.

I guess, quarter of a century later, their mission statement still holds true to this very day.