8/3/2019 Class Prophesies Are Fun

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Class Prophesies are fun, arent they? Youre about to graduate, one of yourclassmates writes this piece on how he/she thinks (serious or not) how each andevery one of you will end up in the future (usually after say, ten years). Usuallytheyre based on what the students like/dislike to do, their habits (good or bad),what they plan to take up in college, etc. Its a nice concept, but of course, its allmostly imagined stuff.

Needless to say, very little (Ive seena few that fit, but then again Ive been out of touch) of the prophesized futures originally conceived by Francis Bartilit actuallyhappened (LoL). But thats beside the point. Were all ten years older (ugh) but alsosmarter (yay! If it happens to be true, if not, oh well) than we were back in highschool a decade (has it really been that long?) ago. A lot has happened since then,and some (if not most) of us ended up where a majority wouldve never thoughtback in high school.

Cmon, back then, would you have thought Hazel Stacy Reyes would become adoctor so quickly? (at age 20? Nice, good job HS.) Or that Francis Bartilit wouldactually stop just before graduating Accountancy, take up Nursing instead, andteach it at CDD? Or that Jayson Burca would be in Canada with his own familybefore the ten year reunion even happened?

Whats the point, you ask?

What was written back then is way, WAY different from where we actually are now.Benedick Tandoc, managing a computer shop? Nope, hes in Singapore, working asan Electronics Engineer. Jayson, owning a clinic with Mike? Hes now in Canada, andMikes a Mechanical Engineer, so scratch that. Tamy in Australia? Where IS that guy,anyway? And Bucks, rapping? (LoL) More like creating dishes to rival GordonRamsey.

There are more, but the point is that, those guys didnt go the way the prophesysaid they would, and yet theyre even more successful than their written roles.

Not that being different is bad. No, far from it, in fact. Everyone has been successfulin their own way, and have achieved goals that have been set since (or maybe evenbefore) our graduation ten years ago. These goals may be work, traveling, movingto another place, taking care of their families, whatever. Everyone hasaccomplished something already, and at this point in our lives, its very intriguing toknow what everyone else in batch 2001 is up to now.

As I write this article, though, its inevitable that some memories, pushed aside longago by others, have surfaced again. These memories are of my batchmates, createdso long ago, and yet when I do remember them (like now), I wonder. Was it just theschool that had a major part? No, it couldnt be. Im sure that if we had met atanother school, some of the memories would be altered, but the role the kids (yes,we were kids back then) played would be bigger. It would always be.

It wasnt the school that made high school what it was for me. The schools just abunch of buildings (okay, okay, TWO buildings, not counting the White House, whichis just a shed), but it was the people who I went there with every day for four years.

8/3/2019 Class Prophesies Are Fun

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Okay, fine, the place played a role too, but the people were more important; theystill are. Now I knew other students who werent in our year, but thats a story foranother time. My batchmates; this bunch of people They are what made highschool fun for me. They made the experience unique. Special. RememberCheering practice on the roof of Jam Sweet Jam. Or dance practice at Ems place.Aris Santos having fun on the second floor balcony *shudders*. Sir Samsoncursing SOOOO early in the morning just for the hell of it. Gary and Buntz playingin the White House. Eating at Max. Watching that pretty girl walk by and you turnyour head to watch her (hey, these are my memories, okay?). The plays in Filipinoclass (stage fright!). The proms? CAT every morning of fourth year! Shawarma forlunch. Painting in T. H. E. class. That damn, stupid NSAT exam (*^%%^$). Ferdzand Bonn mock fighting in front of Maam Ferrer after which she walks out of class(she was my favorite teacher, though *puts up flame shield*). After schoolsessions (I wont say here, but most will get it). Sarah singing dancing Queen inEnglish class (yeah I still remember that). Benedicks mom teaching trigonometry.Mike and Teta (haha, like a tv show). Christmas parties, exchanging gifts. Classboycotts. Recollections. Enchanted Kingdom! Maam Mejia *wink*. Basketball at theastrodome. The list of memories goes on. My list may not be the same as my otherbatchmates, but its safe to say that we shared many of the memories that make upours. I think thats what made high school so memorable. Even after ten years thosethoughts randomly cross my mind and make me laugh (or smile, as people aroundme may think I was mentally unstable.)

No one has died yet (thank God), though we did get a scare way back in college(yes, Im talking about you, Gilbert Tiu), and no, it wasnt funny at all.

One line comes to mind as I type this: the old, overused life is a journey, not amarathon. Seriously, Ive heard and/or read that line said so many times, itsbecome permanently lodged in some part of my brain. It is true, though. Somethinglike, you speed through life, youll miss out. Take it slow, and enjoy it. Well, let metell you: I didnt speed through high school, it passed me by, but I took in as muchof it as I could, before time left us all behind. Before I knew it, graduation was there,and we all took our separate paths in life. Some would lead most of us back toothers, meeting and intersecting throughout the next ten years. But it would neverbe the same; wed never all be there again together, except in our memories.

The class prophesy created way back in 2001 may not have come true for most, butthats okay. Everyone has gotten to this point in their lives through different paths,and Im pretty sure we wouldnt have it any other way. That was just a vague idea,a suggestion, and what really happened to us transcends all those words in theoriginal Odyssey. No regrets, in any case (not in mine, anyway).

So to end my absurdly long piece about this, heres to those four years (1997-2001)I spent in that forsaken (just kidding!) place with all the members of batch 2001.

Thank you for everything, guys and girls. Good luck to all of us, and God bless.

-Ian.