Third Year: Year of Offenses

If you were one of the “Baptized”, you’d definitely know why I called this previous year, Year of Offenses. Minor or major offense, I think we top them all.

Improper haircut, no SJA socks or wearing black socks for boys, staying in the classrooms during breaks, calling names, chewing gums inside the campus, unbuttoned buttons, not wearing ID, eating foods during class hours, playing guitar without the teacher’s permission, transferring seats. These are some of the minor offense we had committed. And mind you- these are just SOME and it’s not just once that some of us do this. But of course, the most exciting is the major offense. Cheating (I guess we were caught and accused of no less than three tests.), Vandalism (yes, accused once), habitual tardiness (some were suspended because of this), destroying school property (once!), and I guess the last was Forging parent’s signature (no one was called for disciplinary action, but I know that Ms. Padicio knows this).

But why settle for the lowest part of my 3rd year life when there were also times of merrymaking? Of course, unforgettable moments are always captured- especially that Joshua Perico (isa daw siyang alamat sabi ni miss), Jeffrey Castillo and Dioscoro Martinez or Dyopi belongs to one class, it is our class and it was called III- St. John the Baptist.

Chemistry- taught by Mrs. Adora C. Mendoza. We meet from Mondays thru Fridays, and, during Tuesdays and Thursdays, we meet twice (so instead of an hour, it’s two). And if you meet that long, there are so much time for merrymaking, but of course it’s a double unit subject so you shouldn’t take it for granted.

During class hours, we do a lot of seatworks (“cheatworks” in our vocabulary) aside from lecture. And it’s so inevitable that when we’re busy answering, someone will break the silence.

Funny Moments…
· Funny it is when Dyopi imitate Ms. Mendoza’s popular lines, “…okay class, with regards to”; or for instance when miss hates something she’d say, ”…ubod pangit”; or miss’s “…anyway, class, double period naman tayo eh”. And this one is Chrisancis’s favorite, “…Okay class, have your nice recess”.
· Funny was once we did this experiment called Dancing Spaghetti. Joshua’s all the way teasing Jeffrey’s group that we’d get the extra five points because we’ll be the first to make the spaghetti dance. But what happened? The spaghetti didn’t even dance!
· Funny was once we’re making perfume as an experiment and the equipment needed for the distillation process was expensive (but not so). The condenser (was it condenser? I forgot the name of the apparatus, if it’s not, I guess that was Burette) was shaking and we fear that the thin long end of it would break because of the water’s surge. We were already computing the overall value of all the apparatuses. “Oh ito, tatlong libo daw yan sabi ni miss eh may funnel pa, may Florence flask pa…” And while doing it we can’t help but laughJ.
· Funny was when miss scolded Carl Ryiji once in the lab when we’re about to start Soap Making. Because instead of bringing Lye (LIHIYA), he brought papel de LEHAJ.
· Funny was once miss told us to pass our paper works by group. She even said it not less than once, and I guess she even translated it in Tagalog. But Rachel Guste passed theirs together with the other group. Miss got angry and said, “Di ba kayo nakakaintinti…ng lenggwaheng Earth?” I am, myself, anticipating that she’d say “Di ba kayo nakakaintindi ng Tagalog?” And I was not the only one anticipating that, that’s why when we heard this we all laughed. (Lufet naman kasi miss eh, lenggwaheng earth. Parang sinabi ninyo na alien kami…ganon?)
· Funny was in that same scenario, some of my classmates don’t have paper works to pass for Soap Making. Miss gave them a deadline and said that if they can’t pass it on time, Ka Nene will be the one to check itJ. (Eh sino ba kasi si Ka Nene?)

Araling Panlipunan- taught by Ms. Jovita Carpio. We meet from Mondays thru Thursdays. It is in this subject where I learned so much about the World History. And it is also in this subject where I first met Aeschylus, Sophocles, Shappo, Demosthenes and a lot of Greek writers. I just hope that my notebook in A.P. is with me now so that I wouldn’t have the hard time recalling the Greek writers. But certainly, it’s not just the only thing we learned from her. And though we always ought to memorize all the things written in our notebook and some in our book, funny moments cannot escape.
· Funny was when Ms. Carpio asked us questions concerning current affairs. She asked where did PGMA stayed before proceeding to Chile the next day. Then Dyopi shouted, “airport!” And what would his fans do? Of course, we all laughed. Miss was irritated with his nonsense, pointless, and idiotic answer that’s why she said that it is how our brain runs and she can never do anything to repair it!
· Funny was when Chrisancis repeated and mimicked what Miss said. She didn’t asked who it was because she was afraid that she might send that “someone” out. I was her seatmate that’s why I know that it was she who mimicked missJ.
· Funny was the way miss pronounce the word tomorrow. It’s like tomarrow because of the accent! And what would my good classmates do? Of course, mimic her!
· Funny was the last two remaining weeks before the school year ends. We have to practice for our Sabayang Pagbikas ng Tulang Pasalaysay. During practices (A.P. time), some groups already went halfway, while we in the group (it consists of Laudifer Sobretodo, Ren Quirante, Raymond Paolo Santos, Dianne Joei Sansaet, Katrina Tolentino, Tina Marie Selva, Jessilou Trinidad, Rachelle Yulo and me!) were just laughing. We were practicing but we laughed more than doing our best for our periodical test.
· Funny was the execution of our Sabayang Pagbigkas. We were supposed to shout “Dalawampung Taon” for only three seconds but it turned out to be long. I ran out of breath and laughed slightly at my mistake. I was to enter first together with Dianne that’s why I tried to control my “emotion”. But what luck, una pa lang, mali mali na. And it turned out to be a total disaster, we laughed until the end, as if it wasn’t a test. But I enjoyed it. And so does they. Here’s our piece by Ren Quirante:

Ikalawang Digmaang Pandaigdig
Makalipas ang dalawampung taon,
Natapos ang unang digmaan,
Nagkaroon ng depresyon at di naglaon,
Umusbong ang Ikalawang Digamaan.

Ang digmaan ay labis na nakaapekto,
Sa paghihirap ng mga tao,
Dumami ang produksyon ng trigo,
Ngunit ang prouksyon ng pera’y bigo.

Ang Italya, Alemanya at Hapon,
Na bumubuo sa Rome- Berlin- Tokyo Axis noon,
Ay nagsumulang manakop doon,
Sa iba’t ibang bansang kanilang hinamon.

Sa mga pananakop niyang ginawa,
Nasakop niya ang Austria at Czechoslovakia,
Ngunit di pa nasiyahan sa mga ginawa,
Sinakop rin ang Poland na payapang payapa.

Hinggil rito, nagsimula ang digmaan,
Naghayag na ang Britanya ng labanan,
Na tumagal ng halos dalawang taon,
Sa pasiklaban ng Britanya’t Aleman.

Gumamit si Hitler ng mga stratehiko,
Stratehikong tumalo sa iba’t ibang pulo.
Ang Britanya ay gumamit ng mga eroplano,
Ngunit sila ay umiwing bigo.

Sinunod nila ang mga pwersa ng mga Hapon,
Nilupig ang natitirang pwersa doon.
Nagyari sa Pasipiko ang pagkakataong yaon,
At sumuko narin ang mga Hapon.

Sila ay nagsimula ng sumuko,
Sa mga bansa bansang magkaalyado.
Labis na nagkatuwa ang mga tao,
At nagwakas na ang ikalawang digmaang ito.

English- taught by Ms. Cynthia V. Estrella or simply Ms. Cha. We meet regularly, sometimes after recess, or before lunch and once after lunch. From her, we learned a lot about English and European Literature from Old English period up to I don’t know where. But I’m pretty sure that we didn’t reach the Modern Period.
· Funny was once I recited and said, “…drink café” instead of coffee. I didn’t realize it at once, it was only when Ms. Cha repeated what I’ve said that made me realize my stupid mistake (so kung drink café parang ibig sabihin, drink Starbucks or Figaro, ganon).
· Sometimes during Thursdays we meet after lunch and because it’s unholy hour, Ms. Cha brings her book of jokes. Some are tricky, some are catchy and some are cornyJ, but the best of all jokes was of Don’s. It was really certified corny! (hehehe, peace! Totoo naman diba?!)
· Funny was when Chris and I recite most of the time during English time. Sometimes though Chris was the only one raising her hand, Ms. Cha doesn’t call her, and that makes us laugh.
· Funny was when Miss asked Jeff Ancheta to sing for us. Because if he wouldn’t, she’d fail her. He went for it but he sang so lousyJ.
· Funny was when Jeff Ancheta sang “…santong kabayo, natatawa ako hihihihi…” But I rebuke him saying “…ang gago mo”.
· Funny was all the time when we are on our own world where even a finest linguist can’t decipher what we’re laughing about. It’s because we are the only one who understands it. Again, if you were baptized, you will know this. And I ought not to publish it here because I don’t want to be caught in the middle of uncertainty.

Trigomometry- taught by Ms. Palaoag. We only meet twice a week: Mondays and Wednesdays before lunch. And sometimes programs and activities affect our time that oftentimes we don’t meet at all.
· Funny was Ms. Palaoag’s “one whole everbody!” That means to say that we’d have a test.
· Funny was her facial expression when she doesn’t expect the things we sayJ. (yung mukha ni miss parang gulat na owssss?)
· Funny was when she wrote something wrong and she’d ay, “ay nagkamali ang chalk!”

Filipino- taught by Ms. Rosalie Chavez. We meet everyday except on Wednesdays. During the first grading, we used our Filipino book, Kawil. On the next grading, we had Talindaw (history ata ng Philippine literature yung topics simula panahon ng mga Aetas.) that caused some of us to fail. The book itself was for college students but they just included that in our syllabus. And from third to the last, we had Noli Me Tangere.
· Funny was Ms. Chavez’s imitation of Jeff Castillo’s “poksain” and his “lagi nalang yan ganyan…”
· Funny was the last Filipino day where Chris and I collaborated to make it hard for Elizar and Jeff Castillo to answer our question. I asked something that’s not on the book, I said something like “kasi dati may nagatanong sakin (si Chris talaga yung nagtanong sakin), sino ba daw si Salome, eh di ko masagot, sino ba iyon?” Chrisancis had this book Gabay sa Noli Me Tangere that’s why she knows the answer (and the question is scripted). Miss added to what Chris said (si Salome pala yung love interest ni Elias) and she asked if there are still questions, again I raised my hand because we still have one scripted question; Chris immediately raised her hands to answer. Miss Chavez noticed that I asked twice and she answered twice, kaya sabi ni miss “parang naguusap kayo diyan ha…J”
· Funny was when miss asked “ano nga iyong pinangtakip kay Ibarra?” My classmates answered sako and everthing then miss said, “basta yon…” Then when everything was quiet, I remember the answer and shouted, “sakate!” Chris laughed at me because it’s not once that I did that.
· Funny was when we talked about Family Planning. We were asked to write and informal theme about this and be able to recite it in class. The discussion itself was already funny, but what was most funny was Jeff Castillo’s theme. He omitted some of the things he wrote when he recited (maybe it’s too censored- tagalog pa naman!).
· Unforgettable was when we tackle Sisa who longed for her sons Crispin and Basilio. Stories about families were shared in the room and it was so touching that even though some things are too sensitive to talk in public, they didn’t resist in sharing. Some of them were Ron Dela Cruz, Dianne Joei Sansaet, Alyssa Mae Dela Cruz (our muse!) and Joshua Perico.

Religion- during the first semester, Sir McRey Sario was our teacher. But when he was promoted as the school’s Prefect of Discipline, they changed him as our teacher. We now have Ms. Concepcion de Leon. She was a catechist. We meet everyday except on Tuesdays.
· Funny was our third grading periodical test. Aside from having a pattern in the answers (Office of the Prefect of Discipline in Test I and Hyperdulia in Test II), in the essay we were asked about Method of Teachings. We thought that we were to evaluate Ms. De Leon’s performance. But it wasn’t like that. She told us that our answers were wrong and funny. Were not yet through the year but we already evaluated her, she kinda said.
· Funny was during the last grading when we began to be so unruly. My guy classmates transfer at the back of the classroom where they can secretly laugh on their own.
· Funny was when Zarah Ruflo brought some Cheeseballs. We were many in sharing the snack that’s why it ran out so fast. What Zarah did was she crumpled pieces of paper inside (para magmukhang cheeseballs) and gave it to Lovely Buenaventura for them to eatJ!
· Funny was Lovely’s Macapuno candies that circulated around our group during Religion time. We were acting as if we haven’t done anything wrong. And we thought that miss didn’t see us eating the yummy candies. That was what we thought but miss already gave deductions for us! Elizar said that she mentioned Buenaventura, Selva, and Valencia (ako yon!) and a lot more.

Geometry- taught by Ms. Rosalyn Padicio. We have a lot of unforgettable moments rather than funny ones. Because who would act funny and gay if you have committed much offenses? We meet everyday from 3:05- 4:05.
· Unforgettable was when we were sentenced because of Cheating! When that happened, I thought that Geometry time would be a burden.
· Unforgettable was when all of us girls (boys were out because they have a talk with a priest I guess, they were encouraged to enter the seminary) had a time to talk with Miss. We talked about ghost stories in school: other’s experiences and her own personal experiences. We also talked about her crush in the classroom. I ought not to tell it- anyways, I’m not sure if it’s tuuut or tuuuut. It was such a nice time that we wished for more.
· Funny was when we talked about Prom. How she criticizes some informal pictures was funny.
· Unforgettable was when we were sent out because we were late in class. Only ten made it and the remaining- including me, was out there! It wasn’t that humiliating kasi may karamay naman ako!

Music- as I’ve said in the preceding posts, Miss Mary Ann Vecino was and will be my teacher up to my fourth year (unless she’d resign). We meet once a week during Fridays.
· Funny moments were scarce because we only meet once a week. There was one time when we didn’t even meet for three consecutive weeks. But what was unforgettable was the song “Leaving on a Jet plane.” It was the first song I learned how to play with the use of a guitar with Ms. Vecino’s help. And here’s the lyric with the chords. It’s so easy that’s why I guess this was the one given to us. Although it’s easy, I’m having a hard time playing it.

Leaving on a Jet plane
D G
All my bags are packed; I’m ready to go
D G
I’m standin’ here outside your door
D G A- A7
I hate to wake you up and, to say goodbye
D G
But the dawn is breaking, it’s early mornin’
D G
The taxi’s waiting, he’s blowing his horn
D G A- A7
Already I’m so lonesome I could cry
Chorus:
D G
So kiss me and smile for me
D G
Tell me that you’ll wait for me
D G A- A7
Hold me like you’ll never let me go
D G D
I’m leavin’ on a jetplane, I don’t know
G D G A- A7
When I’ll be back again. Oh babe, I hate to go
D G
There’s so many times I’ve let you down
D G
So many times I’ve played around.
D G A- A7
I tell you now they don’t mean a thing.
D G
Every place I go, I think of you
D G
Every song I sing, I sing for you
D G A- A7
When I comeback, I’ll bring you wedding ring (Chorus)
D G
Now the time has come to leave you
D G
One more time you let me kiss you
D G A-A7
Close your eyes I’ll be on my way
D G
Dream about the days to come
D G
When I woke up to leave you alone
D G A- A7
About the time, I don’t have to say (Chorus)

Computer- taught by Master Earl Marquez Albina MaEd. We meet twice a week every Tuesdays and Fridays. A lot of us were afraid of him not unless we haven’t done anything wrong. Pag gumawa daw kasi kami ng kalokohan sa subject nia, barado daw kami sa kanyaJ.
· Funny was Master’s portrayal of ShaiderJ. So we’d better do well in his subject if we don’t want to fail TLE.
· Funny was Master’s term “Makamakashigishigi”. He said that he wants to save students na “natutulog sa kangkungan”.
· Funny was Master’s hand gesture and facial expression when he’s saying that he wants to save the “endangered species” of the class.
· Funny was Sir’s “suki card” kunwari. Many of us can avail this (daw) kasi parating maraming paulit ulit na walang assignment.
· Funny was every time Master would tell us na baka absent siya the next day kasi may seminar siyang pupuntahan. We would act like “uhhhh…absent si sir!” As if we don’t want to let him go. Of course he knows that “arte lang naming yon” kaya tatawa siya!
· Funny was Master’s gesture and facial expression when he says “corruption of minds” Another was “I want to scruuuuutinize your mind” He tells this when he gave us hard topics or when he committed or spelled something wrong and we’d get his attention for this.

Arts- taught by Ms. Aida Innocencio. We meet only once a week every Wednesdays. We learned from her lessons about Paintings, Sculpture and Architecture of five art eras. These were Gothic, Renaissance, Expressionism, Baroque and Byzantine eras.
· Funny was when Ms. Innocence gets angry because of Dyopi. Sasabihin ni miss, “Sabi sabi ka pa ng miss, pwedeng maganda (yung ipapasang artwork)? Pero hindi ka naman pala magpapasa!”
· Funny was, Dyopi again! Ms. Innocence would get his attention because he hadn’t passed anything yet. Sasabihin ni miss, “Una, maglalabas ka ng eggshell or oslo paper, kunwari may ginagawa ka pero mamaya maya, itatago mo na. Nasaan na yung inumpisahan mo? Tapos sasabihin mo, miss, pwedeng magpasa ng maganda?!J”
· Funny was my classmates na ginagatungan pa siya at pinagtatawanan sa pangsasabong ginagawa sa kanya ni Miss!
· Funny was when Ms. Innocence was busy drawing flying buttresses, arcade, dome, vault and everything seen on the churches made by the Goths. She drew so many that we were waiting so long. To keep ourselves “busy” some slept and others- including me- transferred seats. We were not supposed to be caught. It’s just that all the naughty boys seated themselves in one corner of the room that made it so easy for miss to realize it. Then she asked, “Nagpaalam ba kayo sakin? Pagbilang ko ng sampu dapat nakabalik na kayo sa pwesto ninyo ha?” So what would we do? We have no choice but to return in our proper seats.

P.E and heath- taught by Ms. Isabelita “Beng” Cruz. We meet twice a week, one for P.E. and the other for the latter.
· Funny was when she said, “ang babait niyo pala?” It’s not on the contrary ha?! Mabait lang talaga kami nung time na yon kaya kami ganon…tinatamad na kasi kame eh!
· Funny was when we were playing badminton. I hit the shuttlecock directly to Ms. Cruz’s face!

Free time- this was the most wanted hour of the class. We can revel ourselves with anything we wanted to do. But we must be sure that Ms. Quintos won’t catch us- or else, it would be the end. Some of us sleeps, others chatting, boys are playing, and some virtuoso plays the guitar. It was also in this time when my classmates had a chance to kick and deform our locker. Funny was when I gave Jeffrey Castillo the School Handout for him to read that what they’re doing was wrong. Audience laughed although we know that when were caught, patay na!

Of all the misdemeanors we had. Of all the delinquencies, attached to us. Of all those things, who will think that we will survive? We were all survivors in that year of tumult. I regretted once, I must admit, that I was in the section III- St. John the Baptist Batch 2004- 2005, but I realized that I shouldn’t. All those things were lessons that all of us must learn. And it’s part of our high school life. To err is human and to stumble is inevitable. But I am glad that during those times when we were down, Mrs. Mendoza was there to carry us up. We brought her worries, distress, anxiety, woe, problem, difficulty, dilemma, mess, nuisance and everything but she never ceased to accept us again and again as her advisory class, as her children. That’s why we’d like to thank her for the love that she had given us.

~Every job is a self-portrait of the person who did it. Autograph your work with EXCELLENCE~
-Anonymous-