The Unbroken Reverie

While many have started going to their planned vacation trips, the editors still come to school everyday to fulfill their commitment of  coming up with quality papers for their final publication, the Memoirs 2010 yearbook. They collect pictures, edit articles, and design templates from eight in the morning till six in the evening.

I admire these person's strong sense of commitment to their obligations and tasks, and I feel very proud of being one of them.

We may have no time yet to visit our dream destinations this summer, at least we are able to conserve our money. The pressures and conflicts in the demands of the publications may still be on us, at least we are not one of those who have got nothing to do this summer. We have an exclusive work room with a controlled temperature of eighteen degrees Celsius, ten units of super computers with LCD monitors and hi-speed internet connection, and all our expenses are answered by the school.

The experience of being in this group alone is a reward in itself. It provides us with great opportunities to discover a lot of things that we would never learn in any other way. It allows us to relish sharing ideas and working together more. We enjoy the fulfillment of leaving a legacy of re-establishing the independent publication in the school, and the so-called glory of the press.

We hold greater obligations than any student organization in our school, we play nobler tasks, and we make greater contributions to the development of the school's system.

Beneath the pressuring press works and limitless devotion as campus journalists, the roles we play as members of the high school publications nonetheless make us explore the depths of our being.

It is very unbelievable how time flies by so fast. Yesterday, we were just taking our entrance exam in Bosco. But today, it is already time to say goodbye to our Alma Mater who has been very dear to us; to close this chapter called “High School” and open a new one like we never see it coming.

As we look back to those four multihued years of this magnificent chapter in our lives, we cannot help but contemplate on those scenes that were laden with all kinds of adversities – fear, adjustment, bewilderment, criticisms, unceasing abundance of obligations, and so on.

There were times where the occurrences were tough and demoralizing that hit the highest points of our bounds. There were times where we were unable to help the tears, because we were alone, afraid, lost, or ashamed. Only until we had the guts to face and challenge our issues, and suffered several stumbling blocks and some loss of face – we learned. We considered them all as struggles, until we finally saw the point of them all.

Looking back also brings to our, still, naive minds the countless people who, from the very beginning, offered their support to us without expecting anything in return. We found them; the friends and mentors in our midst, who were there at whatever time and place we were, to listen to our stories, to laugh at our jokes, to share knowledge and experiences.

Suddenly, it seemed that we started to cultivate in many fields and the world threatened us no more. Little by little, bit by bit, we determined the difference between right and wrong, real and unreal, just and unjust.

The past years had been, as we might say, an enthralling maturity for all of us. This must be attributed to Don Bosco, Mary Help of Christians, and all the Salesian Saints who have never failed to intercede for us, and to the Divine Providence that has been always sustaining us.

In keeping, we had to take some times to be with Him every day, in the small chapel or in the big chapel. Sometimes, just to utter “hello,” or some words of friendship. Sometimes, we never had to say anything at all, just stayed a little, there with the Lord.

High School was just short, exhilarating and demanding, yet full of surprises and wonderful experiences. During our four years in High School, all of us exceptionally did a lot of maturing, a lot of growing up. We may not always notice them, but we can always find them, if we do so, inside our hearts, somewhere they could not be obviously seen, and only throbbing is heard.

Don Bosco… Thank you for getting us on the way across to becoming the capable, sturdy and successful persons the Lord hopes we would be. Bigger things, greater tasks, more trials and failures may be waiting outside. We may fall, not once but many times, but we shall rise, again and again.

So long, old man. I will see you again sometime soon. And when that time comes, I will make it sure that you will be proud of me.

Dearest Lord Jesus Christ, thank you for all the blessings you have bestowed upon us all in the previous chapters of our lives. Thank you for the biggest family you have given us in the Educative-Pastoral Community of Don Bosco Technical College. Thank you for our families, and everyone you have given us for support, love and companionship.

As me and my batch go to college, grant each of us the wisdom, assurance, and focus to make the most out of our new lives. Bless all of us and provide us with the necessary things for us to be able to keep on moving forward in making our home, and our school proud.


To everyone, I offer my gratitude. And with my sincerest wishes for one and all, congratulations! We made it.

I love you all from the bottom of my heart.

In the world, many people are slaves for the many things that they ardently desire, but they do not really need. Some of us may not admit, but many of us have been guilty, too, of having so many material wants in life. Yes, we, too, belong to those people who think that life’s treasures can be found in the luxury and comfort of things. We cannot blame ourselves, though.

Since childhood, our parents and teachers have set our minds to always do our best in our studies, so that someday we can have good jobs, and in the future we can buy all the material things we want in life. However, we cannot blame our parents too. It is because, in our society, success conforms mainly about quantity – quantity of properties, money, education, etc. We live in a society where the rich people are the successful, the more important, the more believable; where what is glamorous is noble, what is sensational is true, and what is appealing is good. Our culture has taught us to seek more; to want more.

Did God really plan this world to be this complicated, or is it just us who make the world difficult? Is this our life? No. What is our real life? When will we start our real life?

Things are very easy, very simple. At the end of the day, it is not our possessions, position, power, nor prestige that will matter. At the end of the day, it is not about the mansion where we live, the money we have in the bank, the car that we ride in, nor the brand of clothing we wear. No. A man’s wealth is not determined by these things. Jesus said in the Gospel, “A man’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possession.”

At the end of day, our family, our neighbors, our relationships with others, and what we do with them are what really count. Things change drastically in a matter of seconds, that is why all that we may consider wealth is actually determined by the number of times we laughed with our friends, we shared moments with our family, we spent with our loved ones, and by the number of people we have helped and made happy throughout the day.

God has shown us the real meaning of life. For God so loved the world He gave us Christ, His only Son. And Jesus came to bring peace that comes from loving and doing good to others. He said, “My peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you.”

A person does not live and die for himself or herself alone. Life is too short and fleeting to let it simply slip away in things that are not truly worth our lives. At the end of the day, the one we should follow is God, who is love. At the end of the day, love is all about giving. At the end of the day, life is all about giving. Don’t you think our life is too short to do anything else away from that?

May we all experience the beauty and joy of renewal by being more generous this Holy Week.

"A deep and fascinating endeavor" - was how the late Pope John Paul II described the experience of discernment about God's will for us. Last Monday-Wednesday, I with some of the vocation group members went to a three-day orientation in the seminary of Don Bosco in Canlubang.

The experience in the seminary was tiring. We never ran out of works to do, since we were following a schedule and routine. I didn’t like it at first, but after a while I also realized that all of those were actually necessary for proper Christian formation. I realized, it was the heart of Don Bosco’s Preventive-System, the main feature of Don Bosco’s life – the love for work.

I won’t say too much about the life inside. But all in all, I learned a lot of things mostly about holiness. Sadly though, I am not ready and disposed to apply them all in my life yet. I am still young, but will I ever be disposed and ready? I don’t know. Discerning is a lifelong journey, so choosing not to enter for now does not mean that I am closing the door for its possibility.

It is true, there is a bigger world inside. Yes, the seminary is only a tiny space in the world, but I can say, through the way of life the people have there, everyone inside knows the meaning of responsibility – a big word, a grown-up matter. The seminarians’ hands can never be idle. They are always full and busy with anything and everything, as long as they can keep them clean and away from sin.

Life inside the seminary is peaceful yet full of adventure. But if I enter now, I don’t think I’ll be able to manage to survive. There are still things here outside that I cannot leave high and dry. If I enter the seminary now, I’ll be just like a fish removed from the water. As of now, there is only one thing I am sure about entering there, I will go back when I develop a lung.

I wish to extend my thanks to all the seminarians, priests and brothers for giving us a very warm reception in the seminary. Thank you for allowing us to live your life and to learn a lot. I admire each one of you for your direct and active effort in following Christ, Jesus. May He bless you all, and may He always provide you with fulfillment in all the good things that you do.

Light my way, Lord. Rule my life, and lead me. Let me acknowledge your real plans for me.

If there is one certificate in high school which I can say I am most proud of, it will be this Private Warning. You see, I am so proud of it that I even posted it here where everyone can see it. Yes, this is a Private Warning that I received for violating a School Policy.

Some of you reading this may think that I am blogging this to insult the people who endorsed me for this Disciplinary Action; no, definitely not. In fact, I was one of those who sanctioned myself. Others say it was stupid; but for me, it was noble.

This Private Warning gives me a feeling of pride, dignity, and above all fulfillment. That for once in my life, a decision I made set the standard back in its rightful place; that a decision I made proved my courage to face my own self – strengths and weaknesses, successes and failures, self-determination and limitation; that what I did helped some people to realize the dreadfulness behind an action they had thought as pleasurable and fun.

“For all that I have suffered, I do not regret the problems that I have faced – because they are what brought me to where I wanted to arrive... I carry with me all the marks and scars of the combats – they are the witnesses of what I have lived through, and the rewards for what I have conquered... scars are necessary when we fight against Absolute Evil, or when we have to say “no” to all those who, sometimes with the best of intentions, try to impede our journey towards dreams."
- John Bunyan

I did not regret receiving this Disciplinary Action, even though the favor and trust of some of those around me had been sacrificed. If through sacrifices like this I could always help others recognize the insolence of their actions, I would always be more willing and happier to make worse cases and receive punishments and disciplinary actions heavier than Private Warning.

PS: This entry was originally long. It was only summarized to avoid hurting anyone’s feelings.

As for a high school senior student like me, New Year is like the concluding chapters of a fantastic book, or the finishing episodes of a wonderful television series – very predictable yet so enigmatic. You give importance to every scene, you are so cautious about anything that happens, and you fear missing out any moment.

Meeting the New Year is like meeting a new world for me. It is so unbelievable to notice how much I give value now to a lot of things which did not really mean anything to me before. Could it be because I am afraid – of losing gradually, of leaving eventually? Yes. I may not see this again, hear this again, and feel this again. Some things may never happen again.

High School has been so great and at the same time so harsh to me. Though I realized that no matter what happens, be it good or bad, whether it builds you up or break you down, there is always a valuable lesson to learn from it. Indeed, high school is all about acquiring knowledge through experiences more than anything else.


Five days ago, we had Japanese visitors in Don Bosco – they were students and professors from Ehime University in Matsuyama City. They came just to observe the kind of education we have in our school. I was selected to be their presenter as well as one of their facilitators during their tour. I welcomed them, introduced them to the superiors of our school, showed them our facilities in the campus, and shared some piece of information about our culture and tradition as Bosconians . All of them were nice to us; they listened to all that we said, they laughed at our jokes, and they really showed interest in what we were doing. One thing, though, was quite odd about them – none of them had any idea what a church or a religion is – except for their professors, I guess. When we dropped by to our small chapel, they were all noisy chatting with one another until I said, “where we are right now is considered as one of the most sacred places here in our campus… people come here to have a moment of silence and speak with God.” On our assembly before the end of their visit, two of their professors congratulated me and told me that they appreciated the way I went along with them. They just told me some things I never expected to hear from anybody – can I just keep it with myself?

Currently, I am just attending to the developments of our publications, the “Bosconian Ink” and “Memoirs 2010” and to the organizations of my “Class Business Enterprise” and “Photo Contest and Exhibit” for the 57th Foundation Celebration of my school.

Allow me to end this blog entry by sharing with you the outcomes of my college entrance tests…

De La Salle University – (PASSED) BS Communication Arts, BS in Business Management
University of Sto. Tomas – (PASSED) BS Communication Arts, BS Legal Management
San Beda College– (PASSED) BS Legal Management, BSBA Marketing and Corporate Communication

University of the Philippines – I applied but I did not take their entrance exam because I was infected with the H1N1 virus.

So, till now I am still undecided on which school to enter.

P.S. I am one of the delegates for the Taize Pilgrimage of Trust in Manila. I will get to interact with people from foreign nations again. Yay!

Life indeed changes, so does our attitude and personality, depending on the kind of environment we grow ourselves in. Along the way, we encounter good and bad experiences which changes the way we look at ourselves, others, and life as a whole. Every experience has something to teach us. Sometimes, we even find the best lessons in the most heartbreaking situations in our life.

The separation of my parents has been a big issue for me until now. I understand that there is really no way where I can turn back the time, but it often tears me up inside whenever I recall how my family used to be. In some ways, I still consider myself lucky because it made me discover a lot of things which, for sure, I would never know in any other way. I experienced both having a complete family, and a broken family. I can say that it is much easier for me to relate with other people now; those who are happy with their family, and those who may not be able to have the luxury of having a complete family.

The experience made me realize that difficult situations are not times when you should become weak and lose hope, but times when you could prove your wisdom in dealing with them, your courage in facing them, and your strength in getting through them.

Two nights ago was a silent night...

It has been 150 years of sacrifices, hardships, prayers and blessing for the Salesians of Don Bosco. St. John Bosco's institutions have truly gone through a lot, but still continue its mission to serve God by giving a helping hand to the marginalized, providing direction for the youth, and producing good Christians and hones citizens of the society.

The Salesians of Don Bosco has contributed so much to the world, and they all must be regarded to its founder, The Father and Teacher of the Youth, St. John Bosco.

Don Bosco lives on, in our hearts, in our dreams, in our hopes. 150 YEARS... it has been all God's wonderful design.

Ang salitang "paalam," ay maharil mahirap sambitin sa mga taong mahalaga sa atin. Ito man ay isang minamahal, miyembro ng pamilya, o isang matalik na kaibigan. Mayroong nagsabi na “kung ang pagtatapos ay nangangahulugan ng panibagon simulain, bakit ang pamamaalam ay napakahirap sambitin?” Sa tuwing darating tayo sa situwasyon na kailangan nang mamaalam sa isa’t isa, parating nandiyan ang takot at kaba. Kaba at takot na baka ito na ang inyong huling paguusap, at marahil ay hindi mo na siya muling makita.