"Through joys and tears, through the laughing years, we sing our battle song."
Sixteen years ago...
It was June in the year 1997. He had taken one big step into what seemed a big black gate which was labelled "Prep Area." He never wanted to leave the side of his father who had accompanied a late student (and son) to his first class in Ateneo.
Lerma, Justin Nicolas A. P-7 (Mapagmahal). Class number 25. Ateneo de Manila Grade School.
He says he remembers crying, but he never knew what to feel, just that he was scared. He was scared of what might happen, and at the time, he was only thinking, in a six-year-old brain, that he was too shy to make friends, he wanted to stay home and play on his computer, or draw on pieces of bond paper on his father's office with pencils and crayons. And from the first day of school, he didn't really remember anything else.
Eight years later...
In March, 2005, he was standing with hundreds of other people on the blue-colored floor of the Blue Eagle Gym. With a blue handkerchief in his pocket and a pin on the collar of his shirt, he knew he was prepared. He had to sing, and though he never could, it was a moment he was willing to sing for, alongside the hundreds of others who were willing to sing along. Ateneo Grade School, Batch 50. It was a special graduation for the entire batch, and a milestone for Ateneo Grade School.
June, 2005, he was sick. Unsure if it was because of fright (again) or just really a virus. He remembers sitting in the front of the small Dulaang Sibol. He remembers a pounding in his head every time the bass drum was hit right in front of him. He remembers the conyo song: "shit. conyo. pare. wow. ang labo naman." He remembers getting picked up early, and not attending class for the rest of the week. He remembers the 1-I classroom on his first day, bringing just a notebook and a pen, having left the notebook in the classroom before leaving for home.
Four years later...
March, 2009. He was crying. He'd been hearing for four years that Ateneo High School was where you'd spend the best four years of your life. At the time, the statement was correct for him. He had been living for 18 years already, and without too much experience. Years 15-18 may have been the best at the time. He had to say goodbye to a family he's grown into. He has to say goodbye to a lot.
June, 2009. The official beginning of classes were delayed, but he was walking around campus, trying to see things for the first time, trying to understand where he needed to go, and where he needed to be. He was trying to give himself a tour of where his next home would be. He was meeting people who could be (or not. but she was.) special for the coming years in his life.
Four years later...
March 2013. He was scared of not being able to finish, failing to accomplish things he needed to do and making the cut. Eventually, he did, and the memories all suddenly came back, from that day in a garden where, as he remembers, a pair of brightly-colored Chuck Taylors hung a few inches off the ground. He remembers the beautiful smile of a girl who he sat across in Chemistry Lab. He remembers that one deciding day, where a pair of Chuck Taylors entered a second floor room in one of the buildings (Berchmans 209), and he knew then that, that pair of sneakers would haunt him for the next couple of years.
He remembers b**** professors that ended up being loved for bringing a whole bunch of people so much closer together. He remembers saying goodbye early to one his mentors. He remembers almost failing a course in his freshman year, but being saved by the final exam. He remembers missing a concert by a band he really loved, on his birthday, to take a make-up exam because he was applying for scholarship during the actual date. He remembers taking that class picture, with the camera resting on a stack of books and a laptop sleeve for the camera to be high enough to capture everyone.
He remembers running from the weights gym to class because there was no time to fix himself up. He remembers sitting beside his clique in most of his major classes. He remembers crying to a status message that broke his heart. He remembers filing for a change in concentration, going through all the processes of writing a letter and an interview. He remembers seeing the change in his student information and getting congratulated by friends as he stepped up closer. He remembers meeting someone special (again) and ending up in a disagreement with someone else, but special as well.
He remembers being part of a small in-school family that felt like home for a couple of weeks a year. He remembers the confession, and his first kiss. He remembers, not being able to take it any more seriously than he did because while he wanted her, he knew that she was something else. He remembers putting a lot of effort into a surprise that could have changed a lot, but instead, getting shot down (and this happened more than once). He remembers that sometimes, he would go out of his way to help someone or just see them smile. He remembers that professor that changed his life. He remembers the group mates he never trusted after an incident; he remembers the people that he always will.
He remembers a final year to make things right. He remembers that he was elected to an org office, without him knowing it. He remembers being part of another family that is around the whole year round. He remembers what it feels like to represent your Alma Mater. He remembers looking like a fool around school just because it's fun. He remembers reconnecting with friends, reconnecting with family. He remembers the nights when they'd just go out with a tank of gas, and some coin in a purse, just to eat, drink, chill. He remembers that the truth had gotten out, and that the truth was never fair. He remembers making promises that he knew for a fact he would keep. He remembers waiting around for one night to find out if a rose was worth it to give.
He remembers the lights, his last Song for Mary. He remembers camera flash, a blank, rolled-up piece of US Legal paper. He remembers hearing, "congratulations," and saying, "thank you, Father." He remembers taking a bow, walking back to his seat, starting to goff around with his seat mates and fooling around with a couple of friends. And just like that, everything that used to be in the present turned into memories. And all those memories will be immortalized in a blue tube and a piece of paper, where his name will be forever written. It will forever be immortalized in his heart and in his mind...
On March, 2013.
Lerma, Justin Nicolas Asuncion. Bachelor of Science in Management, Major in Communications Technology Management. ID No. 092099. John Gokongwei School of Management, Ateneo de Manila University.
"Down from the hill, down to the world go I... Remembering still, how the bright Blue Eagles fly."
