The First High School Reunion

I had the chance to attend a high school reunion last Sunday in Badian. The Southwest Coast College High School Batch 1968 had their Ruby Anniversary and before you could even ask, let me tell you that no, I’m not from that batch, and no, I am not an alumnus from that school.

 

My Dad was a member of the class of ‘68. He was the class salutatorian and he was greatly remembered for being excellent in math and for being the youngest in the batch. He was only 15 years old when he graduated from SCCHS. Someone brought the 1964 photo below. Dad was one of the smallest students during their freshmen year. That’s my dad on the front row, far right. Back in the days, that haircut was cool. No questions asked please. Hahah.

 

 

Back in the days, Southwest Coast College was where the honor students from the elementary would go. It’s because the school offered scholarships if you graduate on top of your class. It’s a private school owned by the Lucero family. Some well-to-do families sent their children there. The school has long been changed to St. James Academy. 

 

After forty years, the active and the living members of the batch decided to have their first ever reunion. For such a very short notice, out of the 50 or so members of the class of 1968, about 30 came to attend the rencontre. Mom and I tagged along and we were quite overwhelmed by this reunion.

 

 

They first convened at the Matutinao Church to give thanks and to say prayers for those batchmates who have already passed away. Here, the batchmates trade information on the whereabouts of their classmates. They exchanged personal stories, bragged about their children and their children’s achievement and also they brought up interesting memories from high school.

 

 

 

Then they went to the La Playa for lunch and for a short program. Some came with salt-and-pepper hair, others came in big bulges and pot-bellies, others came with sagging skin and worn-out faces. But these did not bother them at all. There were laughter and shrieks and giggles and hi-fives from the senior citizens.

 

 

Then dad was given the time to deliver his speech. Their class valedictorian could not attend the reunion because she had passed away. So Dad had the grandest time revealing all the wackiest memories from high school.

 

Dad mentioned that he made their math teacher cry. He said that he brought his teacher down to tears because he refused to accept her solution to their algebra problem of two equations to unknown. That teacher was also present and she also remembered what my dad did to her. 

Before he even revealed anything, he made everyone confess to their spouses their past flings or boyfriends or girlfriends back in the days.

 

 Dad even mentioned that he tried to distract their class valedictorian from her studies by courting her. He said he wondered why she still remained focus and got perfect scores in their exams considering that they spent some time together the day before.

 

 

 

Found in this picture are the active members of the batch. To dad’s left used to be the batch bully. He always skipped class and the batch had labeled him as the “bad boy.” He said at one point this guy brought a gun in class, got drunk and then point the gun on somebody he did not like.

 

Now this guy is happily married to a batchmate and they are active in CFC. Dad wanted to laugh when this guy delivered the lengthy invocation. He could not imagine the transformation. The guy used to bully everyone and then he led everyone with a prayer.

 

The third guy from the left is also one of the youngest in the batch. The first honorable mention. Like my dad, this guy was a go-to person whenever there are math problems and algebra assignments. He had been based in Mindanao for the longest time as he headed a department in the Central Bank branch in Zamboanga. He was responsible for organizing their first ever reunion. It was him who made the effort to contact all their batches and come up with a get-together for the very first time.

 

The guy on the right is married to a batchmate who is the class walking-organizer. His wife is about to retire as a nurse. What’s interesting about his wife is that she was a fine example of an O-C being, a very active individual who enjoyed organizing things. The wife is also a good treasure chest of memories. All the information and updates about their batchmates she kept and gathered and were revealed during the reunion.

 

 

 After forty long years, this was their first ever reunion. They said that they will have a similar activity in the next few years. I think all of them would like to see each other again. Cue in Raymond Lauchengco’s song.  This was just a start. 

 The memory lanes were opened again.