Afraid for Pisay

Last Monday, we had to wait for almost 2 hours for Tony Blair's talk. I was talking to Jackie and somehow the discussion came to her asking why I entered Pisay and didn't choose to continue studying in St. Paul, instead. After all, St. Paul is a prominent school and a Catholic institution at that.

I tried to remember. Aside from the obvious fact that we didn't need to pay for tuition and that I received stipend every month, I thought to myself, "Why?" I wanted to remember the reason, not only for enrolling but why I have grown to love it so much and why at the end of my Pisay stay I knew I made the right choice all along.

And so while I was procrastinating last Tuesday, I decided to look at my previous Pisay blog entries to remind me why. More than being overwhelmingly reminded, reading through helped me see why the current Pisay issues don't make me and many other members of the Pisay community happy.

I have high respect for the Pisay faculty. They're competent and they have more than their own skills to show, they have batches of Pisay students who have become better under their care to show.

I have absolutely nothing against those who were allowed to graduate. After all, they didn't make the decision. Going through 4 years of hardcore Pisay education is no joke. It strains your mind, your body and even your heart. There's always the argument that those who fail didn't give their best and there's a high chance that's true. But despite whatever, to not graduate after all that(actually, even just having to leave Pisay regardless of the duration of your stay), well I wouldn't wish that on anyone.

Pisay students are the best of the best from their schools. They're sent to Pisay with the hope that their skills will be sharpened and that their hearts will be toughened. That's what you get yourself into and that's what the school promises to give you. That's why both sides have the right to expect the best from each other.

I remembered writing about my Pisay stay in my Ateneo application essay and I concluded with this:

It was indeed hard. I could have stayed in my old school and I probably wouldn’t be as stressed as I am now. But I could now proudly say I chose the road less traveled. Many people already run away at the thought of Philippine Science High School. But that cannot be said of me. I chose to go through the numerous workloads, through the seemingly unlimited lessons in Biology, Chemistry, Physics and Math, through the pains of failure and through the pressure of being one of the country’s scholars. And now that I am nearing the end of this rocky road, I do not regret taking this path because I know I have become a better person not only for myself but also for the people around me and for my country. I have become unafraid of challenges because they make me stronger. If I had the chance to do it all over again, I would still want to be in Pisay because through pains, I have found myself, the people who truly love me and my God who never abandoned me.

I'm just afraid that the coming generation of Pisay students won't get to say that anymore. I'm afraid that Pisay won't challenge them. I'm afraid that this school won't push them to their limits. I'm afraid that the fulfillment and the struggle of giving everything that you can give to get through each week that have formed us, that we loved, that we laugh about now, that have made us learn about ourselves and the extent of our abilities, will cease to exist in the school.

Many people have said they're afraid that the quality of Pisay education will deteriorate. I'm one of those people. And the previous paragraph is what I mean when I say I'm afraid for Pisay.

This issue isn't situation-specific, people-specific or batch-specific. It's sad though that certain people and two consecutive batches (may I just say Batch 09 were my first children as a big sister so I love them to bits and pieces) have to go through all these. I just certainly hope they get their act together soon. It's not only the institution's name they're affecting. They're hurting its most precious resource, its people.