Hark daughters of the great St. Paul...

Last weekend, my sister had her high school graduation from St. Paul.

I evidently missed the school and the people. I was reminded of how nurturing the community was. I knew a lot of people in my sister's batch and quite a number of their siblings have become acquaintances and friends in college. At this point that I've moved on to college, I feel even more connected to my 'children' in our grade school student council before than I do to my children in Pisay.

The awards that they gave reminded me too of one very important lesson I picked up early on during my grade school years - that every achievement and hardwork in any field/aspect deserves to be commended and is as important for my growth as any other.

Like other educational institutions, in SPCP, grades mostly decide who will become valedictorian and they give high regard to those who achieve academically. But they also gave credit to other achievements like leadership, org involvement, sports, outside contests and the like. And that was probably why subconsciously I knew that my holistic formation, participating in causes and activities you enjoyed and believed in and serving deserved my attention and my time as well even if I was in Pisay, where the school work were deadly and the demands heavy.

And so I wrote this down to remind myself that I love St. Paul and that it deserves a lot of credit and my utmost gratitude in having formed me to become the person I am today.

And also, just to share, there were some parts when I was teary-eyed. During the valedictory address(Annie, you'll never get to read this but know that it was awesome and lovely and beautiful! Everyone felt what you were saying even before you started crying. Congratulations!), I cried. I was thankful to have been part of that community for 9 years and though high school and college are where one spends his most important and memorable years, I say wala nang ibang institusyong pang-edukasyon ang masasabi kong kinasapian ko nang higit sa siyam na taon.

I'm proud to be Paulinian and I'm thankful kahit hindi ako kasama sa Alumnae association haha.

Hark daughters of the great St. Paul. Come listen to his call. Oh children of this loved school... Ang funny na nagkamali yung teacher. Hanggang ngayon epic pa rin ang Paulinan hymn kasi akala mo tapos na pero meron pa pala. Lol.