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| Section 4-3 with our homeroom teacher Mrs. Ilda Cañal |
Good morning! My name is Gay
Ace Domingo. I was in section 4-3 when I was in fourth year high school. My
homeroom teacher then was Mrs. Ilda Cañal who was also the moderator of The
Maryknoller Newspaper. I was editor-in-chief of The Maryknoller in my senior
year. I’ve always known since high school that I wanted to be a writer.
And I am now a writer. I
contribute to magazines like Metro, Working Mom, UAAP Magazine, and to a
website for women which is herword.com. I also write scripts for events,
audio-visual presentations, radio programs, copy for advertisements and
brochures, even speeches and contest nomination forms. I’ve been involved in
the production of mainstream and independent films. I also do PR work for
independent films. I developed my writing skills in Maryknoll, I think my
career as a writer began when I was on the news staff of the school paper.
I remember when I was a
student like you I also listened to an alumna talking about her high school
memories. Unfortunately, I don’t remember her name or what she said. But I do
remember that she spoke like a Knoller — in Taglish and with a colegiala
accent. She also moved her hands a lot when she explained. I think Knollers
have a tendency to gesture a lot. Do you agree?
Aside from being able to
write and speak from the heart, I learned a lot when I studied here. I also had
lots of fun! I’d like to share with you some of my best memories:
Working as a team— No one is an island and success can only be achieved if we work as a
team. The ability to collaborate is a life skill that should be honed as early
as possible. In high school, we had plenty of group work, from reports and term
papers, to class booth assignments at the high school fair, Songfests to cheering
competitions, to the Noli Fest and Fili Fest and the presentation of the
English play. There wasn’t a subject where one worked individually. Group work
isn’t easy. There will those who will be more responsible than others. But at
least those activities gave us a taste of the cooperation that we need to do
later when we would be older.
Daily prayer—
We prayed the rosary in class. I didn’t know then that it was a form of
meditation but the habit began in high school. I still try to pray the rosary
daily by myself. When I am commuting on the MRT, jogging, or waiting in line in
the bank or whenever I can. Remembering the life of Jesus through the mysteries
makes me feel reassured. Like Christ, we all go through joy, sorrow and glory
in our lives. But like my mom always tells me, if you are going through a
“Sorrowful Mystery,” simply wait three days and you will have your glorious
resurrection.
Sunshine Committee—In high school, I was part of the Sunshine Committee. That’s the group
in-charge of making the day more special for our classmate who is celebrating
her birthday. We’d make a card for the celebrant, and then we’d ask all our
classmates to sign it. There was a bulletin board where all the names of the
celebrants for the month will be displayed. The Sunshine Committee was
in-charge of that.
When I was already working,
I still wanted to be the Sunshine Committee. I made birthday cards for my
friends and sent these to them via snail mail. Today, I just greet my friends happy
birthday through Facebook or SMS. But I try to remain thoughtful. I became more
appreciative of birthdays because of my Sunshine Committee stint. And I learned
that in High School.
Boys, boys, boys—This sharing will not be complete without an insight or two about what
I learned about guys. Being a teenager isn’t easy but studying in Maryknoll
sure made my teen life more fun and interesting. We had an interaction (parang
school-sanctioned afternoon party) with a class from Ateneo when we were third
year. I met my first major crush through that. Like me, he was the class president.
Months after the interaction, we got handcuffed at the high school fair. It was
a kilig moment! I invited him to be my date for my
prom. He turned me down because he had to attend his friend’s graduation. I was
disappointed but twenty-five years later, Mr. Class President and I are still
friends!
Speaking of prom, I got
another date, thanks to my friend who set me up with her brother’s friend. My
date took me to the Manila Hotel (venue of the prom) in a Volkswagen Beetle.
Two things I learned from him.
One, asking your date about
how he spent his day is a nice icebreaker. It’s a sure-fire way to get the
conversation going.
And two you should always
call your parents to say where you are. Wala pang cellphone n’on. But as soon
as my date and I arrived at Manila Hotel, he looked for a payphone and called
his parents to say that we arrived there safely.
Another practical advice
about dating that I got was from our Christian Living Education teacher Mrs.
Sison. When we asked her “How do I know if a guy likes me?” she answered, “You
wait for him to tell you!” Oo nga naman. Nothing is as clear as that. It
doesn’t matter what Candy or Chalk magazine says. No use decoding the signals.
True to
one’s self—As I grew older, I think I’ve developed the adult behavior of over-analyzing,
making things more complicated than they really are.
True, life may not be always
simple. But during problematic situations, it is worth remembering that the
most basic values are the best tenets in life: Cooperation (work as a team),
faith in God (pray everyday), thoughtfulness (be considerate of others), and
honesty (be sincere in your dealings)—these are always relevant, helpful and
changeless. These are also things you learn in high school.
To cap my sharing, let me
tell you about my high school graduation speaker. His name was Father Dave, a six-foot tall American priest who was our high school chaplain. In
his speech, he revealed that minutes before the graduation ceremony one of our
batchmates—a petite girl—told him pointblank to please make his speech short. Instead
of being taken aback, Father Dave admitted that he was rather impressed with
her honesty. He said that that girl represented what the Maryknoll student really
is.
She is true to herself.
The Knoller is one of the
most unladylike. She laughs hard, talks loudly, sits on the floor (do you still
do that?), eats with her mouth full, is very galawgaw. Yeah, we may not have poise but we are outspoken. We say
what’s on our mind. We might get into trouble because of that but we will not
have it any other way.
You can forget everything I
said this morning but I do hope you remember to be always true to yourself.
Thank you and good day!
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