Countdown to the 20th Year Celebration!!!

It's been almost twenty years since the Kumbento Boys Batch '88 sang "Alma Mater" to the top of their lungs and marched in the middle of the PCC Quadrangle as their relatives and the faculty looked on with tears of joy and pride as another successful batch of PCCians graduate from High School. Following the culmination of High School we went our separate ways with our different aspirations in mind. Most of us had been accepted to well-known universities such as Ateneo de Manila University, De LaSalle University, University of the Philippines, and University of Santo Tomas, and had prepared for their next scholastic journey into college. Some had made plans to migrate with family members outside of the country. Still others had decided not to pursue college degrees, start families of their own, search for jobs that suit their abilities and fancies, or start their own businesses.

After that fateful day of 1988 when we all graduated, most of us managed to keep in touch, through snail mail, as it is now fondly called, and through phone conversations for faster communication. We would hear news of old classmates topping the national exams for accountants and nurses, garnering prestigious awards for the arts and sciences, winning seats in their local governments, and migrating to various parts of the globe along with their significant loved ones and children. We received news about the few who have passed away – Dante Bartocillo, Genesis Cruz, Edmund Faustino, Trazy Labuguen, Bonifacio Sumbilla III, and Noel Villanueva will remain in our hearts and minds. The birth of the Internet and expansion of information technology further hastened our communication with each other. What seemed like months of waiting by the mailbox for a letter is now equivalent to seconds when it comes to emails ranging from simple greetings like "musta na pare?" to long-winded ones that rival that of the "Noli Me Tangere." We also founded our very own yahoo e-group for our batch, and later our own batch website, where we could share news and even pictures to keep everyone updated with our appearances. Whatever news it was, it brought joy to the lonely, response from the silent, and information to the unaware.

As we approach our twentieth year anniversary, all of us look back to the past, from the time when we thought the end of High School also meant the end of the world for each one of us, the time when we realized there are more worlds to navigate after High School, looking now at the present and seeing what we have done in the past had become of us, to looking at the unpredictable future ahead of us. We stand as united as ever, though miles apart. Some of us now call other nations home - Australia, Canada, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, and the United States of America - yet we still maintain the same closeness as if we were still in High School. Twenty years ago, we started a new journey outside of High School, with various ambitions and plans. Today, our past ambitions and plans have gotten us to where we are today – accountants, architects, businessmen, doctors, engineers, family men, politicians, professors, systems administrators, nurses, policemen, and the list goes on. What we as a batch and as individuals have travailed for is reason enough for us to gather and celebrate twenty wonderful years and plan towards our future anniversaries.

K88: Rigmaroling through the years, across the world!

By B Espiritu