The Lesson Plan

[NOTE: The following appears in the 1st issue of the Science Scholar for SY 2007/08.]

Three years ago, the first thing I noticed about the PSHS campus is its apparent lack of color. Its exterior walls wore a dull ceramic shade, and the four walls of the classroom competed with each other for the darkest tone of white. Though it was my first time to step in the campus, it somehow felt like I’ve toured it in one of my past lives – I haven’t seen a place like this since the 1970s.

As the years wore on, I came to learn of the place’s apparent limitations. But then I noticed that it missed another kind of school color. Coming from eight years in a school where I saw nothing but blue and white, this place just made me feel blue. I waited for the athletic seasons to hear the school cheers and see students wave their proud colors, but they never came. Either that or I grew deaf and blind.

The colors of the walls and the condition of its halls are all externalities, of course. It is the second absence which I can’t look past. It is the apparent lack of school spirit which I saw at that time which rendered the school in sepia tones.

And thus, I would like to thank Auraeus Solito for bringing it to vivid color.

After watching Pisay with three batches last July 27, I was overcome by a deep sense of pride. It was infectious; virtually everyone was beaming after the film. There are no questions there, of course. The film was pretty good and it captured the school spirit rather well. But there we are with that phrase once again. For a school that lacked color, school cheers, rivalries and jerseys, the movie spoke volumes about everything that a PSHS scholar should be proud of.

However, not being a PSHS graduate myself, I undertook a simple quest to discover exactly what that is. Through a simple poll in my blog, I asked students how and why the film made them proud to be PSHS scholars. What follows is a summary of their responses.

One said we should be proud of the fact that a film was made about our school. Indeed. It was a beautiful piece and one that Howie Severino describes as the director’s “love letter to his school”. Some students mused that this could start a trend. I wouldn’t be surprised if we see films entitled Animo!, Down from the Hill, State University, and a remake of Romeo and Juliet starring La Sallites and Povedans. The simple point being made is that this film is now the school’s foremost ambassador into the rest of the world for the all of eternity. This film will outlive us all.

Other students were thankful that this film deconstructed the negative stereotype that PSHS scholars have of being nerds, geeks, robots and scientific automatons. While some feared that this film only reinforced the idea – a handful even felt that they were depicted as nerdier than they actually are – a lot more caught on to Solito’s genius. As one Ada wrote in the blog, “[the film] made me realize how much pride I take in the fact that we aren’t just big brains filled with superfluous amounts of knowledge. We are a diverse body of students, from artists, to writers, to mathematicians, businessmen, debaters, scientists, etc.”

This is an even greater personal success for Solito as fellow directors and critics have hailed his film as a landmark film that depicted the Filipino student as brilliant, imaginative and inspired. In my view, we can even take it one step further – the film has depicted these scholars as iskolars ng bayan par excellance.

In a lot of the more thoughtful comments, the students felt not just proud but humbled as well. One student felt truly “lucky” to be in Pisay while another was moved to reflect on whether she has really been a good student or not. In a way, some were moved to wonder whether their stories would ever be worth a second in Pisay.

There is now a deeper realization that all the stressful deadlines, hell weeks and cram sessions fit into a much larger picture. “Students learn to accept failure and swallow their pride,” mused Patrick from Batch ’07. “We scholars don’t only study for the sake of grades but also for our families and our country.”

Bringing all these sentiments together now, the comment by Jason Gaguan of Batch ’07 summarizes it best. Quoting him in full, “The Pisay movie made me proud because it made me feel that I am part of something big, something that indeed would live longer than me or even the memory of me. The movie is like an assurance and remembrance for every Pisay student that he is not alone, that a lot of people are just as weird as him, facing the same struggles and that it is just alright to be the cream. I think more than the movie itself, it’s the idea of having a movie dedicated to the institution closest to our hearts that really makes the movie cool.”

When I was starting out here in the PSHS, I wanted to know who the most popular Pisay graduates were. I was curious since I didn’t often hear many chiefs of industry claiming their science scholar roots. Over the years I got to know some of them. Moreover, I realized that there are more of them than I thought, thanks to the article “Romancing the Gifted” over at Butch Dalisay’s (a PSHS grad himself) blog. Then of course, there is Mr. Solito.

However, through the course of my few short years, I have yearned to not only know who they are but to add to who they are. It is my deepest wish that in a decade, I get to see my former students’ names headlining agencies, publishing books, directing movies and setting records. It would be great if they actually make a difference and deliver on the promises they so easily write down on their social studies papers.

And this is why I am thankful for Pisay. Answering my own question, Auraeus’ vision made me proud because I realized that to see my students make a difference, I need not wait too long. Just by being in this school, they already have. They are the ones who give it color; give it life. Whatever cheer or banner they have to carry, they have it in their hearts.