The Other Side
Passing the ACET was never something I dreamed of. A part of me wanted to pass for pride, yet another part wanted to fail in order to go to La Salle. When I passed La Salle, I celebrated like I had just won the lotto. In contrast, when I passed Ateneo, I felt like my dreams were taken away from me. But since Ateneo was closer to my house, it was the more logical choice. Going to Ateneo forced a sudden detour in my life. It forced me to take my very first leap of faith. I gave up my original dreams for something that was completely different and unknown.
In Ateneo, I learned so much in the organizations and in academics, but the Lasallian in me never changed. There was magis and a lot of other things, but La Salle taught me one simple thing: huwag mangapi ng kapwa or pakikiramay—and that was enough.
In Ateneo, I learned two important things. The first is that there is always more than meets the eye. We cannot fully cover all bases; there is something more to life than what we think there is. I learned that life is worth living, and that happiness lies beyond the objective.
The second is to take a leap of faith. Many of the decisions I made were regarding my security, such as taking advanced classes just in case I failed a class. This is what I realized during my five-day retreat: I haven’t been taking a lot of risks and I’m constantly concerned with my own well-being and with my security. Another very close friend kept on telling me about pagtataya. It has become more relevant now, especially because, for the first time in my life, I don’t know where I am going after college. Ateneo philosophy has taught me that life is worth living beyond the security that we are often consumed with—something easier said than done.
But eventually I realized that that decision to go to Ateneo and to take that first leap of faith was what I needed at that point in my life. It was a challenge for me to live beyond my security of certainty. I grabbed that chance and made the most out of my Ateneo education by engaging in organizations and taking a philosophy minor. My friends even say I’m more Atenean than the average Atenean. I used my chance to make myself and the other people around me better (or at least I think I did). Now, I carry a bit of both where I go, and I can’t get any luckier than that. I’m glad with what both schools had taught me, and I daresay, I’m a little bit more equipped for the real world given the education I received from both institutions.
I’ll still be wearing green during the UAAP games and refer to myself as a Lasallian, but deep down inside, I’ll never forget all about that place on a hill where I’ve grown so much more than I ever could have imagined—where I’ve met friends who’ve changed my life, and professors who’ve given me a completely new perspective.
Sure, I learned theories, different philosophies and other academic things. But I learned something more meaningful that I’ll carry for the rest of my life, which is simply, to take a chance. I am thankful that I took that leap of faith back in high school and I am thankful of whatever good and bad things that came out of it. It paid off in a different way, a way I never would’ve imagined five years ago. Dahil du’n, maraming maraming salamat Ateneo.
