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FEATURE: Pay It Forward– The Golden Memories and Projects of UP High Prep Batch ‘74

If your batchmates were to reunite after 50 long years, what's that one thing you'd want to look back on? Would it be the time spent with your friends? The funniest moments during class? The exciting school events? Or would it be the nostalgic smell of Pancit Canton during break times?

For the UP High Prep Batch 1974, it would have been very hard to pick just one, so they decided to honor all those memories on their multiple-day Golden Reunion program. As a way to kick it off, a smaller group of the celebrants had decided that their inaugural activity was to be an offering of flowers to our school statue: The Teacher, who is fondly called Lorna, to honor the guidance and teachings that the UP High Preparatory School imparted. They visited the 7-12 Building on February 23, 2024 and had a short tour of the school grounds after one of their alumni made a short speech in front of the Student Services Office. "I think it's [the flower offering] symbolic of giving back to the school that basically nurtured you, to become who you are today," said Mr. Tomas Maceda, after the speech was concluded. Once they were finished with the tour, they proceeded to the reunion’s luncheon.

The reunion was in the making for about a year during the pandemic before it was finally able to push through. According to Mrs. Celeste Villafuerte, one of the celebrants who organized it, a lot of their batchmates had families or worked in healthcare. Because of this, they not only honored the school during their reunion, but also honored frontline workers. Mrs. Villafuerte also highlighted the importance of accommodation especially for their batchmates coming from overseas.

And so, their batch’s reunion was planned to be three days long, and had a diverse array of activities where their batchmates could pick something that suited their time restraints. The first day would entail a luncheon and an ecumenical prayer service from the Parish Of The Holy Sacrifice and The Church Of The Risen Lord, to pray for their batchmates and fellow Healthcare workers. Their next two days would then be spent relaxing and catching up with each other at a resort in Rizal.

While recounting his favorite memories of the school, Mr. Maceda shared that one of his mentors, Dr. Maria Theresa De Villa, had been his adviser when he was the head of the UP Student Catholic Action (UPSCA) in his fourth year of high school, and was his homeroom teacher in his second year at UP High. "I got the most exposure from her. She [later] became a principal [of UPIS] and a dean [of UP Open University], so you can say that she really has the qualities of a good advisor!"

He also recounted how the merging of UP Prep from Padre Faura, and UP High in Katipunan became another treasured memory of his as a UP high schooler. "Each group has its own kinds of characteristics and way of learning, and then suddenly, in our fourth year, we got exposed to another batch of students. And to be honest, they were very, very good, the UP Prep people. Very, very good."

Mrs. Villafuerte, who was originally from UP Prep, had noted the differences between the curricula of the two high schools. "Yung high school namin, experimental. 20 years lang. Yung mga graduate na una niyan, galing din sa UP High, dinala doon [sa Prep], kasi lahat ng [aming] subjects, for college. Wala kaming Home Economics, wala kaming carpentry. Yung mga subjects namin, Trigo, Geometry, Advanced English, kasi preparation for college... So, iyon, natapos na yung project, pinauwi na kami."

"So, there was a challenge for us to compete academically," continues Mr. Maceda, "to prove which school was better, initially. But when we finished high school, we could not anymore identify ourselves as [either] UP High or UP Prep, [but] only as UP High Prep. And we are proud to say that we are UP High Prep Graduates.”

They also both recalled how the old locations looked, describing the former high school building to be a bungalow-type school with many large pavilions in between. They also shared that the current UPIS 7-12 Building used to be the Narra Residence Hall, a dormitory. The differences between the old buildings and the current UPIS school grounds had left few of the alumni surprised, especially the ones who have been abroad for a while. Mrs. Villafuerte, in particular, expressed her puzzlement over the current K-12 system.

Of course, despite the changes that have happened in the past 50 years, they have still shown their eagerness to support the school by organizing multiple initiatives as a batch. From proposing to install multiple solar panels on the buildings, to gathering funds for the replacements of the computers, and even talking with the principal to provide scholarships to the students, the UP High Prep Batch 1974 have been really walking their talk to give back to the community that nurtured them.

The University Of The Philippines and its students will change and grow over time, but it seems they have never lost the principle of giving back to the community. May it be within one's batch, the UP community, or somewhere greater as seen in UP High Prep Batch 1974’s projects and their recent reunion where they honored those who have shaped their lives. //by Eushieka Agraviador and Arunee Licerio

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