One of the good things that an alumni homecoming has to offer is being able to smile and getting teary eyed too, upon seeing old friends' faces. Personally, I consider it an achievement just by attending the homecoming itself twenty (20) years after high school graduation. Some batch-mates have become successful in their respective chosen field.
For our batch, Class 1990 of Dr.Vicente F. Gustilo Memorial National High School (Dr.VFGMNHS), we have four (4) doctors so far, not Doctors of Medicine (MD) though, but Doctors of Philiosophy (PhD), which in one way leaves an impression to non-achievers that the alumni homecoming is a venue for the former to brag about their achievements, and for the latter to feel small.
That might have been the case before. However, because of the technological advancement lately, with the special mention of social networking sites like Friendster and Facebook, friends both based locally and abroad seems to have broken that negative preconceived notion about the alumni homecoming. Our case -- the "Batch of the Guts" -- is a perfect example of that breakthrough. I can say that the personal differences among batch-mates may have been a thing of the past, but let's face it, it really was a factor why past alumni homecoming was a dismal turnout.
Our batchmates abroad; with the special mention of Lou Olvido-Parroco , our Class Salutatorian who is now based in Dubai with her family who sponsored the sumptuous catered-lunch on our first day, Lyra Joce Maestrecampo-Dawe, our First Honorable Mention who who is now based in Canada who not only provided the dessert but also DVD copy of our batch memorabilia, Ricky Allego from Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), Jesu Pasamanero, Synab Fernandez-Caballero, Ernesto Locsin from Australia, Armando Tupas and Nova Menoso-Viernes also from Dubai, Marianne Villaruz from Brunei, , Andraneda Baker from United States of America (USA), Josephine Arca-Gonzales from United Kingdom (UK) really was a big help to make our alumni homecoming a success.
Also,we can't afford to forget the effort of our batchmates who, though locally based, but still are away from Cadiz like our Class Valedictorian Joy Danas-Regino, who along with twenty cases of soft drinks, of course from mother company, Coca-Cola Bottlers Philippines, made it a point to attend even just the first day of the homecoming. Others, may not see the impact of her attendance as big as that, but if you're going to look at other batches, the reason why batch-mates are not decisive in attending the homecoming is because the leaders whom they look up to before are not even into it. We also have Edgar Ondie, a budding entrepreneur from Tondo, Manila, who unselfishly pledged 85 Dickies shirts, 20 cases of San Mig Lights and Lechon, which s was a substantial part of the 2 day sumptuous meal that businessmen; Grace Goopio-Liberato and Rosemarie Sarabia spearheaded.
The collective effort of the elected officers like Jake Braza, Neil Escanillan, Madonna Bellera-Beniabon, Marissa Grace Biscocho-Tantiado, Bonna Balela-Dela Cruz, Armela Tabligan, and even non-elected officers like Ronillo Carillo, Norberto Lunas, Emily Villaceran-Gerasmio who even came home from Cebu, and of course Manuel "Li-ay" Corpus who unselfishly shared their valuable time and services pro-bono, made the reunion a success.
The reunion could have been more meaningful had the over-all committee allowed different batches a chance to put up projectors in each room for video calling purposes. Internet connection was also not available, reason for the batch-mates abroad to be held in suspense as they have to wait for batch-mates present to go home first and have the pictures and video recordings uploaded.
With the overwhelming support of our batch-mates both local and abroad, and the overflowing expression of sentiments to everybody who made the reunion possible, some of our financially well-off batch-mates spearheaded by Lou Olvido-Parroco decided to bring everything to the next level. That is by putting up a fund to be used for sending poor but deserving sons and daughters of our batch-mates to school. As of this time, Ricky Allego has pledged Five thousand pesos (P5,000) for that purpose. In the next few weeks, other batch-mates abroad will follow suit. This will make sure that alumni homecoming will not be a simple event as it is, devoted to just drinking spree and the likes but for a better cause.
For the rest of the guys who still have not gotten over the negative preconceived notion of the purpose of the alumni homecoming, please, MOVE ON! For the batch-mates who showed good example during the reunion by exerting effort to make everyone happy, please, CARRY ON! For all of us guys, who share the same dream to make things better for all of us, let's BRING IT ON!
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