forever i'll love you, forever i'll stand
during our Religion classes back in our last year in high school, we used to sing that song after saying our prayer. we, the integeeks, loved that song. so when i heard that in the church, i felt dismayed and a little lonely at the same time. has it really been four years already?
i remember how young and naive we were. we believed in forever, that nothing will change and that everything will be the same. i guess it would've worked. but college came and shook us up and the bridges between each of us which we thought could survive anything crumbled as soon as we stepped off the stage during our graduation. i guess thats how it always is with high school. after getting out, you feel like your on top of your game, that you can do anything, that you're the king of the world. you rush head on into college, face it with all you've got, focusing on your goals, and never looking back. and before you know it, college has gone past and high school is nothing but a memory. no matter how much you try to bring back the spark, the most it can do is just give you flickers of what could have beens.
its amazing how much i cherish my last year in high school. being an integeek was something. with 23 girls and 4 boys, its not exactly the to-die-for spot as a lot of guys would think cause a few days with them and you'll become the protective big brother. actually being a big brother to 23 hot girls ain't so bad.
i miss integeeks. i miss being a big brother, listening to the lament of young girls' broken hearts, fretting over assignments, participating in class, being part of a dominating underdog. it was simply amazing.
so 4 years after, how come we're here. we don't see each other anymore, we don't talk that much, its as if nothing happened. but i understand, we're all busy on our own paths now, making our own futures. sigh, i guess the loss is hardest on a big brother. i love you gals, in spite of the nothingness, i will always remember how you you gals were during our last year in high school.
tracy, our class president, wrote this as a message to all integeeks out there. it was supposed to be part of something else, but i got too lazy to finish the something else. so, here it is.
integrity : an eyesore
why do people say that highschool is the best moment of a person's early life - that it will always be remarkable? they say that no memory can be as sumptuous as one's highschool experiences. it is a world of revelations, a place where curiosity is wrestled with facts and features, and a fellowship tighter than any of tolkien's imaginations. it is one's starting point toward self-discovery and self-realization. all these and more - in just four years.
in the few years of my existence, i have felt truly blessed for being a part of the one section that has made a significant turning point in my life. it is no other than the home of the CHAMPS - INTEGRITY. it is a world where one's soberness can be questionable, where inhibitions are left at home, and where physics can be deemed as fun. it is a place of fellowship, where women and men had her/his own share of sacrifices for the benefit of the whole. Most importantly, it is a place of paradox, irony, and metaphor - all rolled up like a candy.
PARADOX, a statement that is seemingly contradictory or opposed to common sense and yet is perhaps true.
as you know, integ is a pilot section meaning all of the students here are (supposed to be) comprised of the batch's (only) candidates for honors. naturally, tight competition, intense rivalry, and devious schemes are expected. however, they forget that when God is with someone, even common sense becomes uncommon. instead of all the harsh things assumed to happen, we have emerged as the most united section in the whole cluster. we found a family in each other. we despised the competition, feeling both happy and sad during the announcement of class standings. teachers say we aren't united, but we don't give a damn because we know the truth...
IRONY, incongruity between the actual result of a sequence of events and the normal or expected result.
isn't it ironic that the section of conduct-conscious students is the section that can make the most noise and have the most fun? just think: photo-ops evey now and then, billards and bowling galore, chismisan as often as the sun rises, creative presentations prepared at the blink of an eye; add to that the usual coming up the stage to receive awards and recognitions. our high-pitched laughs and exaggerated gestures seem to get on the nerves of the teachers. and, despite our nerve-wrecking "nerdy" lessons, we manage to make them seem fun by including them in our daily conversations.
METAPHOR, a word or phrase literally denoting one kind of object or idea is used in place of another to suggest a likeness or analogy between them.
do the words bionic, mutant, physicist, and the like, ring a bell? i'm sure it does. we have bola, baliw, viva diva, best actress, hyper, mandy moore, etc. Each person is an embodiment of something. when we say everyone is special, we mean it. this is why we have heard of terms na-g-givi, na-de-dennis, etc., and even used the terms for non-integeeks (i will not elaborate ). you might think that integrity is a perfect section, but it is not. we also have our share of disagreements due to stress. however, it does not become personal, and we are more mature than what our degraders think. Still, if there is one section i'd deem as almost perfect, then it would be this.
truly, highschool will never drift away from my mind. it will always be the memento of my adolescent freedom. i will always cherish the lessons ive learned and the camaraderie ive had in an eyesore of a section such as this. it is in this memory that i will part with you readers.
carpe diem integeeks! and to my beloved posse, i'm so glad we're still posse!
