My life as a KOOLASA.

If I would to choose what years (in my whole 25 years of breathing the polluted air of manila) I would love to relive, I would answer without second thoughts : HIGH SCHOOL. Don't get me wrong college was just as fun but college also went by so fast that 4 years was not enough to make me yearn. I studied in an exclusive school for girls in Marikina (yeah it is NOT manila and for some people our school branch is Jologs) but I don't f*&$Cking care, 'coz in St. Scho it was one helluva sunshiney bumpy teenage schoolgirl life I lived. High School was just 4 years but for us, it seemed like forever. :) Everyday we wake up, ride our schoolbus and enter Gate 1 or 7 to be greeted by oh so familiar faces...that's because we've seen each other grow up and mature for 11 years. I've been in Isko (that's how we call our school) since Prep until I graduated last 2000. And for most of us it also was our comfort zone. There were some people who left when we graduated Elementary but there were also new faces with cool personas who entered our fence (like Lea!!! I miss our BLC moments!Uwi ka na!).

I was never timid or shy, I am loud and very VERY talkative. When I was in Grade 4 I was elected as the class Vice-President, but after a few months IMPEACHED hahaha! It's because Darlene (who was our class prez that time) and I were caught throwing our shoes at each other on the platform in our classroom. In short, our teacher said we were bad role models. Sorry hehe. And the funny thing is, I still got re-elected...as Sgt-At-Arms this time!!! Talk about low-blow demotion. Hahaha! This was also the year that my "creative writing" skill was officially outed when one of my poems was published in our school newspaper circulation. It is titled "Eleven Minutes to One". Too bad I lost my last copy of that poem. A year after, Grade 5, I was elected as class President this time. I don't know why they keep on electing me when all I ever did was make noise. Well, it did make me a little responsible and I learned a lot. During that time we had an "English Campaign" wherein everyone was required to speak in *surprise!*...English. My english teacher gave me little blue laminated cards instructing me to give them to anyone who breaks the rule. Since I am a friendly person it was very hard for me to reprimand my classmates especially my friends. For the first 2 weeks I was lax assuming that this whole thing would just pass, but my teacher summoned me again to warn me that if I don't do my job I will be the one who'll get de-merits. So one day as my classmates (including my friends) are in their usual tagalog chit-chat sessions I gave away the blue cards. I really felt bad. I felt bad and I had no choice...so I cried. In front of everyone. Hahaha!!! And I never cry! That same year I had my first "girl crush". She was one batch higher than me, a student council officer, and my batchmate's girlfriend. I had a crush on her for about 2 years and I never told her about it. Yeah I'm torpe! haha! In my last year in elementary, I became a member of "Samahan sa Panulat", a club or org for tagalog writers. And guess what? I'm the club President. Hehehe! It was super fun for me because for one whole year we were doing news correspondence. We had deadlines for our write-ups and I had control over it. Well, most of the members are my barkada. Hahaha! Our monthly circulation covered school events, news, programs and creative writing. It was high barkada time and we often run around the "old gym" or the field playing, gossiping, harrassing each other, doing merry-go-rounds (it's a game wherein we hold hands forming a circle then spinning around like crazy 'til one us crashed on the floor, injured and brought to the clinic...and that was the end of it). During our grad practice I was also often reprimanded because whenever we do our semi-spin and walk routine on the stage, my teacher would always see the hem of my uniform full of safety pins...large ones. Hahaha! I was too lazy to sew my uniform.

When graduation day came we were all excited 'coz we didn't know what to expect in High School. We were anxious and excited and sad because some of us decided to transfer to other schools (mostly at Isko's extension: Miriam..haha!). That summer I never got to sleep much as the first day of school (in our new life) came nearer each day. Anticipation was soaring high. HELLO HIGH SCHOOL. (to be continued on next entry...)