The Sisterhood of the Orange and White Checkered Uniform

Time really flies fast. The month of January is about to end and early in the month, my beloved alma mater (Institucion Teresiana, Poveda Learning Centre, St. Pedro Poveda College - whichever name you wish to call it) celebrated its 50th year while Batches 1984 (my batch!) and 1985 celebrated their 25th year or silver jubilee.

Congratulations, all you silver ladies and thanks to all our tireless organizers (we know who the hardworking ladies are!) for putting together such a great celebration! January 9, 2010 saw ladies from different batches, all Proud to be Povedan, converging at the new and spacious gym of the school for mass, dinner, a program, as well as music and dancing.

Batchmates and Povedans flew in from abroad and it was great to see everyone, particularly classmates whom I have not seen since high school graduation!

The songs from the mass were like a blast from the past -- reminding me of the beautiful music that I had since forgotten but after awhile, discovered, I still knew. Yes, the Spanish songs for mass. Or the very nice Walking with Mary. Yes, we are all travelers, on different roads, but on that night, all roads converged at Poveda and we all knew that we were home.

The program was hosted by Povedan celebrities Joy Ortega and Giselle Sanchez and also featured Povedan parent Michael V., as himself and as Yaya. Michael V. was his usual funny and kuwela self and everyone approved when he said: "Alam mo, sa show ko sa Bubble Gang, lagi akong napapaligiran ng mga magagandang babae. Pero sa buong buhay ko, di pa ako napaligiran ng ganito kadaming magagandang babae."

The highlight of the program though was the performance of batches 1975, 1984, 1985 in terms of dances, song, and a fashion show (featuring other batches too, with their children and relatives). For batch 1984, special thanks go to Patricia Borromeo, ever-reliable dancer and choreographer, who shared her time and talent to polish the dances of our super-performers!

All in all it was a great night celebrating our beloved school and lasting friendships. I don't know about what you think but I've always thought that the ties we make in high school are different, from friendships that we continue to make at other points in our lives. I guess when life was more carefree, and when we weren't too sure about what we wanted and who we were, the friendships we were starting then would prove to be warmer and more durable. It does not matter whether we were acquaintances, friends, or close friends then. We all belonged to a certain place at a certain time. That is the sisterhood of the orange and white checkered uniform. As they say in Spanish, we are hermanas all.