Medical Facilities

So the on-campus facilities have been moved from the admittedly cramped infirmary nearby to the more remote but snazzier medical center, which had its open house today. Went there intentionally for a goodie bag, but also to check for an appointment, which I likely take at month end.

I guess an additional bit of exercise prior to getting a check up makes some sense. 

Pisay at 50

I've been seeing the excitement on social media leading up to the 50th anniversary of Philippine Science High School, which makes me sad for having skipped on Foundation Day celebrations for a solid decade now. Jubilarians were the silver celebrants, which was my eldest sister's batch.

I recall my high-school sections even without my yearbook: Diamond, which we had figured had the top ten finishers of the second screening, or at least we thought, and started our dorm lives, and was full of Star Trek novels, comic books and other reading parapharnalia; Sampaguita, a calm section that I recall was when I watched Akira, and was exposed to the depth that the medium promised at the hands of masters, and I had failed to help a friend from failing out; the last Calcium, where we lost Sarah Adriano early in the school year, and a controversial Foundation Day had us lose the services of one Aureas Solito, my only year at the Main dorm; and the first Graviton, in that exhilarating final year which makes me think of Filipino like Defense of the Dark Arts, trading Battle of the Brains for Inter-Bayan, and, of course, Le Miz. Those four years, memorable as any anime, gave me friends, some of whom I have been happy to have kept in touch with, others somewhat more tentatively, more easily now in the age of Facebook and Twitter. 

My friends are not restricted to our batch, full of personalities and spirits - participating in competitions broadened my acquaintances and deepened relations considerably. Whereas math competitions with Joel Caisido and Roy Tang, under Banjo Bautista, acquainted me with Alf Gonzales of '94, our batch's Angel's brother, and Jun Navarro of '96 from the Toronto IMO - associated with a guilt of mine before the end of the millennium I have not made up for - programming competitions brought me as an elder into a group of superstar programmers, largely from '97, most of whom have advanced degrees or extensive careers in technology: first with '94's Jojo Bañez, Jaime Godinez and Natnat Tacuboy, the following year under Jaime with Chipi Buenafe and Eric Vidal, and while they teamed up with Jerome Punzalan and I ended up with Joel (his multiple awards were no fluke - he had IPhO as well as PMO honors) and Amiel Malay, it was us three with Jojo in Pakistan late that year - we had also seen what I'd coin as GBS algorithm play a key role in 1994. Chipi spearheaded my return to training from the other side of the whiteboard in '97, and I met Neil Ongkingco, Orland Gonzales, Mario Carreon, along with Anna Gabutero ('98?), Ivan Orozco ('99) and Sacha Chua ('99). Many of this group, mostly under Chipi's initiative would host the national competitions of secondary level, and led to the arrival of ACM Manila regionals under UA&P, continuing after a short hiatus now under Doc Raffy Saldaña, and leading into (finally? hopefully soon?) IOI. 

But for a truly broad swath of alumni, one only need to check the faculty rooms. Even during my years, we already had the services of EJ Baranda ('89) and Ana Chupungco ('90), but the ranks of teachers and administrators have been full of alumni - in one faculty meeting we estimated half were alumni at Diliman, in 2003. The CST had Ana, Chipi (for a year), current Director Gene Andres, Tess Paccarangan, Monica Xavier and Mich Zabala, while Math had Eden de Joya (who I was under for third and fourth year), Dinah Gutierrez and Petri Español; the system director was Dr. Ramon Miranda, while Doc Raffy was Diliman director in my last year.  Many more from other batches have come and gone before and after my three years teaching there, and I have met a number of them, mostly online. Those batches I have had the privilege to teach, alumni I have handled in UP at DCS, while I reconnect with the '97 programmers, and all those above I have been able to share the bond of the experience found through the gates on Agham Road.

I don't want to exclude those from other campuses, who I may yet meet in the future, but the fire burning in the logo of our alma mater continues to light sparks and burn brightly in our lives, and in those we share ourselves with. 

Back in Business

So, merely a week and a half after starting the semester, I am a fully functioning staff member, albeit one that has to make sure that my set-up is in place (salary, medical benefits, remote access, leaving a change of footwear). In between the paperwork and the legwork, I haven't resettled the extra time I have yet. That's for this week, then.