Jaded

I have been green-minded for half my life.

I was in the same institution for 17 years of my life because, much like my family’s receding hairlines, studying in La Salle was a family legacy. Green had been hard-wired into my DNA.  I am a Lasallian three generations deep and damn proud of it. My green-mindedness not only runs deep but it also spreads wide as well: my wife, also a Lasallian, comes from a family of Lasallian men (which probably explains why, when she was still my girlfriend, her dad had me fitted with a chastity belt).

When we got married, one of my ninongs was Br. Kenneth Martinez FSC, a Christian Brother and my high school spiritual adviser. Right after college graduation, the University was foolhardy enough to let me teach several classes for all of one semester (my students have since finished with therapy, thank you very much).  If I were any more green, I’d be arrested for public indecency.

If you were to ask me what part of my education cemented my love for a school founded by a French priest 300 years ago, I would say that it was the time in my life that hair began to sprout in unfamiliar places: high school.

Although my batch mates and I did have a rather idiosyncratic high school career, it was probably none less idiosyncratic than the other generations who grew armpit hair while studying at La Salle Green Hills.

Despite the spectrum of political melodramas that framed our high school years, there are sanctioned and non-sanctioned extra-curricular activities that have been shared across many generations of La Sallians who called the Mandaluyong campus a home away from home. Even as curriculums change, fashions change, and waistlines change, there are still some things remain incorrigibly constant.

Our Green Hills campus has sprung forth alumni who contributed to the grand production number that is Philippine society.  Until now, I still find it hard to believe that I have shared the same set of teachers, smelly lockers and expired canteen food with these esteemed gentlemen who have inspired me by their example (or by their shenanigans, as the case may be).

If only the campus walls could make tsismis, we could uncover what exactly were the turning points in the secondary school lives that made them the upright Christian gentleman of today – Did Joey Concepcion make his first million by buying and selling hotdogs, softdrinks and airconditioners with his classmates?  Did Paeng Nepumuceno score his first perfect rack (no pun intended) at Coronado Lanes after playing hooky from school?  What type of gayuma did Ralph Recto and Kiko Pangilinan concoct during chemistry class to make them irresistible to heavenly bodies?  Which teacher pressed the fast forward button on Mike Enriquez’s mouth and neglected to press stop?  Where was the elusive electrical socket that Gary Valenciano stuck his finger into before his song and dance audition with the Kundirana? What school plays did Ogie Alcasid appear in to prepare for his slew of cross-dressing roles in Bubble Gang?  For the sake of our nation, some of these questions must remain unanswered.

As much as I am inspired by these older Lasallian alumni (well, older than me at least), I am just as inspired by the younger alumni who have taken their Catholic education a hop, skip and a jump further.  I am in awe of my kapwang green bloods who have chosen to take care of their recalcitrant own, like Br. Richie Yap, FSC (HS ’96), Br. Mandy Dujunco, FSC (HS ’97) and Br. Sockie de la Rosa, FSC (HS ’01).

I am equally awed by green bloods who have jumped the bakod to care for our cerulean neighbors.  After being ruined thoroughly by his Katipunan education, my cousin Br. Mark Lopez SJ (HS ’92) is now a Jesuit scholastic, and my whole Lasallian clan couldn’t be prouder. Mark is truly a harmonious blend of green and blue until a La Salle-Ateneo basketball game comes along.

However, what inspires me the most about La Salle are the Christian Brothers themselves, particularly during these interesting times.

During the height of infamy of the previous administration, the Christian Brothers offered a series of public statements that called on the nation’s leader to be accountable for the truth – not because it is the popular thing to do, not because it is the unpopular thing to do, but simply because it is the right thing to do.

The sentiments that the Brothers have shared through their public statements is no different from the sentiments they have shared with their students in the classrooms – the responsibility of putting our faith into action.  With the actions that the Brothers have taken to be a stand for the truth amidst an atmosphere of fearful silence, my school continues to teach me about my faith.  My school continues to teach me about courage.  My school continues to teach me about responsibility. My school continues to teach me about compassion. My school continues to teach me generosity…because that is what my Lasallian education is all about. That, and some geometry too.

In one of their last open letters to the public, the Brothers challenged Lasallian alumni to “take cognizance of the education that you have received from La Salle all these years.  As dark clouds hover in the horizon, we challenge to you make a difference.”  In so doing, the Brothers have made us hamon to be the spark of hope to all those who have grown jaded by these morally bankrupt times.

To help ignite this spark, the Brothers crafted a prayer that was written in preparation for our centennial, the 100th anniversary of the Lasallian ministry of education in the Philippines.

The One La Salle Prayer

Let me be the change I want to see

to do with strength and wisdom all that needs to be done

and become the hope I can be

Set me free from my tears and hesitations

Grant me courage and humility

Fill me with Spirit to face the challenge

and start the change I long to see

Even if I am not the light

I can be the spark

In faith, service and communion

let us start the change we want to see

The change that begins in me

Nowadays, maybe not all of us alumni cheer as insanely during a La Salle-Ateneo basketball.  Maybe not all alumni can recall the school cheers from stock memory. Maybe not all alumni fancy attending the homecomings and maybe not all alumni have fond memories of having their heads dunked into toilets at good ol’ De La Salle.

If there’s anything that the Brothers want all alumni to remember about their Lasallian education, it is this: To keep a rosary stashed in your pocket and to treasure four lines of prayer that should be skewered like an arrow into their hearts.

Let us remember that we are in the Holy Presence of the Lord.

I will continue, O my God, to do all my actions for the love of you.

St. John Baptist de La Salle, Pray for Us.

Most importantly:

Live Jesus in our Hearts, forever.

This is what Animo La Salle is all about.

Rene (RJ) Ledesma Jr. still remembers his student ID: 9102418. He graduated with a double degree in Applied Economics and Business Management and finished several masteral units in Creative Writing at DLSU. He was with the The LaSallian from his first to his last term in school.  He was ever so briefly the Associate editor of The LaSallian.  He would like to thank Bombit Largoza for helping him develop his writing craft and for other things that cannot be mentioned in polite company.