Seeing life in Taft through the eyes of a Senior High barkada

It’s been more than a month now since DLSU opened its halls to a relatively foreign program to not only the University, but to the Philippine Education System in general. The integration of the Senior High School (SHS) program was implemented and met with mixed reactions from the Lasallian community.

From their first day on campus last June 1, SHS students have been seen roaming around campus alongside veteran college students, with only their sideways IDs and frosh vibe setting them apart. Soon, they’ll be wearing distinct lanyards with their grade levels printed along the sides to further distinguish them from the college students. However, while the arrival of the SHS students has been much talked about, the majority of DLSU’s college population has yet to actually interact and start a conversation with the newest additions to our community.

The Menagerie decided to conduct an interview with a barkada of four students from the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) strand to better see things from their point of view.

First impressions and surprises

For anyone curious about what the SHS program is like, Amigo 1 describes the atmosphere as being “essentially like high school, because unlike college students, we get an assigned room and we just stay there.” Amigo 1 adds that they do change classrooms for their computer lab classes, but other than that, are restricted to their assigned rooms outside of their breaks. Amigo 2 explains, “We really feel like high school students, but it’s different because all of the teachers are from the [University], so we’re kind of treated like college students in a way.”

“We still have homeroom and CLE,” Amigo 2 continues. “[Although the workload] actually feels lighter, because in high school, subjects were 5 times a week, but here it alternates, so there’s more time in between to study.”

When asked if anything about La Salle came as a surprise to them, Amigo 2 answers enthusiastically, “Yes! La Salle is big!” Amigo 1 always had a map ready while navigating through the maze of buildings during the first few days of school.

Much like your usual freshmen, the Amigos all agreed that their first impressions of Senior High School were of it being very awkward, because everyone in class was new to everyone else. Despite that, they note that most of them now do have their own cliques, and roam the campus together much like those bands of frosh blocks that plague the corridors every first term.

Current curriculums and possible future

Many schools around the country have modified their curriculums to make way for the SHS program, but Amigo 3’s school was not one of them. “We really had to move to find a school that would accommodate Senior High,” he recalls. Similarly, Amigo 4 recalls there was a “sort of panic deciding what school to go to,” and attributes this to their batch being the first to go through the entirely new concept of SHS.

Out of all the possible schools donning the SHS program, Amigo 1 says that DLSU was certainly a viable choice because of the University’s reputation as one of the ‘Big Three’ schools in the Philippines. The fact that Amigo 1 dreamed of attending DLSU as a child was a big factor as well. Amigo 2 makes sure to mention how scholarships helped, as each of these friends benefited from one.

Since these SHS students are already technically enrolled in the University, Amigo 3 verifies that, once they graduate, they are actually allowed to enter any course as long as they fulfil specific grade requirements. Amigo 4 adds, however, that while they do have the freedom to veer away from their chosen SHS strand, they probably won’t. “It’s better if we take a course related to STEM, because we already took units for that in SHS, so we [won’t] have to take them [again] in college,” they clarify. The group adds that, as SHS students, they will tackle some of the more general subjects for each strand, which will be credited as units for their chosen program.

Stigma?

While they say they have nothing against college students and that they generally don’t feel any ill intent towards them coming from their upperclassmen, Amigo 4 does note that “there have been some jokes going around.” The Amigos are grateful for the fact that they don’t have a required uniform, because if there was “the stigma would have been bigger.”

SHS students may not be all that far in terms of age compared to college students, but none of the four Amigos have ever been mistaken for college students, although they all agree that this is probably because they’re already notorious for traveling in groups and clogging the hallways.

Getting into the Animo Spirit

Getting into the Taft spirit, the Amigos have already found the gem that is Agno. “We had sizzling plates for 2 weeks,” Amigo 1 recounts. Amigo 4 also recalls a time when “some of our classmates wanted healthier options, but we looked at our wallets and decided, ‘Wag na. Pwede na Agno,’” sounding like typical DLSU students.

Amigo 2 speaks for the group, summing up the entirety of their DLSU experience so far as a good one. “It [has been a] really nice experience in La Salle, because we could see that they were really prepared in terms of handling us.” The barkada as a whole admires how the teachers were all present and ready on the first day, how the schedules were all prepared, and how it was evident that DLSU was ready to accommodate the incoming batch.

Different but still the same

From awkward encounters with college students, to surviving the crowded stalls during the Agno rush hour, these four Senior High School students have only just brushed the surface of Taft life. They are currently going through their DLSU careers as every college student in the University does, yet they are experiencing it through an entirely new perspective. It is something new and, as of this moment, entirely unique to them, yet they are slowly but surely making their way to becoming staples of the DLSU community.