Class History

*I was told to make and deliver the Class History for our Grad Ball two nights before the event. Because I got so busy for the grad rites, I almost forgot my task. So I crammed writing this few hours before the ball. Funny how I read this from my scratch paper. No further editing done on this post to preserve the originality of my cramming skills. Haha. Oh by the way, I included here some of my adlibs.

Our beloved doctors; freshmen; sophomores; members of the organizing class, the juniors; members of the Class 2011, good evening and assalamu 'alaikom warahmatullahi wa barakatuhu.

When I was given this task of writing the Class History, I thought of our grad song which is actually a brief summary about how and what we were for the past four years. But tonight, I will relate to you the miniscule details that lie behind the Class 2011.

It seemed as if yesterday when we entered the portals of MSU-COM on June 2007, specifically June 4, 2007. We consist of 52 vibrant college degree holders from big institutions all over the Philippines such as UP Los Banos, UP Cebu, UP Mindanao, UP Cebu, Mindanao State University Main Campus, MSU-IIT, Silliman University, Velez College, University of Southern Mindanao and Emilio Aguinaldo College. Modesty aside, most of us were fresh graduates with flying colors from their respective universities while others were fresh board exam passers, one of us was a board topnotcher (I wouldn't tell who para dili kaayo obvious na si Alvi 'to siya).

Just like any blossoming relationships, our freshman year was filled with battling of our minds, because indeed, we are all leaders in our own rights. We are a bunch of unique individuals , hence disagreements among us was often inevitable. There was the famous line of somebody who walked out during a class meeting yelling while stomping his feet: "Kung ing-ana bitaw mo, mas maayo wala na la'y Commed!!"  (Again, I wouldn't tell who kay ma-hurt si Chrismar). Yet, despite the disputes, we kiss and make-up at the end of the day. It was also during our freshman year that we have accepted each and everyone's individual differences and yet all of us met at a common point. Most of us went out of their shells to join the class' bandwagon. We have identified ourselves in mini-groups under the dynamic Class 2011 umbrella. We have the Princesses, the Datu group (basically, these are the Pala-o people) and the Immediate Friends. The creations of these mini-groups did not obliterate our class' oneness, because when we are together, we are filled with heaping inside jokes that create roars of laughters.

Came sophomore year, this was the time I have witnesses our class unity and sympathy for each other. This is not meant to scare the incoming sophomores but this year was indeed the most grueling year net to clerkship. This was the time the Student Council was at our hands, headed by Cor-cor as the President, Alvi was the V-President, I was the Secretary, Jue was the Treasurer, Abby was the Auditor and Angeli was the P.I.O. (It was kinda difficult for our administration because remember, this was the time our Palakasan didn't push through due to the bombings here in Iligan City). Our girlpower wouldn't work without the selfless help of our classmates. They were always there to help us out, so it appeared as if every SC activity was also Class 2011's activity. Our classmates were the wind beneath our wings.

This was also the year when Ianni, Elmer and Ate Ducky left us to do some reflections while Ate Johanna joined us to complete the 50 individuals of the Class 2011.

Our sophomore year marked the creation of jargons that only members of the Class 2011 can comprehend, these are the words "winner" and "namilo" among others. Because we are very generous, allow me to use these words in a sentence to give you a context clue. For example, when you're asked "Winner na ka?", you better answer: "Dili uy, loser pa'ko!", because in our jargon, losers are more appropriate than winners.

So much for jargons, let's peer at our junior year. This was the year when we got used-to at med life. We got used to the daily grinds of PBL sessions, correlates, modular exams, histopath lab exams, and commed papers. We got used to our inside jokes that sometimes we no longer laugh at the jokes per se but we laugh at the person delivering the joke. As far as I can remember, our heated arguments ended during our freshman year, hence almost everything went smooth sailing for us. I attribute our class' success at executing school activities to our commendable class officers since freshman year headed by Cor-cor, sophomore year was headed by Maya, junior year was headed by Marc Duane and clerkship year was headed by no other than the enrgetic Kenzle. And of course, how can we forget Chrismar as our Community Medicine president since freshman year until the very end of med school? Chrismar, indeed, put so much effort in all the activities we conducted at our community and for that he is worthy of what he has achieved.

Within three years of being together, you think we know all of our classmates better? No, we don't. Until we reach clerkship when we got to see through each other transparently. How can we not when we literally live together under one roof, one room in the hospital, at least 24/7? We have no one but our groupmates. This was the time the beauty of companionship, friendship, mutualism, parasitism and commensalism manifest. We saw how their faces were distorted when their temper go beyond the threshold, we heard never been told abstract ideas that often led to endless stomach-aching laughters, and during the wee hours of the night when we were fortunate to have no patient awaiting in the ER or no ward calls, outpouring of emotions and sentiments were shared. It was during clerkship when we can no longer differentiate between day and night, weekends and weekdays, family and friends. Our classmates, our groupmates, they are our friends beyond measure and our family outside our home.

Ladies and gentlemen, there is so much to tell about our class, our history doesn't end here. We are yet about to begin as we enter the bigger world of the medical field. We are set to move forward keeping in our hearts the moral values and ethics our parents and our mentors have instilled in us, while keeping in our minds the medical knowledge we have imbibed from them. We wouldn't reach this point without our mentors from the College of Medicine, the strength and wisdom by the Almighty and the wonderful friendship the Class 2011 have shared.

As we part ways and embark on another fulfilling journey, let's keep in our hearts the beautiful memories we've shared. May our friendship last a lifetime. I can only imagine ourselves in the not-so-distant future bumping into each other in the hospital hallways while doing our rounds and then calling on to the future clerks and retelling our story over and over again.

Kudos Class 2011, and to the Class 2012, 2013 and 2014, may you all have wonderful experiences ahead of you.

Thank you so much and good evening.