To Our Dear Animator

I would be the biggest phony if I had not decided on writing an entry for one of the greatest Lasallian Brothers who ever lived. Cecilio Hojilla was a person who had a special gift. He had this aura of some kind which made the people around him feel special as my Social Studies teacher said and as I sat down listening to her, I somehow realized that it really was true. No ordinary person can easily approach me or anybody and suddenly give me a calmness of mind and make me realize a few things about life and how good it really is.

This person is not somebody that is easy to forget. Through his humble ways, simple thoughts, and gentle gestures, he has made a big impact to many people not really knowing that he has. Most of the time he is taken for granted because people usually see him around campus with his signature DSLR camera taking pictures of everyone he sees. Now that he's gone, a lot of things will change.

His job was to capture happiness everyday. Touch hearts through simple yet effective words. Just his presence would make a solid impact on everybody around him.

I remember his last game with us. It was a hot summer morning and we were playing in the semi-finals of the 2009 Nike Summer League against the powerhouse San Beda College. He arrived during the latter half of the game since he didn't really know what time our game was because my teammate gave him the wrong time. Still, he did his duties of taking pictures of the game and of course that inspired us even more. Through sheer luck and hardwork, we won the game with 1 point. With us not really knowing that that game would be the last that we would share with him, we were already happy because somehow we gave him a good show through that last game we played with him.

Personally, I didn't cry when I saw Br. Ceci in his coffin. The reason for that is I still believe that he is here with us. I can still feel his presence around us and I know that he does not want us to be sad. He wants us, the people whom he inspired, to inspire other people more with the words that he has shared with us when he was still alive.

Nobody will forget that smile of his and of course his beloved camera. We dedicate this UAAP Season for you Bro!

We miss you and we love you.

Animo La Salle.

Until the next time.

Phim

A Decade And More-The Last First Day of School

I was less than 5 years old when I first saw a glimpse of property inside a popular village 30 minutes away from my home. I was seated at the passenger seat of our white Toyota Corolla where I spent most of my childhood going around Luzon with my family when I heard my father saying, "Phim, 'yan na ang school mo oh." From that moment on, I didn't realize that that piece of property would become my second home and I would be spending more than half of my life in that place where we call, De La Salle Zobel.

It has been 12 years since I set foot on my first classroom in DLSZ and not to think of it, I and my batchmates still had the chance to sit in the old prep building which was located in the new playground now in division 1. I clearly remember a pentagon-like shape of the building which included the library, clinic, chapel, guidance office, and faculty room if I have not mistaken.As stubborn as I was during my childhood, I didn't want to go to school. I kept on fighting with my parents because I guess I was just shy to meet new people and not be at the comfort of my home and my parents. Time went by and I slowly developed on my social skills and it made me a more established person thanks to the experiences I had with my whole life in Zobel.

From Toy Story to Twilight, through EDSA 2 and now the Influenza virus, from Chuck Taylors to Nike SBs, from The Backstreet Boys to Angels and Airwaves, I could go on and on from what Zobel life is all about. Now being a senior, looking back at everything that happened through the past decade and more seems overwhelming due to the fact that it has been that much of a long time of me waking up in the morning and try to be on schedule for that 7:55 first bell which rings every morning and catches everybody's attention.

To my beloved batchmates or shall I say...Seniors? May tomorrow be not an end to our wonderful life full of ups and downs within the walls of De La Salle Zobel, but a start of a more blooming and strong bond between ourselves and to the coming world we would be facing in the future. :)

Hail to De La Salle!

Until the next time.

Phim