Dentistry Batch 1985, Manila Central University, Manila, Philippines
The Message
Dear Dentistry classmates and Dentistry batch 1985, Hello! everyone. How are you all doing nowadays? I hope you're all doing fine. I posted a message on my profile's wall to let you all informed that for the past two months I was so grateful with extreme joy because of your unforgetfulness, kindness, empathy to my ailment, and messages that can truly uplifted my spirit.
The messages that I received from around the world were full of different stories during students lives and after graduation. It was way back 1985 which I got married and joined my wife in Texas where my second home was had a green, green grass of home. After I arrived in Texas, I wasn't able to communicate with my classmates and batch 1985.
Time have gone by so quickly if you're busy. After twenty five years have elapsed, I opened a facebook account. I filled in the necessary information needed in my profile so that I could had a real identity of myself and not a bogus. I stayed up all night long when I filled in my facebook account, and ...at the same time, speculating the names of my classmates and batch 1985.
I was brainstorming myself on how to intercommunicate with the people that I had been with for almost five years in Manila Central University, Manila, Philippines.They were like my real family because I spent with them more hours than my family; however,the mutual relationship was with our family because we brought up by our parents after we came out from the womb of our mother to a new world, and we cried out loud as our first language.
The names that I could recall were mostly from section one which I started my first year as a Dentistry proper. Indeed, it was really difficult to adapt to a new environment because of the language barrier even though I had two Pilipino (Tagalog) subjects before the first school year was started. That's the main... reason why sometimes I had a tongue-tied--unable to speak..
Even though I was not the talkative and had a sense of humor in the class, but I strove so hard to break the ice of silence inside the classroom. It was a great pleasure for me of being accepted in the class as a human being not because of my Visayan-Ilocano languages which my mother tongue is Bisaya.
Do you believe that people of the same feather flock together? Yes, I do..and I felt like alone by myself in the desert,--emptiness--and the sun as if coming down on me. Crushing my entire body and soul. In the end, thank you very much my classmates, friends, batch'85 and that is reality.
When I had the names of my classmates, but mostly, first names, my searched wasn't useful. Others had the same name with the other people from other countries like: Ferdinand Pacinos, Aida Peralta, Rodel Garcia,Adel Ramirez, and others...I gave up searching for several weeks. Suddenly, I did not realize... that the first person who sent me a message which I forgot the full name.
The name of the person I remembered was....Rosauro---my first friend in MCU; His full name was at the back of my head, but I couldn't say it...Here's his quoted message to me, "June 24 at 11:16pm si rosauro noel cruz III ito, remember me, pag ka med tech pa rin ang trabaho mo dyan, d ka na nag dentist Rogelio.....
Rogelio Babanto June 26 at 6:26am "Hello! Noel. How are you? Of course, I remembered you because you were the first person who became a friend with me during the first day of Anatomy class. You even offered me a cigarette before in the class, but I said no because it's almost time for Anatomy anyway."
by: Rogelio Babanto
