my Leyte High, alma mater ever dear

i studied in the same school as them. i don't know though if i ever entered or had classes in this same room.


back when i was in high school, the Leyte National High School had more than 50 sections per year level. each section had 45-50 students. there were "higher" and "lower" sections, there was also SPA (special program for the arts). since i was in the second section, i pretty much wasn't able to celebrate the prom together with the first and third sections because we celebrated our JS prom in two days, from 1pm-7pm and the attendees for day one were sections with odd numbers, and the second, with even ones.


since there were a lot of students, subjects like MAPEH and THE were done in rooms "ha bukid" (at the nearby hill) and we travelled from the "lowlands" to the "highlands" depending on what the subjects were. we cut grass after classes for CAT and discussed computer in the room but the practical exams were with the use of a "bolo" and "silhig" (machete and broom).

for the periodical exams, the "lower" sections had to take it in the morning, and the "higher" ones, in the afternoon, being given the entire morning to study.


during foundation days, motorists anticipate the heavy traffic in the small town and watch from the sidelines instead.


no matter how we emphasized the word higher when we mentioned that we come from the "higher" sections, we were still equal with the ones on the "lower" sections on the demeaning remarks of people. they'd often tag the school as one for repeaters, drug addicts, thieves, bastards and all the negative things they could think of. inspite of this, a good number of our alumni end up studying in a whole variety of prestigious schools.


as for me, i am proud that i chose LNHS to be my high school alma mater. my parents could have sent me to a private/chinese/exclusive school and let me experience high school with the comforts of airconditioned rooms, computers and real stairs instead of a paved way to the bukid but they knew that i would have more fun being around with different kinds of people and learn not only academically but also street smartly.