October 7 was the entrance
examination day for Grade 7 students
aiming to study high school at the
Ateneo de Manila High School. Thus, that
Sunday morning, I drove my son Marcel to the high school campus. I was informed by my son that the entrance
exams would last 3 hours. Unlike many
of the parents who left immediately and planned to fetch their kids later, I
stayed in the campus. What should I do
to kill time for 3 hours?
 |
| My son Marcel and I having a good time at the Ateneo de Manila campus |
No sweat for me in answering
this question. I planned to run and ran
I did.
The Loyola Heights campus of the
Ateneo de Manila is a great place to run.
It is blessed with lots of trees that make the morning air there very
encouraging of physical activities.
 |
| Father Masterson Drive |
Starting out at the high school
area, I took the Father Masterson
Drive. This road is the longest inside
the campus and it was named after Fr. William Masterson, S.J., the school head
who in 1952, moved many of the units of the school from its Padre Faura campus
to this upland Quezon City area. At the
start, this decision was not a popular one and many would refer to the Loyola
Heights campus as “Masterson’s folly.”
I turned right at the Parade
Loop which joins the Fr. Arrupe Road. This road is named after a famous 20th century Jesuit, Fr.
Pedro Arrupe, the Superior General of the Society of Jesus from 1965 to 1983. In this area, you can find the Social
Development complex of the Ateneo. Rightfully so as Fr. Arrupe is considered by
many in being instrumental
in promoting the famous “fourth decree,” which defined the modern mission of
the Jesuits in terms of “faith that does justice”.
 |
| Corner of Fr. Arrupe Road and University Drive |
From Fr. Arrupe Road, I took a
right at the University Drive which leads to Gate 3, the main entrance
entance/exit point to Katipunan Avenue.
Before reaching Gate 3, I turned left at the baseball field which has a
service road parallel to Katipunan Road.
 |
| Baseball field |
At the end of this service road is the Blue Eagle Gym and Father
Masterson Drive.I turned left at Fr.
Masterson’s Drive which led me back to the high school area.I passed by the magnificent Church of the
Gesu.At the end of the high school area
is the Moro Lorenzo Sports Center. This
is where I stopped for a rest and drink on Gatorade.
 |
| Church of Gesu |
Total distance of this loop is 3
kms. For the next 2 hours, I ran 5 times
around this 3-km loop. After changing my
clothes and driving to the Katipunan Avenue to buy sweet Japanese corn, I went
back to the high school area.
I was just in time to see the
grade schoolers trooped out of the exams area.
Seeing my son with a smile and thumbs up, I knew that he was relaxed in
tackling the exams. No need to ask.
 |
| Smiling Marcel after the exams |
 |
| Mary for you, for your white and blue |
I have a love for running. My son has a love for learning. I hark back to the words of a well-liked
Jesuit saint, St. Robert Bellarmine :
“My dear friends, love is a very
wonderful and heavenly thing. In its dictionary you will hunt in vain for the
word impossible.”
3 comments:
Hi! I am a 44 y/o mother whose eldest child is an aspirant of an ateneo HS education. can your son guide mine by informing me of which subjects or topics to study more on in his preparation? thank you very much!
Hello and thank you for visiting my blog. Perhaps you are into running too. In any case, I guess my son would like to be of help. I will ask him later tonight and hope to respond tomorrow.
Hello again. Here is what my son wanted to share on your query.
What to expect:
1. English (vocabulary, grammar and reading comprehension).
2. Science (biology and physics)
3. Math (fractions, algebra and geometry)
4. Expected the unexpected. It would help.
Post a Comment