Remembering My Friend ODY

Remembering My Friend ODY

by Ernesto C. Tuazon

It was in in February 2006 that I would talk to Ody again since I left the Philippines for the U.S. in 1965. I came to observe an important commemorative day with my family but I also had another mission. Per request of Fr. Dennis Flynn I was to seek help from UPLB for his Mangyan group in Oriental Mindoro. I scanned the phone book for familiar names and my third call that morning made contact. A female voice answered – it was Lina, who immediately handed the phone to Ody. After a brief exchange of greetings and upon learning of my mission, he said “Let me make some calls and I’ll get back to you this afternoon.”

“Typical Ody” – I said to myself – “always enthusiastic, always ready to help.” By then my mind had wandered back to my junior year at Los Banos High School where my classmate and good friend Binoy (Silvino Samiano) would admiringly talk about his cousin in Rural High School who had grades of  “puro bareta”. I even remember the time I asked Binoy where I could get a caponizing set and was stunned when he showed up with one within that week, saying that his cousin Ody procured it, without even asking me for money upfront. Credit that set and a session with 4H Club people during my sophomore year in Bay High School for my having robbed a few young chickens in my backyard of their roosterhood.

I met Ody for the first time during the 1956 enrollment period at UPCA when Binoy brought me to his house. I remember being in only one class with Ody throughout our freshman year, a lecture section in entomology, but he would then occasionally sit during the following year in my sugar technology courses. We were not particularly close but somehow knew each other’s pre-occupations, perhaps through our common link Binoy. However, our periodic encounters were always pleasant as he was always an enthusiastic converser, sometimes even offering his opinions of ladies he thought I was interested in.

Class ’60 Reminiscences

CLASS ’60 REMINISCENCES

by Higino Ables (with additional footnotes from Ofelia Karganilla-Bautista )

In the academic year 1955-1956, the UP College of Agriculture, then the only other college besides the College of Forestry on campus, was swamped by an influx of more than 1000 freshmen, much more than could be comfortably accommodated in its classrooms.

The UPCA Batch 56/Graduating Class 60: Our Lives and Times

The UPCA Batch 56/ Graduating Class 60: Our Lives and Times

By Emil Javier and Ruben Villareal

The Freshman Batch of 1956 numbering about 700 started college auspiciously as the first ever cohort of the UP College of Agriculture to undergo selective admission. Up to the year before, admission was open to any high school graduate. Our predecessors, the Freshmen of 1955 numbered close to 1500 and swamped the campus. The college ran out of classrooms, laboratories, faculty and dormitory spaces. Thus in the ensuing year, 1956, only high school graduates with GPAs of 85 or better were admitted.

The Lighter Side of My Earlier Years in UPCA by Vismina Gomez-Ortega

The Lighter Side of My Earlier Years in UPCA by Vismina Gomez-Ortega

Vising is the youngest of five sisters who were all teachers and 4 brothers from the small town of Argao, Cebu. Her sisters wanted her to be a teacher as was the norm in her town but she dreamt to be a lawyer like her eldest brother.

Personal reflection by Sister Rosalinda Sevilla Barrozo, MM

Personal Reflection by Sister Rosalinda Sevilla Barrozo, MM

My faith journey started in the University of the Philippines in College, Los Banos, Laguna. On Saturday mornings my friends and I would walk down the hill to the chapel for our CCD (catechesis) classes. When I got to high school I became a CCD teacher and was invited to join the Legion of Mary. 

Random Thoughts

RANDOM THOUGHTS

By Virgilio V. Garcia

When I was enrolled at the UP College of Agriculture, I used to go home to Manila every weekend. The only bus available then was Laguna Tayabas Bus Company (LTB). The ride to Manila and back to College was enjoyable and scenic.

The Boys in Bungalow Row

THE BOYS IN BUNGALOW ROW

By Roberto E. Coronel

As freshman in the first semester of 1956, I stayed at the original Men’s Dormitory beside the YMCA dormitory and at the back of the upper ROTC parade ground.  Two of my roommates in one of the dorm’s first-floor, six-bed rooms were batch mates Resty (Restituto) Bautista and Alex (Alejandro) Co. 

SNIPPETS OF LIFE IN THE UP WOMEN’S DORMITORY

SNIPPETS OF LIFE IN THE UP WOMEN’S DORMITORY

By Erlinda Seminiano-Paterno

In 1956, I was among several new freshmen who were accepted as new residents of the Women’s Dormitory. I occupied a room for two for PhP16 per month and paid PhP40 per month for food.

My Mentors, My Friends

MY MENTORS, MY FRIENDS

By Kits Bernal-Torres

While eager to attend the university after graduating from high school, I have my apprehensions about living far from home. My father assured me that I will be able to cope – I’m a big girl already. As if to validate my fears in our freshman class I was the only girl in a block section. 

The UPSCA that I Remember

The UPSCA that I Remember

By Ceferino A. Baniqued

How fast time flies. In our journey in life, we meet countless people from all walks of society, develop friendships, travel to enchanting places and witness numerous events. But most of these encounters are like footprints in the sand which are ephemeral thereby leaving soon-forgotten episodes in our life. No matter how fleeting these encounters maybe,  recalling certain people and events create an upsurge of mixed emotions and stir long dormant recesses in our minds and memories. Such is the feeling that engulfs us when we think of a bygone era, of a kaleidoscope of beautiful friends and enduring friendships, of glorious years of seemingly endless fun.

On this Verdant Patch

On this Verdant Patch

by Ernesto C. Tuazon, BSST 1961

As Maurice Chevalier would sing it in “Gigi” (1958), “Ah, yes, I remember it well.”

I remember well that registration day at UPCA, April 1956. Freshman daze started with shoulder-jousting with other entrants to reach a window opening where an instructor, who was oblivious to the commotion outside, would fill out a block on one’s schedule sheet. The scene would be repeated at the next building, and so on.

Unforgettable Incidents during College Life- by A. L. Carpena

Unforgettable Incidents during College Life

by A. L. Carpena

1. While conducting a laboratory exercise in Ag Chem 2a (Qualitative Chemical Analysis), I was also chatting with my female classmates including Lina Luna.  Before I knew it, I was already accidentally pouring the sulfuric acid content of the test tube I was holding on Lina’s shoulder, on top of one of her arms. 

Plant Breeding Janitor

Plant Breeding Janitor
By Ruben L. Villareal

It was crucial that I had additional funds to supplement the meager allowance from my father who worked hard as a shoemaker on weekdays and as a barber on weekends. Thus, I applied for student assistantship in the Department of Agricultural Engineering during my sophomore year. Sadly, my application was not acted with favor. But God had another plan for me.

Alpha Phi Omega Fraternity Experience

ALPHA PHI OMEGA FRATERNITY EXPERIENCE

By Maximo R. De Vera, former Grand Chancellor, Theta Chapter UP Los Baños, 1959

Alpha Phi Omega is an international service fraternity and sorority, composed of college students gathered together in an organization based on fraternalism and founded on the principles of Leadership, Friendship and Service. Its aim is to further the freedom that is our national, educational and intellectual heritage.

Submitted article: CLASS ’60, The Original OFWs

 

CLASS ’60, The Original OFWs

by Melinda Marquez-Cuyno

We were all Class ’60: Sabina Fajardo, Mely Cuyno, Bob Monserat, Bert Reyes, Ernie Dimayuga and Bong Bolo.

Back in 1962, we had just finished our one year training at the Farm and Home Dev. Office of UPLB when we were recruited by Operation Brotherhood Int’l.  OBI was a Filipino manned international humanitarian mission to improve the health condition of the people which started in Vietnam and later moved to Laos. The arrival of our team in Laos marked the broadening of its mission from purely medical to include agriculture.

There were “5” of them!

There were “5” of them!
My Experiences as a Student Assistant at Vegetable Crops Division

by Norma Norcio-Locker

My mother afforded me the opportunity to study typing and shorthand at the Calamba Vocational School one summer when I was in high school. She was able to scratch up enough money for my transportation but I had to bring my ‘binalot’ for lunch.  I studied typing in the morning and shorthand in the afternoon.  Initially, I had considered being a Secretary as my college career, being seduced by the glamour of being well dressed and having my own office.  However, upon the advice of my sisters, I gave up the idea and took Agriculture instead.

Submitted article: When I was Just Seventeen

WHEN I WAS JUST SEVENTEEN

By Roger V. Cuyno

I came to Los Baños in ’56 when I was 17 from Hinatuan, a rustic and dead-end isolated town in Surigao Del Sur. I was the salutatorian in our class of 28 graduates. It was some kind of a culture shock to this young provinciano. It was my first time to be away from home with no one to turn to except a designated guardian, a senior student, whom I had not even met before. He was a brother of my father’s colleague in the office of the municipal treasurer. I stayed with this guardian for about a semester in his basement room at the Boy’s Dorm, where he was a dorm assistant.

Submitted article: Buhay Upsilon sa UPCA in the 1950s

BUHAY UPSILON SA UPCA IN THE 1950s

By Ruben L. Villareal

After the Philippine Military Academy disqualified me due to height, my next target was to enroll at the UP College of Agriculture (UPCA) in response to the challenge of the late President Ramon Magsaysay to high school graduates to pursue agriculture as a career. I planned to stay with an uncle, Professor Francisco Lopez, who was with the UPCA faculty so I won’t have to spend for lodging. I became more optimistic when I learned that I could avail of a student assistantship during my sophomore year if my grades are high enough.

Submitted Article: THE BETAN EXPERIENCE

THE BETAN EXPERIENCE: All that is good and noble in man

By Jose DJ Cruz, BE ‘56

In 1955, then President Ramon del Fierro Magsaysay sent out a call to the Filipino people – support the agricultural sector to help the country feed its population and develop its agricultural capabilities as a newly emerging economic base.

I was just 18 years old and my father, Eugenio G. dela Cruz (he still used ‘dela’ in his name then), an agriculturist himself married to Sinagtala de Jesus, both of Malabon, encouraged and convinced me to heed this presidential call.  

My Days as Student Assistant

My Days as Student Assistant

By Azucena L. Carpena

It was Dr. Dioscoro L. Umali who offered me a student assistantship at the Division of Plant Breeding of the Department of Agronomy when he met me while negotiating with my father the purchase of a property of my late mother.  That was at the end of my freshman year so I started working as student assistant in the summer of 1957.