Search

Let’s Take A Step Back: Reminiscing Augustinian Traditions

Aug 27, 2020
4 min read

by Denise Atanque

It’s almost been half a year since the first day of quarantine - since our lives have been forever changed. The spirits of many may have been brought down with the numerous expectations and plans we had for this new decade. From bucket lists going down the drain to outfit ideas stashed at the very back of our heads. Birthday celebrations are being done through Zoom conference calls while programs and even concerts are held through livestreams on Facebook and YouTube.

Things haven’t been the same, and it sucks.

CSA officially began the school year by the last week of July, and many have had mixed feelings about the set-up, the routines, and almost everything else. The lack of physical contact and presence of friends, classmates, and teachers became a challenge to many in keeping our hopes and motivations up to carry on with our daily lives.

Although it may not have been the most ideal beginning of a school year - especially for the graduating ones - making the most out of what we have is the next best thing to do. Maybe not everything has gone bad this school year.

August has been marked as a month of celebration for the Augustinian community, especially for us students in CSA - Makati. While others cap off the month of August with a culminating program of Buwan ng Wika, we bid farewell to the month of August with the three staple events, namely: Friendship Day, Man For All Men, and the Augustinian Week.

How about we take a look back at how we celebrated these?

For a fact, only CSA celebrates Friendship Day and takes it to another level as if it were already Christmas, becoming a reason to splurge and give our friends a well-deserved spoil. A true Augustinian would plan a lakwa to Glorietta or Greenbelt after classes on the day before Friendship Day to do last-minute shopping and spend the entire night preparing each and every gift. Some would say that Glorietta and Greenbelt would already look like the CSA Cafetorium with the sea of plaid skirts and polos, filling the walkways of the malls with Augustinians from all levels.

The familiar sight of students clutching on to their bags of food and gifts along with some note cards and letters - that’s what each Friendship day is like for every Augustinian. Mornings would be spent roaming around the halls, hopping from one classroom to another to give gifts and hugs to fellow classmates, batchmates, and even teachers. For councils, it would mean preparing their pasabog for their respective batches and for the Augustinian community. Aside from letters, foods like candy, chips, and even Jollibee meals became choices for gifts. Who could forget the packs of candies from Father Rodriguez that teachers would be distributing before class? Don’t be surprised if you see someone munching away on candies and chocolate in the middle of class - although we don’t recommend that you do this!

Transitioning to an online and distance learning set-up hasn’t been the easiest, but we manage to get through day by day with the virtual presence of our friends.

The countless number of balikbayan boxes, overflowing with loaves of the classic Gardenia bread, filling the space of the high school lobby - that’s how we commemorate the Man For All Men as Augustinians. Council members would be on-the-go around the school starting from 6AM in the alternative uniform to collect the bread donations from section to section. As Augustinians, we celebrated Man For All Men by donating loaves of bread to the Philippine General Hospital to be delivered by council members on that same day. If you didn’t donate bread, you’d be required to donate double on the next donation drive!

Last but not the least, everyone’s favorite week of consecutive non-academic days, interrupted classes, and celebrations - yes, it’s the Augustinian week.

The Augustinian week is filled with activities and events prepared by the teachers and the student councils. This includes the triumvirate of celebrations, namely: the Feast of All Augustinian Saints, the Feast of St. Monica, and of course, the Feast of St. Augustine (which should not be mistaken as his birthday!).

As many Augustinians remember, the Augustinian week is mainly celebrated with masses, where we bring red and yellow bandanas - the colors of our Augustinian community - and performances by our talented singers and dancers. Who could forget the bountiful agape celebrations we had after these masses? Mornings of these days would usually be filled with students carrying small bags because of the non-academic half-day schedule and boxes of Chickenjoy, pizza, donuts, and many more.

Memories of these celebrations are truly one for the books. Being in this situation where not even getting to go outside and see our friends has taken a toll on our minds and our hearts.

Things haven’t been the same, but we’ve been making the most out of it.

Our situation has prompted us to move our celebrations online through the many greetings, Facebook profile photo changes, and even Instagram story posts. At a time where our spirits can be easily brought down, let us not forget nor let go of our Augustinian spirit despite not being able to spend time in school with our friends and fellow Augustinians.

Keep your spirits up and alive, Augustinians! We’ll see each other soon - this time, in our plaid skirts, polos, vests, and bright smiles, finally beside each other without fear, with overflowing love.