Dating Busko

Around the end of January 1992 - DBTI Makati Foundation Day Celebration - Fair. A few inches away from my barkada's booth called the "Doghouse", another booth was attracting an audience. A game was being played. A dating game. Kind of like the RPN 9 TV show "It's a Date" (hosted by the beautiful Plinky Recto and NU 107 DJ Tom Lupton aka Major Tom). The crowd was cheering. Seems everyone was having a good time. The booth was a hit considering that Bosconians rarely interact with girls let alone go out on dates. The name of the booth - "Dating Busko". What an intriguing name. A play on words really. "Dating" in Filipino being "former" and "Busko" referring to "Bosconian". The name could stand for two things: 1) Former Bosconian or an alumnus, or 2) Dating Bosconian or a Bosconian who dates.

I am proud to say that I was a "Dating Busko". That is, a former Bosconian. I don't date that much. I stayed in Don Bosco Makati for 9 years, from Prep-Second Year. If it were all up to me I would have loved to be able to finish high school in Don Bosco. I would have been a "bakal boy" like my friends who chose "Mechanical" as their shop for third and fourth year. But I had to transfer after my second year. Despite that, I believe that one who was once a Bosconian will always be a Bosconian.

Run, jump, talk and play but do not sin. It is only in Don Bosco where you can see more than 10 people playing basketball in the same court at the same time. As in 2 groups of 10 playing in the same court. Every lunch and recess you'd see that. What's more interesting is that when the clock strikes 12 noon, everything grinds to a halt. Everyone freezes like when the music stops during a game of stop dance. It's time for the Angelus. After the Angelus, it's chaos once again.

In Don Bosco students can wear different color undershirts and rubber shoes. Other schools follow strict dress codes. Some even require neck ties and tucked in polos. That's a no-no in Don Bosco. As far as I know it is only in Don Bosco where students have diaries where they would write their assignments and excuse letters. Teachers could also write remarks on those diaries. Once a Bosconian was naughty, his parents would know because he is required to let his parents sign his diary every day.

Bosconians are also good handy men. They have Shop and Work Ed subjects. Folding chairs, laminated pictures, water heaters are among the projects they would build during grade school. They know how to use a file, a T-square and Rotring technical pens because of Shop and Drafting classes. They also have weekly year level mass and mass during First Fridays and Catholic Celebrations. And during mass, a band plays instead of a choir singing.

It's been what? 21 years since I last set foot in Don Bosco? I just had so much fun and happiness during my stay there. I will always cherish those Don Bosco days.