Chapter 3

• Ateneo is known to be the most prestigious school college for boys. From 1872-1877 it was under the supervision of the Jesuit priests. Rizal went to Anteneo Municipal, formerly known as Escuela Pia.
• Rizal took his first entrance examination in Colegio de San Juan de Letran on June 10, 1872.
• Rizal qualified but was denied for admission, Father Magin Ferrand was the College Registrar.
• Two reasons for denial in the institution:

  1. Late registrant
  2. He was very pale, thin, and undersized for an 11-year old
• With the help of Manuel Burgos, he was accepted. Rizal was not able to use Mercardo as his surname in Ateneo
• Ateneo was offering a six-year program that gives student the academic title of Bachiller en Artes.
• Five Subjects:

  1. Christian Doctrine
  2. Languages (Spanish, Latin, Greek, French)
  3. History and Geography (World History and Geography and History of Spain and the Philippines)
  4. Mathematics and Sciences (Geometry, Trigonometry, Physics, Botany and Zoology)
  5. Classic Disciplines (Poetry, Rhetoric, an Philosophy)
• The school proposed a program dividing the class into groups (empires):

  1. Roman Empires (Boarding students in Ateneo)
  2. Carthaginian Empire (Non-boarding students)
• Father Jose Bech was Rizal's first professor. Rizal excelled in his class and became an emperor (title for most intelligent).
• Ration Studiorum - the method used in Ateneo, tight and constant discipline with rewards, applies memorization and understanding of concepts in class.
• Ateneo's goal: Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam (For the Greater Glory of God). A student's life was centered on the chapel (highest level of extra-curricular activity)
• Rizal passed his oral examination on March 14, 1877
• Rizal became a member of the Marian Congregation and an officer in the religious confraternities at Ateneo. This position is offered to students who possess the highest degree of scholarship and leadership.
• He was mentored by Father Pablo Pastells, S.J. He was a member of two academic societies:

  1. The Academy of Spanish Literature
  2. The Academy of Natural Sciences
• Rizal took private lessons at Santa Isabel College to be proficient in Spanish and develop his skills in poetry writing. He was guided by Father Francisco Paula de Sanchez in poetry
• Rizal took painting lessons from Agustin Saez and sculpture lessons from Teodoro Romualdo de Jesus to enhance his interest in arts. He was able to sculpt the image of the Virgin Mary and the Sacred Heart of Jesus
• Father Jose Villaclara, S.J, encouraged him to pay attention to the sciences and philosophy
• When he was a student in Ateneo, he wrote another poem entitled Un Recuerdo de Mi Pueblo (In Memory of My Town) written in 1876. It was his way of giving tribute to his hometown in Calamba.
• Because of his education in Ateneo, he was able to write poems in religion and education. Some of his poems:

  1. Al Niño Jesus (To the Child Jesus)
  2. La Alianza Intima Entre Religion y La Buena Educacion (The Intimate Alliance Between Religion and Good Education)
  3. Por La Educacion Recibe Lustre la Patria (Through Education the Country Receives Light)
• Don Francisco sent Rizal to UST, the Dominican University of the Philippines
• His former mentors in Ateneo suggested priesthood or farming, but Rizal considered taking up literature, law, or medicine. Paciano discouraged him to take law due to the political conditions of the country.
• Rizal enrolled in the Faculty of Philosophy and Letters, Major in Philosophy. This was the course that his father wanted him to pursue, but he also took courses in Cosmology, Metaphysics, Theodicy, and History of Philosophy.
• He could not practice the surveyor's profession yet, but he was presented with the title on November 25, 1881, for his excellency.
• After his first year, Rizal changed his course from Philosophy and Letters to Medicine to cure his sick mother who had an eyesight failure
• Rizal was not happy while in UST. Three contributing factors explain this:

  1. The attitude of Dominican professors towards Rizal
  2. There was racial discrimination against Filipino students
  3. He was disgusted at the primitive method used in UST
• The first woman he was into was Segunda Katigbak of Batangas. When Rizal found out she was getting married he turned away. At the time, he was courting both Leonor (Orang) Valenzuela and Leonor Rivera. Upon learning Orang was already engaged, Rizal focused on Leonor Rivera (his first cousin)
• After the opening of the Suez Canal, the availability of the Philipines were open to world trade.
• Liceo Artistico Literario de Manila, an organization of art lovers in the city, initiated regular competitions in literary writing. Sponsored by the association in 1879 and 1880, Rizal's works:

  1. A La Juventud Filipina (To the Filipino Youth)
  2. El Consejo de los Dioses (The Council of the Gods)

  were recognized as the best entries in the competition
• Rizal wrote the English translation when he was 18. He won the grand prize in the contest wherein Rizal received a silver quill for sharing his poetry.
• La Juventud Filipina was considered a great work in the Philippine literature for the following reasons:

  1. The Spanish authorities noticed that it was the first best poem in Spanish written by a Filipino
  2. It showed the Filipinos were the fair hope of motherland - a nationalistic concept that portrayed Rizal's love for the country
• Rizal stood as a leader in student activism when he was studying philosophy and medicine at UST. The Spanish and mestizo students called Filipinos indio or chongo. In return, Rizal called them Kastila or bangus.
• Rizal created a secret group of Filipino students called "Compañerismo" (the patriot general of the Jews). He became the president of this secret society and Galiciano Apacible was the secretary
• He also criticized the archaic method of instruction at UST. In the laboratory, brown students were not allowed to touch the laboratory apparatus. Favoritism and skin color were bases for getting good grades and not the actual intellectual capacity of the students.
• Rizal first experienced Spanish brutality during his first summer vacation at Calamba after his freshman year at UST. He did not notice the man passing by was the lieutenant of the Guardia Civil. Since Rizal did not pay respect to him, the lieutenant whipped him with his sword and slashed it at Rizal's back causing him to be wounded.
• Rizal wrote a complaint letter to Governor-General Primo de Rivera but as a response, nothing as good, considering that he was an indio