Rizal

• Rizal took and passed the entrance exams in College of San Juan de Letran


  June 10, 1872
• Ateneo Municipal


  Previously called Escuela Pia (Charity School), under the supervision of Spanish Jesuits
• Fr. Margin Fernando, the college registrar refused to admit Rizal
• Reasons Fr. Margin Fernando refused to admit Rizal

  • Rizal was late for registration
  • Rizal was sickly and undersized for his age, 11 years old
• Manuel Xeres Burgos, nephew of Fr. Jose Burgos helped Rizal be admitted
• Rizal was the first of his family to use the surname "Rizal"
• Rizal first boarded a house of Caraballo Street, located outside Intramuros
• Titay was Rizal's first landlady, who owed the Rizal Family 300 pesos
• Internos


  Boarders, represented by a red banner
• Externos


  Non-boarders, represented by a blue banner
• Fighting for their positions

  1. Students challenge one another

  2. Any "officer" could lose their position after three mistakes

  3. After a sixth defeat, the banner of the losing "empire" is changed with a figure of a donkey
• Fr. Jose Bech was Rizal's first professor
• Rizal knew little Spanish so he was placed at the bottom of the class
• Initially, Rizal was an "externo", a member of the Carthaginian Empire. By the end of his first month, he became its "emperor
• Rizal took private lessons in Santa Isabel College to improve his Spanish, for which he paid P 3.00
• Rizal fell short in retaining his academic supremacy during the second half of the year due to some remarks of his professor
• By the end of his first year, Rizal placed second
• Saturnina brought Rizal to Tanawan to cheer him up during the summer vacation of 1873
• Unbeknownst to his father, Rizal sneaked to Santa Cruz where his mother, Doña Teodora was imprisoned
• Doña Pepay was Rizal's new landlady in his second year at Ateneo
• Rizal lived inside Intramuros at No. 6 Magallanes Street in his second year
• By the end of the second school year, Rizal once again became an "emperor"
• Returning to Calamba in 1874, Rizal received a gold medal and "excellent" marks in all subjects
• In the summer of 1874, Rizal, once again visited his mother in Santa Cruz
• Doña Teodira shared a dream she had, which Rizal interpreted as her release from prison in three months
• Three months later, Doña Teodora was set free
• Doña Teodora likened Rizal to Joseph in the Bible, who had an ability to interpret dreams
• "The Count of Monte Cristo" by Alexander Dumas


  Rizal's first favorite novel
• Rizal's interests in "The Count of Monte Cristo"


  • The sufferings of Edmond Dantes in prison
  • His escape from the dungeon of Chateau d'if
  • Him finding a buried treasure on the island of Monte Cristo
  • His dramatic revenge
• "Universal History" by Cesar Cantu is a non-fiction set Rizal persuaded his father to buy for him
• "Travel in the Philippines" by Dr. Feodor Jagor, a German scientist who visited the Philippines
• Topics in "Travel in the Philippines"

  • Defects of Spanish colonization
  • His prophecy of Spain losing Philippines, and America succeeding it
• In June 1874, Rizal's mother arrived to tell him she was release from prison
• Rizal did not make an excellent showing in his studies as in the previous year, but he remained excellent in all subjects
• Rizal only won one medal-Latin in his third year at Ateneo
• On June 15,1875, Rizal officially became an "interno"
• Fr. Francisco de Paula Sanchez was one of Rizal's professors, who inspired Rizal to study harder and to write poetry
• By the end of his fourth year, Rizal topped all his classmates in all subjects and won five medals
• Rizal was "The Pride of the Jesuit" in his last year at Ateneo
• Finishing his studies, Rizal obtained the highest grades in all subjects- philosophy, physics, biology, chemistry, languages, etc.