ateneo and ust

• Rizal took entrance exam for Ateneo Municipal de Manila


  June 10, 1872
• Rizal was initially refused admission to the Ateneo for being late for registration and being considered sickly and undersized for his age
• Manuel Xerez Burgos


  Intervened to get Rizal accepted into the Ateneo
• Rizal's first day of class at Ateneo


  June 1872
• Fr. Jose Bech


  Rizal's first professor at Ateneo
• Externo


  Rizal was assigned to the Carthaginians class
• By the end of the month, Rizal became the "emperor" of his class, a term used to denote the brightest pupil
• Rizal took private Spanish lessons at Santa Isabel College and paid 3 pesos for extra lessons
• Rizal placed second at the end of his first year, although his grades were marked "Excellent"
• Rizal returned to Calamba for summer vacation

  March 1873
• Rizal's sister Neneng (Saturnina) brought him to Tanawan to cheer him up
• Rizal visited his mother in prison at Santa Cruz without telling his father
• After vacation, Rizal returned to Manila and boarded at No. 6 Mogallones Street, Intramuros, with Dona Pepay as his landlady
• In his second year, Rizal experienced a period of regret for having neglected his studies the previous year
• Rizal studied harder and once more became an "emperor" after losing his class leadership
• Rizal had 3 classmates from Binan who had also been his classmates in the school of Maestro Justiniano
• Rizal's hard work paid off, he received excellent grades in all subjects and was awarded a gold medal
• Rizal read "The Count of Monte Cristo" by Alexander Dumas, which became his first favorite novel and made a deep impression on him
• Shortly after the opening of classes in Rizal's 3rd year, his mother was released from prison
• In his 3rd year, Rizal only won one medal, specifically in Latin, and failed to win the medal in Spanish due to his spoken Spanish not being fluently sonorous
• Rizal returned to Calamba for summer vacation

  March 1875
• In Rizal's final year, he achieved remarkable success and academic excellence, obtaining the highest grades in all subjects and graduating with the degree of Bachelor of Arts with highest honors
• Rizal wrote several poems during his final year at Ateneo, including "The Heroism of Columbus", "Columbus and John II", and others
• Rizal's Commencement Day


  March 23, 1877
• Rizal Matriculated in the University of Santo Tomas

  April 1877
• Reasons Rizal enrolled in UST

  • His father liked it
  • He was still uncertain as to what career to pursue
• First-year Term (1877-78)


  1. Ateneo Rector's advice - study medicine

  2. He took the vocational course leading to the title of "perito agrimensor" (expert surveyor)
• Finishes Surveying Course in Ateneo

  1878
• Rizal was granted the title as surveyor


  November 25,1881
• One dark night in Calamba, during the summer vacation in 1878, when Rizal was walking in the street and dimly perceived the figure of a man while passing him


  Not knowing the person was a lieutenant of the Guardia Civil, he did not salute nor say greetings. With a snarl, he turned upon Rizal, whipped out his sword and brutally slashed his back.
• Rizal reported the incident to General Primo de Rivera, the Spanish Governor General of the Philippines at that time, but nothing came out because he was an Indio and the accused was a Spaniard.
• Rizal: 'I went to the Captain- General but I could not obtain justice; my wound lasted two weeks.'
• Rizal submitted his poem entitled A La Juventud Filipina (To the Filipino Youth) to the Liceo Artisco-Literano (Artistic-Literary Lyceum) of Manila society of literary men and artists; held a literary contest.

  1879
• The Board of Judges submitted his poem, composed of Spaniards, gave the first prize to Rizal which consisted of a silver pen, feather-shaped and decorated with a gold ribbon.
• Rizal submitted an allegorical drama entitled El Consejo de los Dioses (The Council of the Gods) to the Artistic-Literary Lyceum and he received the first prize, a gold ring on which was engraved the bust of Cervantes.


  1880
• Other Literary Works


  • Junto al Pasic (Beside the Pasig) (1880) a zarzuela which was staged by the Ateneans on December 08, 1880, on the annual celebration of the Feast Day of the Immaculate Conception (Patrones of the Ateneo)
  • A Filipinas (1880) a sonnet he wrote for the album of the Society of Sculptors
  • Abd-el-Azis (1879) a poem declaimed by Manuel Fernandez on the night of December 08, 1879 in honor of the Ateneo's Patroness
  • Al M.R.P. Pablo Ramon (1881) a poem he wrote as an expression of affection to Father Pablo Ramon
• Rizal went to a pilgrimage to the town of Pakil, famous shrine of the Birhen Maria de los Dolores.


  Summer of May 1881
• Rizal was the champion of the Filipino students in their fights against the arrogant Spanish students, who insultingly called their brown classmates "Indio, chongol".
• In 1880, Rizal founded a secret society of Filipino students in the University of Santo Tomas called "Compañerismo" (Comradeship), whose members were called "Companions of Jehu," after the valiant Hebrew general who fought, the Armaeans.
• Rizal's cousin was Galicano Apacible.