Life and Studies at Ateneo

A. Ateneo’s year of establishment & its name at that time.

- Spanish Jesuits founded Ateneo de Manila in the year 1859, it started formerly as
Escuela Municipal de Manila; it is a public primary school located in Intramuros. The
institution changed its name (nag change yung school ng name) to Ateneo (nung
nagsimula na silang) when it began providing secondary education in the year 1865.

B. Jesuits as the best educators of Spain

i. Jesuitical system of instruction
- The Jesuit educational system was regarded to be more developed than that of other
institutions at the time. It had strict disciplines and less mechanical practices. The
program introduced the cultivation of arts such as music, drawing, and painting; it also
provides various vocational courses in agriculture, trade, and mechanics. One of the
main goals of the educational system was to shape the students' will and character to
make it easier for them to follow the rules of the Church. Before the start of each class,
the students attended masses, which were started and concluded with prayers.

ii. Interns and externs

- The (hinati yung class) class was separated into groups of interns and externs for the
first two terms. The first group included the Roman Empire, while the second was the
Carthaginian Empire. Each empire consists of five dignitaries, the Emperor, tribune,
Decurion, Centurion, and Standard-Bearer. Individual competitions were employed to
acquire these honors, which required catching one's opponent committing an error three
times. When a member of one empire was caught in error by the opposing empire, they
awarded a point. The points earned by each empire were added at the end of each
week, and the empire with the most points will be declared the winner.

C. Requirements to enter Ateneo

- Before students can enter the institution, they are required to take an entrance
examination on reading, writing, grammar, elementary arithmetic, and Christian doctrine.
Rizal did not remain in Manila but returned first to his town to celebrate the fiesta of its
patron saint; it was then that his father changed his mind and decided to send him to the
Ateneo instead.

D. Rizal in his 1st year.

i. Year started
- Rizal started his 1st year in Ateneo on June 12, 1872

ii. 1st professor including Rizal’s description of him

- Rizal's first professor in the institution was Fr. Jose Bech. He described him as a man of
high stature; slender body, bent forward, ascetic physical characteristics; small sunken
eyes; sharp Grecian nose; thin lips creating an arch with its sides pointed toward the
chin. He considered him as somewhat an insane person with unpredictable humor; at
times he was harsh and tolerant.

iii. Classmates including Rizal’s description of them

- The Peninsulares and sons of Peninsulares were among Rizal's classmates, as were
Francisco G. Oliva, who was highly skillful but not extremely studious; Joaquin Garrido,
who is often forgetful but possesses a lot of talent and ambition; and Gonzalo Marzano,
who occupied the throne of Emperor.
 iv. Rizal as a newcomer
- Since Rizal is a newcomer, he was initially placed at the back of the class, however; at
the end of only one month, he was immediately promoted and continued to be promoted
until he had earned the position of Emperor.

v. End of the term

a. His excellence
- Rizal received marks of excellence in all of his subjects and examinations at the end of
the term. He felt proud and satisfied with his performance, so he returned home for
vacation that year. He visited his mother in prison and informed her about his
performance in school.

E. Rizal in his 2nd year.

i. Year started
- Rizal started his 2nd year in Ateneo on 1873 - 1874

ii. Where he stayed

- During his 2nd year in the institution, rather than staying outside of the city, he resided at
No. 6 Calle Magallanes.

iii. End of the term

- Rizal received a medal at the end of the term. When he returned to his town, he went to
see his mother in jail for the second time, three months before she was set free.