FORTY years ago, 54 giggly and awkward young ladies graduated high school from St. Scholastica’s Academy in Bacolod City and were launched into the world.
First stop for most was college, then pursued careers, created businesses, established relationships, got married, raised, and nurtured families. Seldom in the established or expected order.
In whatever order, these 54 remarkable ladies went out into the world and for the next 40 years made their mark and made a difference in this world.
The one year leading to the Ruby Jubilee started with the reaching out to long lost friends, or even just those who lived in far-flung corners of the globe, and convincing them to come home for the homecoming.
Convincing classmates to come home for the reunion was easy. Getting them to agree to participate in the mandatory dance presentation of jubilarians took a little more work.
Throughout the years, the many meetings to organize homecoming activities, field trips to scout locations for post-homecoming out of town trips, or even shopping trips to source materials for dance costumes, and especially dance practices for the jubilee presentation, were the perfect excuses to get together, renew ties, and deepen long established bonds all building up to the Alumnae Homecoming.
And finally when Alumnae Homecoming came, more than 40 of those 54 Ruby Jubiliarians (including many former classmates who didn’t graduate with the batch), came home to celebrate more than 40 years of friendship.
Everyone of those 40+ jubiliarians participated in the celebration that spanned the alumnae mass, the lunches, and dinners, the dance practices, and rehearsals with old friends, and culminated in the Ruby Jubiliarians’ “Saturday Night Fever” dance number in the Alumnae presentation. And what a dance it was!
For the love of friends, the Bacolod troupe, the Manila troupe, the Overseas troupe, and the dancing “non-dancers” troupe, all came together in a burst of “Saturday Night Fever” dance frenzy celebrating 40 years of love and friendship. Onward to the next reunion, wherever that may be!