US, Canada ‘Knollers’ urged to join class golden jubilee ‘for the ages’

Fil-Ams Rose Ysip-Rokicki, Chet Borromeo-Sharp (at left, standing and seated), Nati Santos-de Jesus and Rosanne Mabanta-Watson (from left, 6th and 7th) reunited five years ago with Maryknoll/Miriam College batchmates and plan to renew ties with more classmates at their 50th homecoming. CONTRIBUTED

SAN FRANCISCO – Former San Francisco State University associate director for international admissions Rosanne Mabanta Watson has slashed a chunk of days from her tight schedule in her second career as a travel advisor for a must-attend event before the end of summer.

Sacramento-area resident Chet Borromeo Sharp is taking time off from her duties at a California Dept. of Consumer Affairs agency to participate in the same much-anticipated gathering across the Pacific.

Former City College of San Francisco employee Nati Santos de Jesus was in Manila a few months ago and is all set to endure the 13-hour flight anew for a celebration she simply cannot imagine missing: The Maryknoll/Miriam College Class of 1974 Homecoming on September 7 on the Loyola Heights campus in Quezon City.

Fifty years ago they graduated from what was still known then as Maryknoll College, the renowned Catholic liberal arts institution that renamed itself in 1989.  As Miriam College, the school transitioned to Filipino lay administration from its missionary founders – the Maryknoll Sisters of St. Dominic in Ossining, New York.

“The Golden Jubilee Homecoming is an occasion to see your childhood friends or classmates, and  reminisce events in a familiar setting,” de Jesus shared her reason for taking the trek twice in as many years this time.

“For some of us, it may be the first, and also the last homecoming we will be attending in our lifetime,” the Daly City resident waxed pensive.

Borromeo Sharp concurred.

“The last time I was in Manila was almost 10 years ago. I haven’t had a chance to visit because I have been using my vacation time in countries I haven’t seen,“ she said.  “But this Golden (reunion) is a wonderful opportunity to get together with the classmates I grew up with, so God willing, I’m going!”

From Chicago, Rose Ysip Capistrano Rokicki, echoed the sentiment.

“I am excited to experience again those beautiful Maryknoll memories that have molded me into the person I have become – bold, confident, ambitious and beautiful inside and out,” said the retired hotel sales director who travels yearly to the Philippines to provide assistance to tribal pastors in provinces between Benguet and Zambales. In between painting flowers and Nature’s other wonders, that too.

With gratitude

A grand welcome awaits them and over a hundred graduates from all over the home country and beyond.

“We want everyone, especially our batchmates from abroad, to attend our 50th Golden Jubilee this September, as our Homecoming will be a perfect opportunity to enjoy this time together to renew the friendship that has blossomed through the 50 years since our Maryknoll College days,” Homecoming chair Menchu Genato-Henson reiterated to Inquirer.net USA.

“Your MC’74 Core Group has planned many fun activities a week before and a week after our September 7 Homecoming to further strengthen this bond by building memories together in a celebration for the ages,” she sweetened the message she is sending to classmates worldwide.

Since their 45th reunion, the class core group or steering committee has been spending hours meeting in person and conferring on Viber to guarantee a fun and unforgettable fortnight.  Even earlier, 20 years prior, they had already launched a fund with the 50th fete in mind.  A big purser was the 1999 golf tournament.  Last year their APO Concert was a blockbuster.

MC74 launches their Golden Jubilee in Manila with support from classmate Liz Sy (standing toward the right, hands crossed). CONTRIBUTED

Comprising yearmates who have made their mark in their homeland and North America, the core team surprised themselves by exceeding their fund-raising target.  They are thrilled to treat attendees to the following all-expense paid festivities:

• Welcome cocktail reception on Sept. 1
• Manila City tour and dinner
• Visit to Miriam College Porac Alviera, Pampanga, campus and culinary tour of the country’s cuisine capital
• Homecoming Day program and dinner at the main campus on Katipunan Road
• Two-night excursion to Baguio

Core members represent the different majors offered in the 1970s – Economics/Mathematics, International Studies, Communication Arts, Business Administration, Social Work and Child Study. Some expanded their horizons by embarking on careers outside their undergrad studies to become a lawyer, an envoy, a town mayor and executive secretary to the country’s president.

One is now a sustainable organic farmer and another a volunteer couples counselor, while one manages her husband’s singing engagements.  They are diverse in their skill sets but, like their batchmates in general, are bound by their common fidelity to their school mission, duty to give back and passion to serve.

Alumnae Mawie Yan-Aglipay, Susan de Leon-Syquia, Maria Nimfa Fallarme-Ronson, Annie Luna-Trias, Nena Villavicencio, Marilyn Aberilla-Mayoralgo, Lynda Reyes-Geraldez, Odette Ong, Emily Siy, Caling Tanco-Young, Ninay Manzana-Villanueva, Michelle Ileto-de Belen, Millie Sta. Maria- Thomeczek, Bong Agcaoili-Garrovillo, and Edy Montecastro-Lim reveal their Knoller “spirits through and through,” as the school hymn exhorts, in collaborating under the guidance of  Genato-Henson.  The latter still draws second glances as the amiable spokesmodel for Tita Maggi seasoning while she was a vice president with San Miguel Corporation.

While grateful for the bounty to afford the free-for-participants extravaganza, Genato Henson noted target investments.

The core team is diverse in their skill sets but united in their commitment to their school mission and passion to serve. CONTRIBUTED

“Best of all, we have bolstered our Kawanggawa Fund to help classmates in need, assist calamity relief efforts and other worthy endeavors we may decide in the future,” she said.

Following tradition, the school will receive a special gift: “We are donating, as promised, 1 million pesos to the school’s endowment fund.”

Genato Henson often travels to the US to visit her brother and his family, and attend athletic competitions with her husband, popular sports analyst husband Quinito Henson.  She urges MC74 grads from the US to personally join in and take pride in their impactful philanthropy.

They will see the refurbished Marian Auditorium, site of many productions seared in memory: a Filipiniana fashion show starring their classmates in their mothers’ best Philippine formal attire, the debut performance of The Circus Band before its members disbanded to become pop and rock superstars, and a protest rally by typically dauntless UP students culminating with clenched-fisted rendition of “Bayan Ko.” On Sept. 7, MC74 jubilarians will show how vibrant and vital being 70 is today in their dance presentation of “One Love, One Heart…With Gratitude.”

Known as Tita Maggi in the 1970s when she was a VP with San Miguel Corporation, Menchu Genato-Henson urges North American batchmates to share pride in their class gift to their school. CONTRIBUTOR

They will traverse halls that witnessed their transformation from tentative but eager-to-learn teens to assertive young women poised to uphold the values instilled by the Alma Mater: truth, justice, peace and integrity of creation, committed leaders to serve for the greater good.

Graduates who exceptionally fulfill the vision in the face of adversity are nominated by alumni, faculty or staff for recognition as Triple A Awardees – Amazing Alumni Achievers – by a committee led by MC74 Communication Arts Major Millie Santamaria Thomeczek, retired Philippine Ambassador to Berlin.  The diplomat herself was among five batchmates to receive the accolade five years ago including Filipina British Maria Nimfa Fallarme Ronson, retired AP Vice President for Sales in Asia-Pacific. Former USAID acting Director Gloria Diño Steele was one of two Fil-Am laureates.