Four Years In The Making

Grad Ball April 7, 2006
Bayen Trademark

More than a month ago, the pioneer class of the College of Medicine USLS held the first ever graduation Ball. It was supposed to be a historic night. It was the first formal occasion for the first batch to graduate from the first Medical School in the Province of Negros Occidental. It was the first night of nights to come and it was the first step in a series of stepping stones intended as a tradition for generations to follow. Personally, it was my first grad ball. I never had a JS Prom during my high school and even during college. It was supposed to be formal but once you a gather a batch like us, it wouldn't be long for a formal moment to become informal.

So after dropping my son off in my parents' internet cafe, my wife and I went to the grad ball at L' Fisher Hotel. We were the first to be there and I intended it to be since I wanted to do a dry run of the video presentations we would be having during the evening's program. A few minutes after, the rest of the gang, along with their respective dates, came with the rest of the faculty, all in their formal attires. The evening started with the usual formalities. I was master of ceremonies and the objective was to keep the formal occasion "tension-free". Dinner followed after the opening remarks of Chad Hilado, our class president. During the latter part of the dinner, we watched the MTVs I made showcasing the many faces of Class 2006 since day One in 2002. It was a moment of reminiscing.



The Ladies of Class 2006
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The other half of the evening's affair was the giving out of special awards and citations for both classmates and teachers and residents. It was dubbed as the Pioneer Awards and the giving out of the awards was patterned after the Oscars. Special Awards were handed out such as the Sleeping Beauty Award (the intern who hibernates a lot in class!), the Spirit of the Wards Award (the intern whom you can hardly see in the wards or in his/her post), the Deep Impact award, (the resident who has 'touched' the lives of us interns during the entire rotation in CLMMRRH) and The Darling of the JIs (the favourite Resident of the interns). For this year, the Favourite Department is the Dep't of Orthopedics. Dr. Ricky Gallaga was given the Patch Adams Awards, the highest acknowledgement our batch has ever given to our mentors.

Grad Ball 2006: Pioneers
Bayen Trademark

The residents and consultants also gave out awards for the interns: The Outstanding JIs in their respective departments. Clarissa Uy was Outstanding JI for Surgery, Peewee Magalona also got one from Surgery, Chad Hilado for OB-GYNE, Mariella Araneta for Pediatrics, Mariella, Celna and Me for Internal Medicine and Radcibel for Anesthesia. The night ended with the coronation of the Homecoming King and Queen: Gerard and Mariella.

It was supposed to be a memorable night for all of us and I believe it was.