Choosing Home

As we prepare to start another school year, we want to hear from our incoming freshies about what they’re most looking forward to in their Ateneo experience. AJSS participant, IB perfect scorer and incoming Management Engineering (ME) major Timothy Manaloto shares why despite being offered admission in Ivy League and top universities abroad, Ateneo is still the school for him.

I am a Filipino, born and raised. My father belongs to the BS Management Engineering ( batch ‘85, and my mother, a UP graduate, is an Ateneo Junior Summer Seminar (AJSS) alumna, batch ‘87. I experienced Jesuit schooling at Xavier School San Juan for 8 years. I completed my high school at International School Manila (ISM). Most of my peers yearned to go abroad. The global nature of ISM’s International Baccalaureate (IB) program placed an unexpected pressure on me: the prospect of studying overseas. Although my applications abroad were successful, Ateneo remained my personal choice because I knew that I’d be equally successful by staying. A trio of factors convinced me to spend the next 4 years of my intellectual, spiritual, and social life here. In fact, Ateneo strikes a balance between quality education, community, and strong institutional ideals, all while being a car ride away from family. 

Quality education. Ateneo’s education resembles the best of Xavier’s and ISM’s; undoubtedly traditional, yet undeniably progressive. The Atenean curriculum is flexible enough in accommodating the Philippines ’ ever-dynamic socio-economic trends but maintains a rigidity to ground its students in basic fundamental concepts. My course, Management Engineering, is a prime example. It reconciles the seemingly incompatible proclivities of mathematical concepts, coding, and business. Even 50 years after its introduction, it continues to produce capable men and women who, using quantitative methods, effectively manage modern enterprises, thus driving the Philippine economy forward. Ideas synergistically mixing and matching are exactly what I look forward to learning in a Filipino education. After all, this unconventional, rigorous education just might be the best preparation for me to take on a career that does not yet exist. 

Community. The rise, operation, and fall of business conglomerates hinge on personal relationships. Beyond just creating financial wealth, meeting like-minded people is one of my timeless “musts” in life. Good people catalyze my self-improvement, reinforcing in me a sense of morally grounded compassion. Attending college here and not abroad affords me connections that will later blossom into life-long ties. Collaboration, rather than competition, prevails in Atenean organizations. From Debate Society to Economics Association to Tanghalang Ateneo, there is a club welcoming to each interest, including my own. The breadth and depth of Ateneo’s support network are on a scale the likes of which I’ve never been more pleased to be part of.

And finally, ideals. American steel industrialist Andrew Carnegie once claimed, “The man who dies thus rich dies disgraced.” This speaks volumes on the caliber of Mr. Carnegie’s selfless, generous character. Ateneo’s Jesuit spirit of “cura personalis” builds on Mr. Carnegie’s statement by adding “Ad majorem Dei gloriam,” or all for the glory of God. I believe that developing my talents at Ateneo uplifts my circumstances and fulfills the ultimate purpose of improving the Philippines’ socio-economic status; in preparation for our children, our children’s children, and all the Filipinos yet to come. Living the faith armed with Atenean knowledge and love for God ensures that my life, now and later, will be well-lived.

An Atenean education merits these and so much more. However, make no mistake: my freshman year in college is in no way what I imagined it to be 4 short years ago. The coronavirus pandemic has thoroughly disrupted “normalcy.” Online learning and isolation from peers is a daunting challenge − unthinkable to our highly interconnected selves of before. Yet, while change is inevitable, failure to adapt isn’t. It is our job as students to examine new ways of learning in conjunction with older methods. Excelling academically and socially in the most interesting times testifies to the inextinguishable, fiery spark we, Ateneans, distinctly possess. A Chinese proverb, 星火燎原, captures this concept: “a single spark creates a blaze.” Let our sparks enable us to blaze our trails moving forward and eventually set the world on fire.