Life and Studies in Ateneo (1872-1877)

In 1865, college began to function in the Philippines when the Jesuits returned. Jesuits were considered as the best educators in Spain, and perhaps in Europe. So they established an institution called the Ateneo de Municipal.

The Instruction of Jesuitical system was considered advanced. Their methods were less mechanical and rigid in discipline. Jesuits introduced physical culture as well as art cultivation, such as music, drawing, and painting. Agriculture, commerce, and mechanics were part of their vocational courses. Being a religious institution, Ateneos principal purpose was to mold character.

Rizal entered Ateneo de Municipal in 1872. He describe his first professor, Fr. Jose Bech as a man of high stature; lean body, bent forward; quick gait; ascetic physiognomy, severe and inspired; small, sunken eyes; sharp Grecian nose; thin lips forming an arch with its sides directed toward the chin."

During his second year in Ateneo he had the same professor as in the previous year; but instead of lodging outside the City, he resided at No. 6 Calle Magallanes. At the end of the term, he received excellenct grades in all his subjects and was awarded a gold medal.

Rizal devoted most of his time to reading. He particularly admired Alexander Dumas The Count of Monte Cristo, The Universal History by Cesar Cantanu, and Travels in the Philippines by Dr. Feodor Jagor. Rizal also read romantic novels that helped him in enriching his creative views in writing.

June 1874, during his third year in Ateneo, his year opened with a surprise visit from her mother telling him that she was already released from prison. As a result, he became more motivated to study and remain at the top of his class.

Rizal wrote the poem Mi Primera Inspiracion a poem dedicated to his mother. In 1875, he wrote Felicitacion, El Embarque: Himno a la flota de Magallanes, Y Es Espaol: Elcano El Primero En Dar Vuelta Al Mundo, and El Combate : Urbiztondo, Terror de Jolo. In 1876, Rizal wrote poems about religion, education and memories of his youth and war: Un Recuerdo a Mi Puebo, Alianza Intima Entre la Religion y Buena Educacion, Por La Educacin Recibe Lustre La Patria, El Cautiverio y el Triunfo, and La Entrada Triunfal de los Reyes Catolices en Granada. During his last year in Ateneo de Municipal, Rizal did not restrain his writing spirit. He wrote more poems: El Heroismo de Colon, Colon y Juan II, Gran Consuelo en la Mayor Desdicha, and Un dialogo Alusivo a la Despidida delos Colegiales.

Having a small built, he tried to cope by attending his gymnastics class regularly in the college. He engaged himself to physical exercises, such as fencing. He also devoted time to painting and sculpture. His drawing and painting instructor was Don Augustin Saez. In sculpture, his instructor was a Filipino, Romualdo de Jesus. He graduated as Sobresaliente or "Outstanding", the highest recognition in Ateneo.

Jose Rizal as a student in Ateneo de Manila and prefect of the Sodality of Our Lady
leave a comment by Fr. Victor Badillo, S.J. When the Jesuits returned to the Philippines in 1859, their mission was to work in Mindanao. They were persuaded by the City of Manila to run the Escuela Municipal de Manila, a public primary school. The school was renamed Ateneo when it began offering secondary education in 1865. Incidentally, they also started a second school, the Escuela Normal, to train teachers for the public schools. In the beginning, the Ateneo accepted only Filipinos (Spaniards born in the Philippines). Later they accepted also Indios. One such was Jose Protacio Mercado. But he enrolled under the name Jose Protacio Rizal, at the advice of his family. He had to dissociate himself from his brother, Paciano Mercado, who had gained notoriety with the authorities with his links to priests who had been sentence to death as subversives. 1872, the year Jose Rizal enrolled when he was 11, was a fateful year. That year Frs. Gomez, Burgos and Zamora were executed for complicity in the Cavite mutiny. It so affected him that later he said, I would have been a Jesuit today, if I had not vowed to continue the fight of those priests. He was quite affected that he, an Indio, 11 years old was addressed Usted (thou), and not tu (you), by older Spanish Jesuits. He and his elders had always been addressed by the degrading tu, In Tagalog, Ikaw (you singular). Ustedwas equivalent to kayo (you plural) or even siya or sila (he or they). No wonder he loved them. Todays Filipino Jesuits do not know usted but they never time of praising Ateneans. And the poor boys believe them! Who can blame them? A little girl carried by her mother, on hearing a visitor say, What a beautiful girl. beamed, More. More. At first, he boarded in the houses in Intramuros or with relatives on his mothers side. He was free to do what he wanted, socializing etc. But he decided to enroll as a boarder, knowing what this meant. A restricted life, regulated by bells, telling when to eat, when to rest, when to study. In the study room, he could get free help and

individual tutoring from Jesuits prefects. He learned how to concentrate, to compete against himself. Because knew how to utilize ad lib (free) time, he did not waste time. By being bound, he became free, free of laziness, of bad habits. He became the Filipino he expected others to be before demanding independence. He lived it. By this he became free to free others. By living a disciplined life, he could do many things. He enrolled in two schools, even three schools in Spain, at one time and excelled in them. As a sodalist he was expected to do mental prayer at least fifteen minute each day. Prayer was not just an exercise. It meant contact with the divine. It meant knowing Jesus and imitating him. It meant being challenged to fight for the King and not to count the cost. By his performance, he became a Prefect of the Sodality. Jesuit pedagogy was pauca praecepta, multa exempla, plurima exercitation (few rules, many examples, numberless exercise). And cura personalis(individualized attention). In liberal education, he met the best thinkers and was inspired to be like them and even to be better them. That is the purpose of the classics. Not good speech and writing and oratory. The curriculum was graduated, step by step, according to the ability of the student. The Jesuits did not neglect competition, prizes and punishments (jug, the cane, etc).