the blessings continue...

I can't believe it-got the friend confirmation I was waiting for from Paps Mosende and more! Class '77 has accepted me in their circle of friends and there's going to be a mini reunion here in San Diego in August. Paps Mosende gave me another contact person to send an email to..At least the wheels are moving, and not stuck to one place, which was what I was afraid of... The good thing about this is that before the reunion starts next year, I have a feeling that I'll be able to meet quite a few FEU former grads...

Wow, that's a far cry from when I was a student.. We all went thru it=we had to pass those practical and theoretical exams that our noses were buried to the grind all the time... There's not even enough time in the day(or night!) to study, much less to socialize.. In retrospect, I'm glad that I was part of the newsletter, The Medical Researcher, when it was revived the 1st time..Working with Epoy Nierva and Rey Melchor Santos, I learned how to work a mimeo machine and print/make mock ups and lay outs on those newsletters..We did everything to get that newsletter published! I don't know why I did it @ the time-there's not even time to study for Micro and Para and Path! And yet we used to make those things after classes, that we sometimes stay in FEU till wee hours in the morning! If anything, it taught us discipline and not to back down from some teachers when we publish something they don't like! After all, it was during the height of martial law!
Isn't that how they made our test questions, at the time-mimeo copies? I know I'm really dating myself here, but it's one of the obsolete things we had back then!

Anyway, I digress.. back to searching for members in this reunion.. Hope that things will all fall into place..We have a lot of time, but it's always good to have a head start, especially on something of this magnitude.. Wonder how others got started? Wonder if there are sites somewhere that'll give me pointers on how to do this? Sort of like a diy (do it yourself) instructions, like @ Home Depot?

Baby Steps to Find Members and Core Group Update

The core group number was increased from 10 to 12, thanks to Jackie and Dreena..It's wonderful to get affirmation from other classmates re: reunion in 2011!

Personally, trying to find MT grads from Class '75, '76 and '77 seem like a monumental task... So scary is the grads' list that I was beginning to be discouraged, even before we got started. Then, I found this website, FEU Med Tech Alumni Association of North America..Hallelujah, my prayers were answered! Hold on, can't get my hopes up too much! But know what? Their members not only answered my email, they even invited me to join them in their meeting in Vancouver on the last weekend of July.. Too bad, we're having a CAP inspection until Sept, or I'd have gone.. After all, it's just 2 hours drive from my brother's house in Seattle, and they have the biggest Chinatown in North America,where you can buy Atis and lanzones! Anyway, I decided I'll run an ad in their souvenir program to try to find members..I still have to design an eye catching ad, though!

Last night, I went on Facebook and saw that Rey Salta, (our former Parasitology lab instructor @ FEU, who's now based in SD), became a friend of FEU MT Class '77 and Circle of Friends! Wow, my guardian angel must be watching over me! To make the story short, I'm now waiting to be friends with someone from Class '77 who Rey said has a long contact list of people from Class '76 and '77 ..

Tonight, I finally got in touch with Lennie Florentin-Natividad, a college friend and at present, the Director of the School of Med Tech @ FEU NRMF. Found her in FB thru Rey (again!). She was Board topnotcher of Class '75, so I invited her to our reunion, too. She already said Yes! Maybe she would know how to contact more people? Isn't it amazing how the series of events seem to fall into place sometimes?


The most important factor in this search for members is that I was blessed with the best mates in the world, my tsikahan friends both here and in the Phils.. I know that we all have one thing in common=to work as a team so that we can make this reunion a success..Thanks, Friends!

1st Meeting @ Malou Manalo's Residence in SD,CA

May 9, 2010, Sunday (Mother's Day):
The meeting was called to order @ 1:30 pm and presided by Maxi Dela Cruz-Edora. In attendance were the following: Malou Manlutac-Manalo, Darwyn Cabebe-Ramirez, Beth Alejandro, Irma Aguja-DelaCruz, Vilma Badiola, Bess and Sonnie Janairo, Jojo Torres, Leo and Benilda Non, and Cyd Grepo-Sartoris. Not present were Fely Legaspi-Navarro and Carmen Barrientos.


DATE OF REUNION: Oct 21-23, 2011.
VENUE: To be determined (Choices: Caliraya in Batangas, Subic, Batangas, Tagaytay, and Taytay, Rizal).
ATTENDEES: FEUNRFM MT Grads from 1975, 1976, 1977.
PROGRAM of ACTIVITIES: To be determined..
OPTIONAL SIDE TRIPS/ACTIVITIES AFTER THE REUNION: To be discussed
and determined later..


Mon Alegre, Efren Nierva, and Hector Rivera from the Phils will get bids from the above possible venues to include lodging for 3 nights/days, food, activities and amenities available for the attendees.

It was decided that a core group of 10 people will start to contribute at least $20/mo from June, 2010 - June 2011 to cover the expenses that would be incurred for the 3 days lodging, food and activities for the reunion. Maxi and Darwyn, (our treasurer), will open a bank account where we can all send our contributions. Furthermore, Darwyn will send everyone the necessary information to facilitate the transmittal of these funds to our designated account. Everyone who is willing, (in our reunion/tsikahan group), is invited and welcome to contribute to this account, as well.

Committees formed for the reunion:
1. Reaching out /finding Members:
= Each core member will start calling one or two other tsikahan members,(or people they've heard who belong to our group), to find out their commitment to attend the reunion in 2011.
= They will communicate the names of people and their answers to Cyd, who in turn will keep a tally of how many people are coming to the reunion. This will be cross referenced against the graduates' list in our tsikahan group.
= Cyd will give all members a report @ the next meeting in October in SF.

2. Fundraising: Leo Non was designated to chair this committee. He will choose his members who will work with him on issues connected with how to best disburse the funds in our account.

3. Travel Committee: Beth Alejandro was designated as this committee's chairperson. She will choose the members of her team and will work on travel-related issues, i.e, group rates, tours, side trips, etc.

4. Tax Deduction?: Maxi will find out if this reunion can be dovetailed with a PAMET conference/meeting so that it can be a tax deductible expense.

Next Meeting: Oct., 2010 in San Francisco, CA

Meeting Adjourned: 3:30 pm..