For any graduate, the Ateneo campus is bound to evoke some nostalgia. It has been the constant backdrop for the ups and downs of one’s college years.
Since every alumni’s story is so closely tied to its setting, Vantage invited graduating seniors to revisit their favorite spots in school. These fond memories show just how much Ateneo can feel like home and how there is no place quite like it.
Manuel V. Pangilinan Center for Student Leadership Building (MVP Building)
Patricia Dy (4 BS CTM)
My favorite place in school is MVP [Building]. I would always hang out in the [Ateneo Association for Communications Technology Managers] org room, MVP 321, where I met lifelong friends and made unforgettable memories. It was a pretty rowdy place because everyone was free to express himself or herself, so when I wanted to focus on my studies, MVP basement would be my safe haven—and then I would cram to print my homework in the Loyola Schools bookstore!
Oey Mirabueno (4 BS CS)
My favorite place in school is MVP 202, the Confederation of Publications org room. I would spend almost every break time in the Pub Room with my friends, who are some of the most amazing people I’ve ever met. There’s the aircon, too.
Red Brick Road
Jela Tolentino (4 BS ME)
In the middle of an evening jog, when the school would be quiet and almost empty, I would find myself along Red Brick Road. I’d look up and watch the trees’ canopies sway with each other, backlit by the sky. I’ve always found this experience so soothing, what with the all the hustle for school.
Gonzaga Cafeteria
Alex Retona (4 BS EcE)
My favorite place in school is the Gonzaga cafeteria. Not only is there always a lot of food to choose from, but this is also where friendships were formed throughout my years in the Ateneo. Laughing with my friends, playing cards with them, while at the same time having lunch or merienda made Gonzaga feel like home.
Church of the Gesu
Ryan Molen (4 BS LfSci)
A memorable place for me would be the little benches in front of the Church of the Gesu. Nothing particularly happens there, and that’s why it is memorable. Whenever I sit there, I enter a quiet world far from the rest of the university buzzing with activity. It’s just nice to sit quietly and breathe sometimes.
Development Studies Department
Nikki Salcedo (4 AB DS)
There’s a consultation room where we have some nice bean bags, and it’s super cozy. [Development Studies] students have oral exams or interviews there sometimes, but most times we just hang out, take a nap, or hide from the heat. I eat the biscuits at the lounge, where we hold meetings, consultations, and presentations. Sometimes the department holds parties, like birthdays, baby showers, and just small get-togethers. It’s my home department and I really feel at home whenever I’m there.
Fine Arts Department
Miguel Santiago (4 BFA CW)
I’d say the [Fine Arts] Department in Areté—specifically, the table near the front desk where students can sit in and work. On the day of the chapbook launch, a lot of us were cramming the dedications that most of the people who pre-ordered asked for. We all just gathered at that table and were churning out heartfelt messages. As for me, when I saw that I only had two hours left, I started doing my makeup for the chapbook launch there. When I had started contouring my face, someone asked me who the guy we assigned to bring the food was. I was the only one at the table who knew him, so I ran downstairs to help look for him, all the while beating my face with a beauty blender with one hand and holding up my mirror in the other.
Bellarmine Field
Sean Lee (4 AB EC)
[Bellarmine] Field has been home to Hinomoto’s Natsu Matsuri for over three years now. I’ve worked on it ever since my first year in Ateneo. It's like Cinderella trying to get to the ball: people running everywhere, rushing to decorate the booths, frantically pooling in all the volunteers and grabbing any last minute needs. As the sun goes down, the magic kinda starts to take over as all the flashing lights, music, games, food and hoards of people come in to see the festival until the clock strikes midnight (or eleven in our case). The stage lights close; the music slowly fades, and people start to take their leave. Suddenly, in the dead of night, we’re left with what we started with: a barren field, with seemingly no traces of the night that had transpired. It’s in the quiet nothingness after that you get to take a step back and really take in everything you’ve done. In the dead of night you're left with the extreme tiredness and need for sleep, but at the same time, your heart feels full; because you know you’ve done a damn good job and the night was absolutely magical. Suddenly you want to do it all over again.
New Rizal Lib
Amber Hao, 4 AB LIT (ENG)
The row of tables on the right side of the New Rizal Library’s fourth floor is my go-to study space. This is the place I gravitate toward whenever the stress of school catches up to me, when I have to start working on papers for my majors, or when I have to cram a one-page paper for Histo or Theo. The windows offer a view of SOM Forest’s canopy, the baseball field, and Katipunan Avenue. That you can see it, but can’t hear the noise from the busy highway is oddly calming, and I like that there’s a little warmth from the sun when the air conditioning gets too cold. During one of the hottest days of this sem, I was sitting on one of the tables when I noticed countless tiny pieces of fluff floating through the wind. I think they came from the kapok trees beside the library. It’s such a normal occurrence but it struck me as so magical, like tropical snowfall.
College is defined not just by academic and extracurricular achievements, but also quiet moments of reflection or friendship in between. This time, it’s up to the graduates to create spaces for these empowering moments even beyond the University campus. If anything, they have memories of a home in Katipunan and the bonds formed in it to guide them into the world that awaits.
Photos by Jim Dasal, Jerry Feng, Zoey Ignacio, Jason T. Mariano, and Reena C. Pineda, Illustrated by Neil R. Reyes and Carmela B. Masiglat.