BABANTO JANSEN KENT H.

ARCH5B_A2
RIZAL: LIFE AND WORKS OF RIZAL
ACTIVITY 3

1) Write a short biographical essay that compares your early childhood education Rizal’s own.

Rizal’s early childhood education started with his mom teaching him the alphabet
which is the same as I do. My mom is an elementary school teacher so she taught every basic thing I
need to learn before continuing a formal education. Though, unlike Rizal I don’t have tutors and
never learned any fencing, swimming or any sports during my childhood but I just acquired it later
time in life. I attended daycare for a week but was advised to go to a kindergarten class, since I
already acquired the basics during that time. Rizal already developed his love literature when he
was eight as wrote his first poem “Sa Aking ma Kababata”, but me on the other hand developed my
love for arts. I love to draw ever since I was little; any medium like watercolors, colored pencils, and
paints as well. Though I’m not as proficient during that time since I only draw simple “palayan”
sceneries and my favorite cartoon characters, I did able to understand that I truly love art at the age
eight.
Rizal was able to develop his patriotism early in his education which to me is the
same but not to a full extent like Rizal. A simple singing of the national anthem during flag
ceremony does encourage a deep patriotism within me during that time. Rizal as well transferred to
a private school to which I don’t since I continued my childhood education in a public school. During
Rizal’s time Spanish and Latin is inevitably necessary as a language to personally acquire, during my
time on the other hand English and Filipino was introduced, not much on our mother tongue since
it was not pushed by the educational system unlike in today’s young learners education. Rizal was
an intellectual when he was young as he showed his superiority in the field early on. Even though
I’m not as bright or intelligent as Rizal I did and was able to get an honors badge from Grades one to
six and was happy to give back to parents who helped me to become who I am at the present.

2) Compare Rizal education in Ateneo and UST.

So in a nutshell, the academic atmosphere in the Ateneo and UST during Rizal’s time
was different from each other. One was more strict with students and the other granted them
more freedom. Ateneo de Manila which was formerly Ateneo Muncipal, was a boys’ school
and its graduates finish their education with the title bachiller en artes which is in Rizal’s time
was equivalent to today’s high school. The University of Santo Tomas on the other hand, was
the only institution in the Philippines that provided college degrees. As to the academic climate
in both institutions, in the Ateneo, classes last the whole day beginning with a mass at 7
o’clock in the morning. All students are required to attend such masses. The students are
under strict supervision by their teachers. All the time in Ateneo is devoted to study,
academics and co-curricular activities such as contests in Spanish, Latin and Greek.
On the other hand, at the University of Santo Tomas, the students were given more
freedom. Half of the day is given to study and the rest was free time. The students are not
anymore required to attend mass. This freedom is not leniency but this was allowed by the
university authorities on the basis that the college students are believed to be more mature
and responsible. Rizal in his spare time used returned to Ateneo to take up a course in land
surveying. As for the grades of the students, certainly study at the University of Santo Tomas
was harder than the Ateneo because UST was a university and the Ateneo was a high school. It
would be unfair to compare Rizal’s excellent grades with the latter and those with the former.