And our batch will rule the world...

I always envisioned that there will come a time when the newscasters, actors, VJs, and other television personalities I watch will be replaced by my batchmates. Now, this vision is slowly happening before my eyes.

I remember my freshman year when we still had Mish Maravilla as our block and coursemate in Fine Arts: Creative Writing. Yes, I admit I developed a little crush on her back then. I remember that another coursemate also tried to court her.

I also remember that this was the first time when this small group within my coursemates turned against me, a strange foreshadowing instance considering what had happened in fourth year. I became a wanderer back then, roaming around the Ateneo vicinity alone. In the process, I became closer to other students from other courses.

This small faction would soon become the dominant one as the years passed, and I had this strange relationship with them. That faction and I had so few similarities that we never saw eye-to-eye in most things, but we usually remained in neutral grounds.

But I digress. Back to Mish, I knew she would be someday on TV or at least in the cover of those fashion magazines. She knew what she wanted, and she took every step to achieve it. Last time I heard before we graduated, she was modeling clothes on ramps in various venues. Now, she's the new Rejoice shampoo model, with the most awkward song and dance steps among the Rejoice commercials. She fits the part, especially with their new "Kinamay lang, umayos na" tagline. However, I love to shoot that songwriter, choreographer and director of that TV clip for making her look so annoying.


Kinamay lang, umayos na model (left) with Kinamay lang, at kinamay pa, at kinamay pa... (right) back in freshman year

Speaking of annoying, after all these years, Lucky Manzano still does not know the difference between funny and downright irritating. At least, he saved his act by bringing in two on-the-job trainees (I think) to give the audience a break from his lackluster VJing. One lady he brought out was Queene Domingo, another former Fine Arts coursemate turned Communications major.

Now, what MYX needs to do is to lessen the airtime of Lucky, and put in new blood like Queene to purify the air. I remember reading an article back then in the Inquirer, and it noted that Heart Evangelista and Lucky Manzano were the worst VJs for that year. However, unlike Lucky, who still lives up to that dishonor, Heart has improved her VJ skills, and appears less "Ma-Heart-te" than before.

Who is next? We also see Jerome Sibulo host his own TV show in Solar Sports, Andrei Felix as the model Ahead student, LA Tenorio with his Mobile Addict commercials, and probably a few more batchmates here and there. Soon, we will populate what our forefathers left us. Hopefully, when that happens, the Ateneo education brings forth a better country or at least a better "field", whether it may be media, politics, corporate, etc., for everyone.