17/08/2026
ππ’ππ¨π π‘ ππ₯π§ππππ | ππππππππ ππ πππππππππππππ
A welcome does not need to be always spoken. Sometimes, it needs to be feltβin the spirit of communal laughter, shared moments, and, upon experiencing the Welcoming Ceremony done by Calauan Community College on August 13, 2026, literally drenched in belongingness.
Further witnessing the event, the incoming students were in pairs, lined up as they entered through the gate while the old students stood side by side welcoming them upon their arrival. They proceeded toward the grounds before forming a circle and holding a rope, and without any idea, the water from the fire truck poured over them.
What followed was a less of a ceremony but rather a more of a celebration. Both incoming and old students unite as they jumped, laughed, and embraced every moment of it. Even our ROTC officers joined the same together with some of the faculty members.
Covered with water, the distinction of the old and the new seemed to disappear as if washed with the water poured over on them. For a short moment, there were no strangersβonly united students having the same and common laughter.
Perhaps that is what a welcoming ceremony aimed to accomplish: not merely to mark the arrival of the new batch, but to make them feel that they have arrived at the perfect institution that shall further nurture their abilities and talents where they can belong.
The water that drenched them will eventually dry, the mud will eventually be washed away, but the memory of being welcomed in such way may perpetually remain.
And I hope, years from now, when these incoming students become the ones standing at the gate side by side, they will remember yesterdayβand welcome the
next generation in the same spirit.
βοΈ Ueri Zarate
πΌοΈ Michelle Marie Matta
