by Maria 'ria' Abella Jose

Electron (aka the Technology Stream) is composed of 22 guys and 5 girls. They are lok, mimi, rhoda, bbboy, patrick c, kai, ivan, mikong, kendee, kenneth, ria, nacx, bernie, masol, jj, macoy, joey, et, fro, bibert, niong, vero, tiani, peter, earth, jonas and ace.

There's really nothing ordinary about them. Aside from the fact that the mere mention of 'egg', 'birds' and 'corn' make them laugh, they had a lot of uncanny antics and more private jokes then you can imagine. There was probably not one moment in their entire high school life together that they were serious.

Their daily routine used to start with the morning rush, everyone waiting for that somebody, et, lok, kendee, masol or anybody else who had a bit of resposibility in them to make the day's assignments. Then, when the 'bugas' one has finally let his/her paper out, each one would claim their right to the paper. After another one has copied, another one would take the original paper and another one would take the other, until everyone is done. One can know whether they have an assigment or not. If you pass by their classroom, there is no teacher yet they are all settled in their seats writing something in a piece of paper (usually most of it from the same pad) and they are all unusually quiet. Then, the they go throught the day cracking jokes and exchanging punchlines during classes, except of course when they are also cramming for the next class.

After each class they would go out of the classroom as if they were birds let out of their gilded cages. They would laugh once more, sing songs, and sometimes even share their thoughts on stuff (nothing serious though, usually about videogames, movies, sex and other stuff I can't write about in here).

And let us not forget their cunning ways. If nobody did the assignment, then they use their 'charms' and poker faces to 'brainwash' the teacher that he/she didn't give any assignment at all. And then again, there are those times, when they would fool the teacher into letting them out of the class even if the lunch bell is for the lower classes.

They had a reason for everything, for failing, for not winning a contest, for not passing a project or assignment on time and of course there's those perennial headaches, back aches and all sorts of other aches which earn them an excused absence.

Everything for them was fun and games. Even a teacher's walk out (once a teacher walked out two or three times in one hour) was funny to them. They remember everything with laughter and fondness as if the world never ran out of jokes.

But whatever it was that they want to do, they do it with utmost zeal. Once they set their heart out on dominating the PMT Unit, they did. Never mind if they had a poor win-loss record, nine of them (patrick c, joey, lok, niong, ace, et, tiani, fro and bibert) still continued to play for the basketball varsity team. And who could ever forget the singers of Electron who neverr failed to woo the ladies. And then again, there was those three months in which they had a perfect cleanliness record (and not forgetting to rub it in the face of the other class' adviser).

I guess special mention should go to the Electron ladies, rhoda, mimi, kendee and vero, who put up with the guys who never failed to make their machismo and 'superiority' felt (bitchiness of ria notwithstanding). And of course we should also give them credit for their excellent help in couselling some of the guys and helping them win the hearts of their repective loves. Their well-written love letters and sound advice made some of the guys seem sensitive and in touch with their femininity.

There are a lot of memories to speak of and a lot more that most of us has probably forgetten but one thing remain certain, they will always remain to be unforgettable to the teachers and several lower classmen who they tormented; and they will always be in the hearts of the ladies they enamoured and the few other people they 'charmed.'