Medical Studies at UST

• Philosophy and Letters during his freshman year (1877-1878)

Why Philosophy & Letters?

1. Don Francisco liked it. 2. Uncertainty on what course to take up. 3. Failure to solicit the advice of Father Pablo Ramon, Ateneo’s Rector, who was then at Mindanao.

• It was during the following term (1878-187) that Rizal, took up the medical course

• Another reason why Jose chose medicine for a career was to be able to cure his mother’s growing blindness

• Surveying Course in Ateneo (1878)

- He took the vocational course leading to the title of perito agrimensor (expert surveyor)

- At the age of 17, he passed the final examination

- The title was issued to him on Nov. 25, 1881

- Rizal saw the differences between Ateneo and UST

- He had so many beautiful memories with the Jesuit professors who loved him and inspired him to ascend to greater pursuit of knowledge

Romances of a Lover Boy• Rizal was a

romantic dreamer who like to sip the “nectar of love”

• Shortly after losing Segunda Katigbak, he courted a young woman in Calamba

• He simply called her Miss L, describing her as “fair with seductive and attractive eyes”

• During his sophomore year at UST, Rizal boarded in the house of Donya Concha Leyva

• He courted Leonor Valenzuela who was a tall girl with a “regal bearing”

• He sent her love notes written in invisible ink

• Rizal’s next romance was with another Leonor- Leonor Rivera- his cousin from Camiling, Tarlac

• In 1879, during his junior year, Rizal lived in Casa Tomasina where his landlord was his uncle Antonio Rivera who had a pretty daughter, Leonor

To The Filipino Youth (A La Juventud Filipina)• In 1879, the Liceo

Artistico-Literario (Artistic-Literary Lyceum) of Manila held a literary contest

• Rizal, who was 18 years old, submitted his poem

• The Board of Judges, composed of Spaniards was impressed and gave it the first prize to Rizal

• The prize was a silver pen, feather-shaped and decorated with a gold ribbon

• It was the first great poem in Spanish written by a Filipino, whose merit was recognized by Spanish literary authorities

• It expressed for the first time the nationalistic concept that the Filipinos were the “fair hope of the Fatherland”

El Consejo de los Dioses• After a long and

critical appraisal of the entries, they awarded the first prize Rizal’s work

• Despite all objections, the prize was awarded to Rizal, a gold ring on which was engraved the bust of Cervantes

Champion of Filipino Students• In 1880, Rizal founded a secret

society of Filipino students in UST• They called it Compañerismo

(Comradeship) whose members were called “Companions of Jehu”

Decision to Study Abroad• He could no longer endure the

rampant bigotry and discrimination in UST

• For the first time, Rizal did not seek his parents’ permission and blessings to go abroad to study abroad and to fulfil his secret mission