Rizal's Secondary Education at Ateneo

Rizal's Secondary Education

• Rizal attended the Colegio de San Juan de Letran, but he moved to the Ateneo Municipal as his secondary school.
• The Jesuits had been expelled from the archipelago in 1768, but returned in 1859.
• The Jesuit order was asked to take charge of the Ateneo School.
• By 1865, the Ateneo de Manila offered rigorous courses almost equivalent to college academics.
• The Ateneo was considered the finest school in the Philippines due to the rigorous intellectual standards of the Jesuits.

Rizal's Experience in Ateneo

• The Ateneo had a system of internal and external students.
• Internos were students who lived inside the Ateneo grounds and were identified by a red flag.
• Externos were students who lived outside the Ateneo grounds and were identified by a blue flag.
• Father Francisco de Paula Sanchez ignited Rizal's passion for literature.
• Rizal wrote his first poems at the Ateneo, including "Mi Primera Inspiracion," "Un Recuerdo a Mi Pueblo," "Por La Educacion Recibe Luestre la Patria," and "A La Juventud Filipina."

Rizal's First Romance

• Rizal's first romance was with Segunda Katigbak, a young girl from Lipa.

College Life at the Unibersidad de Santo Tomas

• Rizal's mentors advised him to pursue farming or join the clergy.
• Rizal initially decided to study Philosophy and Letters at the University of Santo Tomas because it was what his father wanted.
• The University of Santo Tomas curriculum included Cosmology, Metaphysics, Theodicy, and History of Philosophy.
• Rizal later switched to medicine after his mother developed failing eyesight.
• Rizal felt unhappy at the university for several reasons: the Dominican professors were hostile to him, Filipino students faced discrimination, and the method of instruction was outdated.
• Rizal struggled academically at the university for several reasons: he was dissatisfied with the education system, he was easily distracted, and medicine wasn't his true vocation.