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Miss Marie Unson (4th from the left front row)
with QNHS grads of Sydney, Australia.

Life in Quezon High without THE COCONUT is inconceivable. THE COCONUT has been a part of the school's 100 years of existence. For years THE COCONUT has recorded school and community events and the achievements of students and teachers. It has bridged the school with Lucena and the outlying districts. THE COCONUT was the writen tambuli long before the local newspapers were born.

If life in Quezon High without THE COCONUT is unthinkable, THE COCONUT without Miss Marie Unson is even harder to imagine. What was THE COCONUT like before Miss Unson became its adviser and how has it been before she retired?

THE COCONUT has existed long before Miss Unson set foot in Quezon High yet to many QPHS alumni it seemed like THE COCONUT and Miss Unson co-existed from the time of its inception. That's how close the association between the two has been. 

Miss Unson who contributed greatly to institutionalize THE COCONUT has become an institution herself.

So what makes Miss Unson different?

Ask any COCO staffer this question and you are likely to get the same answer. For the COCO staffer is a clone. Not literally. He/she isn't really a product of genetic manipulation. He/she is a clone because of the uniformity of the environment to which he/she has been exposed. The environment to which Miss Unson exposed him/her. He/she is also a clone in the Unson mold.

What I went through as a COCO staffer would have been experienced by the staffers before and after me. This would include the weekly meeting on a Tuesday. Why a Tuesday? Forgetful staffers could be reminded of it on the Monday. Late articles could be chased on the remaining three days.

THE COCONUT is a club. A prestigious club. It doesn't have initiations the way sororities and fraternities do. Instead, the cub reporters learn the ropes of news gathering and news reporting from the editor and/or associate editor. Aurora Arias and Dominador Sales introduced our pack, led by Nestor Pestelos, to the inverted pyramid. As we wrote the news, Miss Unson hammered it on us to keep our sentences simple and readable.

An event that COCO staffers looked forward to was the annual excursion to Manila, usually during lanzones time. The trip included visits to the printing presses of either THE MANILA TIMES, THE PHILIPPINES FREE PRESS or THE MANILA CHRONICLE, the pre-martial law Big Three.
Also in the itinerary was a visit to a Manila high school where the staffers played host to us and the school paper adviser was one Miss Unson befriended in an earlier press conference. The excursion was an opportunity to meet COCO alumni studying in Manila universities, usually in Balara where we lunched, picnic style.

The people I meet as a COCO staffer would be nearly the same ones the staffers before and after me met. Miss Dionisia Rola, Miss Basilisa Manhit, Miss Cleofe Bacungan, topped the list. Mrs. Amelia-Reyes - Marin is fondly remembered by QPHS students of the 50s as the bright and inspiring general science teacher. To the COCO staffers of the 60s and 70s she was the gracious host who with Atty. Arturo Marin and their chidren offered bed and board and friendship (for umpteenth times) to staffers who had to go to Manila to proofread THE COCONUT.

It's a pleasurable task to look back to my years of association with THE COCONUT. First as a staffer, then as a literary critic and later as Miss Unson's co - adviser. What an honor! It's a great honor to be closely identified with a prestigious paper.

THE COCONUT has been a big, well-run, happy family with Miss Unson as head. The bond between her and the staffers went deeper than the usual teacher-student relationship. She considered each staffer as a valued person and not just one who delivered the goods. Thus, while we learned of newswriting we also imbibed, unknowingly, Miss Unson's values and behavior. THE COCO activities were character building interactions. Ways distinctly Unsonian which at the time didn't mean much to us but which have come in good stead now that we have children in our charge.

I can bet that many COCO staffers who now are parents would be telling their children to finish the food on their plate because "children in many parts of the world have nothing to eat." I'll make another bet that many COCO alumni give thought to or pray for the departed each time they pass by a cemetery or make three wishes whenever they visit a new church. And lukewarm staffers would have learned to set priorities- would have become more responsible individuals. Thanks to Miss Unson. And the list goes on.

More significant than those just listed are the moral and personal values Miss Unson imparted, wittingly or unwittingly, to the staffers. By her examples she has taught many a staffer what self-discipline means. From her examples , too, we learned to be unselfish- not just in material terms but more importantly, bigness of heart in sharing one's talents, one's self with, giving one's time for others, having a concern for others beyond the immediate family.

Miss Unson isn't demonstrative with her affections but the staffers know she genuinely cares. Problems at home or in school that we are hesitant to discuss with others, we easily bring out with her. She's a person staffers and their parents trust. She has a steadying influence or not-so-stable personalities. Her Faith (and faith), her optimism, her inner strength radiate and permeate those around her. Miss Unson is a solid rock to hold on to.

As we go through life we discover values through increasing contact with others. As we grow up we observe and listen to our parents and other members of our family, our teachers, our peers and through books and the media, the famous and not-so famous. We absorb what they believe is good, worthy and important.

A great many staffer must count themselves favored they came in contact with someone like Miss Unson. That they did so at the right time- at adolescence. That stage in life when other people's influence- whether good, bad or junk easily rubs in.

I am a grateful clone. Next to my paternal family , I consider Miss Unson as the single individual who had the greatest influence on me. My parents and elder siblings nurtured me in beliefs, practices and values which were reinforced as I came in close association with Miss Unson through the countless COCO meetings and overtime (and Girl Scouting and the Legion of Mary, I must add.)

Life overseas can be very stressful. One can easily break down under the pressure of having a fulltime job, bringing up children, managing a home without the support from relatives that working mothers in the Philippines have. In spite of this not only do I survive but I also find fulfillment living in western society.

Thanks to Cesar, a loving and supportive partner, and to the joy the children are.

Thanks to Faith and values I imbibed as I was growing up with my family and Miss Unson.

HATS OFF to Miss Unson as THE COCONUT celebrates its 75th birthday in 2003.

May her tribe increase. 
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* With apologies to Leo Buscaglia