The document outlines the educational journey of Jose Rizal at Ateneo de Manila and later at the University of Santo Tomas (UST) from 1872 to 1882, detailing his successes and challenges during these formative years. Rizal initially struggled with admission but excelled academically, becoming the pride of the Jesuits, earning multiple awards, and engaging in extracurricular activities. He later faced discrimination and dissatisfaction at UST, leading to his decision to complete his studies in Europe, motivated by his desire for social reform and liberation for the Filipino people.

1. Scholastic
Triumphs at Ateneo
de manila
(1872-1877)

2. • Four months after the martyrdom of GomBur-Za and Doña Teodora still in prison, Jose
was sent to Manila.
• He studied in Ateneo Municipal, a college
under the supervision of the Spanish Jesuits
• The Jesuits returned to Manila in 1859, they
were given the management of the Escuela
Pia or what we now know as Ateneo de
Manila

3. Ateneo de Manila during the Spanish regime

4. Rizal Enters the Ateneo
• June 10, 1872, accompanied by Paciano
went to Manila
• His father, change his mind and decided to
send him to Ateneo instead.
• He again return to Manila, again
accompanied by Paciano, Matriculated at
the Ateneo Municipal.

5. Rizal Enters the Ateneo
• Father Magin Ferrando, who was the
college registrar, refused to admit him.
• Rizal was then eleven years old
• Manuel Xerez Burgos intercession
• Jose was the first of his family to adopt the
surname “Rizal”
• He first boarded in a house outside
Intramuros

6. Jesuit System of Education
• The Jesuit system of education is more
advanced than that of other colleges in
that period.
• The student heard Mass in the morning
before beginning of the daily class.
• Students were divided into two groups:
The “Roman Empire” and The
“Carthaginian Empire”

7. Jesuit System of Education
• The two groups has an emperor which is
the best student
• The Ateneo students in Rizal’s time wore a
uniform which consisted of “hemp-fabric
trousers” and “striped cotton coat”

8. Rizal’s First Year in Ateneo
(1872-73)
• June, 1872, Rizal first heard Mass
• Fr. Jose Bech, Rizal’s first professor in the
Ateneo
• Rizal was placed at the bottom of the
class.
• He progressed rapidly and at the end of
the month he became “emperor”.
• He took private lessons in Santa Isabel
College

9. Summer Vacation
(1873)
• He placed second at the end of the year
• End of the school year in March, 1873 and
the start of his summer vacation
• His mother was in prison
• He went to Santa Cruz

10. Second Year in Ateneo
(1873-74)
• Rizal repented having neglected his
studies the previous year
• The three boys from Biñan
• Rizal received excellent grades in all
subjects and a gold medal.

11. Prophecy of Mother’s Release
• Rizal immediately go to Santa Cruz in
order to visit his mother
• The Prophecy of Rizal to his mother

12. Joseph(Son
of Jacob)
Doña Teodora
compare Rizal’s
ability to interpret
dreams to
Joseph

13. Teenage Interest in Reading
• Summer Vacation in 1874 in Calamba
• The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexander
Dumas
• Cesar Cantu’s historical work entitled
Universal History
• Travels in the Philippines by Dr. Feodor
Jagor

14. Third Year in Ateneo
(1875-76)
• June 1874
– Rizal returned to the Ateneo
– His mother is release from prison
• He won only one gold medal in Latin
• He failed to win the medal in Spanish
• End of school year(March 1875)

15. Fourth Year in Ateneo
(1875-1876)
• June 16, 1875, he became an interno in
Ateneo
• Fr. Francisco de Paula Sanchez
• He won five medals at the end of the
school term.
• He returned to Calamba for his summer
vacation (March 1876)

16. Last Year in Ateneo
(1876-77)
• Rizal returned to Manila in June 1876
• He was “the pride of the Jesuits”
• He obtained the highest grades in all
subject

17. Graduation with Highest Honors
• March 23, 1877 – Commencement Day
• Prayed at the college chapel: “to the Virgin
so that when I should step into that world,
which inspired me with so much terror, she
would protect me,”

18. Extra-Curricular Activities in Ateneo
• Marian Congregation – secretary : devotion to
Our Lady of Immaculate Conception
• Spanish Literature
• Academy of Natural Sciences
• Father Sanchez - literature
• Father Jose Villaclara – practical studies
• Agustin Saez – painting
• Romualdo de Jesus – sculpting
• Tio Manuel – gymnastics and fencing

19. Sculptural Works in Ateneo
• Image of the Virgin Mary – batikuling
(Philippine hardwood using a pocket knife)
• Father Lleonart – requested him to carve
the image of Sacred Heart of Jesus

20. Anecdotes on Rizal, the Atenean
• Felix M. Roxas – resignation to pain and
forgiveness
• Mansano and Lesaca – quarreled and
violently hurled books at each other
• Manuel Xeres Burgos – boarded shortly
• Julio Meliza from Iloilo – crying because of
the kite

21. Poems Written in Ateneo
• Mi Primera Inspiracion (My First Inspiration) –
dedicated to his mother
• 1875:
• Felicitacion (Felicitation)
• El Embarque: Himno a la Flota de Magallanes
(The Departure: Hymn to Magellan’s Fleet)
• Y Es Espanol: Elcano, el Primero en dar la
Vuelta al Mundo (And He is Spanish: Elcano, the
First to Circumnavigate the world.

22. • El Combate: Urbiztondo, Terror de Jolo (The
Battle: Urbiztondo, Terror of Jolo)
• 1876: religion, education, childhood memories,
and war
• Education: “Through Education Our Motherland
Receives Light”
• “The Intimate Alliance Between Religion and
Good Education”
• Religion: “Al Nino Jesus” (To the Child Jesus)
• 1877: last year in Ateneo

23. Dramatic Work in Ateneo
• Father Sanchez – requested Rizal to write
a drama based on the prose story of St.
Eustace the Martyr
• San Eustacio, Martir

24. First Romance of Rizal
• Segunda Katigbak – 14-yr. old Batanguena from
Lipa
• Visited his maternal grandmother in Trozo,
Manila with his friend Mariano Katigbak
• Segunda’s portrait
• Came to know Segunda more intimately during
his weekly visits to La Concordia College
• “a love at first sight”
• Hopeless – Segunda engaged to Manuel Luz

25. • Thursday – December 1877; Visited her at
La Concordia College to say goodbye
• First Romance: “ruined by his own
shyness and reserve,”

26. RIZAL AT THE
UNIVERSITY OF
SANTO TOMAS
(1877-1882)

28. Mother’s Opposition to
Higher Education
 Her Reason: If Rizal gets to learn more, the
Spaniards will cut off his head.
 In contrary, Paciano and Don Francisco
wanted Rizal to pursue College Education.
 Take note:
The Bachelor of Arts degree during Spanish
times was equivalent to a high school diploma
today.

29. ENROLLMENT 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 Ramon
Pablo, Ateneo’s Rector, who was then at
Mindanao.

30. Rizal’s Grades (1877-1878)
Conversion
Sobresaliente
Notable, Aprovechade
Bueno
Mediano
Aprovado
Suspenso
Reprobado
= 1.00 Excellent
= 1.50 Very Good
= 2.00 Good
= 2.50 Fair
= 3.00 Passed
= 4.00 Conditioned
= 5.00 Failed
Philosophy and Letters
Cosmology & Metaphysics Sobresaliente
Theodicy
Sobresaliente
History of Philosophy
Sobresaliente

31.  UST was under the Dominicans, rival of
the Jesuits in education.
 He remained loyal to Ateneo,
participated in extracurricular activities
and completed a course in surveying in
that same school.
 perito agrimensor
 November 25, 1881

32. Extra-curricular activities in Ateneo
while studying at UST:
President of the Academy of Spanish
Literature
Secretary of the Academy of Natural
Sciences
Secretary of the Marian Congregation

33. Other Extra-curricular Activities
• Literary contests:
Liceo Artistico Literario de Manila
A La Juventud Filipina (To the Filipino Youth)
El Consej de los Dioses (The Council of the
Gods)
• Wrote one-act play:
Junto al Pasig
• Poems:
Abd el-Aziz y Mohama
Al M.R.P. Pablo Ramon

34. Medical Studies at UST
 Shifting from PHL & Letters to Medicine.
 Why did Rizal Shift to Medical course?
1.) Don Pablo Ramon, Ateneo Rector, advised
him to choose medicine.
2.) Rizal wanted to cure his mother’s growing
blindness.

35. Scholastic Records from 1878-1882
1st year – Medicine (1878-1879)
Physics
Fair
Chemistry
Excellent
Natural History
Fair
Anatomy 1
Good
Dissection 1
Good
2nd year – Medicine (1879-1880)
Anatomy 2
Good
Dissection 2
Good
Physiology
Good
Private Hygiene
Good
Public Hygiene
Good

36. 3rd year – Medicine (1880-1881)
General Pathology
Fair
Therapeutics
Excellent
Surgery
Good
4th year – Medicine (1881-1882)
Medical Pathology
Very Good
Surgical Pathology
Very Good
Obstetrics
Very Good

37. Reasons Why Rizal didn’t enjoy his
stay at UST:
1.) Hostility of Dominican Professors to him.
2.) Racial discrimination against Filipino students.
3.) Dissatisfaction with the method of instruction.
Reasons why Rizal performed poorly at
UST:
1.) Medicine is not his vocation.
2.) Discontentment with the system of education.
3.) Distractions of youth.

38. Romances
• Segunda Katigbak - Rizal’s puppy love
Batangas
• Miss L – fair with seductive and attractive eyes
Calamba
• Leonor Valenzuela – Orang
Pagsanjan, Laguna
Parents: Capitan Juan and Capitana Sanday
Valenzuela
Rizal sent love notes written in invisible ink

39. • Leonor Rivera – a frail, beautiful girl, tender as
a budding flower with kindly wistful eyes
Camiling, Tarlac
April 11, 1867
Father: Antonio Rivera
University: La Concordia College
Taimis
• Vicenta Ybardaloza
Pagsanjan
Can play Harp

40. Student Activism at UST
• Rizal displayed his leadership in
student activism.
• Indio/chongo vs kastila/bangus
• Bitter hostility exist
• Racial animosity

41. Compañerismo
(The Comradeship)
– Inspired by Alexander Dumas, Three
Musketeers
– Secret Society of Filipino Students
 Companions of Jehu
Inspired by Les Compagnons de Jehu
Rizal (president)
Galiciano Apacible (secretary)

42. • Humiliating treatment of brown Filipino
students
• Archaic method of instruction at UST
• Favoritism & skin color – criteria for
academic performance

43. Spanish Brutality
 happened during his 1st summer
vacation at Calamba after his freshman
year.
 Failure to perceive a lieutenant during
that night.
 Gen. Primo de Rivera – Gov. General
of the Philippines at that time.

44. Finishing Medicine at UST
• Notable in all of his subjects.
• He was the 2nd best student in a class of
seven who passed the medicine course.

45. Decision to Go to Europe
 To complete his medical course in
Barcelona, Spain.
 To make a name for himself in the field
of Journalism.
 To observe and study European Society.
 To prepare himself for the task of
liberating the Filipinos from Spanish
Tyranny.

46. Important
Literary Works
as a University
Student (UST)

47. LITERARY WORKS
ᴥ Consejo de los Dioses
El
ᴥ
Junto al Pasig
ᴥ Filipinas
A
ᴥ the Filipino Youth (A La
To
Juventud Filipina)

48. To the Filipino
Youth
(A La Juventud Filipina)

49. To the Filipino Youth
oLiceo Artistico Literario de Manila
o1879
oGrand prize

50. To the Filipino Youth
• 1st Stanza:
Unfold, oh timid flower!
Lift up your radiant brow,
This day, Youth of my native
strand!
Your abounding talents show
Resplendently and grand,
Fair hope of my Motherland!

51. To the Filipino Youth
• 9th Stanza
Run! For genius' sacred flame
Awaits the artist's crowning
Spreading far and wide the fame
Throughout the sphere
proclaiming
With trumpet the mortal's name

52. To the Filipino Youth
• 10th Stanza
Oh, joyful, joyful day,
The Almighty blessed be
Who, with loving eagerness
Sends you luck and happiness

53. References:
• Rizalina site (www.seasite.niu.edu)
• Jose Rizal: Social Reformer and Patriot
by De Viana et al.

54. References:
• Rizalina site (www.seasite.niu.edu)
• Jose Rizal: Social Reformer and Patriot
by De Viana et al.
• Rizal and the Development of Filipino
Nationalism by Garcia et al.
• Jose Rizal: Life, Works and Writings of a
Genius, Writer, Scientist and a National
Hero