Jose Rizal received his early education in Binan, Laguna under Maestro Justiniano Aquino Cruz. He then attended Ateneo de Manila, where he excelled academically. Rizal then studied medicine at the University of Santo Tomas, but faced discrimination from Dominican professors that led him to continue his studies abroad. In 1882, Rizal secretly left for Spain, where he studied medicine and philosophy at the Universidad Central de Madrid, earning degrees in both. He also attended classes in Paris and completed an eye specialization in Heidelberg, during which time he wrote and published his first novel, Noli Me Tangere.