Oh, Loyola

My former editor at the car magazine would always mock my staunch loyalty to my alma mater. And being the only true blue product of it, at the time in the office, I sure got a lot of flack for it, in a joking manner, of course.

Even recently, he gave me a handy piece of advice that throws a backhanded compliment to my Jesuit education:

"You are well on your way to becoming a managing editor. Things you must hurdle before you accept the job:

Learn to really manage - as the world defines it and not as the Jesuits do - from your afternoon office in Pancake House."

A recent article from the Inquirer finally clued me in on what he means. Of course, I've always known these from the back of my mind, but being Jesuit educated, why on earth would I admit to it?

"...there were the habits of mind that we learned in our corner of the world [Ateneo campus]: a sense of constant competition (but frustrated by an inability to deal with conflict); a sense of easy excellence (but shadowed by an air of entitlement); a sense of practical virtue (but limited by a marked distaste for “dirty” politics)."

from:
"The Jesuits’ fault?"
By John Nery
Inquirer

Published on page A15 of the December 11, 2006 issue of the Philippine Daily Inquirer

True. True.