By Paris Mabato

By Reign Querido

“You only live once.”

“Don’t cry because it’s over, smile because it happened.”

“Keep on going with your silly dream, life is prettier than it may seem …”

Song lyrics, movie quotes, and comical statements of the majority splatter amongst the glossy paper in a bound book. One glimpse of a page and a picture of a man, all known to give the yellow class beadle slip to every teacher, shines through. You flip to the next, and you see a woman whose profile picture always pops up to send out announcements. Below her is another photo of a man who never misses out to prop his phone out after class to do a quick TikTok dance. Skip to the last pages and you see the woman whom you say hi to at Regis, but never remember her name. Below it is finally her cognomen, along with all these pictures that signify nothing but the memories stuck between the pages of a senior’s journey — a yearbook.

In a manuscript containing all Sandigans, BlueBook covers a chunk of what makes a senior’s journey truly special. A year-long process of taking pictures, collecting write-ups, laying out the entire book, and making sure its operations run smoothly isn’t the only chapter of their committee. Beneath these layers is the very act of making a senior’s memory immortal. In a sense, it’s BlueBook that encapsulates a batch by the twilight frames of their hard work.

Covering the Darkness of Diligence

As they currently launch this year’s theme — Takipsilim — signifying a time of reflection, transition, and warmth, it also reflects the hidden parts of what makes this year’s batch a time for transformation. Under the darkness is the diligence of every member that aims to escape the bounds of what really is in between the twilight. Because with every ringlight that comes with pictorial, there’s a darkness looming with expectations.

“Expecting less leads to less disappointment.”

If Shana Rombaon, the External Secretary of BlueBook, were to encapsulate their journey as a committee in a yearbook quote, it would be this. Entering this school year meant entering a brisk schedule with high expectations of what’s to come. Their first draft contained expectations of swift responses and smooth operations, but these drafts aren’t always accepted as the final. “But in reality, people don’t always see the urgency or importance of our work, making everything more challenging,” Rombaon expressed. However, she highlighted the fact that these repercussions aren’t placed to give up; it’s there to preserve their energy for the long run — expecting less does not mean to the bare minimum, it’s there to keep them strong to maintain constant work amidst the darkness.

The before, during, and after process may seem like three different worlds, but in reality, they all share the same sky. The planning phase concludes all the hardships with aligning schedules. The production then makes the book come to real life with its hands-on process, coordinating with people for write-ups and the vision as a whole. This is where their timelines become a bit hectic, balancing workload with academic commitments. It all ends to refining the quality, cleaning the edges up, and making sure that the book itself becomes a capsule for eternal memory.

No matter how frenzied the committee might be, these challenges are what make the yearbook hardbound — encased with hard work that most often is unrecognized. These yearbooks that a batch fills with signatures at the end of the year will never be printed without their hands of perseverance. As every page gets flipped, it’s BlueBook’s zeal that makes a senior’s last year in senior high school ablaze. 

Night Falls to New Beginnings

As the night falls and a twinkle of twilight emerges from within, finding darkness doesn’t necessarily mean the end, but rather, a new beginning. Because the cold breeze that embraces us is a reminder that with nightfall, there’s a next day — the sun will shine again, light will envelop everyone, and it recalls the transition of one. Through BlueBook’s vision, a senior’s journey to finishing their two years of senior high school blurs the constant notion of what’s beyond them. As they preserve the memories spent in the blue desks, it calls them to fly and find strength within the twilight. But what defines the fine line of these graduating colors?

“‘Capturing the essence of the two school years’ means telling a story of our milestones, ordinaries, challenges, and celebrations,” Rombaon shared, “We do this by making sure each student’s authentic experiences are reflected through the pictures, write-ups, and the theme ‘Takipsilim.’” It’s always been in BlueBook’s capacity to be the one to echo on what is a core memory within these two years. They highlight the unwritten murmurs of the final weeks, the little selfies during fairs, the songs they dedicate to each other, and even the unwritten letters turned to write-ups. 

With BlueBook, it’s never just about the graduation photo, full name, and personal quote. What is kept on every page is the story of every Ateneo Senior High School (ASHS) student who has ever set foot on campus. The goal of BlueBook, as per Rombaon, is to make these very students point and say, ‘This was us!’ “We try to show what those few years truly felt like, not just what it looked like. In the end, the goal is to make the yearbook feel familiar and honest.” Whatever is captured in the lenses of the photographer, compiled in the self and peer write-ups, and in the layout voted by the batch itself, their story of two years is written in itself. 

Bluest Committee in the Book

What line would summarize BlueBook’s story as a whole, then? To the Editor-in–Chief, it would be — “Not many understand the storm, but its rain teaches me how to grow.” Cia Ballocanag believes that the silent path on which they walk is a testament to the storm they partake in. In this path is where their blood, sweat, and tears stay is also the road that teaches them how to grow and move as a committee. “What we do isn’t loud or dramatic — it’s real. And that’s what makes this yearbook genuinely ours.”

The BlueBook is not just a placeholder for memories, but rather, the instrument that collects and preserves them. “BlueBook isn’t just a book, it’s a collection of shared experiences and memories that made our year special,” Ballocanag described, heart gleaming. “It’s also about the little things that make our batch unique.” The very pages they produce are there to make you remember, to make you reminisce, and to prevent these memories from fading in your heart. It makes you come back and see the friends you go with in UP Town Center, the classmates you play volleyball with in FLC, the food vendors you say hi to in the Cafeteria, the teachers you go to for Study Halls, and the person you used to be during these two years. 

This committee simply makes the journey in ASHS much more meaningful. While Ballocanag knew that her batchmates depended on her to create a book that holds so much love may have pressured her, but the thousandfold treasured moments that are collected by her make it all worth it. “It’s an honor to help preserve that part of their life.” Rombaon sees BlueBook as a way to remember those important to you, and to discover the people that you didn’t know were part of your journey all along. And to be able to hold that power of contributing to that is truly an honor.

Song lyrics, quotes from movies or famous people, or even brainrotted jokes — these lines written in the yearbook might be just a stand-in to complete the requirement of having one. But in between the letters is where the real meaning of why these are chosen; the memories, love, and the very people throughout their ASHS journey seep into these yearbook quotes. And what more can BlueBook do but preserve it? One of the six Sandigan Committees, the BlueBook is more than just someone who takes graduation photos; they are the ones who keep the long-lasting, joyful memories in our hearts forever through the form of a yearbook. 

Page by page, between the write-ups and several names, are where the stories of each and every one lie. The hallway crush you pass by every day, your senior in your orgs that you wave by, your classmate that you scold for cutting lines, and even the familiar faces you see during lunch — rekindling those heartfelt moments is all thanks to them. In a manuscript containing all memories, it’s BlueBook that stays as the bluest picture out there, because with them, it’s your years in your book. Now, what will your quote be?