she did not agree to the decision, Max cancelled the wedding. When he was 28, Max married Preciosa Silverio, who he had met when she was 16 years old. Preciosa's mother was daughter of Manila police captain Manuel Quiogue. She was 19 when Max proposed to her. They married in 1957 at the St. Anthony's Church in Singalong, Manila. Throughout their marriage, Max called Precious "Ifu" and "my Precious Silver," a play on her name. In 1966, Preciosa founded the Operation Brotherhood Montessori Center. Education Soliven spoke English as a first language, like most children of the pre-war Filipino middle class. He also spoke Latin, Spanish, and Ilocano. Max received all his schooling, from elementary to college, in the Ateneo. He also went on to receive a master's degree from Fordham, a Jesuit school in New York City. While Ateneo was closed for rebuilding after the war, Max was sent to Japanese vocational school in Escolta where he learned Japanese, typing, and stenography. He was then sent to Paco Parochial School. In June 1945, classes in Ateneo were resumed for third and fourth year high school students only in Plaza Guipit. Max was accepted in third year and became part of Ateneo's Guild 47 or High School Class 1947. His classmates included Cesar Concio, Ramon Pedrosa, Luis Lorenzo, Jose Tuazon, Jesus Ayala, Onofre Pagsanhan, Johnny Araneta, Ramon Hontiveros, Florentino Gonzales, Hector Quesada, and Ricardo Lopa. Guild 47 would be the first class to graduate from the Padre Faura campus, which reopened after World War II for the 1946–47 school year. About half the class, including Max, stayed in Ateneo for college and would belong to the Class of 1951. Max took some pre-law courses as his initial career preference was law, but he stuck to writing, obeying his father's deathbed wishes. Whilst in college, Max joined The GUIDON, the school's official student publication, and served as its managing editor. He served as part of the College Editors Guild, which he would become vice-president of in 1949–50, attending conferences at Iloilo, Cebu, and Zamboanga. Before graduating in March 1951, Max joined the Sentinel, the weekly newspaper published by the Archdiocese of Manila as associate editor. Max was also an active member of the Ateneo's Chesterton Evidence Guild as a champion debator and orator. Taking his father's interest in military and his admiration for Foch, Max took ROTC for four years, twice