Thursday, October 7, 2010

Mentor | Second Part





Some secrets stay hidden forever. Some, gets uncovered in just a matter of weeks.

My dad was so good at prying into my belongings, he found the wretched old notebook under stacks of other books beside my study table. Confrontation was imminent. Any parent would be stupefied upon learning that his 13-year old kid knows all the foul-sounding languages in the street lexicon.

"Si Sir Pechardo ay 65 millimeters ang titi." I may not have the notebook anymore, but probably, I would have said such a thing.

"Si Sir Pechardo ay mukhang T-Square ang gilagid." God, its so not me.

I had no choice but to tell the truth, that Mister Pechardo said I'm a "kalawang" in front of the class. Immediately, my mom was dispatched to speak with my adviser.  She teaches at the state university where my high school is under the College of Education. When it was learned by the faculty that my mother teaches in one of the colleges, their impression about me had changed overnight.

The notebook incident was never brought up during the meeting. Mom exercised restraint and subtlety in checking my performance that it was the teachers - particularly in subjects I did poorly - who felt compelled to lower their passing rate just for me to cross. Had I the power to decline such compromise, I would have done so out of pride. But at 13, all I did was to spend so much time playing SEGA after school that it became the sole culprit as to why my grades were dropping like flies.

Drafting was replaced by Work Education after second quarter. Still, the feisty Mr. Pechardo would skin a student or two. (often picking fights with the geniuses who thought their arrogance would get them somewhere)  However, after meeting my mom one weekday afternoon, he stopped picking on me. An uneasy peace has settled. I would get some scolding for submitting lousy projects from time to time but as the months go by, he started accepting me for what I am. Work Education was replaced by Home Economics by fourth quarter. It was only when I have left the sphere of my adviser did I begin to rebound. Inspired by cooking and sewing, my grades had improved.


The last time I went inside Mr. Pechardo's classroom was when I submitted our group project in  Basic Electronics. Our tense relationship, which began with intimidation became amicable over time. I even thanked him during my sophomore for telling me I was a kalawang. For it was then I became empowered to prove him wrong.  Many years later, I would learn from my mother that he was dismissed from teaching in the university. Word spread that he, and another teacher who was my adviser in Fourth year molested a junior student.

As for Miss Co and her English-slash-History subject, our lessons dwelt around literature and current events the entire year. I even remember writing an essay about an exhibit displaying some of the Vatican 's art collection.  She even asked our opinion about the death-sentence delivered to Flor Contemplation. Rage and innocence took over. When asked to share my thoughts, I boldly said that I would go to war if I were the president.

Miss Co was unfazed.

Sibika at Kultura was the subject I always aced back in grade school. In high school, my Social Science teacher never saw my potentials. I was uninspired. But with the way Miss Co directed her "English" lessons and exposed us to the Realpolitik of the world, I actually learned.

Despite all expectations I would get a 90 in Philippine History, it was in English - for the first time - the grade appeared in my report card.




-tobecontinued-

15 comments:

MaginoongBulakenyo said...

pero look at you now..the way you write makabasag utak..minsan NOSEBLEED nako...balikan mo kaya sila mam or sir ngayon tiyak proud sila kung ano man ang na achieve mo.

dario the jagged little egg said...

Haha, sis' tawa ako ng tawa dun sa first part haha. Tsquare and gilagid haha!

I can relate sis'.
I'm so proud of who u are right now.
U know naman na you are one of the people I adolize.

bien said...

si fudra may duda na agad sayo at kinakalkal ang gamit mo hehe

i agree with maggie, im sure your teachers will be amazed how well you write today

RainDarwin said...

wow nag excel ka sa cooking and sewing at tumaas ang grade mo at nakabawi ka.

Bata ka palang papa joms, may FUTURE ka na talaga !!!

hahahah.

(inuubo ako ngayon sa yosi natin kanina, hitit boga kasi ako)

Kryptonite User said...

T-square ang gilagid!!!! hahaha! Tambling ako dito dude! May part three ba ito talking about the physical limitations of your other teachers? hehehe!

red the mod said...

I did something similar during high school. Except my notebook was my pants. I wrote every imaginable Filipino, French and English expletive my young mind could muster, every insult and defamation I could conjure, on the thigh part of my pants. With an oil pen.

Eventhough I tried to wash it off at the dormitory, the stains wouldn't fade. I was in the moment, stark raving mad. Hypergraphia comes to mind.

My mom, of course, saw the evidence when I got home. A verbal lashing commenced. In the end, I had to write an apology.

dark_knight said...

Kea nga madalas masarap awayin ang mga teachers eh. Haha

john said...

i'm sure they would be so proud of you now. idol : )

casado said...

buti na lang di mo nailagay c Barbie sa bag mo that day! bwahhahaa..

and teachers shd refrain from "name callings", especially on kids. Buti sa iyo, na motivate ka, ang ibang bata, lalong nagkakaron ng inferiority complex because of that.

Désolé Boy said...

ang creative mo kuya.
.
.
hindi lang sa pagsusulat. pati sa pangookray!. hehe

Mugen said...

Maggie:

Hindi ko pa nga napapakinabangan yung writing ko eh. Hehehehe.

Jerjer:

Thank you! Nakalimutan ko talaga kung saan ko ginamit yung T-Square. Hirap maalala. Lolz.

Bien:

Sadly, this tribute won't be read, even by the person to whom this entry is dedicated.

Mugen said...

Pilyo:

Lakas mo kasi magyosi eh. Pero at least may nadiskubre tayong bonggang bongga. Wahahahaha!

Oo naman, kung alam mo lang Grade Six pa lang ako, may Ornamental Garden na ako sa likod ng bahay.

Kryptonite User:

Yup meron pa. Pero ma-emo na post na yun. Hahaha! Di ko inaasahan na magiging comedy pala ito. Next time, kuwento ko naman yung punong bastos sa tabi ng fountain sa HS namin.

Red:

We have our ways of getting back. And at a hindsight, we know what our future would be.

Pen is our weapon lolz.

Mugen said...

Ding Ding:

Kaw talaga hilig mo makipagaway. Kaya ka inaangasan eh. Lol.

John:

Naks! Thanks pare! Heheh.

Soltero:

Motivate yeah. Pero laki ring damage nagawa sakin nun ha! Naluha ako. Yung isang sinabihan ng kalawang, parang wala lang sa kanya.

Mugen said...

Desole:

Birador rin ako. Pailalim lang. Hehehe.

vin said...

hi master! ako'y nagbabalik! i-welcome mo naman ako. hehe... loko ka tlga, pati c sir pechardo bina-blog mo. walang kamalay malay ung tao! kilala ko sya kc best friend xa ng professor ko sa drafting noon. sumbong kita! :)