Back to School

Nearly 20 million students trooped to school last monday. Hay, to be a student. I'm not sure if I miss being one but certainly I have a mix of good and bad memories about going to school.

So let's backtrack a bit to the good old days of being a student, yes?

I have a very vague memory of kindergarten, or I simply choose to forget about it. I only remember my fear of the boy's washroom. It was as small as a closet and there's always a pool of water on the floor. Since we were occupying a very old building, the ceiling was pretty high (especially when I was like only two feet then). The glow of the solitary light bulb was not sufficient for such a high ceiling so it was always dark. With an imagination that just seemed haywire, I always thought that a monster was going to pounce on me. Perhaps I was not the only student who was dead scared of the toilet because I remember a number of my classmates peeing in their pants inside the classroom.

The six years of grade school were confusing. I never figured out where I was going to fit. I especially hated the Technology and Home Economics (THE) subject coz that's the period when the boys would transfer to another room for the drafting classes. As I said in a previous post, boys scare the hell out of me. So during THE I chose to keep to myself and try to draw straight lines with a ruler when all I really wanted was to practice the running stitch that my girl classmates were learning in the next room.

Ironically, I was actually in the team of Cub Scouts always sent to inter-school contests. And these were athletic-type of competitions ha, like sack races and stuff. That was the only butch part of my grade school years though coz the rest of the time I was in some freaking declamation or dancing contest. I also reached the zenith of my spirituality in elementary that for a time I seriously contemplated to become a priest. Que horror!

High school was fun, I don't even know where to begin. Simply, I was all over the place. However, I was marked for being the biggest cheater in the batch (or so I believe). Every year in high school I was caught cheating in the exams. But it was not only me who was doing it; I was the only fool to have been caught over and over again. Cheating was an odious culture during high school. A lot of times instead of studying the night before the exams we would be preparing creative "references" that we'd pull out the next day. Or my classmates and I would assign a chapter of the book amongst each other and we would sit together the next day so we can "share" our expertise. Of course I'm never proud of all the cheating I did during high school.

College was one hell of a ride. I was in a new city, new campus, meeting new people, and I was one of those financially poor students. Talk about adjustment galore. Luckily two of my best friends were in the same campus so part of home was still with me. On our second year both of them were sent back to Surigao (as in deported). What followed was a year of "depression" and solitude. The university's library and cinema became my refuge of sorts.

As a student in the university I did not bother much with grades. It was enough for me to pass one subject after another. I excelled in the humanities and social sciences though, but the total opposite could be said about accounting, natural sciences, and math. I also took a course that I did not choose so I had a sense of detachment from my college. I was filled with a strong desire to shift to the film program. When my father finally allowed me to do so on my second year it was already too late. Stuck to a course that I was ambivalent to, I trudged on. I would have to acknowledge though that my father chose a very practical course for me. So I made the most of my degree, as my career would reflect.

The last time I was in school was more than six years ago. I do not necessarily miss it but I'm sure I need some upgrading soon.