Few days passed and ito na, my first day as a senior high school student. As my alarm rang, nagpunta na agad ako sa bathroom para maligo saka dumerecho sa kwarto ko para makapag-ayos dahil for sure, maghapong naka-open cam na naman dahil sa walang katapusang introduce yourself.
Well, not really maghapon kasi night shift kami eh. The school divided the schedule to day and night shifts. Since nasa pilot section kami and also, odd number, gabi ang pasok namin. Favorable sa akin na isang night owl, but not everybody in the class is like me naman and also, ito lang ang school na may day and night shifts for their students.
According kay Mom, hindi mahigpit ang university in terms of cameras, attire, appearance, or account profile. Basta daw sumusunod ang students sa general rules like no recording of class and punctuality, wala daw magiging problema. And never naman ako na-late sa class, so maybe it'll be easy for me to adapt sa bagong environment.
What I am worrying about is 'yong recitations and group activities. I only recite twice or thrice per subject. I also prefer working alone than in groupings. Dyan lang siguro ako magkakaproblem. Last school year kasi, palaging favored sa akin ang teachers kaya pinapayagan akong mag-individual activity and also, they consider my early submission of written activities as recitation.
Isang grey cashmere pullover at black shorts ang sinuot ko. Ni-turn on ko na rin ang laptop ko at binuksan ang aircon. Minutes later, nagkaroon na ng meet sa unang subject namin which is Introduction to the Philosophy of Human Person. Our adviser is our teacher in this subject kaya naman nagkaroon ng onting daldalan habang hinihintay na makompleto kaming lahat.
"Good morning, 11 STEM-1!" masayang bati ni Sir Gonzaga. "For today, getting to know each other lang tayo and onting orientation about the university rules and regulations, classroom rules, and the classroom officers."
Si Sir Gonzaga ang unang nagpakilala ng sarili niya. Graduate siya ng AB Psychology at kasalukuyang kumukuha ng master's degree sa course na kinuha niya. Nagshare din si Sir ng life experiences niya and kung ano ang AB Psychology.
Lumipas ang ilang saglit at ako na ang tinawag. "Los Carlos."
Nag-open na ako ng cam pati ng mic. "Good afternoon to everyone. My name is Itzayana Aelis Los Carlos and people address me Yana. I am 16 years old, and was born on 1st of January 2005. I previously studied at St. Angela Academy under the pre-strand of Science and Philosophy. I obtained several awards during my junior high school years. I was the Salutatorian of our batch, best in Philosophy, best in Social Science, best in English, consistent winner in Feature Writing in English category, and also a consistent honor.
"Additionally, I have background in being a student leader," I added. "I was the feature editor of our school publication, vice president of the Guidance and Peer Organization, and secretary of GSP. I am also usually voted as the either vice president or secretary in school clubs but last school year, I was the president of the Science Club. I am also the vice president of the 10 SP-1, which is my section last year. Again, I am Itzayana Aelis Los Carlos and it's an honor to meet you all. Thank you and good afternoon."
Applauses filled the screen after my introduction. "Kabogera naman pala si Ms. Los Carlos. And since nabanggit mo na feature writer and editor ka, lumalaban ka sa RSPC?"
"Yes po, Sir. Lumaban din po ako sa NSPC last year."
"NSPC?" Sir took a long pause and gasped. "Ay oo, naalala na kita! Kaya pala familiar ang pangalan mo. Isa ako sa mga nanoood noon eh. 'Yong pinsan ko kasi ay isa sa mga lumaban sa radio broadcasting kaya um-attend ako. By the way, congratulations ulit!"
"Nanalo po siya, Sir?" tanong ni Leo.
"Yes, yes! Champion siya sa Feature Writing in English." Yeah, I cried out after that announcement kasi hindi ko talaga ine-expect na magiging champion ako. Magagaling din kasi ang mga kalaban ko, to the point na medyo na-intimidate ako kaya hindi na ako nag-expect na mananalo ako.
After the introduction part, Sir Gonzaga discussed us first our semestral syllabus for all subjects as well as the university calendar na pwedeng magbago without any prior notice. Nakalimutan niya daw sabihin kanina and dahil medyo mahaba-haba ang part na ito, magkakaroon daw kami ng 10-minute break afterwards.
Habang nagpapaliwanag si Sir, may kumatok sa pinto at pumasok si Mama, buhat-buhat ang pinakabata naming pinsan. "Nandito ang mga pinsan mo."
"Dito daw po sila matutulog?"
Tumango si Mama. "Magpapalipas lang daw sila dito ng gabi, tapos uuwi din ng hapon." Tumango na lang din ako. "Anong oras break time mo?"
"7 to 7:30 po."
"Sige sige. Bumaba ka para maghapunan, ha."
"Opo," sagot ko at sinara na ni Mama ang pinto.
Ang aming 10-minute break ay mas lalong naging maingay. 'Yong mga nag-aya noon sa aking no'ng enrolment, sila ang maiingay ngayon pati na si Sir. My first impression to Sir Gonzaga is optimistic siya and father-like. Siguro, the way he treated these eleven students in his class made me create such impression on him. Ewan ko, basta parang ang galing niya mag-handle ng estudyante.
And honestly, one can't find teachers like Sir Gonzaga easily.
Nang matapos na ang break, sinimulan na si Sir ang pagdi-disuss sa classroom rules. General classroom rules daw muna bago ang rules sa mismong subject niya. And upon hearing both are a few minutes, na-realize ko na hindi talaga strict si Sir. Siguro, possible na magkakaroon ng time na magiging strict siya for the betterment of his students.
Pero, sa rules niya kasi-like all we must not do is to divert our attention into something unimportant during his class. But activities like eating, okay lang sa kanya. Sir encourages us also to take a power nap sa break na ibibigay niya in-between his class kung ayaw daw namin kumain para daw refreshed kami for the next hour.
Like, ang bait mo, Sir. I'll just hope na walang umabuso ng kabaitan mo.
And here it is, the classroom officers election. "Ito ang list ng positions, chief executive officer, chief operating officer, head representative, executive secretary, chief financial officer, chief auditor, chief information officer, dalawang business operational managers, at dalawang peace and order officers.
"Ang CEO ay ang class president, COO ang class vice president, tapos head representative, executive secretary ang class secretary and class monitor, CFO ay ang ating treasurer, CA naman ang auditor, CIO ang PIO, BOM, at dalawang POO or peace officers," Sir continued. "May tatlong unusual sa class officers natin. Anu-ano kaya iyon?" Nagraise kaagad ng kamay si Ate Sabrina. "Yes, Ms. Real?"
"There are three unusual things in our classroom organization po, as to what I have observed. First, 'yong names po. Instead of the common president, vice president, secretary, and so on, we use corporate titles po such as CEO, COO, ES and so on. Second po is wala po tayong muse and escort and third, we have head representative which I am not aware po."
"Exactly. 'Yong officer titles, muse and escort, and head representative or class representative. But, question again, wala bang nakakaalam sa inyo about sa role ng isang class representative?" Five seconds passed and no one raised their virtual hands. I moved the cursor to the virtual hand and clicked it, making it raise. "Yes, Ms. Los Carlos?"
"Actually, we have a class representative po in my previous school. A class representative's role is to represent the section, hence the name. It can be in a SC meeting, or simply to each teacher. A class representative also aids in addressing concerns and fixing several issues in the class. They also have the privilege to attend meetings in school with the president and vice president.
"In addition to it, one can help the executive secretary in recording the attendance during online meetings and CIO in informing the class about something. And finally, they act as a bridge, connecting individuals to each other, may it be between the school and students or students to students," I added.
"Okay, exactly again!" masiglang saad ni Sir. "Ang lahat ba ay naintindihan ang sinabi ni Ms. Los Carlos?" Sumagot naman ang lahat ng opo at yes po, Sir. Mabuti naman, kung gano'n kasi ang hirap magsalita. "Shall we proceed sa election ng class officers?"
Marami na akong experiences sa leadership kaya naman naging vice president ako ng section namin. Si Ate Sabrina ang naging president. Mas lamang ang boto niya ng dalawa kaysa sa akin. Mas mabuti na iyon, ayokong maging president ng klase.
Ngayon ay break time na. Sa wakas, makakapagpahinga din ako kahit saglit. Puro tanong tungkol sa family ko ang tinatanong sa akin ng ibang teachers namin.
"Los Carlos ang surname mo? Kaano-ano mo si Professor Los Carlos?" tanong ng Earth Science teacher namin.
"Mama ko po."
"Are you related to Aitana Essie Los Carlos?" tanong naman ng Oral Communication teacher namin after ko magpakilala.
"Yes po, Ma'am. She's my elder sister po."
Kulang na lang, magsubmit na ako ng birth certificate sa kanila eh. But, yeah, not all the teachers for today asked me about it. Two of them, actually and annoyingly, said that hindi na daw sila nagulat no'ng napunta ako sa Section 1 kasi daw sobrang galing ko daw na estudyante. Like, who cares? Did anyone asked about it? I don't even care if I got to the lowest section.
One of those two teachers even told one of my classmates who got the lowest rank in our section that she's lucky she became part of the Section 1. Nobody cares, okay! No one asked, and no one wants to know. Geez, this people. Anong meron sa Section 1 dito sa paaralang ito at bakit sobrang big deal sa kanila? Sa punto nila, parang ang gusto nilang iparating, mga bobo ang nasa Section 10 habang geniuses naman ang nasa Section 1.
Kaya umaayaw o nawawalan ng determinasyon ang ibang estudyante na mag-aral eh. Kasi kayo mismong mga guro na imbis na nagmo-motivate sa kanila, kayo pa itong mangda-down sila at sasabihan ng kung anu-anong mga salita na akala niyo nakakatuwa pero ang totoo, nakakasuka.
Eh, ano ngayon kung siya ang nay pinakamababang ranking sa amin? Does it define her worth as a human person? Doesn't mean na mababa ang nakuha niya, magsasalita na kayo na para bang sinasabihan niyo siya na hindi niya deserve mapunta dito sa Section 1.
Ano ba ang purpose ng school kung nage-expect ang ibang mga teacher na matalino ang isang bata o may idea na sa ituturo pa lamang? Ano pang purpose ng pag-aaral, kung ang gusto naman pala nila, alam na agad ng bata?
Kung ang pagiging parte ng pilot section ay pagiging matalino, mas gugustuhin ko na lang na mapunta sa lowest section. Bakit? Hindi lahat ng estudyante nage-exceed sa lahat ng subject. Hindi rin naman ibig sabihin na mababa ang grades mo ay bobo ka na. Iba't iba tayo ng uri ng intelligence. Hindi porket mababa ang grades mo sa Math, bobo ka na agad.
Oh well, being tamad doesn't count in this statement. Kung tamad ka at ayaw mong mag-aral, kasalanan mo na iyon. Eh, sa tamad ka eh. Wala kang karapatang magreklamo kung tamad ka naman. Ano, puro reklamo lang gagawin mo? At kung idadahilan mo ang lahat ng sinabi ko, maaari ka nang lumisan sa mundo. Kung gusto mo, ako na maghahatid sa iyo.