MANILA, Philippines - It was covered in a chalkboard design with numbers, parabolas, Cartesian planes, and formulae that quickly caught my attention. I wasn’t a math geek, (heck, I suck at numbers) so I scanned the book for the gist hoping my dying brain cells would be able to comprehend what it was about. In a snap, I was at the counter paying for the book with a sly smile, knowing I still had six books in my dorm waiting to be read.
When I read the book A Class Apart by Alec Klein a year ago, about the lives of students in one of America’s best high schools — Stuyvesant High School — I felt like I was one of them. Don’t get me wrong. It’s not that I was born a genius or something, but rather, I also experienced the pressures of wanting a ticket to my dream school, which was UP.
But I wasn’t smart, or at least I don’t consider myself such most of the time. So my so-called dream was a 50-50 shot, a do-or-die case since I didn’t take other entrance exams then. For the Stuy students, however, the problem would be choosing which good university to go to, at least for most of them. That’s how gifted they were.
Back in high school, I failed in academics but not to the point of failing a subject. I was actually in the middle of our class ranking. Hopeful, I said to myself that I would study harder and be successful in college. True enough, it was easier said than done.
So it was a breath of fresh air when I grabbed this book and had the emotional and psychological security I needed to make myself believe that I wasn’t alone in this struggle. The book is about the lives of chosen students, like a football team captain who tackles his way to Harvard; a poet who fights drug addiction; a 10-year-old prodigy who tries to fit in a high school environment; a girl who resists parental pressure for enjoyment; and the struggles of some teachers.
The book touches on sensitive issues like racism, elitism, vices, pressures, parenting, and a lot more. It reminds me that the saying “What you see is what you get” does not apply in school or in our daily lives. It is because I think everyone needs to believe that there are stories behind everything we see. And that how teachers see their students is influenced by so many factors unknown to them. That, based on my observation, is lacking in most of our teachers. It would do them a lot more good if they, those who have personal issues, would be treated appropriately in school by teachers so that they would be able to handle life’s challenges and school stuff better.
Among these issues I mentioned above, parenting I believe is the most crucial to point out considering that Filipinos are very family oriented.
It is every parent’s dream to have their kids excel in something, like in academics for Stuy parents. When a child is smart, the common notion is that the kid can do things on his/her own without needing so much support, aside from the material things they need. However, it should be noted that the kids excel in a certain fields only. The Mr.-or Ms.-know-it-all isn’t real in life. So there must be a lot of things that are above their IQ and skills. And parents should not overlook their duty to provide emotional and psychological support. The bottom line is that no matter how good your kid is in something, the gift can either make or break him/her without enough support and guidance from their parents. Lack of guidance can result to vices and delinquencies while too much can lead to rebellion and the like.
Reading the book gave me enough understanding of the ups and downs of being extra special, to know what it is like to have your parents guide you in school — since mine were mostly absent in my school life the moment they gave me money and the things I needed. But that’s because I never let them in, in the first place. I think it has something to do with my upbringing. So the book will surely open the eyes of both the child and parents to the reality they might be missing, like the basics of relationships and communication.
It’s a must-read book. I was envious and have always wanted to be the smart one who enjoys solving math problems rather than just glaring at the problems.
But at the end of the day, I was still blessed to make it into my dream school when I passed UPCAT years ago after enrolling in a review center and reading so many review books. I learned that just like those Stuy students who had everything at stake and gambled on their future, to make your college dream a reality isn’t a walk in the park. It takes courage, dedication, hard work, and a lot of heartbreaks to make it real. But in the end, it’s worth it.
THIS WEEK’S WINNER
Crispin Mahrion B. Abacan, 19, is a BS Development Communication student in University of the Philippines-Los Baños, but not in school this semester. He was news editor of his high school publication, The Newsette, and was a correspondent during the 26th Asia Pacific Regional (APR) Jamboree, the same year he qualified as a national finalist for the 2009 Search for the Ten Outstanding Boy Scouts of the Philippines.
Where they come from, they may have been a star, and then they come here, and then they realize there are 34 kids per class that are stars. — From A Class Apart