i took up my very first formal lessons in BEPZ Day Care Center. it is a private institution which my late-mother had greatly patronized. in fact she sent us all her four children there for our pre-elementary education.
just like any child, i really felt flabbergasted on my first day. and to my horror, i discovered that i was one of the few who didn’t know how to read (but of course i can write). you see, half or 3 quarter of my classmates already finished a nursery and a junior kindergarten program of that school unlike me who skipped those 2 crucial stages of education. i was among the dumbest kids in school… I CAN’T EVEN READ MY OWN NAME!!!
but maybe it is just in our blood to be … well… uhm… er… gulp… sigh… to be smart, intelligent, genius, wise and all their synonyms (he..he..he..) that it didn’t take a very long while before i learned to read my own name and soon to even understand all the English words and sentences that i am reading.
but, i never had thought that i possessed something that the rest of the class do not… i have a talent that only i possessed.
one day, my teacher gave us an assignment. it is about our newly memorized poem, which she asked us to fill in the missing words, not by scribbling and spelling the words (which is hard) but rather by drawing them on the boxes provided.
so i drew those words… some were really easy but i had a real hard time in drawing the queen and the castle… but since i was a child and still am a person with a great passion in drawing, i still managed and enjoyed the work.
the next day, i was sooo much surprised when i learned that non of my classmates can draw the queen and the castle… so they soared toward me and asked me if i can to their homeworks.
i was so proud and glad for myself, not just because i can brag about my talent but because for the first time in my young, naive life, i learned that i can do something that other people cannot.
my euphoria reached its zenith that i was sooo much overwhelmed (that i felt like exploding on the spot) when my teacher asked me to draw the queen and the castle on the blackboard. and to complete it all she gave me a warm thanks and a super encouraging pat on my back while praising me for a job well done.
i was so happy. i could have jumped into the sky straight through the rooftop. i couldn’t hide my grin as i looked at the entire class. though i did not see it, i know that i was beaming with gladness and pride.
it was the proudest moment of my childhood. a smile still shines on my face whenever i remember it. it is a sketch of memory that i will treasure forever….
GuGuardian Angel Acosta
