Wednesday, August 08, 2007 How does one begin? By Miguel Antonio Lizada Kuya's Chair
HOW does one begin the day?
The alarm in the cellphone rings "Lois! Lois! Lois! Lois! Mama! Mama! Mama! Mom! Mom!" the voice of Stewie Griffin from the TV series Family Guy. Then the alarm is "snoozed" a couple of times. What makes one get up? What makes me want to get up?
Outside, the city is already alive. Manila is busy once more. The tricycles hustle past trucks and jeepneys ferrying students back and forth to the University. Private cars do the same. Impatience begins to honk its temper. The smog level goes up. The traffic jam begins.
Inside, breakfast is not yet ready; breakfast cannot be cooked because the electric stove has a problem. Milk and Coco Pops, matched with 3-in-1 instant coffee, seems to be only option. It should be enough to fill the stomach for two hours.
A bowl of milk and a mug of coffee later, it is off to the shower and the cabinet.
The day begins. Even if, it seems, there is no concrete reason yet for doing so.
***
So how does one start class?
It is 7:30 a.m. and both students and teacher are still sleepy and tired. Probably from the cheering so hard at the game against Far Eastern University Tamaraws.
Students have their personal copy of the essay to be discussed in class on their desks. Half are reading and going through them over and over again, afraid of a quiz. They know too well that their teacher is a fan of UAAP basketball.
They know too well that they can be in trouble right now because Ateneo lost to FEU. You see, when Ateneo won against La Salle a few days back, the teacher gave them a bonus quiz which added around 8 points to their actual class standing.
The questions for the bonus quiz were the following:
1. What was the title of the essay we discussed last Wednesday?
2. What was the final score of the Ateneo-La Salle game yesterday?
3. Give me the name of one Ateneo basketball player.
4. One of your classmates is a member of the Blue babble cheerdancer. Who is she?
5. For two points: Yesterday, the La Sallians had a tarp which said "Push the Limit! Animo Spirit!" What is grammatically incorrect with this statement? (Answer: "Animo" means spirit. Therefore you are being redundant when you say "Animo Spirit."
6. Who is the coach of the Blue Eagles?
7. For the girls: if you were to choose between Chris Tiu and Jai Reyes, who would it be and why? For the guys: If you weren't straight, answer that question as well.
So what will happen now that Ateneo lost to FEU?
One student had the courage to ask him "Sir. Talo po tayo diba?"
The teacher just smiled and said "We can't win all the games. I mean, after all, after we have battled our greatest enemy, you can't really expect us to do well against orcs."
The class laughs.
And the day begins. Without a quiz.
***
But really. How does the day begin? What will make it begin? Why begin it at all?
In the end, it is precisely the warmth of Nescafe Instant coffee, the cold milk, the crunchy cereal, the refreshing shower that gets one out of bed. It is the students' laughter, the promise of a good class, the challenges of a lesson plan which makes the day begin.
Even if there is no stove. Even if there is no quiz.
