[At left photo is my sweet daughter Alee in a jolly and playful mood; while at right is the front view of the stage at the AFP Theater within the Camp Aguinaldo grounds during the W.O.D.-Philippines Qualifier round.]
Miriam College was known during my time as Maryknoll College, and I remember a music bar sung by my classmates in San Beda High School in Mendiola, Manila; about two (2) scores, a decade and three (3) years ago…which goes like this: “I LOVE THEM ALL FROM MARYKNOLL; WHETHER THEY BE BIG OR SMALL.”
I never imagined that Alee would eventually become a Maryknoller (that’s how they call the Maryknoll students then); because her elder sisters all graduated from the Holy Spirit High School.
What struck me about Alee’s clutching a Miriam’s certificate of excellence during an affair which was held at the Miriam College on March 17, 2016 is Alee’s tremendously busy training schedule in dance, hiphop dancing. I felt then that the dance training schedule has eaten much of her time for studies. I know too however that Alee would almost always make time for study even if she would arrive home very late in the night.
Though I then felt that Alee’s being so dead-tired could take a negative toll on her mental comprehension while studying, all of my fears have now been proven wrong. What appears clear is that through Alee’s passion for dance, she has molded some kind of mental discipline which augured well for her after midnight studies, writing of reports and general review. It was indeed a true show of excellence.
About Alee’s passion for dance and the quest for excellence… on March 19, 2016, the World of Dance- Philippines Qualifier round, was held at the AFP Theater inside the Camp Aguinaldo grounds in Quezon City. It was another show of excellence as in fact, one of the more notable members of the panel of judges (i.e. Mr. Jon Supan of the famous hiphop dance team of yesteryears, the Manoeuvres) proudly declared that the show (i.e. WOD-Philippines Qualifier) was a spectacle of dancing excellence by all of the participants. In his own words, Mr. Jon Supan asserted that all of the participants are champions in their own right. What is more, the W.O.D. – Philippines Qualifier featured among others, as its guest dancers, the topnotch dancers from the REQUEST of the Royal Family of New Zealand (3-time world champions at the World Hiphop International in the U.S.A.). Indeed, a powerhouse show of excellence.
Going back to my sweet daughter Alee…years ago, when Alee was still in Grade 3 (not at the Miriam), I was summoned by her teacher as I was thereafter told that Alee, in one of the class examinations, allowed a seat mate to copy from her. When I came with Alee to school and as the teacher asked her about the seeming offense, Alee said that she did not know that her seat mate was copying from her. Earlier however, Alee admitted to me that she knew and allowed her seatmate to copy. At home thereafter, I asked Alee why she answered that way to her teacher’s query. Alee then told me that her seat mate is her best friend and that, she would never let her best friend down.
Early this year, we in the family learned that Alee passed both the UPCAT and the ACET. Though, Alee wants to eventually become part of the famous UP Street Dance Team, she also has her eyes focused for an Ateneo scholastic stint. When I asked her once what she would take as her course if eventually, she would choose to matriculate at the Ateneo, Alee made a quick riposte: “BS Legal Management”. I got so thrilled and surprised that I might in the end, be able to convince one of my children to eventually take up a course in law, as all my cajolery and prodding spent with Alee’s elder siblings have proven futile.
Meanwhile, at the back of my mind, I sort of reminisced that episode when Alee told some kind of white lie in defense of her best friend in her Grade 3 class. I said to myself…well… Alee may really fit the lawyering profession to a “T”, she knows when and how to LIE!!!