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Essay on Student's Special Circumstances. Noli de Castro Academic Excellence Awards.

A CHICKEN FOR A STAR

(A ROOSTER'S SACRIFICE)


“When the story is about yourself, it’s hard to remember the title.”

Once upon a time, there was a young boy who dreamed of being a priest, he thought that being a servant of God might save him from the troubles of the world. He cried when he knew that being a priest is a sacrifice, a painful path following Him as he walked through the Calvary through the hills of Golgotha.

There was once a young child who dreamed of being the President. He thought that it might save their business, he thought that he can just shout at costumers, ordering them to buy the morning pan de sal or some meriendas, so that his family could stay at their bakery near the seashore. He cried when woke up in another house.

There was once a child who thought that he can do everything, that he will grow up to become somebody in the world of a billion faces.

But, when one is a shepherd, he’ll realize that he wants to become a soldier. And when he becomes a soldier, he’ll want to be a general, it’s by then that he’ll think that he could have been king.

There was once a boy who grew old of his childhood, now, he realize that he wants to become a child again, but he knows he can’t, time had passed and he had spent his years in seclusion.

He was a caged boy, he did not play basketball like all the other boys his age, although his father used to be a player in the barangay’s league. He liked sports though, he never forgot to spend some time with his friends playing slipper games in the school’s playground, that time, everybody loved slipper games.

And when the bells rang, they stopped and head back in the four walls of the classroom, there, they learned the wisdom of the books and the blackboards.

Their school was wide, most of it covered with carabao grass, and next to it is an open field. It was like the other rural schools, but this school was different. Unlike the others, it was this which shone the most in their municipio. It was also this who gave their town great pride for its students who are now working abroad, hard to say, their best students always leave their homes to become servants to another land.

And as time struggled to get free, little did he realize that it was already the end of a six year journey, but the boy never forgot the spot where he would always hide when they played tagu-taguan five years before. He still remembers the spot where he planted his first pechay and eggplant for Agriculture, and the memories spent in the Home Economics room where they would make kombo and toron.

Sad to say but those days were over and another morning is about to come.

A year after his valedictory address, and his collection of 23 gold medals his mother have happily displayed in the walls as though an open invitation to costumers- he’s in another playground. By now, his friends are too old for playing the timeless slipper games, and his goals changed from being a child to being an adult, at least in preparation of being one. Now, he is responsible for what he wants to do. He now knows the values and responsibilities of his life.

Everyday, the boy rides the multicab from his home in Malinao, 14 kilometers or at least 30 minutes away from their school’s town, he then takes two 5 peso-tricycle rides from the stop-point to the “Land of Striped Green and Whites.”

During school days, he always wakes up at five in the morning to get everything done and to arrive at seven in his new walls. The water is still cold. The tinug-on (rice) has not yet cooked thoroughly and the nearby carenderia has not yet opened. The sound of the chirping mayas filled the air as the streets wake up in its undisturbed slumber. Lucky are those who does not care much for what the next grading would bring… unfortunate little boy.

His mother is already awake, she always is at these times, his father, tired of not sleeping for the whole night, sleeps like his baby brother. The bakery is already open as early as four. He often helps his mother in the business but his mother obliges him to focus on his studies. He can help them when he gets a good job someday. Hopefully, they can wait.

His father is a hard-worker, he wants to be like him someday. He never gets tired of his working regimen- from dusk to dawn, he bakes bread and he sleeps for about three hours before waking up to feed the chickens. His father raises manok-panabongs (fighting cocks) as insurance. Whenever the bill collector or credit collector comes, his father would hastily find a buyer and come back with payment. That’s pretty much the chicken’s worth aside from leisure for him. Although, the chickens have already become a part of their family.

Now, the boy is ready to go to school. He used to ride in a jeepney that would directly bring him to school along with fellow schoolmates in that town, but he never has the chance to catch the jeepney in time. He is always busy that times slips away. Nevertheless, he seldom gets late in the first subject, except in circumstances beyond control, that is.

When the boy gets to school, he had either missed the flag ceremony or had a race with their Filipino teacher – as the first subject, to the door.

And all in all, in this story, there was once a boy, there was once a child and there is once a shadow.

The boy by now sees how much everything has changed from that first six years to today’s eventually ending four years. It will take him only a few months to become a decade wiser.

Perhaps the greatest thing to reminisce about is what you have accomplished out of scarcity, for the greatest achievements a boy could have is when he touched the stars climbing in a grass root. And from the grass roots to the stars…

When the boy touches that star, I will be there to touch it with him, we will be there looking down at the heights we’ve climbed in this great journey, when we face the scarlet veil of the moonlit sky to kneel and cry. All that even though we’re only carrying the little things God has given him… me… us.

In our life, we have met many people. We have seen many faces and have been through many scenes- we have been witness to our own world.

In this high school life, we had 12 airplane flights all because of contests- we have been traveling back-and-forth Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao. We have stepped in the blooming city of Surigao, the ocean-side view of Zamboanga, the buzzing metropolis of Manila, and many more. It’s a little bit ironic that we have seen these places in person but we’ve only met Boracay in pictures, even though we are both Aklanons.

The greatest joy, perhaps, in these trips are the pasalubongs that we bring when the ride is free. Once, in our freshmen days, we have been the sole first year contestant to fly to Manila for a congress, we were so excited knowing that everything is free. When we were about to leave, my mother gave us 150 pesos for pocket money. We know it’s not much but considering the trip, everything was more than enough. Hugs and kisses, we waved them good bye.

It’s funny to know that you’re mother gave you 150 pesos, exactly one 100-peso bill and one 50-peso bill for a trip halfway around the Philippines. But money never matters in these times when you are provided with freebies, doesn’t it?

But what if it’s not? When the trip’s all yours to pay?

These happened several times before, many for Iloilo, for college entrance exams and short-noticed contests and events, like one when we have to conduct our research in the West Visayas State University, when we were informed just a day before leaving, and one when there was a meeting in the Iloilo National High School. During these times the one that would save us are the chickens. Chickens are insurance, whenever you’re out of money, they are always there to sacrifice themselves for you. How loving, aren’t they? They are a part of our family, and they also do their part.

It’s harder though to see your parents having problems of their own. Every week, we hear the price of LPG getting higher and higher, last time, the news informed me that the price of flour was raised into a new high. An 11-kilo LPG tank would only last 2-3 days in a bakery. Flour used to cost 300 pesos per 25-kilo sack, now they cost more than 7000 pesos. And you can’t do anything to decrease these prices. These times, the chickens are of little help and the only thing a son can do is to help his parents in the business and to do his best to get a job someday. Hopefully, they can wait.

But sometimes, the hardest parts of life is what you live for everyday rather than those short-lived moments.

Everyday, the boy would travel back and forth our town to school. And every time he goes back home, there’s no multicab ride that he doesn’t miss that he had not slept on. We just wake up at the middle or the latter part of the ride home, luckily, not missing our house.

This house is perhaps the coziest home for a seven-member family, even though there’s no one inch of tile in the floors, even though the roof is just nipa, and the rest room has no showers, it’s perfect the way it is. At least there’s cement. Well, a home is not judged by what kind of wood a door has but what kind of family is inside.

But enough about being financially-challenge. Money is never a hindrance to a person who knows how to manage every resource around him. And when you have a loving mother, and a diligent father and a great family, you’ll realize that money is just a material part of life not worth pouring out all your time in.

The greatest challenge by far for us… for me, is balancing my responsibilities as a student leader, my effort as a contestant in a variety of competitions, my grades as a student and my time as a son and a brother.

STUDENT LEADERSHIP – The Responsibility

Being the Youth for Environment in Schools – Organization (YES – O) President of our school and Treasurer in the Regional YES-O Federation, and the Supreme Student Government (SSG) Vice President of our school, I find it hard to maintain service while watching for any mild discrepancies in my grades, well, who doesn’t? They say that being a leader is sacrificing yourself for the good of the people and that is true, but, we must also never forget that being a person, we must take care of ourselves.

The people come first though oftentimes, I have been elected as the voice of the people, and I will not let them down. But I might admit to my own weakness, the YES-O is a great organization although its establishment in this school is a little short-notice and a General Assembly is only in plan. This YES-O is the first in the school and I intend to leave a big footstep for the next officers to follow.

The SSG, on the other hand is already an organization with strong roots and I have intended to make its foundations greater and stronger. I have been with the SSG in the times it carried its projects and programs, I have been with the SSG in its efforts to make a difference and my service will always remain in the hopes that I may carry the banner of my fellow students.

However, why limit yourself in the strongholds of the four walls when you can extend your service to your town?

It was Monday night, and the ballot boxes were just about to be counted. After an hour of the anticipation and exhaustion, after a week of untiring campaigns, the walk across the barangay and its remote part I’ve never thought to exist, the ballot officially revealed the results. And it was a landslide victory for our party, from Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) Chairman to the seventh SK Kagawad, he have been elected into office. That is of course, through the efforts of our running SK Chairman and the voters.

And even though, there’s no pay in being the SK Kagawad, the sixth SK Kagawad to be specific, it’s still a privilege to be in public service, “real” public service. And now that I have another responsibility, it’s another battle that I intend to win. Through God’s, I know that I can do everything.

When you are in a position of command, you are also in a position to be commanded. A student leader is both the leader and the servant of his people.

BEING A CONTESTANT

People say that when you always join contests, it’s just a matter of time before your grades take a turn for the worse. That if you focus yourself in extra – curricular activities, you will eventually lose focus in your studies that you might fall a step in the honor roll.

This is actually true for I for one have experienced it first hand, but of course, only in a quarter grading period. One should never let go one’s spot. I do all I can to grab on tight to the position that I have been holding for nine years now, since Grade 1 to Grade 6, to Third Year High School, I have been consistently the Valedictorian and I will not let that fall astray. I will burn the entire world’s supply of midnight oil before I can say I’m defeated…

Why? Well, it’s not for me. If you are valedictorian, you need not trouble yourself about scholarships in college, many colleges give full scholarship for valedictorians in high school. Not only can it help my parents with our financially-challenged life but it gives me a solid foundation for my college life. Right now, I don’t even know where I’ll study for college.

I have been in so many contests that I have already lost count of them, of course, I did not win in most of them but let’s not forget that failure is just another opportunity to commit success.

I have been a contestant for Extemporaneous Speaking Contests but I have only yet won up to the school’s Cultural Contest. At least, my efforts did not “go to waste” in Journalism Contests, I have garnered many awards in journalism, by God’s grace of course. I have been a contestant for the Regional School’s Press Conference for Editorial Cartooning, but I’m only until the Regionals. This year, I’ll pursue up to the NSPC. Hopefully…

I have also been a contestant for Science Quiz Bee, next week, I’ll be in Iloilo once again (the chicken’s all ready, too) to participate in the Regional Super Science Quiz Bee, I have been studying so much that I wish that I could have even the slightest chance of winning, even a runner-up or so. But I know that there might be more contestants out there more deserving than me and I respect that. I have also been a contestant for Mathematics Quiz Bee, it is this contest that gave me a chance for the first time to compete some place other than Aklan, in Bacolod in my Elementary days. I did not win but at least I was given the chance to go to Negros. Sometimes, I also join art contest and… I have entered two pageants in my life and won…

All these were made possible through God and the dedication of my parents. I seldom sleep at nine, it’s always ten or eleven, even one in the morning if there are projects, but it’s all ok. Everything I do has a purpose in my life and I know that He and my parents will always be there when I need them.

Let us not forget that I’m not only just a student but also a brother and a son. I have a responsibility to my family even though I’m just this young. I don’t know if I’m taking those responsibilities at heart but I’m sure that since they still love me, I am.

I am a child in a world of countless possibilities. I am a spectator of my own theater.

What I do will be my legacy to the world and what I intend to finish is my legacy to myself.

This child will always look at the moonlit sky, with his mind and senses wandering in the vast wilderness of dreams and wishes.

When one touches the stars, with his little things in life, one would either cry or write about it. I did the latter.

Someday, I want to be this boy. When he becomes a priest, I’ll become pope. And if he becomes the President of this great nation, I’ll always remember the trade my father did with the chickens.

He will always be me. I will always be him.