Ika 13 ng Hunyo 2009: Real Life Drama

Brainchild's break.......

I woke up with an aching back. I was so beat up that I slept as soon as my back hit the bed after my student who took her final exams in my home left. I lingered awhile and fell back into sleep. This is how a weekend is supposed to be..... Still, I must get up at some point to do what I should do today.... the usual stuff......

Yesterday, I got a text message from my professor friend to tune in to the news because someone we know, a namesake of our boxing champ, is on TV. I thought it was the boxing champ so I didn't make much out of it. A few minutes later, I texted back asking who she was referring to. She said it was our former student in the old school we worked for. There was a murder implicating the family of our former student. The victim is a young woman who is the sister of a beauty queen actress. She also happened to be the estranged wife of our former student.


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Among my professor friends and I, I would probably be the closest to this student. Professors should have no biases but I couldn't help liking this student. He was brilliant, responsible, exuded leadership, respectful, and inspite of their wealth never flaunted their possessions. He was a student in many of the subjects I taught in that school where I taught for more than five years. I think he liked me as a professor as well. Well enough that even when I was no longer teaching in that old school, he and his classmate-friend got me as their thesis adviser. Our partnership concluded on a good note allowing them to join the graduating class of 2006.

I didn't hear from him after that. In December 2006 when we moved back to our home after its reconstruction, I was surprised to get a visit from him while I was tidying up our home still in disarray. The house was still wide open dowstairs and we were occupying two rooms in the second floor. I would hear footsteps coming up. When I came out of the room, it was my student with a box of apples. He didn't stay long and I didn't ask him to because the house was in no condition to receive guests. After a few minutes of catching up, he left. I didn't hear from him again after that.

This sensational news about his estranged wife and his family being implicated in the crime is the next that I would hear about him. In the news clip, the camera would show both father and son being interviewed. I am saddened. He is not included among those charged but his father is.

I met his father as well during our exposure trip to companies to expose students to industries. Running out of options, my student offered their commercial farm engaging in modern poultry technology and rearing exotic animals as one of the companies we would visit. It was actually a perfect match to the other company I chose, a Japanese firm hubby is working for which is engaged in semi-conductor. During the the visit to their farm, his father gamely accompanied us during the tour explaining to us the technology behind his fatter and faster-growing chickens. Their farm promotes a sustainable food chain. Dead animals or waste products are fed to other species in the farm enabling a continuing circle of life. Indeed, it was a learning experience for my students and some professors who tagged along. The sumptuous lunch of fresh catch from their tilapia farm and fresh vegetables was just the perfect way to cap what is originally an out-of-campus activity but became like a getaway.

His father is a lawyer who became a farmer. He said that he was leading a fairly busy corporate life handling high-profile cases when he grew tired of it and decided to be a farmer. Not a bad choice after seeing what we saw. Talking to him, he seemed like a likeable person who prided about treating his workers well. He's one of those people that makes you feel good after an encounter with him. He was a gracious and generous hosts who made us all feel welcome in their farm. Everyone was tired but enjoyed that last leg of the exposure trip that we had. I didn't get to meet my student's father again after that field trip.

I like keeping abreast about the lives of my students. I specially love knowing that they are doing well in their chosen fields. I would meet some of them in Makati and they would enthusiastically relate to me their work or business. I would hear about some of them from my professor-friends.

This is not the first time I would hear about a student from the media. A number of my students are models, actors/actresses, or simply made news. A former student and thesis advisee, daughter of a couple who run a popular pre-school, was one of the divers who retrieved trapped bodies from the ill-fated MV Princess of the Stars carrying more than 700 people sank in typhoon-tossed waters off Sibuyan island in Romblon province on une 21, 2008. I hardly hear news about students whose lives went awry after graduation. Perhaps, it's too early in the game to give up on their young lives and are still hoping and pursuing their dreams quietly.

I do not know what to make of this latest news about my student. I don't understand why this should happen. I can only hope that light will be shed soon and justice served swiftly.............

PS: Sabi ng estudyante ko na nakakarelax daw ang bahay namin dahil mga tunog ng kalikasan ang maririnig dito gaya ng daloy ng tubig, huni ng ibon, tunog ng chime...... Paminsan minsan nagtatahulan ang mga aso. Yang ang isa sa dahilan kaya gusto ko lagi weekend....... para makapagrelax sa tunog gubat kong bahay.......