I remember vividly that I once participated in a classroom quiz bee between me and another student named Karen Patayon. The questions in the quiz bee revolved around topics regarding the outer space and I happened to be one of those kids who loved reading books (I recall, amused, on my preference of pop-up types) with large pictures of constellations and planetary entities. My opponent on the other hand, happened to be the smartest person in class a.k.a. little miss student achiever extraordinaire.

I would not exactly say I was of the same level of academic caliber as Karen's, but I have to give myself credit that I do know my way around the heavens. Our Science teacher looked closed enough to notice that. So, there I was head-to-head with Karen with a consistently tied score, in front of a class of midget-sized personalities crying cheering and booing for their party of choice (I was of the smaller ratio.) The last question, the supposed tiebreaker, was clearly describing the attributes of my favorite celestial body. Scribbling frantically on the chalkboard, I did not hesitate to write the word star.

I turned back to my Science teacher and smiled with satisfaction, certain of my victory and the acquisition of the hefty pack of marshmallows sitting on her desk. As I looked to the other side of the board to check Karen's answer, I was stung, chugged down and was breathing heavily beyond definable terms. I read in silence her lefty scrawl of the same thing I wrote on my side of the board. For that, we were both declared winners by our Science teacher: a safe but irking tie.

The next thing I knew I was listening to the amplified verses of jeers from my classmates. Jeers, I knew, that was wholly directed at, I think, me. I was taunted for weeks about how I wasn't supposed to win and it should have been Karen-or she already was to them-declared as winner. We were all first graders back then.

So okay, that wasn't exactly an achievement. In fact, I was rendered a loser after that said incident and thanks to time's unmarked passing, it faded into obscurity like a lost tablet of historic significance. I, however, until this day, kept a copy of that tablet because it reminded me how hard it was to prove oneself worthy of recognition to other people.

The years that passed after that affair, I motivated myself to defy stereotype. It is, I admit, evident that Karen is still way ahead of me academically but I had long been determined upon establishing myself on other fields and that, I say with delight I have done so successfully. I concentrated on my effectiveness at self-articulation. Spoken, written, socially and even in artistic prospects like theater, music and sketch. I made sure I was better than Karen on aspects she could not highly exemplify. It was not until nine years later, after the quiz bee episode that I had to yet again face Karen for a score to settle.

A week ahead before the school yearbook elections, I had been campaigning for the position of Editor-in-chief which was the highest and of course the heaviest job of them all. I heard of no one else running against me but rumors had it that Karen was bound to be nominated and that her clique was ready to support her. I readied myself.

On the day of the said elections, I sat uneasily on my chair of our school's audio visual room and looked around for signs of Karen. From where I was, I spotted neither hair nor hide of her and I leaned back somewhat relieved and half-wishing she would not show up. Then, the nominations began and I was first to be nominated. Just when I thought the nominations were going to close on me alone, the inevitable happened. From the back, a student's voice called out and had Karen Patayon nominated, her name written next to mine on the chalkboard before us. Closed the nominations, motion seconded and the voting began.

In our school, we use the raise-your-hands-in-the-air-and-be-counted voting system and when my name was called I was stunned to see numerous hands raised. People who I did not expect to vote for me, voted. Some were people I hardly knew and were never my classmates throughout my years in Stella Maris Academy of Davao. I swear, I even saw people I never demonstrated my campaign on passionately waving their hands at the vote evaluator in the front. Startled, I learned that I bagged forty votes all in all.

Then Karen's name was called and a mass of hands from the back rose to be tallied. It was like the other half of the room sprang to life as the former half who voted for me retired attempting to decipher the result of the election. I did not know how to make of it so my insides churned.

After counting, the vote evaluators at the front huddled together to do the math and they came up with an astonishing number of votes for the other candidate. It was then announced that Karen Patayon had forty�

Forty-three votes, that is.
I was overwhelmed knowing that I was defeated by a three vote gap.

Applause ensued within the room and I could not help but clap along with the rest of them because I knew that Karen deserved this acclaim without a doubt. Afterwards, I was nominated as an Associate Editor and thankfully, I got the job.

These experiences identified my role as an individual. I had learned to strive to become a better person and in the process had prompted the awareness of my fortes and drawbacks. In spite of the fact that I had subjected myself to rivalry and the need to be ahead of someone else, I realize that since all of us have their own strong and weak points, we are all equal on that respect. I consider myself lucky to even come as close as a three point difference with Karen, who I am good friends with and will remain so, I have reason to think, in the not so distant future.
 

04-13-2005-Wednesday, 6:39 PM