Snooping

 

          I was a rather naughty student in high school.  Naughtier than most girls, that is.  I was quite roguish, almost boyish, in my attitude and behavior, and perfectly capable of doing dirty tricks on our teachers.  For example, in my second year Home Economics class with Mrs. Santiago, I was so bored to death at one point that I simply jumped out of the nearest window while the teacher was not looking and took off.  Of all my various pranks, though, one particularly comes to mind when my mischief got me in a bit of a pickle.

 

          In 4^th year, our teacher in Literature was Mr. Jerry Sheehan, the volunteer from the American Peace Corps.  He taught quite well and never displayed signs of a bad temper in class.  However, he had this practice of giving us vocabulary quizzes first thing in the morning, every other day.  I despised these morning tests because I was not a diligent student of Literature, and I was a late riser, who was wont to come to class late a number of times, hence, missing the start of some of the quizzes.  Even if I knew I would do better if I strived better, I never really did.

 

          The mischief started on one inauspicious afternoon, when I found myself peeping into an empty Faculty Room.  Being the mischievous girl that I was, I sauntered in and started checking out the record books and papers on the conference table, curious as to which teachers left all this marvelous information unguarded.  Lo and behold!  There lay Mr. Sheehan’s record book!  I opened it, eager to see my performance rating in his class.  My classmates, seeing my find, eventually followed my lead and I found myself having to play tug-of-war with everyone as we all tried looking for our names and our grades.  After several minutes of pulling and tugging, I noticed that I seemed to be fighting off only one decidedly light-skinned hand for possession of the record book.  I realized a little too late that the fair hand belonged to no other than Mr. Sheehan himself.  I was so shocked I must have turned a shade paler than him!

 

          Looking back, I realize that I could have easily been suspended or expelled for what I did.  It was a blessing that Jerry Sheehan was most considerate.  Had it been another teacher, say Miss Dimalanta (May she rest in peace.), I could have died of the kalawang from her balisong.

 

 

Lisa Lopez-Valerio