New month already! For "Nostalgia" this month, I will be sharing school pictures during Grade School! :)




When I started going to school, my brother already "returned" home and was studying his Grade 1 at a school within the neighborhood. When it was my turn to enter elementary, parents also enrolled me in the same school, so brother could watch over me, and that we could come home together.

If my pre-school was a good year for me, Grade 1 was tough. Suddenly, I was faced with forms of land and water instead of shapes and colors. At an early age, I had to learn to study on my own because dad was working in normal hours (8am - 5pm), and he cannot help me anymore. For a while it was a sigh of relief because dad was a very strict teacher. I learned how to count and recite the alphabet with my hand being spanked if I forget the next one. I remember during one of the exams in Sibika at Kultura, the direction said, "Iguhit ang mga nasasaad... 1. Bundok 2. Talon 3. Kapatagan...." I panicked because I couldn't understand what "Iguhit" meant. From what I knew of, "guhit" means "underline," so I cannot understand. Should I underline the listed words? It was when a classmate who passed by my side to submit her paper that I saw there were drawn pictures in the paper. Oh, I get it now. :)

This picture was taken during the United Nations' Day when I was in Grade 1. I was one of the few students who were able to recite this particular poem, so my teacher asked me to recite the poem during the UN Day. Sadly, both my parents didn't watch because it was a weekday.


Grade 2, was the time I started growing horns and tail. It was a time when I started cheating because I just couldn't keep up. It was difficult for me to adjust to the lessons, and since my brother was a year ahead of me, I inherit his books and would take his workbook with me as well and take a peek on my bag during quizzes. Nobody taught me to cheat, I guess it was one of the things a child learns by his/herself.

One thing I couldn't forget about Grade 2 was our adviser. At that time (I don't know if you could relate), teachers would have some businesses. Since our school was still quite new, there were no canteen yet, so students would go out of the school and buy foods at the nearby store and bakery (if they don't have packed foods). Our adviser has this cart of different foods - from biscuits, to sandwiches, to junk foods, to drinks. During recess, she would sell her goods. Sometimes one of the students would watch over the cart while she teaches!

This class picture was quite memorable for me. Since the school was just walking distance from home, my parents didn't give us any money because we can just come home after classes and eat whatever's there to eat. My classes was in the afternoon, so parents would leave cooked lunch to get us through the school day. In an environment where a child learns how to compare, I learned how it felt to be deprived and be jealous of my classmates' things and foods. You can just imagine how depressing it was to see my classmates eat pork barbecue and drink softdrinks during recess because they could afford it. I could just stare at them and hope I can come home so I could eat. This class picture was 15 pesos at that time. My mom gave me the money, but instead of giving it to the teacher, I used some of it to buy myself a stick of pork barbecue and softdrinks. I guess at that time it wasn't really about food, it was about making a statement that "I could buy this, too." Of course, during the Parent - Teacher meeting, my teacher told mom the picture wasn't paid yet, and I took some beating from my mom. Yeah, my childhood days were the days when it was still okay for parents to hit on their kids to teach them about discipline.

It was also the time I have learned not to do my assignments. My mom didn't really check my notes (she wasn't really the type who watches over her children study), and since dad was doing overtime every night and during weekends, I would grab the chance to watch television. In one of the teacher's remark in my report card, it said, "Shows interest in lessons, but seldom does the assignments." My mom wasn't pleased at all.

Grades 1 and 2 were a bit tough for me - I was wondering why my name wasn't on the Recognition Day invitation (meant I had no honors) - and it was the time classmates started bullying me for being ugly, fat, and scarred. Tough, but I wasn't giving up.

*** Jenn ***

ps - Thanks to my childhood friend Kutchie for posting the Grade 2 class picture in Facebook. :) If you're wondering where was I in the picture, I was the third one from the left, second row from below.