Once upon a time…

Promdi (PD) had a big problem: he might not be able to go to college. He realized this during that last Christmas in high school, that time when many started getting senti over the rapidly ending high school days while everyone else was already looking ahead to the coming year and with it, college.

Who was he kidding?! The realization that college would be a stretch came early in his life. Way too early.

PD was born to struggling parents: his father peddled gulay to support the family, while his mother was a simple housewife. He always remembered him carrying these two baskets filled with gulay linked to the opposite ends of a bamboo peg, which he then carried on his shoulders balanced like the scale of Lady Justice. In this way he scoured the surrounding barangays from sunup until most of the vegetables were sold, which was just about lunch time most of the time. Any leftovers were for their consumption, so it is apparent that PD grew up on vegetables and his father’s sweat.


So this promdi knew his place in the greater scheme of things. They were poor but a child raised happy in a state of poverty could not have asked for more. And as long as his stomach was filled, which most of the time it was, and as long as he was allowed to play like a child, which most of the time he was, things seemed normal. Yes, Promdi was raised by two poor, uneducated parents who showered him with love and affection only the poor can give their children.

Then again, his parents’ love and affection could not bring him to and through college: he had to find a way himself. Or as it turned out, generous people had to find a way for him. The following February the results of the entrance exam for that school near the boarder of Marikina and Quezon cities (let’s just call it the University) came out. To PD’s delight he got a full academic scholarship with dormitory allowance! Problems solved, or so he thought.

Let me just digress and tell you that the University was PD’s school of choice because his high school was a sort of a provincial branch of the University and naturally the students were encouraged to attempt to spend college there and since the passing rate was very low, making it to the University was a news-making achievement.

Getting the scholarship, however, did not solve his other problems –how would he come up with the money to pay for his daily expenses in school? His food? His books? His plane fare? His other needs? (His gimmicks?!) These were certainly not part of the scholarship. What a wasted chance, he thought, getting this scholarship and not taking advantage of it? His parents certainly could barely support him through high school (another story altogether) and could never be expected to provide the money for college. There were no savings to run to, no lands to sell, no jewelry to pawn, no nothing! It was either this scholarship or no college education!

All seemed impossible for PD until generous souls arranged for other generous souls to help him. And everything fell into place. No amount of thank yous can repay them for their generosity and PD knows he owes everything to them.

(This blog ends here but a lot will be said about these generous souls and more before PD is done.)

Who is Promdi?

1.He hails from the City of Golden Friendship (story goes that when people actually discovered there was no gold in the area, they just referred to the friendly people as the area’s real assets; the title stuck but nobody was really fooled, I think) but spent his formative (aka college) years in Manila. Those years were indeed formative as this poor promdi had to discover all by himself the intricacies of living away from home and making it on his own.



2.He used to be a varsity player of that sport that everyone thinks only gays play and played for that school near the boarder of Marikina and Quezon cities. Of course, he has long thrown in his knee pads and said goodbye to competitive games (and has learned to play and love another sport entirely – but that is another story). Some day when 172 lbs becomes 150 lbs, he will be able to play again!



3.He has always been athletic (though these days gravity is slowly trying to take its toll –spare me another 20 years please!) and involved in quite a few sports. To stall the effects of gravity he is determined to stick to the latest craze – jogging. And badminton, that other sport being referred to in #2.

4.He took up BS Math in college. Why? Because his high school achievements led him to think he could do it. And because he has always had a head for it (sort of). And because those who wanted to be qualify for scholarship had to choose a quota course and Computer Science was never an option (no college scholarship was never an option as well, but again that’s another story). And because there was a certain ring to it (though even his parents were asking what kind of jobs were available to math graduates aside from teaching and found no satisfactory answers).

5.He works in an industry that is not understood well by most and hated by many who confuse it with that other industry that bungled kids' tuition fees. Oh, yes, he eats numbers for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Blech!

In the beginning...

This blog was written for the author to celebrate life's joys and tears , to share, to understand, to be understood. To remember.