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It's been eons ago since I posted something in this blog. I somehow lost my passion in writing, if i had any. Haha. I'm just glad I took up a CW 10 class with Sir Wendell Capili. I'm just so glad I did.
Since it was so long ago since I last posted something in my blog, it's but appropriate to post something about me.
“Gerard De Padua, 4th year, BSE Math, High School: Special Science Class, Angeles City, Pampanga.” I would normally introduce myself as that in my classes. I usually say it in a nonchalant, monotonic tone and deliver a rather cold and plain feeling for people inside the classroom. It’s just that I typically hate attention when inside an unfamiliar territory and the less I say, the less they’ll be interested in me. Some classmates might declare I’m anti-social but I’m not. I just prefer it that way.
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First week of GE classes in UP means only one thing – introducing yourselves to the unfamiliar faces you see inside the room and hopefully finding one or two classmate you could get along with. If luck “favors” your side, you could see someone familiar like your former seatmate in another class two semesters ago whom you never really talked to and don’t even know his/her name, your best friend’s evil ex-lover flirting with another student, or even your most hated block mate who doesn’t fail to annoy you every time. No matter how much you hated to see such people, sharing the same class with them gives you that exciting feeling that you could get back at them and spread gossips about what they do inside the class. Doing so turns out to be a very pleasurable experience and I decided to turn it as a hobby. Trust me, every one with a relatively active social life does it.
But generally, I am not really a big fan of “first-day-fun-experiences”. Aside from the gossip thingy I mentioned above, I hate “first days” and I find it extremely hard to give at least a decent required self-introduction. I am not really good in talking about myself. I am uncomfortable talking about what I like, what I don’t like, and all. I don’t’ really divulge much information about myself, So if a teacher asks me to introduce myself, I’ll rather say my name, year level and course, high school, no more, no less. If he/she would ask for specifics, I might include my address, my height and my age. To avoid complications, I always say I am from Pampanga, when my mom’s from Ilocos Sur, my dad’s from Zambales, I only grew up in Pampanga, I stay in our house in Makati during classes, and we lived in Sampaloc and Baguio for about some time. Complicated, isn’t it? I find discomfort in explaining about the complications in my life so I was never enthusiastic in introductions. Besides, I find it shallow to reveal only one dimension of yourself and let them judge you based on what they would hear from you. Gee! I have always believed that if you really want to know a person, you need not to hear it from him but rather, see it from him. And for those people whom I think knows me well enough, they would certainly agree with me in this.
Speaking of people who know me well, I only have a few to brag. I am no Mr. Popularity and Mr. Congeniality either. And I am not really that friendly and I am very selective to those I want to befriend. Let’s just say I have this gift of instinct and good judgment to see through the people I meet. I somehow know if someone is being fake or genuine, if he/she is pretentious or is he/she is trying too hard. Besides, not so many people would really approach me that simply. Come on, I am big and tall and have these piercing eyes and raised eyebrows and I could easily make a youngster cry with just a stare. I also look like I’m super serious and only mean business. In short, I look snobbish and “mataray”. Hey, but I’m taking it to my advantage. I consider this “gift of terror” as a first obstacle my potential friends needs to hurdle. And those who are in my Facebook successfully passed that first test. And those who managed to stay not annoyed by my “bitchness”, I call them my friends.
Different sets of friends who are really close to me call me different names. As if I offer different facets of my personality, I am well aware of those names which are mostly reflective of my personality.
To my parents, I am G-boy the junior, dad’s only boy, mom’s favorite son. Well, technically, I don’t have any competition in the family since I am really the only son. And being the youngest in the family, I have all the privileges and perks my sisters never had.
To my sisters, I am G-boy the only boy, the youngest who talks more than any of them, the one who gets easily frustrated and annoyed, the brother whom they would lock up inside a room because he’s “sumbungero” and the youngest who’ll put the blame upon, and the one who collected the most medals and awards than anyone of them. Well, my sisters were honor students as well, but I just had more to brag about. Actually, I had more medals than they have all combined. My theory suggests that during their time, medals back then costs more and their teachers only managed to provide them those frail ribbons. Oh well, I can still safely say I am the most intelligent in the family, no contest whatsoever.
To my cousins and relatives, I am Gboy the carbon copy of his mom, the re-incarnation of his late Uncle Carlos, the would-be favorite of my Lolo Larry if only he knew I’ll attending UP, the shy and timid cousin who rarely talks unless being talked to, the overly serious cousin who could never throw a good joke, the “revered” intelligent one cause he alone passed UP amongst his cousins, and the most peace-loving cousin who hated fighting of any sort. I certainly look like my mom but I got the height and tantrums of my dad. I never get to know Uncle Carlos nor Lolo Larry since they died before I was born. Since I prefer not to dwell on the limelight, I portray a serious and shy type of person whenever I’m with our relatives. But I always make sure that I won’t fail my parents so that our relatives wouldn’t complain about me. So far, no one dared to complain, thus, I may say that in general, my parents certainly did a great job in raising us as to be responsible, disciplined and respectful individuals.
To my childhood friends, I am Geeboy the intelligent, disciplined, spoiled brat, cry-baby who would try to please them by bribing them his toys and food. To them, I am that boy, who hates losing during playtime, the one who would strategize even to the simplest game like tumbang-preso and patintero, and the one who couldn’t ride a bike and couldn’t run a mile. Well, I still don’t know how to ride a bike but I definitely have grown out of my asthma.
For my closest elementary teachers, I am Gerard the competitive student who hates losing in academic competitions, the student who gets pressured at the sight of his mom, the student who’s obsessed with being clean and the one who has a gift in math. Some of my teachers back then would let me compute our grades because I could do it faster than they could. Up to now, some of my teachers then, who became family friends, would visit our house and ask me to solve a problem or two that they couldn’t understand. Well, I came from a public elementary school in Mabalacat, Pampanga and not to discriminate all public schools, our teachers then were not as competent but they are admirably dedicated.
To my high school friends and best friends, I am Gboy the geek, the class valedictorian, the school representative, the moody guy who hates petty fights, the fat guy who loves to eat and sing, the tactless friend who’ll say anything he wants to say about a friend’s lover, the over-protecting friend who’ll rally up against a friend’s enemy, the simple guy who just wants to listen rather than talk, and the friend who’ll stick out to you no matter what. Well, first, I am not a geek, I just happen to know more. Also, our school somehow thinks I could do anything so when I was in my 3rd year, they sent me to Tarlac to compete for something I was never told. It happens to be a competition about population and statistics, both of which I am clueless then. They trusted me so I was thankful but it could have been nicer if they would let me know what I am going to do. Also, I admit I am moody that sometimes I think I have a Bipolar disorder. But good thing I’ve learned to control my emotions through time. Next, I don’t really know if my friends are really my friends since they would call me baboy or piggyboy whenever I am angry at them. Well, I am fat but they don’t have to reiterate that everytime! Haha! I get back at them by calling them “murit” or “bolang” or “buguk” or “aydamong lamaran.” Besides, I’ve been a very good friend to them so they never really fight back that bad at me.\
To my Math block mates, I am Gerard the serious guy who’ll eventually shift out, the funny guy who thinks nonchalantly about Math, and the man who hates Math teachers so much. I never got the chance to be very close with my block mates since I’ve already set my mind that I’m going to shift somewhere. Add that to the dreaded experiences a Math major had to endure. Well, I really think I am not a Math person so it just didn’t work out for me.
To my college friends, I am Gerard who’s sort of snobbish but very responsible, the guy who’s very organized and could share the sentiment about everything, and someone who is very flexible to anything. I couldn’t agree more. Haha!
To my Aguman friends and batch mates, I am Gboi the conio boy who lives in Makati, the one who hates every member of the organization whom we think is abusive, the member who’ll say something with firmness, the human calculator who’ll compute for bus fair, change, buddy fees and everything else with numbers, the member known for his huge cheeks, the friend whose talent includes being a good macho dancer, the member with famous lines include “Suppose Barney is purple! Walang Barney-Barney sa Math 109!”, “Na kang Kalandi!(You’re such a flirt!)”, “Walang basagan ng trip!”, “Whatever!”, and “Nang Ketak mu?”(What are you talking about?), the batch mate who’ll be fair in his judgments and almost-but-not-quite Aguman President. Well, I am no conio boy, I am just retroflex since can’t pronounce the letter “R” as perfectly. Also, I am a very good hater, I hate when I want to hate and super hate as if I mean it. I am very fair and firm as well. I stand by my principles, I have my word of honor, and I make and follow my own rules. And since I am very fond of numbers, I am the assigned calculator in the org. I can compute relatively faster than any of my friends so I took that assignment. Also, I am not a very talented person so during our talent’s night in Aguman, I made a strip tease, no matter how gooey it felt for me. Lastly, I think my cheeks were not given much attention when I was in high school, though I know I have relatively big cheeks. But since Agupips started noticing that, they called me Cheeky Boy. Now, my cheeks are more famous than I am.
To my TV and movie buddies, I am Gaboy who’s a sucker for reality shows and singing contests particularly American Idol. I’ve been watching Idol from season 2 up to now. Not only do I watch AI regularly, I watch it religiously, 3 to 4 times a day with replays, then download the songs, then download the episodes. Call me a fantard, but I am really good in predicting Idol results. I’ve successfully predicted all of the winners from Ruben Studdard to Kris Allen with the exception of David Cook. I am an Archuleta fan, FYI. And this season, I think it’s a toss-up between Crystal and Lee, with Lee having a slight advantage to win. I am a super fan that I’ve watched all the Idols concert here in the Philippines. Besides AI, I also watch Survivor, Amazing Race, America’s Best Dance Crew, Next Top Model, and more. I also have a jologs side. My inner jologs was unleashed when we won the Jologs quiz show in CMC and in Econ. I am as well a movie buff. I regularly watched HBO and Star Movies and Cinema One and all other movie cable channels. We won in Cliptomania as well, a movie quiz show in the College of Engg. Well, I can say that I am such a couch potato.
Other than TV and movies, I am a very sporty kid as well. To my sporty friends, I am Gboy who plays badminton, basketball, and table tennis. I was varsity player from elementary to high school on those three sports, no matter how obscure it sounds since I am not as fit. I also play other sports like volleyball and tennis and swimming. I guess it’s high time to be active in sports right now and not surf the web much.
Well, I think I said it all in this narrative. I revealed relatively every facet of my personality. May it be Gboi, Gboy, Geeboy, Gaboy, or Gerard; I am just as thankful to those people who took time to know me and share a piece of myself. Though I exhibit some extreme feelings to different set of people, I know I remained very truthful and honest as I could to them. Well, they are my friends, right? So they have to love me and appreciate me for who I am.
