I never gave her
an apple even if I remember her as the very pretty Miss
Calimquim.
She was our English
teacher as well as our homeroom teacher in sixth
grade. Boy, was she strict! I was always in awe of her. But I realize
now
(a thousand years later) that beneath her tough facade she cares about
her students. On our last day at her sixth grade class she made each
of
us promise to make good in high school. When it was my turn I said
"I
might make good."
" 'MIGHT'
is not good enough," she said in her usual commanding manner.
"I want you to say " 'I WILL,' " she added. I meekly
obeyed but I know I
was kidding myself. High school was uncertain territory.
When we registered
in high school we took a classification test at the
old wooden building beside the municipal hall. Next day Miss Calimquim
sent for me. I trekked across the town plaza to the elementary school
where she waited at our old sixth grade classroom.
She learned ahead of us about the test results and she said I scored
the
highest in the classification tests! My classmates may not remember
the
classification tests now. It is just a minor blip in our reminiscences.
Anyway, Miss Calimquim
congratulated me, but not before she mockingly
chided me for saying "I MIGHT" instead of "I WILL"
back on our last day
in her sixth grade class. That meeting, whether she remembers it or
not,
was my most poignant experience as her student.
Years and years
later, just after college, I was a temporary clerk at the
Bureau of Public Schools in Manila. One day there was a buzz along
the
corridors that a beautiful woman with a doctorate fresh from the United
States has joined the Bureau's elite.
She was my lovely
English teacher!
But I was too
shy - scared, really - to approach her. She might not
remember me. Also, I found it hard to erase from my mind her image
as a
stern, albeit very pretty, teacher...
Even today (she
has since then returned Stateside, been widowed, and is
living in California) I can't gather enough nerve to send her a card
of
hello as suggested by my sister who got married to one of her nephews.
© 2003 Fred
Natividad
Lorton, Virginia
Email address:
frednati@earthlink.net
