getting a five

with the exception of a six-month interval when i was working for this shitty pre-school, i've been virtually inside a classroom as a student since i first set foot inside one way back in nursery. although i won't admit it to a lot of people, i actually enjoy going to school. i love the fresh notebooks and school supplies, i love opening a new book and putting the first fluorescent orange highlight on a pristine white page, i love the expectations one starts a semester with.

what i hate, however, are the grades. i realize grades are important, authentic assessment research notwithstanding, but grades and i, especially in law school, have this way of not being in the very best of terms.

in college, i managed to avoid the hateful five in my transcript by realizing early on what i'm good at and by accepting that i may not necessarily be that well-prepared for a degree as a molecular biologist. i promptly identified four courses i may want to shift into, chose one, and fell in love with it. i graduated near the top of my class, with a couple of job offers, and an invitation to take my master's degree in a very expensive school in ortigas for free.

now, six years from college graduation, four years into law school with one more to go, i found myself faced with something i had never faced before:

a five.

a teacher who i initially admired for his good looks, later hated for his overconfidence in himself, and barely saw the entire semester gave me a five.

the initial shock felt like walking into a brick wall. after that wore off, i thanked god that at least it was a subject i really didn't really learn much from (hence taking it again should at least prove a learning experience) and it was from a teacher i didn't really grow to respect and admire. i thanked god i go to up law school where tuition fee is P300 per unit meaning i would have to shell out only P900 to take the same subject again this semester.

they say that your first year in law school will humble you sufficiently. they were wrong. it's your first singco that will do that to you.