Exclusive Schools: Like...Whatever!

(my first article submitted to www.peyups.com)

“Oh my God! As in? Promise? It’s like… so confusing ha!”

“I swear, he is like… the cutest guy ever. Totally!”

“You know what? Her outfit is so baduy ha! It’s so last season!”

“Are you kidding me? I’m totally not going there! It’s so kadiri!”

“Those girls from that school are so unbelievably… oh gosh, (sabay roll the eyes then taas ng perfectly plucked or shaved kilay) like… they’re so duh!”

These are the words spoken in high pitched voices that we laugh at every time someone says them. All I can say is I used to speak that way. And sometimes, I revert into that dark side of mine para lang mang-inis ng tao.

Nakakapagtaka bakit natin pinagtatawanan ang mga taong ganito and why we always attribute these words to girls who came from exclusive schools, which I will not name for fear that someone might get offended. At hipokrita ako kapag sinabi kong hindi ako nagsalita ng ganito eh majority ng twenty-four years na namalagi ako sa mundong ito, sa all-girls’ school ako nanggaling. Apat na bagay lang ang pumapasok sa utak ng tao kapag sinabing exclusive school for girls: (1) maarte, (2) may kaaway na ibang girls’ school (na hindi natin alam kung saan talaga nagsimula), (3) hindi siya nakakuha ng virginity award nung graduation, OR (4) lesbian. Hindi lahat ng taga-exclusive school nasa isa sa mga categories na iyan habang buhay. That’s all a part of a phase that adolescent girls in such an environment go through.
I’m not trying to justify why girls from these schools are like that and I am not making fun of them… not now anyway. May mga panahon na nang-aasar lang ako ng tao dahil pag nalaman nila saan ako nag-high school, bigla akong babanatan ng mga salitang panimula ko sa article na ‘to. O, eh di ibigay kung anong ine-expect nila tapos pag dating sa acads, mapapa-wow nalang sila kasi pag dating ng recitation, biglang nawala yung slang. Or ma-shock sila kasi mas malutong pa ako sa chicharon magsabi ng mmmm…ina mo.(baka ma-censor)

Nasabi ko na kanina, galing ako sa exclusive school at natuto lang ako magsalita ng normal nung nag-college ako (kasi naman po, pag nagsalita ako ng ganun sa UP, malamang, na- KABLAM na ako di ba?). Naalala niyo yung “Legally Blonde” and how they were biased against her just because she was blonde? I think that the same thing is happening here: that we label people just because they came from exclusive schools. Affected pa ako nung college, lalo na nung sumali ako ng org kasi kapag tinatanong ako tuwing reporting at sasagot ako ng matino, inaartehan na nila yung pagsasalita nila… for the lack of a better way to express it… “kasi it’s like they were mocking me na.”

I’m already a law student and at this level, akala ko limot na yung labeling phase and people would be more mature so as not to judge by the schools. Eh kung yung “war” between exclusive girls’ schools nga hinayaan ko na (funny, my closest friends from college and in law school are from other girls’ schools), yung labeling pa? May classmate ako nung first year na loyalty awardee na ng isang exclusive girls’ school (kung may law nga lang daw dun, dun na rin siya nag-law eh). When a guy in our class found out where she was from, sabi nung guy, “Di ba lahat ng taga-_______ pok-pok?” What the *@#%? Leche, o ayun, nasampal siya nung friend ko! At hindi na ulit nagtangkang mag-comment ng ganun yung guy kasi baka hindi lang sampal ang abutin niya sakin pag may sinabi siyang similar comment sa akin. Baka makabalita nalang kayo ng law student na pinatay ng kaklase…

ANYHOO…

My point is: let’s not judge people because they went to a certain school or spoke in a certain manner. Hindi naman yun ang talagang nagpapakita kung sino sila hindi ba? It’s how they adjusted to that kind of environment that shaped the kind of people they are now. Bata pa lang tayo, tinuruan na tayo “not to judge a book by it’s cover.” Let me rephrase that to suit the situation: Do not judge a person by the school he or she went to. Anong magiging feeling niyo kapag kayo yung binigyan ng comment na kagaya nung binigay nung classmate ko? Kunyari makarinig kayo ng comment na “Ah, yung _________ (whatever school you went to, my dear reader)? Hindi ba bagsakan ng bagsak yan? Tingnan natin hindi kayo makasapak ng tao.

Para naman dun sa mga taong na-mention ko sa article na ito, specifically those from exclusive girls’ schools, sisterettes, ipakita ninyo na hindi lahat babaeng galing sa mga paaralan natin ay gaya ng sinasabi ng ibang makikitid ang utak. Patunayan natin na hindi lahat ng taga-all girls’ schools ay kaartehan lang ang alam. May ibubuga din naman tayo pag dating sa acads ha. Marami tayong pwedeng magawa para sa lipunan. Kaya lang sabi nila: “When a man speaks up, everybody listens. When a woman speaks up, people look at the packaging and if they like what they see, they listen.” I’m not sure if it’s true pero narinig siguro yung ng mga madreng nagpapalakad ng mga eskwelahan natin kaya naisip nila na plus points din yung magandang packaging kaya tayo binigyan ng kikay classes. It may sound biased pero I think that was supposed to be an eye-opener on how women are still discriminated against by some people… except that the nuns did not expect that their plan would backfire and some students would concentrate on the kikay stuff instead of acads. Yung Dalagang Pilipina program nila ay unti-unting nawala sa curriculum dahil na-misinterpret ito ng ibang estudyante bilang “how-to-make-paligaw class that later became “how-to-make-ligaw-a-guy” class. Once again, I emphasize the words SOME students.

So, next time na makarinig kayo ng “Let’s make tusok-tusok the fishball,” don’t judge at once. Get to know the person first and then you have the right to comment na maarte, coño, malandi o okay lang pala. Hindi niyo alam, baka kagaya kong lokang nang-gagago yung nakakausap niyong taga-girls’ school, leading you on na brainless bimbo siya tapos mapapa-wow nalang kayo sa performance niya sa class or sa pagiging jologs niya (there is a jologs hiding in every one of us). I’d like to emphasize para mag-stick sa utak ng nagbabasa: DO NOT GO BY FIRST IMPRESSIONS, BECAUSE THEY ARE OFTEN WRONG. I swear, as in.