Ten years ago, I was exuberance personified, when I saw my first grandchild. He was a cute bundle of hair and distorted face; but I saw in him the achiever of what I failed to grab. When he celebrated his first birthday I wrote an article entitled “My Grandson A Superman,” which intrigued many of my friends, who texted me to clarify the veracity of my conjecture. Kilometric explanations insued, one of which was my admission that it was a hyperbole to give vent to a grandfather's whim. Just like any doting grandpa, I watched him grow up. When he was in Kindergarten, I interviewed him for this column. As expected, the answers were wishy-washy and childish, filled with the exuberance of innocence..

For instance, he would like to be a successful lawyer like his father, so he would have lots of money to buy guns and other toys. He wanted his younger sister to be a banker like their mother. Picturing the world as beautiful, he would help eliminate the bad guys. And live happily ever after.

That was five years ago. Last week my wife and I got a call from our daughter. She and her husband were leaving for Seoul and, because the classes are in progress, they cannot bring their two children with them. They just can't leave them with the maids and drivers. Time for another “apo-stulate,” as my wife would love to call it, another bonding with our grandchildren. It was a five-day sojourn that I made use of by conversing/interviewing with my first Apo, now ten years old and in grade five at the Xavier School for Boys in Greenhills, San Juan, the alma mater of Senator Sonny Angara and Congressman Arthur Yap.

It was a nightly chat because on weekdays he wakes up at 4:30 AM, to prepare himself for school and have breakfast, before he and his yaya are driven from Don Enrique Heights to school for the 7:30 AM classes. They had to escape from the traffic jam in Quezon City so they can arrive in Greenhills before the classes start. He takes his lunch in the school cafeteria, and his classes end at 2 PM. After which it's time for tutorials in a well-appointed establishment in Quezon City. Even the place looks like a small school fully equipped with all learning equipment and paraphernalia. He stays there until 7 PM. He is home at 7:30 PM, when his mother reviews with him his homework for the following day. Approximately, his quest for knowledge (at age ten) is in a wide daily span of 14 hours. How does this compare with pupils in three-shift classes in some public schools?

This interview with Martin Ricardo Palapos Dizon (MPD) is sporadic, and dovetailed in order to establish coherence, done in five evenings before going to bed.

LMP: Your age and grade level?

MPD: I'm ten years old, and at the start of this school year I was accelerated to grade five because of the K to 12 curriculum.

LMP: You mean you leap-frogged missing grade four?

MPD: What is leap-frogged, like a frog jumping? All of us 39 boys leaped from grade three to fifth grade. We did not complain, nor the parents, that's the way it is according to our teacher.

LMP: Don't you find it hard waking up early in the morning, and coming home at 7 in the evening?

MDP: It's a question of getting used to it. My Dad and Mom keeps on telling me that I need to educate myself no matter what. They use as examples many people who are jobless and end up as problems of society.

LMP: What are the subjects you need tutors for? Can't you go on without tutors?

MPD: I really need tutors for Chinese, Mathematics and Science. For English, Filipino, Studies, and the others there's no need. But in order not to burden my Mom, I have have them all. You know, when I arrive home, my Mom reviews everything with me.

LMP: In that case, with all the preparations, you must be doing well in school.

MPD: Sort of. This grading period I should have been first in our class, except for my poor grade in Chinese.

LMP: Do your parents give you a prize when you do well in class?

MPD: Yes, usually out of town trips. I've been to Hongkong's Disneyland, Bangkok, LA, Boracay, El Nido, Batangas. That's why I always strive to be the best in class. The usual year-end accomplishment is rewarded with enjoyable trips. Lesser feats bring us to Subic and Tagaytay on weekends.

LMP: Of these trips you made, what would you consider the best?

MPD: The most enjoyable, the most meaningful, the best? California. Los Angeles. Hollywood, Universal Studios, Long Beach where I was in the wedding entourage of my Auntie Ai-Ai. It was my first time to meet my uncles, aunts, cousins, and other relatives, that I did not want to part from them anymore. But the two-week stay was soon over. I shed tears on my way to the airport. I was still extremely sad when I when I arrived in the Philippines.

LMP: What is Xavier?

MPD: From what I heard, it is one of the best elementary and secondary school in the country. It is run by Jesuit Priests, and it's one of the few exclusive school for boys.

LMP: For instance, how does it differ from the other schools?

MPD: The standard, it's quite high. For instance, do you know that the high school students are given i-pads? Not really given, for the students have to pay for them. The e-book program. They don't bring books anymore. All their lessons in all their subjects are contained in the i-pad. I don't think there are many schools in the Philippines doing this.

LMP: That's marvelous. Can every high school student afford to have an i-pad?

MPD: If you cannot afford, you can go somewhere else. Those enrolled at Xavier belong to upper class.

LMP: Why is it that you have been having your i-pad for years, yet you don't have a cellular phone?

MPD: My parents won't allow it. Having a cellular phone is a temptation to waste time with useless calls. Maybe I'll have it in high school when my sense of maturity is better.

LMP: Do you have other activities in class aside from academics?

MPD: Plenty. We are into different sports. I am into soccer now.

LMP: I remember, you used to have Tae Kwando. Then basketball, swimming, badminton.

MPD: I had them one after the other during the summer breaks.

LMP: Which is your favorite?

MPD: The worst was Tae Kwando. I was only three years old, the smallest kid in our batch. I just enjoyed wearing my white uniform. (Laughs hilariously) We had our weekly sessions in a Mall. And I liked the snacks after every session. My heart and mind were not into the what I was doing. I found it hard to execute the moves of our trainors. For two years I remained a white-belter, no progress. When it was time for me to be a yellow-belter, all my batchmates stopped their training and they watched me. I sensed that they were praying so that I'll pass the test. (Laughs)

LMP: Which are you at your best?

MPD: I've won a few badminton matches. But I would like to excel in soccer.

LMP: How about leadership skill? Is that given consideration by Xavier?

MPD: We have some sessions about that. Every class (maximum of forty, we are 39 in our class) elects five officers: President, Vice President, Secretary, Treasurer, and PRO. This year I am the Treasurer. These five are given the responsibility for the class to maintain decorum, especially if the teacher is not yet inside the classroom. During general assemblies we do the same.

LMP: Doesn't being a Treasurer involve money.

MPD: Yes, I collect whatever should be collected from my classmates; have them accurately recorded; and monitored by our class adviser. But the bigger job is fund-raising. I spearhead and chair fund-raising projects in the class. For instance, the day after Yolanda, the school management decided to raise funds for the victims of the calamity. The school contacted a chef to produce hundreds of boxes of fortune cookies. The job of the pupils and students was to sell each box for Ph100. All of us worked hard. After three days our group sold 288 boxes (Ph28, 800), mostly to our parents and friends. (Laughs) In the Pre-School and Elementary Department we sold the most number of fortune cookies.

LMP: Your school must have collected quite an amount. How much?

MPD: I forgot the total amount. And I heard the Jesuit fathers added more to what was collected.

LMP: How do find the Jesuit Priests running the school?

MPD: I have not seen Priests who look more honest and pious. This is in comparison with those I meet here and there. The Priests at Xavier speak with authority, and they show that they like us. There is no other reaction from us but to obey them. Do you know that originally they were from China, but came to the Philippines when they were ejected by the government?

LMP: What have you learned from the Yolanda experience?

MPD: That I am lucky to be given the chance to help, no matter how insignificant, those who are in need. I am beginning to feel that in the near future I can do something more, and should therefore exploit my capabilities to be able to help more.

LMP: Do you pray?

MPD: Not only in church. Everyday before I go to sleep. To thank God for a good day, and ask God for another good day for my loved ones.

Becoming a septuagenarian is feared by not just a few people. In my case I had this foreboding upon becoming card-holding Senior Citizen who felt flattered when I was presented a birthday cake with my name boldly emblaz oned to perfection, plus a whisper: “Sir pirmahi ang imong 500.”

Now, I am beginning to view the world into a more vantage point. And I find more meaning outside of the defined spheres of life I used to have. Like gravitating myself to the lives of my grandchildren. Raising my children made me wise; now with the third generation, I am certainly wiser. Or, so, I think.

Thus, the days I spent with Martin Ricardo and Mita Raffaela were numbered. But definitely well spent. Both bring me back to my days of innocence, most of which is beyond recollection. With Martin it is always a dream re-visited, for I see myself in him before life started to become obscured and complicated.

(Website: www.loypalapos.com ; email: loy.pal@gmail.com ; cellphone: 09981701129)