It Runs In the Family

"A family of achievers..."

"Lahi ng matatalino..."

Our family is used to this kind of fame in our small town, Naga.
My father, Benny, did not finish high-school but he could beat even our school supervisor when it came to cleverness.

My mother, Mina, was a plain housewife after acquiring her 2-year associate diploma in Secretarial. Before reaching 40, she decided to go back to college to pursue a degree in Education and finished it with flying colors.

I grew up believing that superior minds are just either good in English or good in math. If you're good at neither, you're a moron. If you're good at both, then, you're a genius! Incidentally, all of us in the family can claim excellence in both subjects...

My mom and dad would often argue whose got the better genes. My mother would often flaunt her bachelor's degree and my dad would just smile at her. My mother even came up with a theory that 90% of a child's intelligence is inherited from the mother.

Well, whatever it is, no doubt that it's 100% a gift from God!

Our eldest, Reden, is a Math Wizard. He used to beat Engineering counterparts in Speed Math, Math Olympiads, etc. He was also a student leader (a consistent classroom president and was elected college student board president), a journalist and an activist. He was brilliant but his status as an anti-administration activist hindered him from getting to the dean's list and kept him underrated academically.

Next is Ate Merce. She graduated high school as valedictorian and finished college as cum laude. She was the most diligent student among us. She didn't have time for extra-curricular activities because she had to work while studying. But she could have been a great public speaker and a leader. She's good with numbers and she has a very impeccable command in English language. She is also the most level-headed among us. Bonus: she's a devout catholic. Her leadership skill is innate-- being able to boss around in her workplace and in our household and just recently, she was chosen president for the Singles for Christ - Los Angeles Chapter. Yes, she's still single!

Our sister, Cynthia, is a natural-born charmer. She was simple yet that didn't stop the boys from swooning her. She was a consistent honor student. And she was active in school programs as a host (EMCEE), a folk dancer, an orator, a declamer and a beauty contestant. Although in our circle, she was considered the "not-so-brilliant" one, she still manages to excel among her batch.

For me, Ate Leda has the most brilliant mind among us. She inherited our father's photographic mind and keen eyes for details. She's good in history and current events. She is my mentor in English. We share the same passion in journalism. She is more enclined in technical writing and essays while I am more into the fictitious creative side. She won the citywide essay writing contest and the quiz bee that landed her in local newspapers. She has good leadership skills and another thing I envy about her is that she has a lot of luck when it comes to lottery!

Me? I'm just lucky because my siblings had already made an impression in the community that it wasn't that difficult for me to get the chance to prove myself. All I just needed to do is feed their expectations and boom... I became a sensation!

I was a daddy's girl. I spent my childhood being my father's shadow. One thing I won't forget that my father said:

"As a child, you are always associated with me. People would see you and they would say, "Oh, that's Louella, Bayani's daughter." But you know what would make me proud? That one day, people would see me and they would say, "That's Bayani, Louella's father!" That means you have already made a place in the sun.

My father taught me a lot in life. I started really young because of him and of Ate Leda. At 3, he taught me things that a normal 5th grader wouldn't learn yet. I was advanced... People in our town would say I was a "gifted child" and that would make my father happy. But he was so good at concealing his feelings. There were times that he would make us feel like we were not good enough. Later, he explained that he was just challenging us to strive better and hit perfection.

Our dad taught us the importance of integrity and the nobility of a humble and kind heart. He wasn't religious but he saw to it that we went to church every Sunday. He was a disciplinarian. He always challenged us that a naturally intelligent person could balance household chores and school responsibilities.

My mother, on the other hand, was the very supportive persona in our home. Although she taught us to be independent when it came to studies and project-making, she was always willing to lend a hand when she felt like we could not handle it anymore. She taught us to be responsible for our own actions and she trusted us big time. It's very seldom that she meddles with our problems. She told us that she believed we could handle it well on our own.

Another persona who has made a big impact in my growing years is my Ate Merce. I was always a whiner/complainer and would blame circumstances for my shortcoming. She would tell me:

"If you are doing something, make sure to make the best out of it. Even if you were just forced to do it, still, give your best. In the end, the result of what you did would still be reflected on you. If you didn't give your best because you don't like what you're doing, people will say, "Ella sucks!"

These influences in my life made me who I became today... It might be true that it runs in the blood but it isn't all about genes. According to human development, it is 50% nature and 50% nurture. I am just so thankful that I belong to a family who molded me and have raised me well!