MEComposing

Haha. Weird right, why Grade 5 classmates?

A former classmate uploaded her class pictures on FB. None of us realized that we were somehow marked by being classmates in Grade 5 because of all the things that transpired then, the major thing being our adviser was the devil.

It seems kinda stupid now that none of our parents got her fired for all the things she subjected us to. We were hit by rulers, made to scrub floors until they sparkled, had to be monitor for the day and go around the class looking for dirt, wash her glass and plate, keep her area (a small nook with a folding bed for her behind our bookshelves) clean, etc.

We were all subjected to verbal abuse. One was even hit by a powder container because she was irked that the child she was verbally abusing had a dedma expression (unfortunately, she missed and hit another child).

And did I say she had me suspended for supposed fighting... I was fighting with a classmate but we weren't even having a shouting match or pulling each other's hair out. More like we argued in front of another teacher who sent us to her (adviser) so we can iron things out. Adviser had us instead stand outside the boys' classroom where she was teaching... and asked us to have our parents come the next day and declared us suspended. Three days and I didn't even say anything like SH!T.

And this teacher had the gall to convince my Mom that I needed summer lessons and then later on, tutorial from her... after also tutoring my classmates (and teaching them stuff she will include in quizzes) and getting annoyed that I'd still perfect her tests while her wards wouldn't.

I can go on and on and on.

Anyway, six of us met at Cafe La Carmela with another batchmate (who had our adviser in Grade 6, so she could relate) last Saturday. And boy, was it a laugh trip down memory lane. We caught up on each other's lives, on gossip involving our batchmates, etc.

We wondered aloud about one who has died already, if she did die of cancer or got involved in drugs so much that the police offed her. We tried remembering faces and attaching names and stories to those faces. We talked about the weird classmates that we had, the ones who changed so much, the ones who got pregnant so soon, the ones who ended up together and remained together or got separated.

Reconnecting with them was enlightening, humbling and amazing. It was great to see those who now have great careers, and how the ones we wouldn't have pegged to stay home as SAHMs like me. It was great to see the quiet ones now speaking up, the 'slow' ones now succesful, the rebellious ones now all mellowed down. It was great to see how we've evolved as mothers, how some have remained friends, etc.

Honestly, I last saw them all (except my neighbor) at our graduation in 1990. So I really hope to keep catching up with them and bridging the years. After all, I doubt we've exhausted our adviser reminiscences, haha.