Could One Point You missed in a Test Change Your Life?

It did in my life and career! This is a true incident in my life. I don't think I have told anyone about it. I may have hinted it to my wife of 52 years,but I don't think she knew all the details. So here is my story. I have describe a summary of this episode in my previous posting “ You Have to Fail in order to Succeed “

This episode in my life occurred when I was in 3rd year college at the University of the Philippines, Diliman. Q.C., pursuing a bachelor's degree in Chemistry. One of the subjects, required for the degree was Differential Calculus. I took this course with the engineering students instead with my chemistry classmates , because of some schedule conflict with my other elective courses. To make the story short, on the final examination for this course, I scored only 69% less than 1% for a passing grade of “C”. I was given a “Condition” and have to take a retest to pass the course. The next day, I took the retest and passed it with flying colors with a grade of 75%. So what is the big deal? I passed, how did this affect my life and career? Because of the “Condition” grade that I obtained, I was not qualified to graduate with HONOR (CUM LAUDE), even though my grade point average for the four years qualified me for that honor. ( the details of the grading point system in UP at that time was discussed in detail in my previous post).

The fact that I did not graduate with HONOR although I have the grade point average devastated my ego, and my self-esteem. In my class of 20 original freshmen, only 15 graduated in four years and only one graduated Cum Laude. This shows how hard and difficult it was to graduate with honors at that time.

With my ego deflated, I made a personal vow, that no matter what, I will pursue graduate studies in the US to show to my professor and the whole world of my capabilities and to redeem my self-esteem. My ego and self-esteem went back to normal levels when a year later, I passed the licensor Board Examination for Chemists, scoring 3rd place nationwide.

After graduation I was hired by my Alma Mater (UP) as Instructor in Chemistry. Two years later, I got married and have settled down in our home in Quezon City, a gift from my parents and my wife's parents. A year later, my wife was pregnant with our oldest son. I had completely forgotten my personal vow to do graduate work in US. I was very happy with my job in UP and enjoyed teaching.

One day, I received an acceptance for a full teaching assistantship/scholarship from the US, from one of several applications, I sent before, I got married. I have to decide. It took a lot of discussions with my wife and myself. Is my burning ambition my number #1 priority or my family and future child in my wife womb's? I can not decide, but thanks to my late father-in-law, I would have been stuck in the Philippines teaching at the university. I did not know that my father-in-law had advised my wife “To let me Go”. My wife later informed me, that without her father's advise she would not have given me her consent to leave her for my burning ambition. ( My wife did not know of my personal vow at that time)

So with a sad heart to leave my family, but with excitement to fulfill my dreams , I went to the US for graduate study. During my first year in the US, I was tempted twice to quit and return to the Philippines. I was very lonely especially on Holidays and Christmas, plus the winters of Chicago was bad for my body, that was accustomed to the tropical climate of the Philippines . I oftentimes ask myself, What in the “Hell”, am I doing here with tears in my eyes almost freezing in my face and my nose frozen because of the frigid temperatures of Chicago.

But my vow and burning ambition triggered by the 1 point I missed at the final exam in my Differential Calculus class kept me going, until I completed my Ph.D. Degree in Pharmaceutical Chemistry. The rest of the story is history. Details of my life and career in the US from 1960 to the present are discussed in my blog site/, http://economicdisasterphilippines.blogspot.com

If you have a similar experience that could have change your life, please let me know.

You have to Fail in order to Succeed

It's just like saying you have to fall before you can stand! Really true! I will give three examples to illustrate how true is the above statement and how it affected my life today.

The first incident to support the above statement occurred in my elementary school days. When I did not received the first honor award ( I got 3rd honor award) during my graduation both my parents and I were very disappointed. My parents even contemplated filing an official complaint to the school principal and my teacher of what they believe was a nepotism case since the valedictorian was related to the teacher and principal. However, I convince my parents not to do it. I told them, I will work harder in high school to be number #1, to show the teacher and principal they made a mistake in the selection process. The whole four years of high school, I competed with the five top five honor students from our elementary schools days. Needless to say, I graduated validectorian(#1) of our high school class. My classmate who was #1 in our elementary school days got the salutatorian award ( 2nd place). I was happy and felt vindicated. My teacher in the elementary school congratulated me but without looking straight into my eye, when my parents invited her to my high school graduation party at our house.

The second incident was during my graduation with my Bachelor degree in Chemistry in(UP) University of the Philippines in Diliman,Quezon City. When I missed graduating cum laude,(with Honor) by just 0.24 points, I told myself I will pursue my Ph.D. in the United States to show my professor in Differential Calculus who gave me a "4.0" (condition) grade when I received only 69% in the final exam( I missed 1 point to get a C). I took a retest and passed it with flying colors. In my chemistry class, there were only 15 of us and only one graduated cum laude. That show how hard it was to graduate with honor in chemistry at that time. That grade of "4" certainly did deflate my ego and self-esteem, but two years later, I redeemed my self-esteem and inflated my ego by passing the Board Examination for Chemists taking 3rd place nation-wide.

Let me explained the grading system at that time, since I am not sure if it is still the same today.. In 1955 when I graduated in UP, the grading system was from 1 to 5 with 1.0 as excellent (A), 2.0(B). 3(C) (Passing). 4(D) Conditioned and 5( Failure). To graduate with honors, the average of your four years of grades are considered except physical education and ROTC ( Reserved Officers Training Corp). The scale for the following honors: Average for four years of 1.00 to 1.20 is summa cum laude ( with highest honors); 1.21 to 1.45 is magna cum laude ( with high honors) and from 1.46 to 1.75 ( with honor) is cum laude.

My four years average including the “4.0" that I got from Differential Calculus was included in the calculation (not my passing grade of 3.0 after a retest the next day) turned out to be 1.99 ( not high enough for honor). But if you calculate my four year average with the 3.0 that I got after the retest, my four year average turned out to be 1.74 enough to receive the cum laude ( with honor) award.

When I found this out, I was so furious, I wished my calculus professor be run over by a car or misfortune falls on her every day of her life. When I saw her in the hallway,I gave her a stare of hate (like an arrow that pierced her heart that did not stop bleeding until she died ).However, at the end of the semester, I was able to forgave her after talking(in a confession) with Rev Fr. John Delaney, my Jesuit counselor of the University of the Philippines Student Catholic Action. (UPSCA) at that time. I had to forget the incident, otherwise I will not be able to receive communion during mass.

But I vowed to the whole world, I will obtain a Doctorate Degree in the United States to show to my Professor in Differential Calculus of what she did to my “ego” (with the 1% score that I missed during my final exam.) Looking back, I think I should thank her for what she did, because there were numerous times during my first year in Graduate School, that I wanted to quit. But once I remember the incident( my determination to finish my doctorate degree )reminded me of the personal vow I made to myself a few years earlier.

The third incident is a culmination of my twenty-two years of experience working for private industries here in US. I lost my first job in industry on my own free will. I wanted to receive a 20% raise in income as well as move to a warmer climate. The second private industry job that I lost was due to the company moving and closing their agricultural research division and also consolidating their research facility in one location to save money. I lost my 3rd job in private industry, because the firm wanted to save money and also wanted to get out of the pesticide business. The 4th job loss,I had in the private industry was the most heart-breaking episode in my career. I had only one day of warning. After working for the firm for twelve years with good performance, it took management only one day, to tell me, we do not need you any more, good bye and look for another job. That feeling of anger,loss of ego, shock and envy (for those who were not fired) was indescribable and humiliating. I vowed I will never worked for a private firm again in my lifetime. My determination to work for the Federal Government was achieved, when I worked for the Food and Drug Administration in the Fall of 1990. This decision was the best move,I have ever made in my career. My twelve years in FDA was filled with purpose, awards, accomplishments and personal growth . Our life in the suburb of Washington, DC was filled with civic involvements, social activities, humanitarian projects, pleasant memories, cultural projects, and even a private tour of the WHITE HOUSE. Receiving Christmas cards from the White House for four years (CLINTON) was the ultimate fulfillment of a Filipino student who immigrated to the US in 1960, raised a family of four professional children, had achieved in his lifetime. I could never have worked for FDA, had any one of the four private firms not failed me, or had retained me as an employee.

If you have experiences that illustrate “that you have to Fail in order to Succeed”, please feel free to comment.

Political Joke-The Bushes Stinks

I receive this joke recently and like to share it with you!

Whether Democrat or Republican, you should get a kick out of this!

A little boy goes to his dad and asks, 'What is Politics?'
Dad says, 'Well son, let me try to explain it this way:
I am the head of the family , so call me The President.
Your mother is the administrator of the money, so! we call her the Government.
We are here to take care of your needs, so we will call you the People.
The nanny, we will consider her the Working Class.

And your baby brother, we will call him the Future.
Now think about that and see if it makes sense.'
So the little boy! Goes off to bed thinking about what Dad has said.

Later that night, he hears his baby brother crying, so he gets up to
check on him. He finds that the baby has severely soiled his diaper.

So the little boy goes to his parents' room and finds his mother asleep.
Not wanting to wake her, he goes to the nanny's room Finding the door
locked, he peeks in the keyhole and sees his father in bed with the
nanny. He gives up and goes back to bed.

The next morning, the little boy says to his father, 'Dad, I think I understand the concept of politics now.'

The father says,'Good, son,tell me in your own words what you think politics is all about.'

The little boy replies,'The President is screwing the Working Class while the Government is sound asleep. The People are being ignored and the Future is in deep shit.

Happy Halloween- Tabi' Po Nono'

My Pangga ( beloved) Carenna Katague Thompson

Goblins( Nono),Ghosts and Witches

Recently, I was reading the Philippine Inquirer on line. An article and video clips regarding the evil possessions of 27 students in an Oriental Mindoro school attracted my attention. You could see the haunted look in the eyes of students "possessed". The authorities have called a local priest to exorcise the evil spirits, but the phenomena has not stopped. They are also planning to call the health authorities, to see if there is a health related explanation. An update of this paranormal incident was published in the Oct 30 issue of the Philippine Inquirer. Their explanation was "mass hysteria".

This news reminds me of Marinduque's local beliefs of the existence of Nono ( goblins) in the area. There are also stories about ghosts( white lady apparition) and witches. I know that in Iloilo, there is one town there that is supposed to be a lot of witches. However, there is no proof, this is true. In our resort property in Amoingon, some of our neighbors inform us, that once in a while in a moonless night they have seen an apparition of a white lady. I have never seen one during our annual six months stay at the beach resort. The white lady is supposed to guard the property from robbers and intruders. I hope this is true.

With regards to the Nono,( they reside in the big trees),even though I really do not believe it, I still say TABI PO NONO (Excuse me Nono,I have to pass by) when passing under the trees and bridges in my property at night. Even my 5 year old grand daughter from Sacramento, has learned of this phrase. We told her of the TABI PO NONO phrase last December, 2007 during our golden wedding anniversary celebration. The funny part is, when they were in Boracay a week later, she said the same phrase while passing a bridge at the Boracay Regency Hotel, where her MOM and Lola were staying. Hurrah to the memory of a 5-year old. Anyway, if you experience or hear of any stories about ghosts, nono and witches, please let me know. Happy Halloween to ALL!

Joy of Retirement, Part 2

The first entry of my first blog on May 10, 2008 was on the Joy of Retirement. I described in that post my feeling of getting lost and useless after working for three years in the Philippines and 37 years in the United States. My feeling of uselessness completely disappeared after my wife and I started babysitting for our grand daughter, Carenna. I commented that we love more our six grandchildren than our four children, because our children are considered our capital investments and our grandchildren are already our profits.

After retiring from FDA as chemistry team leader from the Center of New Drugs, I realized I have plenty of free time. I decided I had to learn more about computer technology besides just e-mailing and word processing technology. Through trial and error, I created my own website, http://www.chateaudumer.com. My goal was to advertise my beach resort business worldwide. As a result of this endeavor, I was able to attract clients from Europe and the United States.

I also started paying all household bills on line through electronic banking, shopping on line, chatting on line and playing games on line specifically duplicate bridge, my favorite game since I was in college. Just six months ago, I discovered the world and joys of blogging. I did not realized that today there are 7 million bloggers in the world and it started in 2003. At present I have 7 blog sites on topics ranging from personal experiences, politics, education and other topics of the day. I want to concentrate on the subject about Marinduque. My goal is to promote Marinduque as a world tourist destination not only on Easter Week ( Moriones Festival) but also whole year round. As a new blogger, my goal of advertising the beach resort did not materialized. I have more traffic on my website that on my 7 blog sites, but I found blogging relaxing and enjoyable.

My wife and I also devoted our free time on our favorite humanitarian project in Marinduque. For the last 12 years, we have been involved with the medical mission in Marinduque. Visit, www.marinduqueinternational.org for details.

May, I reiterate that the joy one gets from retirement is very specific. Some enjoy their free time by learning new activities, getting involved with humanitarian projects or spend more time with their grandchildren. Others hate retirement. They missed their coworkers and interaction at work. Others with no children or grandchildren spend their free time on traveling, turning their hobbies into small business or more community involvement. Those that retire and hate it, is believe to die early and than those who enjoy their retirement years. I suggest you plan your retirement as early as you can. The happier you are on retirement, the longer you will live.

Memories of Romblon, Philippines

In late 1945, just after the end of American-Japanese War in the Philippines, my father who was a captain and dental officer for the Philippine-US army took me and my Mom for a month to Romblon Province. He was in-charged of all the dental needs of army personnel in the whole island of Panay as well as in Romblon. I remember we took a PT boat owned by the US navy from Iloilo to Romblon. I was only about 11 years old that time, but very knowledgeable of US history. One of my hobbies was to read US history. I have memorized all the 48 capitals of US states( yes,at that time there are only 48 states in US). My father's dental assistant was a white sergeant from Oklahoma City. He used to quiz me of my knowledge of the capital city of all the US states. If I get it right he gave me chocolates and cookies as a prize. There came a time when he ran out of chocolates, since I have never made a mistake. One capital I almost made a mistake was the capital of California. Most people think at that time the capital city is either LA or San Francisco. Even today, there are still a lot of Filipinos that do not know that Sacramento is the capital of California. The same thing with the capital of Illinois. Most Filipinos at that time believe it is Chicago( the biggest and most populated city in Illinois).

Back to my memories of Romblon. As we enter the harbor, the picturesque view of the mountain so close( all white with marble) almost took my breathe away. It was so beautiful that until today, it is still vivid in my memory. I have not been to Romblon since then, so I do not know if the view is still the same. Anyway we stayed in Romblom Island for 2 weeks. Every day my father took me to his dental office. All of his patients talked to me about their lives and towns/cities in US. That was the beginning of my life-long dream to visit and live in US someday. I did accomplished that dream, having studied, lived, worked and raised a family here in US since 1960.

After two weeks in Romblon Island, my father's assignment was one week each at the two other big islands of the province, Tablas and Sibuyan Islands. The trip to Tablas Island from Romblon took only about 30 minutes by PT boat. I remember, it was so fast, that we arrived about one hour early at the port of Badajoz ( now known as the town of San Agustin). The PT boat went back to Romblon and we waited by the side of the sea under a coconut tree for a jeep from Odiongan, capital town of Tablas Island.
We were hungry and thirsty, but there was no store (tiange) or restaurant in the area. We saw a several residents in the several nearby houses, staring at us, but no one said hello or even offer us a glass of water. As I remember these memories, I felt that if this incident happened in Marinduque, at least one person will probably offer us a glass of water and perhaps even invite us to wait in their house instead of outside under the sun ( luckily there were a few coconut trees providing us with shade). My father explained later why the town was called Badajoz. He said it means "bad hosts". I am glad the town is now called San Agustin.

Our week stay in Odiongan, Tablas and later in Cajidiocan, Sibuyan went pretty fast. Before I realized,it was time for me to go home to Iloilo and back to school.

My memories of Odiongan and Cajidiocan - it was the most rural place on earth and the roads were bad. It felt like driving in the craters of the moon. Does any one knows what the road conditions now in the Tablas and Sibuyan Islands?
If any one is from Romblon reading this blog, I will appreciate if you let me know what is going on in Romblon today. Someday, I will visit the province again, to see if that harbor view of the marble mountain is still the same.