If you could have something named after you, what would it be?

Of course, this is purely hypothetical. If the chance came, I’d like my high school library to be renamed ‘The Topher Bibliotecha’. A New York-based alumnus funded and built one building. This was then named in her honour. It wasn’t a minuscule structure, either. On the ground floor, it housed the chemistry and biology labs. Meanwhile, the computer lab and music room were on the first floor. The school’s newest and cleanest toilets were opposite the chemistry lab.

Flying the flag

Unlike Ms Lewis, I’m not as well-off or connected. I’m not a bestselling author. Likewise, I don’t practice law and I’m not based in the Big Apple. What I can offer though is a willingness to represent my school in foreign lands. The Benedictine institution will forever hold a special place in my heart. Whether it’s writing articles in the past, or penning stories, I won’t forget the precious six years that I committed to my alma mater.

As a teener, I was one of the most steadfast library users. I always read the dailies and had a book in hand. The high school library was where I read Time magazine. The repository introduced me to R.L. Stine. I devoured the almanacs. Once, me and my erstwhile crush flicked through Guinness. I noted that, apart from her sleepy eyes, she had nice, fair hands.

We started school at seven a.m. and wrapped up at 4:10 p.m. Thus, the time wasn’t enough to finish books there. We had to borrow them and bring them home. The lib wasn’t air-conditioned either, but we had electric fans and lunchtimes were always breezy.

The ten-month marathon

The school year spanned parts of ten months, from early June to late March. Summer break was all of two months. During these years, I was never an honour student. However, I won a school-wide writing contest. I did not make the varsity, but was sports editor in year 8. Furthermore, I served as an acolyte during my final two years. In four years of high school, I was always in the first section. This housed all the top achievers. Competition was very steep.

I didn’t just read in the lib. I also wrote articles that were included in the school organ. I made friendships. I gained valuable knowledge. You could say that the library was where I grew up. It taught me almost as much as the blackboard. For years, I learned more novel words or phrases from fiction books than from textbooks. It was my haven even as the librarian reminded me of Professor Dolores Umbridge from Harry Potter book five. She kept books and magazines away from us and she would not let me encode on the computers. She was a very envious soul. I wished that someone else was in charge.

A trophy called Topher

While the lib might be an ambitious goal, I can easily see the trophy bearing my name. To have gone two for three, and to have contested the title as a sophomore, is awesome. As mentioned, I also beat out a genius. That doesn’t happen every day.

The library was also the sight of my most rewarding scrabble victories. As a sophomore, we unexpectedly made the final against a pair of veteran seniors. We may have lost, but I did score a bingo, ‘grinders’. My teammate, Adrienne, wasn’t a good sport. When he was asked if we won, he did not respond to the library assistant. In both third and fourth year, we claimed the doubles trophies. I was particularly proud of our senior year victory, as we edged out a genius junior. In that bout, I did all the heavy lifting.

The dark horse

In our yearbook, I had the lengthiest ‘meaning of life’. This was the theme of our yearbook. Each of us had to address it. The last page was dedicated to my poem. It was marked as ‘un-edited’. I wasn’t the most popular or the tallest or the most artistic. I had something though that not every classmate had: I had potential. Most of them realised and admitted this. If we were to draw up the most likely to succeed, our valedictorian and editor in chief would be atop everyone’s list. My peers have proven to be more diligent than me. I was more like the Congo, still largely unexplored but brimming with untapped promise.

Other iterations

Though the bibliotheca would be an obvious choice, there are other options as well. Instead of Economics, this could be substituted as ‘Topher-nomics’. I wasn’t particularly gifted at finance but it does have a good ring to it. Social Studies was my favourite subject. In first year, I normed ninety-five (out of ninety-eight). I bested our valedictorian. I always nailed the difficult questions. My rookie teacher, Ms Mo, would exclaim: ‘I surrender.’ She told our nurse that Topher is very smart. Due to my excellence, the subject could be renamed ‘Topher Studies’.

Our pedagogues sometimes brought us to the pergola, to get some fresh air and ramp up our creativity. This could be named the ‘Topher-gola’. The gymnasium is another possibility, although they would prefer to rename it after a sporting personality. Believe me, I had some sparkling memories there. The day I hit a transition three, when the gym erupted. Another time where I stopped, popped, and hit from WAY downtown. I was being called Ray Allen. The audio-visual room is another long shot. I don’t have a long enough filmography to merit that august name change.

Homecoming

Alumni homecomings are celebrated twenty-five years after graduation. Our reunion hasn’t arrived yet. Most of my contemporaries have families. Many have relocated to Manila. Others have gone abroad. Interestingly, my batch has produced many physicians. Most of them are from the lower sections.I can anticipate the naming ceremony. Viewers would find out that this drew inspiration from a Freddo ad.

‘Once, there was a budding author just like you. He was named Chris but he was a tad bit shy. They gave him some books, shared their stories, taught him prayers. He was transformed into Topher and he’s been writing ever since!’

I may not be a physician, accountant, or engineer. I am no genius like Gat Jose Rizal. My pose won’t be featured on the five hundred peso bill. I will never win Olympic gold. I will not sink the Chinese with three pressure-packed free throws. However, as I try to write another post or project, I will always think of the lamb.