ALCERA, Vince BSA 1-6

Comparative Biographical Essay

It was the nineteenth of June, 1861 when the “First Filipino”, Jose Rizal, was born.
Fortunate as he was, his family had lived in a village in Calamba, Laguna. Some would say that
I too am quite fortunate having parents who could afford the things necessary for our family
from the day I was born on the eighteenth of November, 2000 in Manila. As Francisco Mercado
and Teodora Alonso had eleven children, my parents only wanted three; me being the second. In
contrast to Rizal, my parents were the least interested in the field of literature although they were
good at mathematics and medicine. At the period my mother, Glory Alcera, was training to be an
orthopedic doctor at Makati Medical Center and my father was teaching biology and botany at
UP Cebu. Unlike Rizal’s parents who had the time to teach their children at a young age, mine
were too busy that I only got to see them a few times.
Rizal had already been introduced in speaking Filipino, Spanish, and Latin whereas my
mother only restricted me to English. I fell behind and was a bashful kid knowing that almost
everyone around me spoke Filipino. While Rizal grew up with almost a thousand books with a
knack in writing, sculpting, and painting, I wasn’t as mature and expressive as he was. Unlike
him, I didn’t like reading. The only books that surrounded me were never tales and novels but
only of anatomy and physiology which never caught my curiosity. Growing up, I didn’t have
interest in arts and literature. I hated coloring and painting. The only people that would take over
me for most of the day were the nannies that my mother hired in place of her. With the lack of
attention from my parents, I got used to it and enjoyed playing by myself. My siblings, on the
other hand, were the most interested in arts and books.
With Rizal beginning his education with private tutors as a typical ilustrado would, I
began my early studies when my father enrolled me in the UP Integrated School in kindergarten.
Despite it being a cheap government school, it was the time when I only found my own voice as
my classmate introduced me to the violin, my first instrument. Music was the only thing that
interested me—besides dinosaurs. Still, I was never talented as my siblings were. Never did I
excel in academics in my life like Rizal. I’ve never had any medals or trophies until I transferred
schools. I wanted to study in Ateneo Grade School where my younger brother did, but my
mother chose Xavier School in San Juan. Regardless, all I really cared about was studying away
from my parent’s loud fights.
Xavier is where I learned about the practices of Catholicism. Being a non-religious child,
it took my interest to see what the people did just as how Rizal took interest. Never have I wrote
a piece or poem until then. Despite it being a catholic school, there were bullies just like any
other school. I questioned what our subjects that taught values and faith were for, only to see
many students do what is immoral. I was never seen as the small kid like Rizal, but I was made
fun of for not having intellectual superiority or parity at most. In contrast to Pepe missing his
hometown, I didn’t miss mine. Staying away from my noisy family brought peace to me. It was
my only escape regardless of the teeming city.
As Rizal proved his excellency in academics, the only excellence I was capable of was
being in the lower-half of my class. Though there was bias in treatment with the kids in the
upper-half, I had friends who supported me ‘till sixth grade. Both Rizal and I studied in an all-
boys school. However, I was not limited from girls as I met my first crush in violin class who
studied at Chen Kuang. She was another reason why I pursued my music classes. We first met in
5th grade. Though I’ve never written poems about my feelings like Rizal did in college with his, I
tried to impress her through learning both violin and piano. However, she got annoyed at me as
she thought I was trying to boast whenever she’s around.
I left the Jesuit school and applied where she applied—a science high school. My parents
didn’t support the idea of me enrolling in a public school, in contrast to Rizal’s private secondary
education. I wanted to study where my first crush studied, so we both got in a science high
school in 2013, which was my worst academic experience. While Rizal was improving his
language beyond Filipino, I never got to develop mine until I studied at PUP in senior high as my
parents wanted me to become an accountant and escape the contract of requiring to study
sciences in college. I only had friends who spoke English and Mandarin all the time, therefore I
didn’t get the opportunity to enhance my Filipino. I regret not having to care about the mother
tongue of the land I step on; but now I am practicing at my own pace, trying to become what I
should be as a scholar of my own country.

作成した/終わった: 06-20-20
Alcera, Vincent Luigil C.