Dangerous Minds

Dangerous Minds was a movie which starred Michelle Pfeiffer. She played a newly-hired school teacher faced with the challenge of motivating rebellious, cynical but smart street teens to study, believe in their capacity to learn and believe in themselves enough to even just try to make their dreams come true.

This movie embraces what I have always believed --- teachers play a crucial role in the making of us students. I'm taking this chance to thank one who became my favorite college mentor --- Mrs. Amoloria.

She was my first year English teacher. Honestly, hers wasn't a class I was initially crazy about. We were into Composition and yes, I was flunking. I believed then that it wasn't fair for her to grade our essays because well, we had our own ideas and she had hers. Why should she rate my work a glaring 4 (highest was 10) only because she had a different approach in presenting MY ideas?

Eventually though, it dawned on me that the class was not a matter of her ideas being imposed on mine but of her expertise on the subject helping me make sense with, improve and turn my ideas into acceptable, correct and skillful writing. It was with this enlightenment that I came to appreciate her command of the subject, fairness and wit. She was a teacher who knew what she was teaching about, and taught well.

To you, Miss, my highest respect and heartfelt gratitude!

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Lifted from my old blog dated 21st June 2004.

Pride and Prejudice

I'm a late bloomer...when it comes to Jane Austen, that is. I've heard of her, and how revered her works were, but young as I was, I heeded no such encouragements. Austen was a thing of the past and so I thought I did not have anything to do with her, or her books. But, it turns out, I had to eat my words.

I finally got to read her most popular book - Pride and Prejudice - and yes, you guessed right. I was smitten right through my literary core. Austen's keen and honest presentation of the ways of the people in her book was genius. The only aspect of the book that could beat this was the sharp, witty, brutal exchange of ideas between the book's main characters: Liz and Darcy. I really had a hard time keeping myself from grinning, giggling or laughing out loud every time Lizzy and Mr. Darcy threw barbs at each other.

Ah, thank God for the likes of Jane Austen.

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Lifted from my old blog dated 19th June 2004.