![\"East](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.xjaymanx.com\/xjaymanx_2007\/Images-photos\/xjaymanx_east_coast_02b.jpg\")
\nPhoto 02b by xJAYMANx | Mom’s Med-School Graduation 1967 | Click to enlarge<\/em><\/a><\/div>\n
Saturday, Sept 27th, 2008 > Happy 39th Anniversary, Mom and Dad!… After reading Mimi’s recent blog post ~ Asians Can Be So Competitive<\/a> ~ in the light of my parent’s anniversary tomorrow, I guess I wrote a reply not only to her post, but to myself as well. So please read her post first to get the full context of my thoughts below, lol.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n LOL, someone’s gotta check if Asians are biologically “cursed” with the “piano” gene, haha. ^_^ <\/p>\n Yep, I took weekly lessons from about age 10 thru 14, together with my brother from age 7 thru 11. Luckily, we were never strictly forced, which probably explains why I never practiced till an hour before the lesson, lol. The only song I can remember is “Yesterday” by the Beatles, can’t play it entirely well, but it’s still my fave from those days. Plus, piano helped me learn notes and keys and such. I guess we started cuz our Mom still played beautifully at the time, probably still does now…<\/p>\n Beyond that, I thrived on high-school competition (except maybe with my high-school crush<\/b><\/a>, lol). Loved football and softball in gym class. Became a star Mathlete. Took half-a-dozen AP classes. Still earned 97.6% grade average as Salutatorian. Scored a decent 1250-1300 on my SATs. Then when I entered New York’s RPI<\/b><\/a> amidst a crowd of super-achievers, it hit me like a cement truck. I was just another average Joe Freshman, lol. Hence, I humbly abandoned the pursuit of perfection and tried to have more fun, lol. Yet despite it all, my Mom and Dad never forced or cursed or yelled. They supported me whatever I decided. I guess I was lucky.<\/p>\n But forget about me. Try to imagine the Philippines in the 1960’s. If I recall correctly, my Mom was Yearbook President, I believe Class President, I wouldn’t be surprised if she was Prom Queen (haven’t asked her but she was definitely pretty enough), and on top of that, a “virtual” Valedictorian. I say “virtual” cuz due to some so-called grade miscalculation error (or she suspected, probably cuz she was female), the title of Valedictorian was given to the next guy. And she was so upset, she boycotted her own graduation ceremony! How cool is that! <\/p>\n Although she planned on Industrial Engineering, she decided on a whim to see if she could enter Medical School. And she did, lol. Eventually, this high-class beauty from a local political family met the hard-working class-clown from a farming family, my Dad, lol. Here’s a pic of my Mom and Dad<\/b><\/a> at the University of Santo Tomas, Philippines, the College of Medicine, Class of 1967, a couple years before they got married. Here are a few more pics and videos I took last year<\/b><\/a>, lol. Hard to imagine, this Sept 27th, tomorrow is my parent’s 39th wedding anniversary, wow. Forty years later, Dad’s retired but Mom’s still a practicing New York physician, whoa. <\/p>\n So who knows? Asian competition and “the pursuit of perfection” is probably as old as Asian pride and honor. Maybe there’a a “piano” or “pride” gene, lol. In any case, some parents (like my Mom) are open-minded and supportive, other parents (like my Dad) want their kids to achieve a little more than their brother’s or sisters’s kids, but in this (non-feudal) day and age, some parents just take it too far…<\/p>\n P.S. A-ha! IQ score of 156<\/b><\/a>, haha. Loved those math problems! Plus nice to know I haven’t lost my edge. ^_~<\/p>\n Photo 02b by xJAYMANx | Mom’s Med-School Graduation 1967 | Click to enlarge Saturday, Sept 27th, 2008 > Happy 39th Anniversary, Mom and Dad!… After reading Mimi’s recent blog post ~ Asians Can Be So Competitive ~ in the light of my parent’s anniversary tomorrow, I guess I wrote a reply not only to her … Continue reading
\nPhoto 02s by xJAYMANx | Mom & Dad’s Wedding 1969 | Click to enlarge<\/em><\/a><\/div>\n
\nPhoto 02t by xJAYMANx | Mom & Dad’s Wedding 1969 | Click to enlarge<\/em><\/a><\/div>\n
\nVideo 05a by xJAYMANx | East Coast Vacation 2007 | WMV = 6:33 minutes | Click to play<\/em><\/a><\/div>\n
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Free-IQTest.net – Free IQ Tests<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"