AMY

We decided to take the available seats at the far right corner of the jam-packed classroom. I grabbed one chair immediately without second thoughts. She was on my left holding a pen and a small notebook with a lot of scribbled words that I cautiously tried to understand. They appeared to me like personal notes or some sort of reminders which were intended to be understood by the one who has written them.

Everyone around us started talking and conversing with each other. There was a gradual build-up of noise and it seemed like anytime soon the room will burst out. Hence, we cannot start-up the engine of our own “who-are-you” conversation at that moment. Silence was in-between the two of us not until I began to ask how will we ignite a supposed to be continuous talk.

Later on, she asked tons of things about me using the Tagalog-English language or what we normally call Taglish, even though she said “I’m not very vocal”. She might have grown up speaking the foreign language possibly because she was enrolled in a private school, and that she came from a wealthy family who manages a poultry farm. She talks in a fast manner and even writes as fast as she talks. I was there popping my naked eyes out to see how she was able to write that way.

This is my classmate who I came to know a few days ago. Her name is Amirah Andres better known to everyone with the nick Amy. It is not pronounced as it is but instead in a more westernized way and goes like this: Ey-Mi. It’s a unique way of uttering the name “Amy” which we, Filipinos, normally read as ‘ah-my’. Her friends coined it from Britney Spears’ song entitled “If you seek Amy”.

She has a very realistic outlook in life and normally expects the unexpected so as not to disappoint herself. It is because of this perception in life that people characterized her as a pessimistic person. But nobody who is a pessimist would probably say what she told me, “I always like to win.”

Having been raised by semi-strict parents, almost everyone would have the impression that she could be a brat or something worse than that. “If I don’t know you, I’m mataray. But once you get to know me, you’re life will change.” Amy said. And everybody must stand corrected for she is really not snobby.

On that day, she was wearing a light green polo shirt that was paired with ‘jeggings’ or leggings that look like jeans. She was dressed enough to convince everyone that she loves shopping, and of course, fashion. Because it was a rainy day, I chose to wear my one-year-old rubber shoes. I looked down her feet and was in awe to see her wearing a pair of small white shiny boots. It was simply perfect for the weather.

She began telling me things she normally do. “I used to design websites, css and html codes. I’m adept at Photoshop,” she said. She also mentioned that arts and craft is her hobby. She eats yogurt instead of the top favorite ice cream and has thousands of songs in her IPod’s library that she listens to depending on her mood.

She prefers meeting people personally and dislikes the modern way of befriending somebody through modern techniques such as the use of social networking sites like Facebook. She does not have an account there, for real. Yet, it doesn’t mean she has an inactive social life when in fact, she said she very much “like to go out and have fun!”

I opened up the topic about books. “I like reading books,” I said, “…especially the detective type” She was also into books but more on the classical ones. She said in reply, “I love reading classics; ‘20,000 leagues under the sea’, ‘Wuthering Heights’, ‘Sherlock Homes’, ‘Great Expectations’ and etc,” She added one of Charles Dickens’ famous books, “A Tale of Two Cities”

She listens attentively while I talk and tell stories about myself and my family with a matching gesture of the eyes opening wide. This happens specifically when you tell her things that amaze her or when you are telling her about things you can do which she never thought you can.

Moreover, as we go on with the simple talk, she looks like a reporter grasping every bit of important detail as if it was history that can never be repeated. She would eventually look at me then to her notebook then again to me and to her notebook. That went on until we ended the conversation. I can see her sincerity in listening intently and at the same time the curiosity while we chitchat.

Amy, who was once a member of the religious group Youth for Christ; who had a chaperone up until she was in second year high school; who would rather write down her thoughts and feelings instead of sharing them to her friends; who learned how to commute only when she was a junior; and who has a medium length silky black hair that is hanging loosely from her head with dark brown eyes and body covered by peach-white skin begins to live independently and bravely as a college student to fulfill her greatest goal in life. That is to be successful in the field she has chosen.

(Comm1 Personality Sketch, 1st Sem AY 11-12)