CRAZED By Patricia Chanco Evangelista
Here's the 2nd part to that story about Faye, in the article "Misplaced Priorities can mislead a nation"...
=============================
Fairy tale come true
CRAZED By Patricia Chanco Evangelista
The Philippine STAR 11/05/2004
Her name is Faye Nicole B. San Juan. She is 12-years-old, a quiet girl with serious eyes and a habit of furrowing her brow when deep in thought. She answers simply questions that people thrice her age would hesitate over. When the right question comes along, the mature mind gives way to the irrepressible child, and Faye
bubbles over with giggles as an impish grin lights up her face and brightens her eyes.
Yes, she exists.
Faye is the much-debated winner of the International Science Quiz Net, an international quiz bee in Sydney, Australia sponsored by the Mathematics Empowerment Association that brought together over 57 countries from all over the world. Maybe sometimes, when a story as inspiring and as powerful as Faye’s comes out in the open, it is difficult for people to simply believe. Maybe living in a country known for scams, scandal and corruption makes us too used to disappointment to risk hoping.
Two weeks ago, when I first wrote about Faye’s story, I have received innumerable comments about the article. Along with thanks for bringing the story further (which I am so glad to have been a small part of) I have received many queries on the authenticity of this claim. How can a child like that choose to hide her full name in spite of her achievements? Why is there no web site announcing her win, no school claiming her for a student? How can she have won given the series of aggravations
that she was compelled to work under? In other words, her story is too good to be true.
Sometimes, I’m happy to say, good things do happen.
At 7 p.m. last night, I was sitting across the flesh-and-blood Faye and her mother at Crossroads 77 along Mother Ignacia street. Dressed in jeans and sneakers, Faye looked the same as any sixth-grader shivering in the air-conditioning. This kid from St. James School in QC, however, spent nearly four hours straight being interviewed by crews from major networks without complaint – other than looks of amusement exchanged
between her and her mother.
She never thought she would win. "Sobrang humagulgol ako nung inannounce nila pangalan ko." The competition began in the Philippines, when Faye competed locally in an examination that granted her the right to represent the Philippines in Indonesia. Her thesis, which also won Best in Physics (and I shudder at the thought of the experimentation involved), is entitled "The Effect of Ionizing Radiation on the Philippine Fruit Fly." Asked to explain she answered: "Tungkol po ‘yun sa pagbabaog ng langaw." She giggled at my reaction. Eeeyuck.
Faye has been joining competitions since second grade, beginning with the First Metrobank MTAP-DEPED Math Challenge in 2001, the same competition that launched her overseas this year. She spent five months preparing for the Australian competition, reviewing and reading every night, with her mother (a former teacher) quizzing her before both went to bed at 2 a.m. The results of the competition (yes, I saw the final and authenticated results) reflect this dogged determination to excel. Zoology:
100. Physics: 90. Biology: 100. Chemistry: 95. Physiology: 100. Final Rank: 97.
The competition was difficult, and the actual quiz was the least of it, where competitors were required to both give and defend their answers to the quiz questions. Faye says the most memorable part of the experience was walking down Brisbane with her bakya slippers clattering while people stared at her in her baro at saya. In the actual hall, as if the sight of galleries holding each country’s cheering squads was not enough of a shock, Faye and her mother were surprised by the requirement that each competitor decorate her booth. The booth was two-feet wide, with a table and chair for Faye to answer her quiz questions from. Fate was
on their side. Since the Philippines has so many variations of a national costume, the mother-and-daughter duo brought with them two other costumes. The Igorot costumes they hung on the walls, the malong they spread on the table. All that was needed, Faye said with a laugh, was a crystal ball for her to play Madame Auring.
They were cited as most creative before the competition proper. They were penniless, their passports and tickets were stolen, and still they won. It was not the Philippine Embassy who aided them later on; it was a Japanese gentleman who gave them a number to contact for temporary passports. The harried mother burst into tears at the kindness.
Faye said that to her, being a Filipino meant growing up in a country ridiculed and condemned all over the world. For her, being a Filipino is an everyday challenge to change that perception. She tells a story of how in Indonesia, during the earlier leg of the competition, she was so nervous that she failed to answer the first question in the quiz. She was booed – the only person to have ever been booed in the competition. She says it was because during that time, people had so little respect
for Filipinos they felt they had the right to mock her that way. After that incident, she said "Ipapakita ko talaga sa kanila." And she showed them what a Filipino could do.
Faye used to want to be President of the Philippines, now she wants to be a lawyer. "Madami kasing nadadaya na mga tao dahil walang tumutulong sa kanila. Gusto ko, ako yung magdidefend sa kanila. Parang ang saya nun, yung nakikipag-debate ka kasi tama ka." She beams at the thought. A girl after my own heart.
It is hard to imagine this shy young girl with her pony-tailed hair and passion for The Chronicles of Narnia to have such a warrior’s soul. But she does, it all but leaps out of her eyes. Asked if she would rather be born anywhere else in the world, she answers immediately, no. "I’m a Filipino," she says. The Philippines is seen as such a terrible place that one good thing done by one person is seen a beacon for so many others. The more hopeless it seems, the more she wants to defy that impression. It is her country.
Faye’s story is not out there to ask for aid. Her mother would not have been compelled to come out with Faye’s full identity if it were not for the claims against her child. As Faye’s pastor said, her story was told to show Filipinos that one individual could do well, even one alone and unaided. The story was about hope, about Filipinos who can excel in spite of monumental odds.
Faye deserves the congratulations. Thanks to so many who believe, she is getting it now.
=============================
Fairy tale come true
CRAZED By Patricia Chanco Evangelista
The Philippine STAR 11/05/2004
Her name is Faye Nicole B. San Juan. She is 12-years-old, a quiet girl with serious eyes and a habit of furrowing her brow when deep in thought. She answers simply questions that people thrice her age would hesitate over. When the right question comes along, the mature mind gives way to the irrepressible child, and Faye
bubbles over with giggles as an impish grin lights up her face and brightens her eyes.
Yes, she exists.
Faye is the much-debated winner of the International Science Quiz Net, an international quiz bee in Sydney, Australia sponsored by the Mathematics Empowerment Association that brought together over 57 countries from all over the world. Maybe sometimes, when a story as inspiring and as powerful as Faye’s comes out in the open, it is difficult for people to simply believe. Maybe living in a country known for scams, scandal and corruption makes us too used to disappointment to risk hoping.
Two weeks ago, when I first wrote about Faye’s story, I have received innumerable comments about the article. Along with thanks for bringing the story further (which I am so glad to have been a small part of) I have received many queries on the authenticity of this claim. How can a child like that choose to hide her full name in spite of her achievements? Why is there no web site announcing her win, no school claiming her for a student? How can she have won given the series of aggravations
that she was compelled to work under? In other words, her story is too good to be true.
Sometimes, I’m happy to say, good things do happen.
At 7 p.m. last night, I was sitting across the flesh-and-blood Faye and her mother at Crossroads 77 along Mother Ignacia street. Dressed in jeans and sneakers, Faye looked the same as any sixth-grader shivering in the air-conditioning. This kid from St. James School in QC, however, spent nearly four hours straight being interviewed by crews from major networks without complaint – other than looks of amusement exchanged
between her and her mother.
She never thought she would win. "Sobrang humagulgol ako nung inannounce nila pangalan ko." The competition began in the Philippines, when Faye competed locally in an examination that granted her the right to represent the Philippines in Indonesia. Her thesis, which also won Best in Physics (and I shudder at the thought of the experimentation involved), is entitled "The Effect of Ionizing Radiation on the Philippine Fruit Fly." Asked to explain she answered: "Tungkol po ‘yun sa pagbabaog ng langaw." She giggled at my reaction. Eeeyuck.
Faye has been joining competitions since second grade, beginning with the First Metrobank MTAP-DEPED Math Challenge in 2001, the same competition that launched her overseas this year. She spent five months preparing for the Australian competition, reviewing and reading every night, with her mother (a former teacher) quizzing her before both went to bed at 2 a.m. The results of the competition (yes, I saw the final and authenticated results) reflect this dogged determination to excel. Zoology:
100. Physics: 90. Biology: 100. Chemistry: 95. Physiology: 100. Final Rank: 97.
The competition was difficult, and the actual quiz was the least of it, where competitors were required to both give and defend their answers to the quiz questions. Faye says the most memorable part of the experience was walking down Brisbane with her bakya slippers clattering while people stared at her in her baro at saya. In the actual hall, as if the sight of galleries holding each country’s cheering squads was not enough of a shock, Faye and her mother were surprised by the requirement that each competitor decorate her booth. The booth was two-feet wide, with a table and chair for Faye to answer her quiz questions from. Fate was
on their side. Since the Philippines has so many variations of a national costume, the mother-and-daughter duo brought with them two other costumes. The Igorot costumes they hung on the walls, the malong they spread on the table. All that was needed, Faye said with a laugh, was a crystal ball for her to play Madame Auring.
They were cited as most creative before the competition proper. They were penniless, their passports and tickets were stolen, and still they won. It was not the Philippine Embassy who aided them later on; it was a Japanese gentleman who gave them a number to contact for temporary passports. The harried mother burst into tears at the kindness.
Faye said that to her, being a Filipino meant growing up in a country ridiculed and condemned all over the world. For her, being a Filipino is an everyday challenge to change that perception. She tells a story of how in Indonesia, during the earlier leg of the competition, she was so nervous that she failed to answer the first question in the quiz. She was booed – the only person to have ever been booed in the competition. She says it was because during that time, people had so little respect
for Filipinos they felt they had the right to mock her that way. After that incident, she said "Ipapakita ko talaga sa kanila." And she showed them what a Filipino could do.
Faye used to want to be President of the Philippines, now she wants to be a lawyer. "Madami kasing nadadaya na mga tao dahil walang tumutulong sa kanila. Gusto ko, ako yung magdidefend sa kanila. Parang ang saya nun, yung nakikipag-debate ka kasi tama ka." She beams at the thought. A girl after my own heart.
It is hard to imagine this shy young girl with her pony-tailed hair and passion for The Chronicles of Narnia to have such a warrior’s soul. But she does, it all but leaps out of her eyes. Asked if she would rather be born anywhere else in the world, she answers immediately, no. "I’m a Filipino," she says. The Philippines is seen as such a terrible place that one good thing done by one person is seen a beacon for so many others. The more hopeless it seems, the more she wants to defy that impression. It is her country.
Faye’s story is not out there to ask for aid. Her mother would not have been compelled to come out with Faye’s full identity if it were not for the claims against her child. As Faye’s pastor said, her story was told to show Filipinos that one individual could do well, even one alone and unaided. The story was about hope, about Filipinos who can excel in spite of monumental odds.
Faye deserves the congratulations. Thanks to so many who believe, she is getting it now.
posted by shy @ 8:36 AM
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