I was a skinny, shy, longhaired, bespectacled, teenager, when
I entered university in the seventies. This was the age of the American hippies and the flower people, whose get up and free spirit somehow infected the Filipino
youth . I was taking courses in Political Science when I first met this girl
who was pursuing a Nursing course.
How I happened to be in a class of nursing students was due
to my indolence than anything else. I enrolled late and all the subjects in
Logic, were closed, except for a slot in the block section of Nursing students.
Thus I found myself the only male student in a class, which smelled of girls. I don’t know why girls emit a
peculiar smell when they are in one enclosed space. Might be the acute primal
instinct in a male.
It wasn’t so bad. I had the good fortune of sitting with a tall pretty girl at the back
row. The Professor, fortunately was my Poli-Sci. professor, as well, so we knew
each other. He just grinned and let me be as he focused to impress the girls
with his logic and erudition.
Now, studying logic
could be very annoying. I asked my seatmate what relevance has this, in the
science of caring for people anyway? She said it was required in the
curriculum. Well the course was not only
confusing but could be difficult.
Imagine this:
“All men are mortals, Socrates is a man,
therefore, Socrates is mortal.”
“ Some mammals are cows, all humans are mammals, therefore,
some men are cows”.
“No man is a pig. God is not a man. Therefore God is a pig.”
I know the girls were having a bit of hard-time in this
mental exercise that most had low quizzes. My pretty neighbor was having a hard-time,
so the gentleman that I was I promised her she could copy my answers, but not
all of it, just so she could pass. So we became friends.
There were times when I missed two class days that when I got
back and parked beside my pretty seatmate, she had that forlorn look. I did not
know really what was the matter, she had been very quiet. When the bell rang, she collected her things. I asked if I could
walk with her. She nodded.
When we were alone, she quietly said she failed in
the last quiz. So there was a quiz which I missed. I said I’m sorry, I’d make it up to her next
time, but I couldn’t allow her to cheat
all the time. I proposed that she needed tutoring and I’d be willing to do it
during free-time. So I did. We would meet up at the library and dissect the
syllogisms.
The semester ended, she passed the subject. She went on to become a
Nurse. She sweetly thanked me, and with
a kiss on the cheek, whispered to guard
our secret forever.
What the hell. It happened a very long time ago. So the
secret is out.
(Photo by niyamaklogic.wordpress.com)
(Photo by niyamaklogic.wordpress.com)
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