Success for Boy Genius

Four years ago, we interviewed someone whom we referred to as a “boy genius,” then fresh from high school as class valedictorian, who garnered a national award on Independence Day, the Gawad Kalayaan sa Kabataan – one of only four students all over the Philippines and the only winner from the Visayas out of various nominees from the 17 regions in the country.

The article that we wrote on Marvin Flores, then a freshman physics student at Silliman University, merited a one-and-one-fourth-page space in the August 14, 2005 issue of StarLife and elicited words of admiration from our readers who were touched by Marvin’s perseverance and dogged determination to succeed despite all odds. Back then, we ended our article thus: “Four years from now, this young boy genius will march on graduation day, his dreams coming into reality because he worked hard for it. By then, I think Marvin Flores would have more stories to tell to deserve another prominent space in this column.”

Today, I am simply making good my promise to our readers to see what has happened to our boy genius, whose first experience at having electricity installed in their house came only when he was in Grade VI and who has made some sort of a career joining and winning competitions because of the prize money that go with them.

Truly, our boy genius is on top of the world. Not only did he get his goal by being one of this year’s recipients of the BPI-DOST Science Award, he also graduated summa cum laude with his degree of Bachelor of Science in Physics, one of only two graduates of Silliman University with the highest scholastic honors this year after a lull of 25 years.

“I feel a sense of relief because now, the pressure is over,” shares Marvin, this time speaking more confidently than when we interviewed him for the first time as a gangling, wide-eyed college freshman. This interview, held three days after his graduation, was done in the same coffee shop, but this time, I made sure I fed him with something befitting a summa cum laude. Marvin and I both laughed at the recollection (with me actually feeling embarrassed) that in our first interview, I only fed him with ensaimada and Coke. As my treat to him for his graduation, he had spaghetti carbonara (to which he confessed not being too familiar), ensaimada, chocolate cake (which he ate first, saying anything chocolate is his favorite), and Coke.

“I am expecting a call from BPI anytime this week. Their offer is really good, after all I have my family to support. But, I also would like to study, to proceed to a master’s degree in physics,” he qualifies, saying he is torn between what he wants and what he and his family need. His cash award of P25,000 as BPI-DOST Science Awardee is “the biggest amount my family has ever had,” part of which he bought a bicycle for his 18-year-old brother, Aldrin, who is an incoming third year high school student. He also promised his father, Alvin, that he would help repair their comfort room.

College life, according to Marvin, was eventful and fun, despite his projects especially on his fourth year. He even found time for some extra-curricular activities like being president of Pathways, a national organization that started at the Ateneo de Manila University, with the purpose of recommending bright and deserving students especially from barangay high schools who, otherwise, may not have access to universities like Silliman because of financial constraints. He was also evaluation chairman of the Council of Student Organizations and the science representative of the College of Arts and Sciences Student Council. Together with some fellow physics students, he also formed a rock band, known as phi6 Band. Because he is the only one who does not own any instrument, he is the band’s vocalist.

“Rock music has the most poetic lyrics if you only make an effort to understand this genre. People usually label those who are into rock music as bad or wild because of the association we have on rockers and of some of the prohibited things that we know they are doing. But, if you listen to the lyrics, you would come to realize the bad things happening in the world today. It’s all up to you to adapt it for yourself or learn to avoid it,” Marvin clarifies, dispelling what some people may think of him as being a nerd or not having a life at all, except being immersed in books.

On the contrary, Marvin may have experienced more of what life is than many of his peers. During his first two years in college, his mother, Marilyn, would give him P20 for his daily allowance, P14 of which would be for his tricycle fare to and from school, leaving him P6 for a viand of mongoes. “I would bring rice for my lunch and just buy a serving of mongoes at a nearby carinderia. That’s why I was very thin when I was in first year and second year,” recalls Marvin, without a tinge of regret.

Lest he be misconstrued as someone who thinks and breathes Physics every minute of his life, brace yourself for this revelation. According to Marvin, he enjoys Physics very much that he feels he is not studying at all when he reads Physics books. Aside from Physics, he also enjoys Calculus and Literature, but admits to putting in extra effort in studying the social and political sciences.

His stamina was put to a test on his fourth year, actually a make-or-break year for all graduating students. For Marvin, as well as his classmates, it was the most crucial point of their student life because they had to produce and defend an undergraduate thesis. Because he found the research that bagged for him the BPI-DOST Science Award too simple, Marvin did another research on the salt concentration and electric resistivity of sea water along the coastal towns of Negros Oriental, collecting sea water from Vallehermoso to Basay for him to support his findings.

      To top it all, his scholarship was limited to what DOST has been giving him for his tuition as their scholar as well as his academic scholarship from Silliman, leaving him with still a considerable sum as his balance. Marvin is grateful to his Physics professor, Dr. Hope Maxino Bandal, for paving the way for some benevolent Sillimanians to underwrite his tuition balance. To pay off the remainder, Marvin remembers the kindness of the university administration through President Ben Malayang III, who interceded on his behalf.

Even with all these help, it was still difficult for Marvin to make both ends meet, especially with school requirements and his other needs. He does not own a personal computer, so he would stay in the Physics Department for as long as he is allowed to, just to encode his researches. He augmented his expenses by accepting tutorial jobs, making some P200 a night. When he arrives home from school, he would still help his mother stuff chorizo, for which she earns P100 a day. It is a big help to the P150 a day that his father earns as a carpenter-on-call.

“It sometimes bothers me when people say I do not have too many extra- curricular activities. They just do not know what I have to go through before I could even sit down to study,” muses Marvin, who is being nominated by Silliman University to the regional search for the 2009 Ten Outstanding Students of the Philippines.

This year could very well be Marvin’s most memorable year. Turning 21 last March 8, it was the first time that his parents prepared a party for him. It was also held in time for the family’s sponsorship of the Santo Niño for a night, his mother being a Santo Niño devotee. On his graduation last March 22, his relatives joined their family for a simple get-together to celebrate his achievements. Both his parents come from big families, with 11 or 12 siblings each, but as Marvin recalls, none among his uncles and aunties have finished degrees, while he is the only one among his cousins of his age who finished college. “Some of my cousins who are even younger than me already have children of their own, or are soon expecting to raise a family,” Marvin counters, amazed at his own story.

“I have heard that some parents give P100 to their children if they get perfect scores in their tests as an incentive to get high grades. If that ever happened to me, I will probably be the richest student there is,” laughs Marvin, who says he would buy himself a Play Station Portable with his first salary. He does not deny that he envies his friends who are able to enjoy gadgets and gizmos at the right age. “I was able to play with Gameboy when I was already a freshman in college, but Gameboy became popular when I was yet in Grade VI,” relates Marvin, who has now become very comfortable facing an audience, speaking extemporaneously before his peers during the CAS Recognition Day, Seniors Day and more recently, as Recognition Day speaker of his high school, the Ramon Teves Pastor Memorial Dumaguete Science High School, and as graduation speaker of his alma mater, the South City Elementary School, where his mother also finished.

He vows he would never forget physics, whatever and wherever his destiny would bring him. He dreams of being the first Filipino to win a Nobel Prize in Physics, honing his skills and knowledge through graduate studies abroad after he would have helped his family by fulfilling his stint as a BPI prodigy.

“You cannot spell SUCCESS without SU (Silliman University), so I am really grateful for the opportunity accorded to me to finish a college degree,” informs Marvin, who turns pensive when he says that he plans to have a family when the right time comes because “it’s nice to share your success with someone.”

We certainly look forward to that day, in the not-too-distant future, when Marvin would amaze us anew with more achievements up his sleeve. For sure, he would have more stories to tell, this time made more colorful with his experiences as he gives us hope in this struggle called life.        CGenove

 

 

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