The outlier

Yesterday at Glorietta I saw a high school classmate at the Sony Ericsson booth. No she was not there to check out the latest models. She was there as a promo girl. I really can’t think of a more politically-correct term for this so as much as I dislike using the term I think I would have to use promo girl.

She became my classmate for two years, junior and senior year. She was one of those really responsible girls. I even thought of her as one well-rounded lady because she was able to excel in many things. She got good grades, was good in dancing and the performing arts and very dependable. She was our Juliet in our Shakespeare drama-fest. Also, she will always be chosen as a group leader. I also remember her to be very pretty and really simple and her routine on the balance beam during junior year gymnastics class was just awesome.

From friendster, I learned that she’s now an engineer with a degree in ECE from UST. Really impressive. And so my impression of her as a smart girl was even strengthened. It was even more impressive because now, she looks a lot more like a model than a geeky engineer.

Upon seeing her, my twinsis told me that she was able to talk to high school classmate last Saturday. And what she said startled the hell out of me. Apparently, that’s all she does. She’s not practicing her profession. She just takes modeling assignments or “promo girl” rackets. I was dumbfounded. Why would someone like her do that, exchange four or five years of higher education plus nerve-wracking preparation for licensure exams for standing endlessly in malls enticing passersby to buy a P25,000-cellphone during the weekend. Just why?

When I see how many kids audition for starstruck, star circle quest and supahstar, I search my head for answers why there seems to be countless young Filipinos who want to be artista. I just tell myself that perhaps they are still young or they need money. Maybe when they get to feel the liberating experience of being in a university and learn the value of good education, they will realize that there is so much to this world than making a fool out of yourself for the entire nation to see. But surprise, surprise! My own high school classmate, someone who I believe to be much more discerning and levelheaded chooses to discard her hard-earned degree and license for a job that utilizes more of her legs than her head.

I just had to ask myself, is it me or everyone else seems to enjoy throwing values out of the window. Do star-search shows signal the bright future that lies ahead for my generation? Doesn’t education educate anything anymore? Isn’t education supposed to shield you from the hallucination that using beauty as life’s capital could only bring you more money and not more wealth?

I have nothing against being beautiful. It’s perfectly okay to aspire to be a star. But what baffles me is how this has become today’s norm. Except for my nine year old sister who wants to be a chemist two months ago and now a brain surgeon, everyone else wants to be a movie/tv star, model, and everything in between. Whatever happened to “I want to be a doctor/lawyer” answers. With myriads of extraordinary opportunities open to kids today, just how did Hollywood and mtv conquer everyone’s sense of ambition and fulfillment.