Judge Me...

For sentimental reasons, there are few things that make me more anxious than excited.

I look forward to homecomings and being in places with back stories.

***

One of the hardest things in life is to judge. In one context, the bible tells us not to judge. That's a different story.

As part of my job, I was tasked to judge essay writing contests that our office conducted. There were actually four. The very first was, in a way, very sentimental. Aside from my sister is a head of one of the departments in that school, the place was my father's hometown- Abucay, Bataan. In my younger years, I just could not get how persistent my father was for us to visit where he came from. It is only now that I understand desire for the children to know their roots. In the next two contests, I was not at the contest venue. They just delivered the entries in the office. The last one was equally sentimental. It was such a challenge that I have to be in Mariveles, Bataan at 8:00am, where my father served as Municipal Treasurer for couple of years. He already resigned by the time he had me and then moved on with plenty of business misdeals. Until his later years, that (being Municipal Treasurer) defined who he was.

Of the four contests, one thing was common. Determining who had the best interpretation of the theme "Ikaw at Ako Tungo sa Wastong Pagrerehistro" was easy. I could even not take them seriously. It's just that I made a conscious effort to think that this may mark a milestone in one constestant's life. Sure, ours may not be the most prestigious contest in the country but I foresee that the winner would likely remember that in his lifetime. 

***

On my part, the first time I was invited to be a contest judge, I somehow declared to myself, I indeed arrived. Seriously or not, it takes integrity and expertise to be invited as one. Anyways, the very first judging task I got was for a barangay, ehem! amateur singing contest no less. In as much as I wanted to set my mind to be objective, there's nothing I can do when I learned that one contestant is a close relative. The best that I can do was to hope that people don't get the connection. Anyways, the last names were different.

We almost were not able to go home alive. In every Filipino contest, it is inevitable to claim that the result was luto (fixed), which in this case is quite true.

***  

The other judging task was to judge the Best Muse for the school's Intramurals. There were few things I remember about that experience.

1. That I got big pack of "samba" chocolate as token of appreciation.

2. That a member of the organizing committee interviewed me for my credentials. Obviously for introduction. On my left is a modelesque lass and on my right, seemed to me, a local beauty queen. At the middle, I'm a member of the faculty. I was not invited because of my expertise in beauty but because there has to be someone judging from the school. The worse, the program ended with the host forgetting to acknowledge even our mere names.

3. I was at my most objective because none of the candidates was my student.

4. The best muse winner turned out to be the candidate I gave the lowest score. This candidate was in a cocktail dress. Intramurals, remember. Another worse, when she becomes my student the semester after, she thanked me for making her win.

***

The most recent was judging the "Faculty Got Talent" of the same school. Explanation: "Pilipinas Got Talent" - only the contestants were members of the faculty. For the earlier part, the first task was to judge for the performances of the students as final term requirement in Physical Education Class as sidelight. Two years ago I was part of the same contest as a contestant. They instructed us that we had the will to choose our talent spot. Everyone chose to sing. That confused that audience when I performed my piece - poetry.

As for my experience as a judge, there was nothing really difficult about it. I don't have a close friend among my co-teachers which gave me the liberty to score objectively. What bothered me was the party's master of ceremony. In instances he runs out of things to say, he repetitively reads the names of the judge. In the entire duration of the program, we were at least introduced fifty times.

*** 

Sure, ours may not be the most prestigious contest in the country but I foresee that the winner would likely remember that "win" in his lifetime. 

I know right because I was. There is nothing more sentimental than judging the same essay writing contest I won 19 years ago.