I. Childhood, Family, Personality II. Campus Recollections III. Personal Reminiscences
CHILDHOOD, FAMILY, PERSONALITY
.Marcelle Michael Bertrand Fabie y Timbol was born September 29, 1983, to Lorraine Timbol-Fabie and Alfonso de los Reyes Fabie, Jr. I was their eldest among their two children. At that time, we resided in Quezon City and lived a normal life, save the grand EDSA rally in 1986, where I participated in, although unknowingly. For the next two years, we've been moving around different houses in Quezon City, until we stayed in Loyola Heights, where we lived when my brother, Francis, was born that day of September 20, 1988. Around five years later, my parents had their marriage annulled, due to psychological incapacity on the part of my father. Though I still see him every now and then, things drastically changed with that. We resided in Pasig, and I moved schools because of the sudden move. I must admit, off-handedly; though, that the change was for the better.
Love would not deny my mother. I now have a stepfather in the person of Ricardo Miguel Aguado, who has cerainly taken Francis and me in as his own children, and I guess that is a good thing. He also came from a broken marriage, as his wife abandoned them and went to the United States. I have one stepbrother, Ricardo Manuel, one stepsister, Maria Carenina, and one half-brother, Jericho Miguel. Our mixed family may be far from perfect, but I must say that we certainly try to be.
My childhood was anything but usual. He was known as a born achiever with an artistic temperament. It's hard to get me angry, but ticking me off may prove disastrous. Nevertheless, I still holds my own when it comes to keeping my cool. I could very well be described as moody yet friendly; arcane yet candid. I am a walking paradox, in essence, and I must say that I'm proud of it. The very thing that makes me different from everybody else is the fact that I do not think, I do not speak, and heck, I do not act the way they certainly would. I may be unorthodox, but that is the so-called haeccitas in me. I do not become different merely for the sake of being a different. All of these unique things attributed to me are merely the way I fulfill the very mission I believe I was sent for.
I've had a lot of friends in my neighborhood in Loyola Heights, but that never happened the way I wanted it to in the other places I lived in, especially in San Juan, where our mixed family decided to move in. I guess this is marked by the fact that most of the friends I have in our neighborhood are also my schoolmates. There wasn't much of an option for me to socialize with them. I guess I found it kind of awkward, especially since our neighbors weren't exactly as... well, neighborly as the ones in Loyola Heights were.
I guess the best thing I could say about myself is that I have, and will always be a great friend, despite all my shortcomings. I am the friend anyone would want to rely on, especially since I have been known to put a lot of myself on the line for a friend, and this is normal for me. I don't find any reason why I would hold anything back, save a very old belief I adhere to- D.T.A. Don't Trust Anybody. At least, not entirely. Too much trust in a person will result in heartaches, betrayals, and such. That's why I hold fast to this.
I've always been a tad too impulsive, but in the end, my very impulsiveness has become the reason why most people look at me as a man who is passionate in almost all aspects of life. Some would even go as far as saying I am guilty of sucking the marrow out of life! I have no desire to protest that particular description of me. In fact, I think it fits me to a t. It fits me well, indeed.
I guess I always loved school. A funny thing I will always remember is when I was the one who told my Mom not to cry on my first day in school. Since then, I really liked going to school. It was where I got my funds (allowance and all), where I had a lot of friends, and where I really was popular. Yeah, that novelty lasted since my days in Sacred Heart and Little Green School. It lasted from Preparatory School to Grade 2 in Kostka, and even from Grade 3 to First Year High in Don Bosco. Then second year high rolled in, and school started to be reminiscent of hell.
Sure, I got along with the teachers excellently, but my classmates were another thing. Frankly, I am far from nerdy, but that was more or less how they found me; a square who didn't have time for the so-called finer things in life. Funny how they thought I was that. I had a lot more underhanded things going on in school than all those "fratboys" who enjoyed accosting me actually had. I had cuts (Though in reality, not really cuts, so to speak.) that were legalized by the school, I had privileges that allowed me to achieve an elite status among the teachers where my word was gold, and the list goes on. In short, I was a big man on campus, and these people never knew it. They never knew who was behind their near-death academic experiences, where all of a sudden, the teachers wanted them out because "a student reported some anomalous goings-on". Yeah, thy can read this site and fume at me for all I care. If they lay a finger on me, I'll be rich as hell with all the legal counsel I can tap into....
A regular "Hate Marcelle" campaign was run up beginning my second year. I couldn't finish a sentence in class without someone making a derogatory remark about me or beaning me with a ball of paper, but I took it all in stride- or so I thought. Had I not learned so much from these last three years of my High School life, I wouldn't ever want to go through all of them again, given the choice. I hated my class. The teachers saw me as this pure, pristine, young lad, but in truth, I was jaded and my classmates were merely a fraction of the problem. I had personal problems plaguing me from my family, from my classmates, and even from my lovelife..... But more on that later.
When I ran for council president in third year, the campaign was in full-blown proportions. I got only single-digit votes in the third year classes, except mine. To add insult to injury, I still lost in my own class to a third nuisance candidate! It was a betrayal of everything I worked for in my past three years of high school, and it took me a while to accept that my very own friend had a lot to do with it. My very own friend, Luis Geronimo, whom I was inviting to run with me since the start, not run against me! Nevertheless, I had to put that behind me for the betterment of the school. I guess I can't help but try and please everyone.
Fourth year was more of the same. However, my class had a retreat, and this retreat managed to make things easier within our section. It was then that I felt that I truly belonged with class 440. This all culminated in that magical night of March 31, 2000, where, ironically, on my last night as a Bosconian, it was then that I realized that I belong to Don Bosco Technical College, despite everything!
Through those years, I've developed a very close relationship with some of my teachers, mostly from the English department. There was Ms. Rivero, who was my mentor since she became my class adviser in first year to the time I worked on our yearbook the summer after we graduated from high school. I also had my fourth year class adviser Mrs. Stella Marie Flores. She was as motherly as she was beautiful, which was characterized by the long line of students who have a crush on her. Thank goodness I wasn't part of that.
Among the technical instructors (since Don Bosco, after all, is a technical school), I was close to Mr. Navarro and Mr. Averilla, who were my third and fourth year instructors, respectively. They commanded respect from us, and they got it- in the classroom. Outside of the classroom, they were our buddies.
Now, in Ateneo de Manila, I have a fresh start. I have yet to realize whether or not I truly belong, but as of now, with all the things that have been happening, I think the latter is the appropriate. Only time can really tell.
I've always been a shy extrovert. If I'm not on familiar ground, don't immediately expect me to make an impact of sorts in any gathering. Once I get accustomed to the people, though, I definitely become the life of the party.
My life is not your run-of-the-mill genius-boy-who-makes-a-success-of-his-life story. Far from it. I'd be, as a matter of fact, more aptly described as a misunderstood prodigy. Kind of the way Mozart was. Nevertheless, I certainly went through far too many things to ever be sorely disappointed of how things are going now. Had I not learned so many things along the way, I'd most likely wish to not have gone through all of those things. With each ounce of pain I go through, I learn a pound of wisdom from it. All of the things that I've been through have led to the personality you people now see today. You may like it, or you may not, but to me it doesn't matter. This is the way I am, and if I wasn't then why would you say I am?
When it comes to friendships, I nurture them as much as I could, though I guess my shortcomings usually don't make them last. I've had very people I can actually call best friends, and I guess that's fairly understandable. My first best friend came in first year high school. She came from the same broadcasting club I attended. Her name was Abby Yao. I'd hate to admit it, but she's one of the main reasons I'm in Ateneo right now. Nevertheless, what's past is past. I also had a lot of friends, mostly female. I guess I find it easier to talk with females, not becuase I'm in tune with my feminine side, mind you, but because they can understand feelings a lot better, generally speaking. I need not discuss who were my other loves, or crushes, sufficient to say that I'm not the most romantic guy in the world.
As luck would have it, I had a few other best friends. Keep on checking the photo gallery because I just might get to actually improving it :). I guess what I learned from all of this is: I really have a lot to learn about being a friend. But I digress. I guess it just takes a lot of working on to be able to become a great friend, but I'd be willing to work on it. It just takes time to achieve such a paradigm shift.
I had my first girlfriend in fourth year high school. Her name is Grace Apron, and we got together last October, 1999. We're still together, and she's taking up BS Biology in UST right now. She's the only best friend I ever had who lasted, and I'm glad that we're still together, amid all the trouble and so forth. Despite all of my shortcomings, I realize, every person, no matter how imperfect, deserves to be loved.
I may be a problem-riddled young man, but I still dispense excellent advice. Just don't ask me to take my own advice, because that's going to be pretty hard on me. Nevertheless, it's all perfectly fine. As they always say, "The best coaches are on the benches". I live from day to day knowing full well that this very principle is Gospel truth, and I certainly believe it.
In the end, if someone were to ask, "Who is Marcelle?", I never answer, "The next Rock", or "The next Chico Garcia", or "The next (Whoever)". With everything I've learned as my college freshman year draws to a close, I realize that I am the first Marcelle; the arcane, the mysterious, and there is no one in the whole history of being, who will ever succeed or had ever preceded me. That is the beauty of Haeccitas. Think about it.