I feel sad and sorry for my brother. I empathize with him. He's slightly depressed and he's turning into an effortless Stewie with all the C4 speech for his dreaded art teacher. Tsk. Tsk. Tsk.
My brother, just to describe his full profile, is smart. He's not studious, although my mom forces him to study in between his PS and PSP games. He is also responsible at school. He is always the point of reference when his classmates forget to write down the instructions of their homeworks. He can easily do random math computations in his head. He reads...sometimes. He can throw in punchlines like a pro, thank you to the Family Guy and Hey Arnold. He likes sports. He is not a NERD in any sense. He looks like a mini-bouncer and an airhead, until people find out he's always the top of his class and either the TOP 2 or TOP 3 of his entire batch of 14 sections. He is popular.
However, he also has his less agreeable side. He is conceited. He is very competitive when it comes to his academic and societal status. He is moody. He doesn't like people getting near his toys and collection. If you need something from him, it involves a lot of coercion and sometimes bribe. He never automatically associates himself with just anyone. And he is a bad enemy once you've crossed him. And, unfortunately someone did.
It was a big news in our family that he wasn't included in the roster of Academic Awardees this quarter. Yes, his academics didn't go down below 95, but there's one TEENY WEENY subject that made him sit in the "academically average chairs." It was ART taught by their head teacher Ms. Pa**ma.
Ever since that awarding ceremony, where he didn't get to sit with his normal contemporaries, he became devastated, vengeful and cynical. He wants to get even big time and he won't stop until that person who created him distress will fall down. In this case, it's his art teacher.
I have to defend my brother, not just because he is my brother. I'm defending him because I've suffered toiling the same sentiments ever since. It hurts my ego, but he is even better at me in most calculated aspects, even academically. So I'm speaking for the both of us here. I'm not coming from unfamiliar waters.
My brother, by far, has the highest academic marks in the history of this family. He is good with math. He is good with reading. He's good at sports and he is a responsible student. He is not an introvert nor an annoying extrovert. He is not verging on extremes and he adores my mother. I, for one, SUCK at Math. I love Science, but I'm not enthusiastic about it. I get my strength from reading and doing isolated activities. I don't get along with my parents that much because I've always lived on supreme isolation, which confuses them most of the times. I'm not popular and I'm not as pleasant as my brother. My brother so far has an edge in this category.
However, he was given a HISTORY breaking grade of 84 in his report card, by his more than competent (i'm sure..sarcastically speaking) art teacher. It was shattering. I would understand if it's a quantifiable subject like Math or Science. But giving 84 in ART, just a point away from being qualified to be academically recognized, is simply unacceptable. There's a conspiracy, obviously. The head teacher, who also happens to be the art teacher, gave my brother 84 when she could've easily given him an 85 to pass the honors' roll call. What even made my brother sink to an 84? Enlighten me, please.
Based from my mother's accounts of their confrontation, the head teacher was also devastated to see my brother's report card flashed at her face. She immediately knew that her ART grade was the most glaring one!
"If only I had known..." said the art teacher. Boo-hoo. Explanation not accepted! She's the head teacher, and she's a freaking ignoramus! And do, please....ENLIGHTEN me...how she came up with an 84?
"...in fact I have very high standards with art.." WRONG! Ms. Artsy-fartsy gives her students very laborious art assignments on top of all their academic works. Their art works don't veer on simple pasting and gluing. They have to come up with artistic drawings that appease the teacher's high standards in art. Well, my brother may be smart and talented, but he is not...currently not yet...producing works like Michaelangelo. I saw his works and it's not TRASHY. Mine were hideously TRASHY when I was in high school, but I still got an average of 85. The point is, my brother's work is good enough, clean and very well thought of. He might not have the best and artistic work. He doesn't have much talent in drawing, but his works could easily land a 90! I'm not being biased, but do tell me how you can quantify all that? In truth, the art grading is SUBJECTIVE, and in every common sense of a SUBJECTIVE mind, my brother's art projects are not bad. They're not gallery material, but they're not bad. What's one point to give him a break? What's wrong with giving him 90? If I have the time, I could post some of his drawings right now.
"...in fact, I give even high marks to students who submit their work on time..." True. My brother submits his work on time, not a day late. He submits it clean and complete. But how sure is she that some of her LABORIOUS art projects were not turned into a family affair. My brother sometimes asks for help from my artistic sister KARLA because some projects are just so wild. My sister does some outlining and helps him with delicate stuff, but my brother is always the one who begins it with a concept and most importantly FINISHES it. Just like how I encouraged him to make an essay. I never said a single word to be included, yet he provided his own topic and BOOM he landed the first prize in the English Essay writing contest. I was surprised as well. How sure is she? Because down right, if I had those complicated art assignments, I would've paid our maid to do extra work.
What's bad about it is, I wouldn't defend my brother if he was given a 75 in art if his works are that trashy. I wouldn't even lobby for a single point if I think he doesn't deserve it. But he does. He can easily earn that 1 point to 85. He can even earn points to get his art grade to 90. What does the teacher expect from her students anyway? Art is something subjective, a freedom of expression. It should be given more understanding and appreciation. You can never express yourself with Math and expect it to be appreciated. I've tried and it didn't work. Art is something personal. In school it is needed for balance, that's true. It has standards, that's also true. But what standards are we talking about here? Can you still enlighten me please, because I'm just confused! And administered by a CONSPIRATOR and a CONNIVING terror artsy fartsy teacher just takes the cake. I'm not even going to divulge here the lewd conversations and contradictory statements that Teacher said to my mother.
My brother, he's the still the greatest. His ego might be brused, but there's nothing better than proving someone wrong. He will come with vengeancethis third quarter. My dad even offered him advice and I second the motion. In his next art class, we suggested that he should just go in front of the class and strip naked encouraging self-expression and encouraging nude art. I'm doing a full report on David and let him report it. That's artistic. That's education. Until that terror arty fartsy teacher clears up what she's talking about, I'm praying my brother gets even.
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