A scholar comes home

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BY HERBERT VEGO
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February 6, 2018
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AT AGE six, he was already in Grade 2, besting his eight-year-old classmates at the Kaunlaran Learning Center in Miag-ao, Iloilo. As assessed by Dr. Jocelyn Eusebio, development psychologist at St. Luke’s Hospital in Quezon City, at six the boy had the mental age of 10.

Earlier, the boy had entered kindergarten I at age 4. Since he could already read and write in English, he was immediately accelerated to kinder II in the second week. And at age 5, he was in Grade 1.

That was long ago.

The last time I saw him and his parents last Wednesday, he looked more man than boy at the age of 16. He and his mom had just flown in for a 10-day vacation in their Miag-ao hometown, having spent two years of high school scholarship (now in grade 10) at Tyee High School in Seattle, Washington, USA.

Leopoldo “Ajin” Moragas II is the only child of Leopoldo “Doods” Moragas, retired assistant vice president of the Philippine National Bank; and the former Haydee Gequinto, an employee of Amazon.com, Inc., Seattle branch. But that’s jumping ahead of the story.

Ajin was five years young when I saw him on TV drawing and painting plants and animals.

The second time was in person, on stage at the Activity Center of SM City-Iloilo on June 8, 2008. He was one of the regional contestants of the Search for Little Stars. He wowed his by left-handedly sketching a dinosaur on white board in two minutes.

The third time around was a face-to-face one at Marina Beach Resort in Miag-ao. He had with him a pile of framed pencil sketches and oil paintings. One that really grabbed my attention was a realistic, multi-colored get-together of a giraffe, an elephant, a dinosaur, a snake and a flying eagle.

With his big magic slate and leadless pencil, Ajin  proved to me he was the artist behind the sketches and paintings by drawing on the spot the maps of the Philippines and the world, elephant, lion, snake, dog, rat and monkey in near-perfect scale and dimension!

I asked him to recite Rizal’s Last Farewell. He did in 10 minutes.

I asked him to name the planets in the solar system. He enumerated the planets Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune but left Pluto out, saying it had been “deplanetized.”

Neither his father nor mother could explain the boy’s artistry and photographic memory.

He answered some of my questions in fluent English.

I asked him what he would like to be when he grew up. “I will be an artist!” he intoned with finality.

Soon after I wrote an article about him in a magazine, his dad Doods relayed to me the good news that a public high school in Seattle, Washington was inviting the boy to apply for scholarship thereat. He did and passed.

Fast-tracking to our recent meeting at an Iloilo City restaurant last Wednesday, I asked him again what he would like to be when he grew up. He gave a different answer.

“Robotics engineer,” he quipped, adding that he had already done a toy robot in compliance with a class assignment.

I asked him to rattle off the privileges he enjoys as a high school scholar in the United States.

“There are only six subjects per semester. By 2 p.m., I am home.

“I receive monthly allowance.

“I pay no school fees.

“And I eat free breakfast in the school cafeteria.”

I glanced at his proud mom and dad; they were smiling and nodding. (hvego31@gmail.com/PN)
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