Remembering Mr. Jovencio Esteban

A Tribute To

A Great Asinganian

 

Reading one of Archie's past articles, I came across a most respected name - stored away in the deepest recesses of my memory, covered by layers of fresh names and stacks of new acquaintances -  of a person who made a deep and lasting impression on me but whose memory is somehow pushed to the archives by life's daily concern. I am, of course, referring to my beloved mentor from Rizal Academy, Mr. Jovencio Esteban. I do not know if we were blood-related or somehow connected by intermarriage, but my Inang always insisted that I have to call him Laki Joven and to make "pinsiw" or "mano" everytime we meet – something that I am not keen on doing because others in school might misinterpret for something else. He was a higher math teacher, and so during my first and second years in high school, I never really came to know him that well, except of his awesome reputation.

 

A few times, at the instruction of my Inang, I had to grudgingly approach him so I could be allowed to take the exams when I could not pay my tuition on time. Obligingly, he would give me a handwritten note which I then showed to the accounting office. In the first two years we seldom talk, except when he stops me in the corridors to ask about my mama whom he's also very fond of or ask about my grades – a thing which I try to avoid because I have less than impressive marks. I have a glowing reputation in the elementary which I could not somehow live up to in my early years of High School.

 

"What's wrong with you, kid? You're not trying hard enough. These are the same girls, you outshone during your  elementary days", he would point out. There's nothing wrong with me, Iwould tell myself,  those girls  are not cooperating – they're too bright and they study too much and too seriously!

 

That attitude of nonchalance was partly caused by my refusal to be a "square" so I could identify with my easy-going barkada – I thought it's just not hip to be taken for a nerd. But perhaps, the more real reason is my certain kind of learning problem – one that I have hardly shed off to this day. If I have to study and learn a subject, it must come from somebody of impeccable competence and authority. Without that, nothing goes in. I am sad to say that unfortunately, during our time in RA, not so many teachers have this quality, in the lower years most especially. I could sense that some just go through the motion of parroting from yellowed notes, dishing facts and rote procedures - hardly inspiring anything but a yawn and barely scratching the surface of the topic.

 

I needed somebody who could go deeper and beyond. If for example a science teacher discusses thermometers, he should not stop at saying they are either in centigrades or farenheits, he must be ready to answer my questions like why that liquid indicator rises or falls with the temperature or will the same device work on either side of the moon. When teaching history, do not make me remember names and dates and places. I would rather that we sail with Columbus and Magellan, march with Alexander, conquer with Bonaparte, think with Rizal, strategize and return with McArthur and then those names and dates and places would stick automatically. History should not only be who, when and what, it should also be why, how and wherefore. And so, I read voraciously anything I could get my hands on about the subjects but not necessarily on the assigned topics at hand. Still I had low grades because my teachers could only measure how well I could retain the words and numbers and rote procedures that they fed us. They were, of course, baffled always when I do exceptionally well in municipal and regional exams, even national tests but do poorly on their subjects. Anyway, that was my problemand not my teachers'.

 

At last, I reached third year and the subjects have become a tad more interesting. I like chemistry with Miss Paringit and English Literature with Miss Caoeng but the one I like most is Geometry. Mr Esteban has complete mastery of the subject and goes about it with the authority of Euclid. He would inspire, he would cajole, he would admonish, he would throw some occasional tantrums  - all calculated to make us try harder. He would regal us with side stories and anecdotes of the mathematicians and philosophers of old. He was the master and I was his adoring disciple. For the first time in High School, I was actually eager to go to class. I love to analyze and rationalize - to prove a complicated truth by invoking and building from simple, common-sensical principles. Geometry is a pure thinker's delight –it's logic and syllogism to the core. Some time, at the beginning of the course, he declared that his subject would separate the men from the boys, a remark which I took seriously by heart. Somehow, excelling in Mr Esteban's subject (the toughest in all of Rizal Academy) had made up for all the sub-par performance in the others. Brilliant teachers like Laki Joven are very frugal with praises, but I got my best ever compliment from him when he told the whole class that I was one of his best students ever. He was retirable by then, just imagine how many Asinganians passed under his tutelage!

 

Fourth year HS, in the following year would have been another great time with him along with my other outstanding teachers in physics, literature and the languages. He was equally adept and inspiring in Algebra and I was about to master it like I did Geometry. But after a few weeks into the school year, he left us for America. But not after he pulled me aside and gave me his parting words. I always knew I am one of his favorites but he never told me until he was leaving.

 

That was the last time I saw him. I received a graduation card the following March andwe wrote one or two more times when I was in college. He asked for me when he went for a PI vacation some time in the 90's but I never heard he was home until he was off again. A few years later, I heard that my most admired teacher had passed away.

 

He was a maestro of the old mould, well-rounded, reputable and highly-esteemed by everyone. They just don't reproduce people like him anymore. Later on, when it was my turn to teach in the university, I would always try and emulate him; strive to be as good as my Laki Joven. I'm not sure that I could ever come close but always, he would be my measuring stick for teaching excellence.

 

This is my way of saying goodbye to a great Asinganian.---Sonny Espejo