The Quiet Student

 

     Two days ago, while I was in a public market, buying something, I saw a family (or so they seemed) busy hanging a tarpaulin outside a house. The tarpaulin had a picture of a smiling young woman in toga and the words on the tarpaulin were: Congratulations, (the young woman’s name), Magna Cum Laude. Magna Cum Laude is, of course, the second highest honor you'd get in college. While walking away from that celebratory activity, I heard a man quipping that the young woman’s academic honours surprised them, as she didn’t quite excel in high school and was often quiet.

     And I could relate with that—I have a nephew, a sister’s oldest kid, and just like with our other niblings, we are close to him and would often spoil him, but I don’t know if he excelled in high school as I never queried his mother about it, but this nephew of mine is quiet, an introvert who would barely talk in family gatherings and would often be glued in front of a computer, or a tablet, or a cell phone playing a video game. You have to initiate the conversation if you want to talk to him. Ask his opinion on a topic that is quite deep, and he often just would shrug and smile or agree with you and smile. He has a Facebook account but he almost never post on it.

     And my bad, I thought, because he’s a bit addicted to video games and gadgets, he was just an average student.

     But two weeks ago, he graduated Magna Cum Laude, and from a very good school.

     So yeah, like they say, don’t judge your brother, or in my case, nephew, because he is not a book. Lol.

     And no, my sister’s family didn’t hang a tarpaulin outside their home congratulating him. Go to my nephew's Facebook account, and you'd never even get a hint that he already had graduated.