Malick James Hilado
well in school so that I could get a good and well – pay-
ing job to be able to afford a nice house. That poses a
problem for me at the time because I struggled at most
of my subjects in school. A’s were rare and C’s were
acceptable.
As a kid, I dreamed of meeting and learning from the
smartest people from their chosen career, yet, I was
made to feel dumb by being placed in special classes,
being told I had a learning difficulties, and then Atten-
tion Deficit Disorder (ADD).
I struggled to fit in. I was friendly with most of my stu-
dents, yet, I never felt part of a group or invited in social
gatherings. But even though these things happened in
my life, when I was in second grade, I found myself
being interested in braiding my classmates’ hair. It was
just for fun. During those times, I would try to imitate
runways and fashion shows, but, still, I never felt like
being in the “in crowd”.
I was also told I talked too much and because of that,
I spent too much time sitting outside the classroom. In
reality, I just challenged conventional thinking and led
others to do the same, especially, if I could not under-
stand what was being taught. When my father died, my
sister brought me back to Llo-ilo and there I spent most
of my teenage life.
When I was in grade six, I discovered shiny and glittery
lip gloss. During that time, the version of lip glosses
were those that could be used as cheek blush. Again,
I found myself enjoying doing my classmates makeup
using that. But all those fun and happy times were re-
stricted when I was at home. My grandfather, who was
a military man, was very strict. When I finally reached
high school and my grandfather died, that was when I
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