My Autobiography: David Balleza K(C)atague: My Elementary and High School Years Memories for Storyworth

Saturday, June 26, 2021

My Elementary and High School Years Memories for Storyworth

Last Father's Day Ditas and Carenna gave me Storyworth as their gift. I have been enjoying the service, since all the questions I can easily answer since most of them are already published in my blogs and autobiography. What is StoryWorth?

StoryWorth is a service that can collect your dad’s favorite stories and memories and preserve them in a beautifully bound book.

StoryWorth is a service that aims to capture these precious memories — even the ones that are hard to talk about — over the course of one year, culminating in a gorgeous book.

https://www.cnn.com/2021/04/27/cnn-underscored/storyworth-review/index.html

Here's the latest question regarding my elementary and high school years.

My high school experiences will not be complete if I do not mention some events during my elementary school years. I should mentioned that during my time ( I believe it is still true today) that elementary school years in the Philippines is only for 6 years ( 6 Grades only) not 8 years as in the US. When the Japanese-American War in the Philippines ended in 1945 school was resumed. We were given a test and based from the results you are assigned your grade level.

When the war started in 1941 I was only in 2nd grade. After the war my test level indicated I was capable of 4th grade, thanks to the schooling/teachings I received from my Father while we were hiding in the jungles of Panay. Thus, I completed elementary school years for only 4 years instead of six. I was 2 years younger than my classmates. In my autobiography, I wrote 3 events in my life, illustrating the statement that your failures motivates you to succeed. One of that event occurred during my elementary school days.

When I did not receive the first honor award (I got 2nd honor award) during my elementary school graduation both my parents and I were very disappointed. My parents even contemplated filing an official complaint to the school superintendent against my teacher and principal for nepotism since the valedictorian was a close relative of the teacher and principal.

However, I convinced my parents not to do it. I told them I would work harder in high school to be number one, to show the teacher and principal they made a mistake in the selection process. The whole four years of high school, I competed with the top five honor students from my elementary school. Needless to say, I graduated valedictorian of our high school class. My classmate who was the valedictorian in my elementary school got the salutatorian award (second place). I was happy and felt vindicated. My teacher in elementary school congratulated me but without looking straight into my eye, when my parents invited her to my high school graduation party at our house.

One of the highlights of my elementary school years was my participation in Our School District Declamation Contest.

I was in 6th grade, when I participated in a declamation contest sponsored by our school district. There were ten schools in our district from three neighboring towns. If you have not heard of a declamation contest: It is just public speaking contest reciting and acting poetry, a short story or an article. My English teacher was my coach. I remember memorizing for 4 weeks, a short story titled "A Yankee in Love". The short article were filled with American slang words that I could barely understand. The piece was more suited to an older teenager, possibly someone who has already fallen in love. As a result I delivered my declamation piece without any feelings or emotion but with an American accent taught by my coach. But I was surprise to win 4th place ( among 10 contestants). The gold medal winner was from the school in the next town and I remember very well her declamation piece was Jose Rizal famous poem, My Last Farewell( Ultimo Adios in Spanish). Jose Rizal is Philippines number one national hero. December 30 is Rizal Day in the Philippines.

Here's the first and last stanzas of this patriotic poem both in its original Spanish and an English translation. The poem has 14 five-lines stanzas and has been translated into 30 languages. I will never forget this poem as long as I live because of the Declamation Contest that I lost during my elementary school days in the Philippines.

Mi Ultimo Adiós.

Adios, Patria adorada, región del sol querida,
Perla del Mar del Oriente, nuestro perdido Eden!
A darte voy alegre la triste mustia vida,
Y fuera más brillante más fresca, más florida,
Tambien por tí la diera, la diera por tu bien.

Adios, padres y hermanos, trozos del alma mía,
Amigos de la infancia en el perdido hogar,
Dad gracias que descanso del fatigoso día;
Adios, dulce extrangera, mi amiga, mi alegria,
Adios, queridos seres, morir es descansar.

An English Translation-My Final Farewell

Farewell, dear Fatherland, clime of the sun caress’d
Pearl of the Orient seas, our Eden lost!,
Gladly now I go to give thee this faded life’s best,
And were it brighter, fresher, or more blest
Still would I give it thee, nor count the cost.

Farewell to you all, from my soul torn away,
Friends of my childhood in the home dispossessed!
Give thanks that I rest from the wearisome day!
Farewell to thee, too, sweet friend that lightened my way;
Beloved creatures all, farewell! In death there is rest!

The last phrase, "In death there is rest" ( morir es descansar) is appropriate in Rizal's Life. Dr. Jose Rizal who was executed by the Spanish colonizers of the Philippines on December 30, 1896 for his alleged role in the armed revolution against Spain. He was in prison and on the night before his execution, he wrote this poem as a final statement to his fellow Filipino countrymen. Here's a partial video of the poem sang in English and Tagalog translations.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yUjqJzq8YhE

The "Mi Ultimo Adios"(My Last Farewell) was originally written in Spanish. I feel that the English translation loses the depth of emotion Dr. Rizal felt at the time he wrote it. The poem is so inspiring, I do not get tired reading it again and again.

My elementary and high school years were in the town of Barotac Viejo, Iloilo. Here's a brief description of the town.

Barotac Viejo, Iloilo(BVI) is a 3th class municipality about 60Km North of Iloilo City. Iloilo is one of the four provinces in Panay Island. Panay Island is part of the Western Visayas Region of the Philippines. The Visayas Region is the Central Part of the Philippine Archipelago.

BVI is the town where I grew up. It is the town where I finished my elementary school years. It is also the town where I finished high school. In 1951 I graduated valedictorian of my high school class. It is the town where I have both pleasant and unpleasant memories of my childhood and teen-aged years.

My childhood memories of the American-Japanese war occurred in the town proper, foothills, seacoasts and jungles of this town.

When I left BVI in 1951 to pursue my college degree in Iloilo City and later in Diliman, Quezon City, BVI was a 4th class town with less than 5000 residents. In 2015, Wikipedia states that is now a 3rd class municipality, with a population of around 45,000. When I left BVI in 1955, there was the elementary and high schools, public market, Cockfighting Arena, the Catholic Church, the Post office and one gas station, a couple of hardware stores, a Chinese bakery and may be 100 residential homes in the town proper.

Today this 3rd class town has more buildings both for business and private homes. The local high school was named a national agricultural high school. Part of the land for the school was donated by my uncle ( Jose Balleza) and my mother Paz Balleza . When I left the town in 1955, the mayor of the town was Luis Tupas, a relative of my mother. Today the local politics, are still controlled by the Tupas family and their clan. When I left the town, my parents bestowed me a 12 hectare parcel of rice land as part of my inheritance. Today that land has been land reformed and I have not received a single centavo from the Philippine government. What was left of my inheritance is a 2-hectare parcel in the upland area without water irrigation and not suitable for rice growing.

In 2005, my wife and I accompanied by my sister visited our parents grave site .Me and Macrine(RIP) with sister Amor at the Cemetery.

Our old house (located at the back of the Post Office) was gone. The only thing that remained was the foundation stone with the engraving Dolce Building, 1952.

Tears from my eyes flowed like a gentle rain, when I saw that foundation, recalling the pleasant memories of my teen-age years. The house is gone but my memories of BVI will live forever.

Our ancestral Home-The Dolce Building, 1953- My Home during my elementary and high school years in the Philippines.

Papa David and Mama Pacing, Barotac Viejo, Iloilo, 1953

Here are some photos of my high school years (1947-1951).

My High School Graduation- 1951. I am in the front row Second from the Right.

National High School Conference for Visayas and Mindanao, Iloilo City, 1949

Delegates to the National High School Conference. I am in the front row knelling second from the Right

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Highlights of My Professional Career

In my more than 40 years of professional career, I have experienced both working rank and file, as well as supervising the work of subordinates. I have worked in four private firms and the Federal Government, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), where I retired. I enjoyed the challenges and difficulties of both types of job situations. This is the highlights of my work experience story.

My first job after completing my doctorate degree was a Chemist for Chemagro Corporation in Kansas City, Missouri. It was a subsidiary of Bayer Corporation, a German conglomerate. I worked for the analytical chemistry department comprised of about fifty people; half that number was either chemists or biologists. My specific task was to develop analytical methods for the detection of pesticide residues in plant and animal tissues. I worked on my own, similar to six other bench chemists, and we all reported to the same supervisor.

The firm sponsored my visa conversion from a student to a permanent resident, and I was able to legally work and reside in the United States with my family. The company generously took care of its employees. At the end of each successful year, everyone received a 13th month salary bonus. The employees and their families celebrated wonderful annual Christmas parties in a downtown Kansas City hotel, with dancing and free drinks for the whole night.

Inasmuch as I enjoyed and loved working for Chemagro for five years, I found a new job which offered a substantially higher pay. Due to my exemplary work performance, my supervisor preferred and lobbied for me to stay with the company. I had to turn him down because they could not match the package presented by my new employer. It was also a chance for me and my family to move and live in the US west coast, where the mild winter climate is bearable compared to the Midwest.

My next job was at the agricultural research division of Shell Development Company in Modesto, California. I was a Research Chemist, and again I worked individually, same as five other chemists who all reported to a supervisor. My specific duty was similar to my previous job. I worked for them for five years, until the company decided to get out of the pesticide business. They closed their research facility affecting the jobs of more than 200 employees.

My third industrial job was with the agricultural research division of Stauffer chemical company, located in Richmond, California. I was a Senior Research Chemist doing the same project as my two previous jobs. I worked for twelve continuous years for the company, with outstanding annual job performance. I became a Principal Research Chemist, the highest attainable non-supervisory position.

One day in 1986, my supervisor informed me that my job had been eliminated, and I had one day to vacate the facility. It was the most dreadful lay off experience in my life. I felt anger, sadness and humiliation to be dismissed from work with one day notice, after all the years of hard work invested for the company. This was an unforgettable incident and was the gloomiest point in my professional career.
The company terminated sixty research employees, who were upset of the bad news.

One of the chemists was distressed and expressed his outrageous anger by threatening the company and its workers. He told his supervisor of his intention to bomb and burn down the laboratory. He was immediately escorted by the security staff out of the building and into his car. He was informed to leave behind his personal belongings; they will be mailed to his residence. He was warned never to show up again near the company premises or risk getting arrested.

My supervisor was kind and allowed me to take my time to pack up my belongings. It took me two days to clear up my workplace, after toiling for a long period in the same jobsite. We were provided clerical help and office space, in preparation to look for another job, such as updating our resumes, and using the computer and copy machine. We were given six weeks of separation pay plus benefits.

Fortunately, with the help of a friend who is a Church parishioner, I found another job thirty days after leaving Stauffer chemical company. He hired me as a senior research chemist and as a group leader with two technicians to supervise. It was in the same field as my expertise in my previous three jobs spanning the last twenty one years. My new employer was Chevron Chemical Company, and which was located in the same area as my former employer.

This job gave me the introduction and basic knowledge of managing the work of subordinates. I worked for Chevron Company for four and a half years. The company decided to consolidate their research facilities in Texas, and lay off all its research employees. This time I had enough distress and agony from working, and eventually getting laid off from several private companies. To avoid going through any more miserable layoffs, I made a vow that I would never again work for a private company.

In my work experiences, there were noticeable and unavoidable jobsite occurrences. One can never miss the office romantic relationships between co-workers, both illicit and permitted. Though it was frowned upon, there was a boss and staff relationship, which was used as a ploy to get ahead in the company. Some relationships had chemistry, no pun intended, but some never worked out. Oftentimes, there was a sense of distrust among bench chemists for some workers who unjustly obtained preferred work assignments.

Some employees resorted to bribing superiors to get special privileges, such as being able to attend choice conferences and meetings in exciting venues or locations. Likewise, politics was always present at the worksites. It was during an era when various forms of harassment, equal opportunity and discrimination laws were not yet enforced in the workplace. Occasionally, an unexpected chemical explosion happens in a laboratory setting, where luckily no one got seriously hurt.

In the three private companies I worked for, I was able to publish scientific journals for some of the research studies and analytical methods which I developed for the respective companies of Chemagro, Shell Development and Stauffer.

After deciding and making a vow to avoid working in the private sector, I made my new goal which was either to work for the state of California, or the Federal government in Washington, D.C. Four months after I lost my job in Chevron, I was lucky and joyful to be hired by the Food and Drug Administration as a review chemist in the fall of 1990.

In 1994 I was promoted as an Expert Research Chemist with a GS-14 rating. My expertise was on Anti-malarial and Anti-parasitic drug products. In 1997, I was again deservingly promoted to Chemistry team leader, supervising the work of six Chemistry reviewers including five with doctorate degrees.

As team leader, I was responsible for prioritizing, assigning, and assuring the technical accuracy of all chemistry, manufacturing and control issues for all new drug applications submitted to the Division of Anti-Infective Drug Products, Center of New Drugs.

It was part of my responsibility to give advice, instruct and promote high morale and teamwork in my group. My work in the FDA is confidential, until the drug patent on the products I worked on has expired. There are manufacturing supplements that I have approved that are now open for the public in the Internet.

In 1998, I won the Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) Award. The citation reads, “For outstanding accomplishments in fostering the objectives of the EEO Program by hiring minorities and encouraging their professional growth while providing excellent leadership.” I have received numerous certificates of appreciation, awards in leadership and communications, commendation for teamwork and excellence in the accomplishment of the FDA mission. I have also received several letters of appreciation from private industry for my review work.

There are many good things working as rank and file while enjoying doing one’s job individually. It is a humbling, satisfying and productive experience, if one can work in harmony with one’s immediate supervisor. Working individually develops one’s skills in goal setting and scheduling. But in general, the financial rewards are less than a person who has supervisory responsibilities.

Managing the work of others has its challenges. Moreover, it develops one’s skill in handling and developing people, and the compensation rewards and benefits are better. Due to additional duties, responsibilities and leadership, supervisory work can be more stressful than working as a subordinate. However, supervisory jobs give one more personal growth and satisfaction, based on my personal experience. My work in FDA as a team leader managing the work of six scientists had been the happiest and rewarding work experience in my career in Chemistry. You might also like:

Saturday, June 26, 2021

My Elementary and High School Years Memories for Storyworth

Last Father's Day Ditas and Carenna gave me Storyworth as their gift. I have been enjoying the service, since all the questions I can easily answer since most of them are already published in my blogs and autobiography. What is StoryWorth?

StoryWorth is a service that can collect your dad’s favorite stories and memories and preserve them in a beautifully bound book.

https://www.cnn.com/2021/04/27/cnn-underscored/storyworth-review/index.html

Here's the latest question regarding my elementary and high school years.

One of the highlights of my elementary school years was my participation in Our School District Declamation Contest.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yUjqJzq8YhE

The "Mi Ultimo Adios"(My Last Farewell) was originally written in Spanish. I feel that the English translation loses the depth of emotion Dr. Rizal felt at the time he wrote it. The poem is so inspiring, I do not get tired reading it again and again.

My elementary and high school years were in the town of Barotac Viejo, Iloilo. Here's a brief description of the town.

Here are some photos of my high school years (1947-1951).

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Saturday, June 26, 2021

My Elementary and High School Years Memories for Storyworth

Last Father's Day Ditas and Carenna gave me Storyworth as their gift. I have been enjoying the service, since all the questions I can easily answer since most of them are already published in my blogs and autobiography. What is StoryWorth?

StoryWorth is a service that can collect your dad’s favorite stories and memories and preserve them in a beautifully bound book.

https://www.cnn.com/2021/04/27/cnn-underscored/storyworth-review/index.html

Here's the latest question regarding my elementary and high school years.

One of the highlights of my elementary school years was my participation in Our School District Declamation Contest.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yUjqJzq8YhE The "Mi Ultimo Adios"(My Last Farewell) was originally written in Spanish. I feel that the English translation loses the depth of emotion Dr. Rizal felt at the time he wrote it. The poem is so inspiring, I do not get tired reading it again and again.

My elementary and high school years were in the town of Barotac Viejo, Iloilo. Here's a brief description of the town.

Here are some photos of my high school years (1947-1951).

No comments:

Post a Comment

Linkwithin

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yUjqJzq8YhE

The "Mi Ultimo Adios"(My Last Farewell) was originally written in Spanish. I feel that the English translation loses the depth of emotion Dr. Rizal felt at the time he wrote it. The poem is so inspiring, I do not get tired reading it again and again.