Posted on March 30, 2022
Photo by: Sir Russel Owen Viloria
Who would not recognize that Spanish-speaking, short-haired girl clad in pink shirt and orange shorts, her feet covered in yellow socks and white shoes, her right wrist adorned with yellow beaded bracelet, and her shoulder lugging a purple backpack? Yes, that’s DORA the Explorer.
The Pisay-CVC community saw Dora the Explorer come to life during one of the many cosplays held in one of the Book Week celebrations during the pre-pandemic days. And who would not forget that impressive portrayal of Dora the Explorer, no less than by the very versatile faculty cosplayer, Ma’am Melahnie C. Agraam.
Ma’am Mel has been cosplaying in school for years now. Through the years, she has portrayed a wide range of characters. Remember that Marvel fictional superhero whose incalculable strength increases as his anger escalates? Or that blue emotion character in Disney Pixar’s Inside Out who, as her name suggests, exudes gloomy and low-spirited aura? Or that inflatable computerized robot in the animated film Big Hero 6 who looks like a fluffy snowman and possesses amazing intelligence and strength? Or that cute, pill-shaped, yellow creature who communicates using a queer language with meanings exclusive within their circle? Or one of those three huggable bears who perform anthropomorphic activities and adventures? Or that badge-collecting chubby boy who appeared in the Disney film showing a house buoyed by balloons? And oh, who was not surprised in campus when a humungous cup of a South Korean-made instant ramen was walking along the corridors? These character portrayals left spectators in awe, and made students, and employees as well, anticipate with much excitement of what character will Ma’am Mel stage next.
During this pandemic, even when faculty activities and programs were held virtually, Ma’am Mel kept on surprising the Pisay community with her cosplay transformation. During the virtual celebration of the school’s founding anniversary, Ma’am Mel, even while on work-from-home mode, wowed everyone as she appeared on the LED screen, dressed up like that robot doll in the Red Light, Green Light episode of the phenomenal South Korean drama series Squid Game. Not the pandemic nor the restricted and limited physical gatherings can stop Ma’am Mel from personifying characters we usually see in books, TV or movies.
The occasional cosplaying is just a fraction of Ma’am Mel’s outstanding performance as an employee of PSHS-CVC. An English teacher in Pisay for close to two decades now, Ma’am Mel has been consistently topping the teaching performance charts on students’ and supervisor’s evaluation. Academically prepared and honed from the University of the Philippines – Diliman, motivated by the burning passion to teach, and driven by the genuine sentiment to touch lives, Ma’am Mel is a master of her craft. A passionate teacher of language and literature, Ma’am Mel has undoubtedly won the hearts of students, batches back from the old-campus years to the Masoc-housed ones.
But cosplay off-season is the time when Ma’am Mel does not need any costume to portray the character, sans fiction, by being her true self. Outside official time is the moment when Ma’am Mel does the job for the people she loves most – her family.
Born and raised in Manila, Ma’am Mel never thought that she would be living her married life in the province. When her husband laid down the offer for her to give living-the-province-life a try, she immediately agreed on one condition: that she will find employment in Nueva Vizcaya, preferably teaching. Clueless about where she is heading to and uncertain how she will face this new life, she did not hesitate to take on the offer, all for the love of her own family.
Ma’am Mel submitted her application to two schools in Bayombong: Saint Mary’s University and Philippine Science High School – Cagayan Valley Campus. Pisay called her first, and for the first time, she had the chance to experience vying for a position in a government institution, different from her experiences from her previous employment in private schools in the city.
It seemed like the odds were all on her favor because when she submitted her application, it was Pisay’s bigtime hiring season, and a lot of permanent teaching positions were up for grabs. After days of braving the process of application – written exam, interview, class demonstration – her performance and qualifications assured her of the work she has been asking for. She has experienced the long wait for her turn to be called in each of the tests, the longer wait for the phone call confirming whether she made it or not, the longest alone moments she spent with only a single pack of sky flakes crackers that filled her empty stomach during breaks, which she passionately called “the things you do for love.”
Leaving the city and migrating to Nueva Vizcaya was a gamble, because it means leaving the life she lived since birth, but in retrospect, she knew she gained and won. It was quite an ordeal for her to live in a community where almost everybody knows everyone, while she felt she was a total stranger, when it took some time before she adapted to the new environment, but it was in this same locality where she can trust even the mere acquaintances. She can ask anyone to look after her kids, she did not worry if she was late in attending to her kids in school, she knew her kids are safe in the company of anyone in the community because she knew she can trust the people there.
It was also a struggle for her to communicate because she did not understand, much more so speak, the local language, Ilocano, so she went the extra mile to learn the dialect, by listening to the radio dramas in the vernacular, like Kapitan Enteng, which her father-in-law regularly listened to during siesta hours. Because of the proximity of their house to the barangay hall, one significant factor that contributed to her language acquisition is eavesdropping, more unintentionally though, to the settlement of conflicts in the barangay hall. The conversations of the people in the hall, the testimonies of the summoned individuals, and the reactions of the then-not-yet-called-Marites, were sources of meanings and contexts of how she began to understand the intricacies of the Ilocano language. Now, Ma’am Mel is fluent and familiar of the language that sounded so strange to her on the very day she set foot here in the province.
For years since she decided to permanently settle in the place far from the busy-ness of the metro, Ma’am Mel found the serenity and happiness she dreamt of for her spouse and children. The turning point came, however, when her parents’ health began to wane, and she was not there for them right away. It crushed her heart to not be able to look after them the very instant she learned about their condition. The guilt of moving out of their home and living away from her parents haunted her, and she was willing to do anything, ANYTHING she can for her parents, before it will be too late…
In 2016, Ma’am Mel’s father began to manifest memory loss. He can no longer recognize her daughter who adored him so dearly. For a loving daughter like Ma’am Mel, to be a stranger in her father’s eyes is such a pain to bear. She could not fathom how sudden his dad’s memory declined; worse, why of all his dad’s reminiscence, hers was erased from his memory slate. But a caring daughter that she has always been, she did not have second thoughts of deciding to go back to Manila, even at the expense of her established teaching career and even with the uncertainties of this drastic change.
With nothing in mind but to make up lost time with and for her parents, Ma’am Mel was ready to tender her resignation from PSHS-CVC immediately. For her, it’s time to be a daughter once again to them. She thought the occasional visits to her parents in Manila every vacation was enough, but now, more than ever, she knew her parents needed her the most. She was willing to sacrifice what she has already invested, and she is prepared to make drastic decisions once again, this time for her mom and dad. She is aware that moving back to the city that cradled her since birth may have repercussions to her disadvantage, like the uncertainty of finding new employment and the difficulty of resetting up, but it’s the risk she is very willing to take.
Then a sound alternative was considered – moving her parents here in the province instead of her family moving to Manila. This was a win-win solution: she did not need to give up her job, she can still be with her family, though it took a lot of courage for her to seek permission from her in-laws about this decision. Gladly they agreed, and in no time, her parents were living with her.
After a very long time, Ma’am Mel was reunited with her parents, and this time she is on duty taking care of them full time. Conscious of the years, months, weeks, and days that are slowly ticking away, she explained to her spouse and children that this time, she needs to take on her daughter role first and might be less of a wife and a mother. Despite her father’s condition, she patiently took care of him, spent sleepless nights to look after him, depriving herself of the luxury of sleep which affected her daytime role as teacher.
She reflected; at what point did she falter? Which role did she fail to perform? When she thought she was doing her best as a spouse, mother, sister-in-law, daughter-in-law, neighbor, friend, colleague, and many other roles, why does she still feel her efforts are in vain? As she has devoted her time building her own family, and committed herself to accomplishing work-related tasks, she had the feeling that she might be a little too late for doing her obligation as a daughter. But no matter how challenging this has been, she still found answers to her many why’s and how’s. Despite being forgotten by her dad as his daughter, Ma’am Mel said these are still ways to teach her what love really is – it never ceases, it has no conditions, it is beyond memory…
During the twilight of her parents well-spent lives, Ma’am Mel was able to give them her best. She poured her heart out to them, gave them all the love she wished she could have given when they were miles apart. It still pains her knowing that they have departed, and every single day, she misses them, but they left her a lesson to live by – that her parents’ examples are her ideals which guide her to be the best parent that she can be to her own daughter and son, Tara and Terence.
Sacrifice, for Ma’am Mel, is not only accorded to her closest of kin. When her father-in-law was hospitalized and the threat of the COVID-19 virus was still high, she volunteered to take care of him, no matter how risky it was to her health. For a month, she stayed with him in the hospital, attending to his needs, and just being there for him. Ma’am Mel shared so much of her time, care and love to her father-in-law, a gesture of kindness which he is forever grateful for.
Ma’am Mel became a mother when she was 23. Parenting at a relatively young age has a lot of challenges, but she was able to survive these by following the example set by her own mom. As a mother, Ma’am Mel sets things straight right away. Her children, at their early age, already understood that not all they ask for are granted as soon as they want it. They were taught that everything has a right time – to buy, to just look, to earn and work for it first.
As a mother of kids living the typical childhood-to-adolescence-to-adulthood stage, Ma’am Mel also has her share of concerns regarding her kids’ upbringing. As her kids grew up into young adults, Ma’am Mel made sure their communication lines are always open and that they do not keep any secrets from one another. She personally knows her kids’ circle of friends, and she feels confident that her children are safe in the company of their peers. And if there is one tip that parents need to know about allowing their children to go out with their friends, take this advice from Ma’am Mel: two names, two numbers. Allow your children to be with their friends, but before they leave, they should give the names and contact details of two of their friends they will be with.
During this pandemic, one of the struggles parents face is to get their kids working on their modules and submitting their requirements completely and promptly. In this case, Ma’am Mel is no exception. From the point of view of a teacher, students are expected to work independently, but from Ma’am Mel’s perspective as a mother, this pandemic is also a struggle that her own son and daughter have to deal with. This is the perfect opportunity for her to be the support that they need, especially for her, a parent, and a teacher as well.
Ma’am Mel has set an ideal that her children now emulate. Tara and Terence, Ma’am Mel’s wonderful children, have felt the boundless love that their mother has for them. They have seen how much sacrifice their mother is willing to give to others. They learned from their mom every lesson of having a good heart for family and friends. They are the true testament to the saying “kung ano ang puno, siyang bunga.”
From the purest heart of a loving mother, Ma’am Mel said, “I may worry constantly as most mothers do, but I genuinely believe that God’s greatest kindness to me was when He made me the mother of my Tara and Terence.” And being the mother of these two awesome children would most probably be Ma’am Mel’s parallel answer to Sushmita Sen’s Miss U question on the essence of being a woman.
Like Dora the Explorer who embarks on new adventures every episode, Ma’am Mel takes on every episode of her life as a new adventure to live and learn from. Like Dora the Explorer who has an I’ve-got-it-all-in backpack, Ma’am Mel’s bag of life is full of wisdom she has gained from people, circumstances, and experiences, that other people gain wisdom from, too, through the years.
Through cosplays, Ma’am Mel has unquestionably transformed into famous characters, and the list just keeps on increasing. But her being a daughter, a wife, and a mother are the most important roles that she continues to portray, needless of the costumes and the spiels, just a pure heart full of love.
