OUR CLASS VALEDICTORIAN (PART I)

I met her when I transferred to a provincial public school. My grandmother advised me to study in the province because I was sickly. It was the best place for me. The air and food are fresh. In my two years of stay in the province, I gained pounds. My classmates called me tabachoy including our class valedictorian, JCM.

I entered the seminary in high school and transferred in a university one year after. (Priesthood was not for me). In college, I decided to be in the same university to keep with family tradition. JCM was in an exclusive school in Katipunan.

A few years after graduation, JCM contacted me in the government agency I was connected with. Our grade school batch was planning a reunion. I got excited because for more than ten years, we would meet again our former classmates and friends.

She fetched me in my office. I was surprised because a BMW picked me up. She was in it, so I asked if the case was hers. She said yes.

We had lunch in an exclusive restaurant in Makati and laid down the plans for the reunion. In the course of the conversation, she mentioned about her problems in her business. “Nakakalbo na nga ako sa mga problema” she said. All medium-scale businesses have those kinds of problems, I told her.

She mentioned that before her business, she joined companies engaged in real estate. She got the idea of starting a business of her own. With the help of friends from nearby school, she put up a real estate development.

It was a family corporation, I guessed, that was the start of her fortune. She was in her early 30’s and this former classmate was already a MULTI-millionaire! The whole batch of graduates were very proud of her.

Now, she had three corporations, a construction company, a development company, and a marketing company. All are related to real estate industry.

What made her achieve such a status? (To be continued.)