Amiel Reveche: the One and Only

by Dickson Lua

            I never thought I’d see the day my dad would disown me for someone else, but being the high expectations father that he is, I suppose I should’ve seen it coming. Back in high school, I did well and was in the honors class – but now, in college … I actually still do well. The catch, however, was the time my father heard of my blockmate named Amiel.

             Yes, you heard it right. Jan Amiel Reveche, better known as Amiel, was why my dad disowned me.It all started back in a Computer Science class when we started doing the labs and projects. Doing one of the labs took me a few hours, where I still had to bring home the program to work on it; but when it came to Amiel, ten minutes into the program and he’s already got some working classes. By the time class had ended, he’d already finished the program.

            The same thing happened to me in Math. Seeing as Amiel took the regular track in math, I took the basic track to avoid getting compared to him. This was rather a poor choice as the whole thing just backfired on me. High expectations father would not only grill me about the shame I brought to the family, he would also use Amiel as a reference point for my performance.

            As you can probably imagine, getting compared to Amiel was really tough. I had to work extra hard to keep up with him, but if you must know – it clearly wasn’t possible for me. This is what led to my disownment, but Amiel was kind enough to reject my father’s offer to adopt him as a son.

            In line with this, I chose to write about Amiel for September’s Member of the Month Article, where I would just like to note that my father did not disown me nor is he a high expectations father. I just wanted to point out that Amiel is really an awesome blockmate, student, and friend.

In fact, to show you just how amazing Amiel is, I’ve asked some of his blockmates to give me a short message or description of him.

Amiel Being Himself

Without further ado, here they are:

From Mac Jison, Blockmate:

“First impression ko kay Amiel, siga, bad person and bad influence, snob and laging kating-kati. Akalain mo tumpak ako! Siga siya pagdating sa CS exercise sobrang pro, bad person siya sa akin dahil tamad ako, bad influence dahil mauubos ang oras mo dahil ma-iinspire ka gumawa ng CS project, snob sa mga negative energies at kating-kati siya mag-volunteer and mag-participate sa mga CompSAt events. Dependable na tao and trusted, i-verify mo pa kay Norton walang bahid virus ito. Mahilig siya maglaro ng games, from PC to console. Madaldal ‘to, di lang pansin. Kung di niyo pa siya kilala at mukang masungit, go lang at kulitin niyo baka bumigay. Amiel, sana wag kang makulitan pa sa akin kahit tanong ako ng tanong during class, gusto ko lang naman i-test ikaw kung alam mo yung lesson, nandito naman ako kung kailangan mo ng tulong. Alam kong Dean Lister ka at ako below the poverty line ang gradeWag kang magbabago, nandito lang kami ng mga friends mo sa likod mo, nagtatago. Stay safe!”

From Myreen Repizo, Blockmate:

“Hindi naman sapat kung sasabihin ko na intelligence+creativity=Amiel kasi iba pa si Amiel kapag nakilala mo nang lubusan. Siya lang ata ang nakilala kong nagbigay buhay sa +1 Life mushroom ni Mario at nagnakaw ng puno mula sa Wonderland. Magugulat ka dahil wala pang limang minuto, may cheer na siya na nabuo. Tawag ko nga sa kanya “head ng CompSAt Babble” kasi kung hindi dahil sa kanya, di kami mag-iingay ng todo noong RecWeek. Sa lahat ng ginagawa niya, makikita mo ang dedikasyon niya. Alam niyo, napakahirap gumawa ng equation para kay amiel, kasi may infinite number of addends iyan. Creative palang ang nakuwento ko. Paano pa kaya ung intelligence, cheerfulness, wit, musicality, programmer, gamer, dancer atbp.?”

“A picture is worth a thousand words, but Amiel can never be described merely in words.”

From Jezreel Montehermoso, Blockmate:

“Amiel is really zany and wacky. There’ll never be a dull moment when you are with him. He is also really talented. He knows how to dance, sing, play the piano, and the violin. There’s always something to do whenever you are with Amiel. He is really smart and he’s always ready to help you when you need him. Amiel is amazing. You’ll never regret having him as a friend.”

A Man of Many Talents

Aside from this, did you know that Amiel was also the winner of last year’s DISCS Programming Open (PrO)? It was held last March 2012, and even though I was not there to witness the event, here is a note made by Ma’am Didith describing Amiel’s buzzer beater win.

“In the last seconds of the 2002 UAAP Men’s Basketball semi-finals, Ateneo was tied with UE.  The ball was passed to Gec Chia.  He took the shot and sank it, securing Ateneo’s place in the finals that we eventually won.

In the first game of the 2006 finals, UST led Ateneo 72 to 71.  With one second to go, Ateneo made one last play.  The ball was passed Doug Kramer. He made the basket.  UST did not know what hit them.

Last night, during the DISCS PRO, Jan Amiel Reviche was trailing behind two other teams.  They had each answered 5 out of 6 problems.  Amiel was working on the 6th.  In the dying seconds of the game, Jess walked up to the server at the front of the room and prepared to stop the contest.  Amiel made one last submission.  Francis Macam, my fellow judge seated at the back of the room, ran the solution.  It was correct.  The moment after Francis clicked “YES”, Jess stopped the contest.  Those of us who saw this jumped up and cheered.  

Congratulations, Amiel!  You rock. :)”

You rock, indeed.

For this month, we hope that your creative juices get to flow even more, so that you’ll continue to astound us, excel, and exceed our expectations.

Don’t forget to greet Amiel a happy birthday on September 20!