The mind of Christian Paul Cruz

The first time I met Paul Christian Cruz was some three years ago when I had to serve as a panelist for a presentation they made before their class.  We had a lively exchange as I grilled Paul's group, then the bell rang and that was the end of that.  Or so I thought.

As I went out of the classroom he tailed me to carry on with the conversation that he felt was left unresolved.  So I patiently listened to him so that he can get it out of his system.  Apparently, it was not enough.  He was trying to engage me in a prolonged discussion, which was really no problem with me, except that I had a next class and my bladder was urgently begging for relief.

So I excused myself and told him I need to go to the toilet with a sign outside that says "FOR FACULTY USE ONLY."  I thought that he would leave me alone but he didn't.  He instead followed me inside.  So while I was relieving myself in a cubicle, I was listening to him as he continued with his monologue as he faced the toilet mirror.  I finished my business and had to go to my next classroom.  And I told him maybe we could continue our conversation next time.  I didn't realize then that our conversation would continue only after three years.

I didn't even get his name then but I would always remember him as the student who followed me to the toilet.

In a campus, you recall students for various reasons, there are the brainies and the laggards, the smartalecks and the recidivists, the loudmouths and the brats, the studs and the crush magnets, and then there is Paul.

Paul is a classification by himself.  He is a huge man, about 5'10" and not less than 220 pounds of bouncing mass of human flesh and adiposa.  He talks as he walks - very slow and deliberate.  He is very shy and though he has an impish, if not charming smile he doesn't seem to have a lot of close friends, apart from Poch, his closest.

Paul is, well, like a big child - a man child, with a pair of glasses that dutifully hang on the bridge of his nose, and a healthy  growth of stubbles running from his sideburns all the way to his double chin and all around his mouth.  Needless to say, you can't miss him in a crowd.

I would occasionally bump into him in the next three years, sometimes he greets me, sometimes he seems lost in his thoughts.

There were a number of times that I saw Paul in costumes of flowing robes and made up hair, not unlike the anime characters that inspire him to dress as such.  He once even joined a cosplay contest at SM City Lipa where he met his idol Alodia Gosiengfiao.

A week ago while I was driving by the road fronting the school, I noticed a familiar figure walking by the sidewalk.  I yelled at him, Paul!  He stooped and peered at the open window.  Recognizing me, he flashed a wide smile, and he opened his mouth as if he was to start a conversation.  But I was in the middle of the street and we can't carry on like that so I slowly drove forward and eased the car to the side.

From the side mirror I can see Paul getting something out of his bag as he followed me.  He was all smiles when he showed his framed graduation picture.  He looked very proud and happy.  We can't have a conversation on a busy road so I had to say goodbye, but not after taking a picture of him (see photo above).

This morning I was waiting for a business plan presentation, where I was invited to be a panelist, to start when Paul entered the room, looking for a professor to sign a document for him.  He was already processing his graduation clearances.

I asked him how he was, and that was the start of the continuation of our conversation that was cut short three years ago.

Paul had just finished his internship at McCann Erickson Philippines, a leading global ad agency, handling humongous accounts.

Paul was assigned to make sense of McCann's complex digital marketing data which requires not only above average intelligence but extraordinary concentration and focus as a deluge of data can be overwhelming for an ordinary mortal, with the product of his work used by the agency to formulate its strategic recommendations to its clients.

Though he cannot maintain eye contact, Paul and I were really having a conversation, an intelligent one where he paused to listen as I talk or ask a question, before answering with inside information that only a true industry practitioner can muster.

He shared how he met Christopher Lao (who became infamous as media aired his misadventure in submerging his car in a flooded street), now Attorney Christopher Lao, and his idol Alodia who recognized him as a fellow cosplayer, which thrilled Paul no end as he couldn't stop giggling.

But he was particularly animated as he explained his job.  And I could see that he really knew what he was talking about.  I could just imagine his brain cells exploding in action as he connected seemingly random information into reports that made sense.  This talent did not escape his immediate boss as he invited Paul to join McCann Erickson as soon as he graduated.

Paul is at a loss what to do as he was not expecting that his boss would think so highly of him when he did not really excel in any of his subjects at school and practically knew nothing about the job when he first started on the internship.  He was overwhelmed that he would be appreciated that way, by no less than a professional who has been on that kind of job for a long time.

I encouraged him to take the opportunity because it's a tough job to most but one that is tailored to his mental strengths.

I'm happy for Paul and I was so immersed in our conversation that I didn't realize we were at it for more that two hours. Noon time came and I had to go to my panel duty.  I hope it's not another three years that we get to talk again.


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