On October 09, 1993 at around 3:00 in the morning, a baby girl was born to Mr. and Mrs. Miparanum. She was their 4th child and the youngest girl in the family. At that time, Mr. Aurelio Miparanum was on board in Malaysia and he saw the name of the ship next to them. He made a long distance call to the Philippines and he named his daughter "Merjurie" which is more or less the same with ship's name.
At a very young age, Merjurie has been a very active and cheerful girl according to her parents and other relatives. She really loves to read books and hear stories about legends and facts from her Lola Pising. When she was able to walk and run fast, just like any other kids, she loves to play. Every afternoon, she would go to the vacant lot just across their house and play with her friends "lutu-lutuan", "piko", "chinese garter" and the like. But one day on March 28 1999, when she was 4 years old, she was hit by a car. She had a new "children's kitchen set" and was very excited to show and share it to her friends. She crossed the street without noticing the coming vehicle towards her. She was rushed to the hospital. Miraculously, only her pointer finger was hurt. There were bruises in the arms and legs but other than that there were no major injuries. Her mother whom she calls "Nanay" was very worried that time and panicked. She rushed her daughter to the hospital with only one slipper. Small things truly shows how her Mother loves her and how she cherished her daughter.
Merjurie started schooling when she was 5 years old. She attend the Day Care Class in their Barangay. Unlike her classmates who wants their parents to stay in the classroom, Merjurie would prefer to let her Nanay go home. According to her mother, Merjurie would always say "Ok na po ako, Uwi na kayo Nanay. Marami pa kayong gagawin". She would just go to school and would also go back home from school by herself. As what her mother says, "a very independent child". In the day care, she learned how to write and read. A year after that, she attended Wawa Elementary School which was near to their home so she would just walk to go to school. She was awarded as third honor when she was in kindergarten. At that young age, she had shown "God's gift of intelligence" as termed by her Lola. She was always on the honor list. But other than academics, Merjurie loves to try a lot of things. When she was on Grade 1, she would see the Drum and Lyre of their school practicing in the quadrangle. She tried out and was accepted to be their youngest majorette. Since she was the smallest. she would always be the first in the line and in the formation of the band. She was also a Star scout and was appointed to be the troop leader of the Girls Scout of the Philippines in their school. She really likes camping and long green line activities. It was her favorite part of being a Girl Scout.
When she was on Grade 5, she had to stop school for a month because she was diagnosed to have a Dengue B going to stage C. She saw her Nanay crying while talking to her Papa regarding her condition. It came to the point that there was nasal bleeding and bleeding of gums. She really looked pale and weak. But for God's grace, she was able to normalized her platelet count and regain her strength. She was back to school and it seemed like nothing happened. She was assigned to be the leader of Drum and Lyre Band of their school.
She also joined Quiz Bees and she likes particularly History. She had won the 3rd prize for MAKABAYAN and HEKASI quiz bee. She had also won the 2nd place for DAMATH. She joined the District Journalism and won the News writing contest and was send to the Division Journalism. She graduated Elementary as the class Valedictorian.
She attended a private school in their District since she was offered to have a scholarship. From there, she was able to meet new friends and build a strong relationship with them until now. She was a Student Government officer and was senT to a 5 day-seminar in Baguio. She was also appointed to be the XO Commander of their CAT. She graduated as class salutatorian.
Merjurie took entrance exam to three different school. When she knew the UPCAT results and she passed, her parents pursue her to attend UPLB. At first, she was taking up BS Human Ecology but there is something she wants to find that seems to be lacking. After a year, she shifted to BS Nutrition and is now a senior student and hoping to graduate on time. :)
