When Shaira Luna—who had been portrayed as a “gifted child” in an infant milk formula advertising—flunked her college algebra, she felt relieved. “I thought, ‘I’m cool; I’m normal,’” she told Inquirer Lifestyle, laughing.
Who can blame her? At age 8 she was thrown into the limelight, appearing in the unforgettable Promil gifted child TV commercial and fascinating the entire country with her advanced understanding of anatomy. And she was only 13 when she entered college to study biology at De la Salle University.
Everyone thought she was on her way to becoming a brilliant doctor before she hit her 20s—everyone but herself. Like every child, Luna was also just a little girl finding her place in the world. College became a roller-coaster ride, with Luna shifting courses several times. Six years later, she dropped out.
“I just wanted some time off because I couldn’t decide on my thesis. [I had] too many ideas going in many different directions,” she said. It was during this sabbatical when she realized her real passion, a long-time hobby, actually: photography.
Luna has since become one of the most sought-after fashion photographers, but there was a time when she would get malicious comments from strangers. That was when she was shooting everything—from weddings and baptisms to even funerals, or what photographers call KBL (Kasal, Binyag, Libing)—and someone would always recognize her.
“They will call you out, even in the middle of a shoot: ’Di ba ikaw ’yung matalino dati? Kumukuha ka na lang ng pictures namin ngayon?Sige, ito pa o, cell phone ko.’ I encountered a lot of that but I just kept shooting. People can be really mean. But in the words of Taylor Swift, I just shake it off,” she quipped.
Last week, Luna was reunited with Promil Kids Batch ’95 alumni, her “costars” in the TV commercial: James Dominic Flores, the little boy who said, “The sun is the center of the solar system,” who’s now a clinical psychologist; and Francis “Kiko” Galura, the child poet, who is now, not surprisingly, a publisher.
“You need to believe in yourself, and stick with people who believe in you and encourage you, so that you get motivated to push for greater heights,” Flores said.
He breezed through high school and college, he said, but when he attended graduate class his confidence started to fade away. His classmates, who knew him as one of Promil’s gifted children, had high, often unrealistic, expectations of him.
At one point, he didn’t even know how to participate in class—should he raise his hand, stand up, or just start talking while seated? He was paralyzed for a while, until he realized that even grownups participated in class much like the way his high school classmates did. And, yes, sometimes the adults get lazy and don’t do their homework.
“There will be times when you feel you second guess yourself, but the way I look at it is always positive. If it feels right, then it must be right,” Galura said.
In just a year after he joined a publishing firm as art director, Galura was promoted to publisher. Today he is helping and mentoring many young authors. He believes everyone is born with gifts and talents. The key is to find out what it is, and then nurture it.
Hard work
“It’s all about hard work. That’s the secret sauce for me. I think it’s true when they say that hard work beats talent when talent doesn’t work hard. It’s up to us to work hard and to nurture these gifts so that we grow up to be the best versions of ourselves,” Galura said.
Luna agreed: “I guess it’s important to recognize that there are other intelligence [indicators] aside from just being good in school. It’s recognizing that each is different. I don’t think it’s important to become superior… or to become better than anyone else. I think the goal is to grow up as comfortable adults, no matter how gifted you are.”
And there have been countless of awkward moments while these whiz kids were growing up—dating was among them.
“The hardship starts when they start to think I’m so much better than they are. I’m like—no, I’m not. Once they start to see you like a normal person, it becomes a lot easier,” Flores said.
For Luna, having crushes is a concept that is alien to her. “I never had crushes even when I was young. It’s weird. (Giggles) I’m very boring. I don’t go out. I don’t party. I sit inside my house and work on the computer… My boyfriend is 12 years older than I am, so we talk about the Beatles, the Rolling Stones…” (Laughs)
Luna said she has a restless mind. There are many ideas going on inside her head, many things she wants to do, that she sleeps as little as possible. At the crack of dawn she’s already puttering in the kitchen. Before sunrise, she’s already had breakfast.
But that’s okay. Every day is a learning experience, and a chance to accomplish more. “It’s good to have a strong head on your shoulders to be able to deal with all the pressure people expect from you and channel it to a different direction… I’d like to think I turned out okay. It’s okay to break out of the mold,” she said.
Promil Pre-School will launch this year its “Gifted Movement” campaign that aims to earn the commitment of mothers and consumers to nurture and support gifts in children. For more details log on to its Facebook page.