What’s in a Name?

Apparently, a lot.

By chance I met up with an old college classmate and friend today. (Click THIS to read about it in my previous post.) She told me how she’s been looking all over the Internet for ME, mainly via Friendster, I suppose. And of course, she didn’t find a trace of ME. You see, back then, during my UP days, I went by another nickname. It was only then that I used that nick so no one else calls ME by that name except the people I met at UP back then.

It’s a nick "given" by a high school friend.

Actually, I’ve had several "name changes" over the years, starting with the 6th grade. I used to go by my nickname Malou all the way back then. But when I went to the 5th grade in New York, I didn’t like the way everybody would mispronounce my nick. So I started using part of my full name during the 6th grade. That worked well, even when I got back here and went to Brent School in Pasig for my 7th grade. However, when I started with high school at Holy Family Academy in Angeles City, the people there didn’t quite pronounce my name right. So I stopped using "Mary" in college and went by the new nick that my friend "baptized" ME with. 

Well, I had trouble with that nick, too. People kept spelling and saying it wrong. So I decided to shift back to simply "Malou" when I moved to the Adventist university of the Philippines (back then it was called Philipppine Union College).  Most people from there call ME "Malou." Some call ME by my "private" childhood nickname (which I’m keeping a secret), too.

So, that’s the story with all the nicknames I used. It’s that simple. Nothing quite so exciting as keeping several different identities and running from the authorities. Today, I’m forced to maintain several Friendster accounts, the latest I created today was one with the "Wyette" nick. My friends (those who were "lucky" enough to find ME again online) have all expressed their frustrations and difficulties at finding "Wyette Escasa." Haha. There might be more out there looking for ME with that nick. I might as well make it easier for them to find me.