His wizardry was first made renowned in 2003. Since then, he has not stopped weaving his uniquely successful brand of magic that allowed him to earn big bucks and fly to places outside Cebu.
The wizard is no less ordinary.
His is a freckled face, with dreamy, dark eyes and neatly kempt hair. He speaks in a distinct vernacular with an accent typical of his place in Bohol. He is an unassuming character in school, one whose ordinariness makes him blend in the crowd. No one thought this diffident man would earn a hefty fourteen thousand pesos in a span of two years— tax-free and in crisp bills. This wealth’s only requirements are the ample flicker of passion for mathematics, the potential to develop it and the luck to win Mathematics quiz bowls without holding an apprehensive breath.
The wizard, Eugene Dalen, is a fifth year Electronics and Communication Engineering student, whose day is incomplete without math reviewers.
Eugene’s feat in mathematics competitions is almost legendary, or in some respect, a stunt difficult to duplicate. Recently, in a technology-programming contest that required the USJ-R team to fly to Manila, just a week after winning the Visayas Regional Championship, he carted seven thousand five hundred in cash prizes. With such victory is the recognition of the school’s talent in a national competition. His team won third prize in the national finals of the Programmable Logic Controller Programming contest sponsored by Siemens, which is a meaty weight in his credentials. The team also won a Siemens S7-200 programmable logic controller for the school.
His winning streaks continued in the Institute of Electronics and Communication Engineering of the Philippines (IECEP) Quiz Bowl. He was also the 2003 Central Visayas Regional College Athletics Association Math and Science quiz bowl champion, the CESAFI match (Cebu Schools Athletics Foundation Inc) quiz bowl.
So, he made a career out of the quiz bowls. But what is, really, the making of a wizard?
Eugene’s life, before the discovery of his gift, was bleak. He is the fifth in a brood of six children. His elementary years was what he described as one filled with ‘misfortunes’ and poverty, studying in the school nearest to his barrio, Tingag, Dawis, Bohol.
His high school years were spent in the Sisters of Mary – Boystown, Minglanilla, an all-boy school, kilometers away from the city. Religious sisters run the school and they ask no contribution from their students. It was there that Eugene found his passion for Mathematics and Physics, developed by time and nurturing.
In college, he took examination for a non-academic scholarship and passed. He was assigned to work in the Security and Safety Department (SSD) office. He chose engineering, though it was only by the prodding of his neighbor because his prospect for the future was bent on a nautical career. Unknowingly, it was engineering that would pave the path towards an early success.
Eugene’s exploit in competitions is a love-hate affair, which he commented as a reverse-psychology-kind of events. He joined the 2002 Engineering Mathematical Society (now known as the interdepartmental Josenian Mathematics Society) Search for Math Wizard. A second year student and a tenderfoot contestant, he hoped to surpass the rest in the elimination rounds and land among the five top scorers in order to qualify for the finals. With the intent to win and a full swing of confidence, he took the battery of exams.
He lost.
"Bali man gud ang outcome if i-pressure nimo ang imong kaugalingon [The outcome is different if you pressure yourself]," he said. He ended disappointed and frustrated at the results of what would be his first competition. The lessons, which were bitter pills, were to teach him sobriety and a better understanding of luck as an important element for success.
A year later, he joined the search again. This time, there was no self-imposed agitation to win. No compulsion to exert beyond what he can give. At the end of the elimination round, Eugene’s score cleaved a dominating lead unprecedented in the search’s history. He reaped the highest scores in four out of six subjects.
He became a overnight sensation. The obscure non-academic scholar working inconspicuously in the Security and Safety Department was, at the year’s end, the 5th EMS Math Wizard of the Year.
In time with his success in the Math-Wizard contest, he qualified for a Department of Science and Technology (DOST) scholarship. This freed him from the toils of a working student, enabling him to study full-time during his last two years in college.
His study habits are quite incredible. As an SSD student-volunteer describes him, Eugene is not without his worn-out math-reviewers borrowed in the library. He found a hobby in working out the problems in the reviewers during his free time.
The trouble with competitions, on his part, is that the more one expects to win, the bigger the chances that one would lose. Sometimes, it is not the sheer mental strength that prevails but luck. "Bisa’g unsa pa nimo ka-maayo, pero kung di nimo adlaw, wala gyud. Maayo nang dili mo-expect [No matter how good you are, if it isn’t meant for you, then it’s not for you. It’s better not to expect anything]."
Eugene Dalen’s winning form is maintained by his interest in mathematics. There is a challenge, he says, in solving math-problems. The tougher ones, become incessant bugs that keep one from sleeping until a solution is reached.
His exploit in Mathematics competitions is something he is incredulous to believe in. "Dili ko katuo nga ako ni [I can’t believe that this is me now]." he said. It just comes to him. And when he joins a contest, he quips a short prayer before the game’s onset. He does not ask for anything except, "Lord, i-maximize ang akong potential [Lord, please help me maximize my potential]."
The spells of the wizard do not end at the conclusion of every competition. There is life that has to be lived, which he described as a kind of show. He sees it not as a game but a play where each has to ‘perform well his role and strive’. There is no point system. No awards to wait for. "Kausa ra man ka malipay kung daug ra ang imong huna-hunaon [If you think of merely winning the game, the happiness that you feel is only transient]."
Looking up for the future, he wishes to remain the same silent, "natural" man armed with prudent assertiveness.
Without him knowing it, the spells of his wizardry will be his lasting glitters as they bring honor to him and to the school.
(Emelito Torres is a 3rd year Electronics and Communication Engineering student who loves to read philosophy books.)
