To the Gifted and Talented global experts, I am Dr. Maynard Victor Erece married to Dr. Josephine Ana Borja Erece. To Baguio City, we are simply Thoots and Jo-Ann. We were born, grew up and were schooled in the Baguio City educational system. We have two profoundly gifted and talented children. This is our story.
Twenty-year-old, Maynah Lourellen Josephine Borja Erece, our daughter, is on her final year on an academic and merit scholarship. She is about to complete a double degree, Bachelor of Science major in Psychology and a Bachelor of Arts major in Creative Writing in three and a half years. She is a scholar, an academic, a writer, a ballerina, a contemporary dance choreographer and twice exceptional. She was the subject of the study titled- "Yes, Dad. I can hear you, I'm choosing to ignore you.", during the 2019 World Council for Gifted and Talented Children World Conference in an open conference peer review in Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee. She presented and discussed her case in front of world experts in gifted and talented education. In 2018, she was given the notable achievement award from the Electorate of Jordan, Queensland, Australia for her academic achievements. She has performed on stage in "Life is a Cabaret" and "Foxy and Roro", attended Queensland Ballet under Li Cunxin (Mao's Last Dancer) and has done bit parts in Hollywood movies. She is the subject of many twice exceptional published academic references internationally and is currently in the works of producing her first stage production scheduled at the end of 2022.
Twenty-five-year-old-Jozef Maynard Borja Erece, our son, was the youngest law graduate in the world and the youngest licensed, practicing lawyer in the world at 18. He is already a senior ranked commercial litigator and dispute resolution expert at Corney and Lind law firm in Brisbane, Australia where he represents clients locally at the Magistrates, District and Supreme Courts and is highly sought after to represent clients internationally in disputes against multinational private companies like Mercedes Benz and against international alliances like NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization). His track record is matched only by his academic credentials. Jozef completed a Master of Corporate Law (magna cum laude equivalent) in nine months from the University of Cambridge and also served as the first Filipino to hold an associate editor position at the Cambridge Law Review in 2021, the longest established university journal in the United Kingdom. He completed a Bachelor of Laws in three years, a Postgraduate Diploma in Legal Studies (summa cum laude equivalent), a Master of Laws with High Distinction (summa cum laude equivalent) from the Australian National University in ten months, a Credential of Readiness in Business Analytics, Economics for Managers and Financial Accounting from Harvard University in three months. He is also a product of the now defunct Stanford Education Program for Gifted Youth. He advocates reading for rights of audience at the Bars of England and Wales, New York, and Queensland. A feat never before done in law history for somebody so young.
I grew up and went to Magsaysay Elementary School in New Lucban and my wife, was the class Valedictorian at Saint Louis Centre. My dad is the late prosecutor and criminal lawyer, Atty. Victorio Erece married to Eleanor Minano and my father- in- law, District Engr. Restituto Borja married to the Lourdes Soberano (both deceased). We met at the University of the Philippines, Baguio City in 1985, fell in love, and got married at St. Joseph Church in Pacdal .We emigrated to New Zealand in 1996, where our children were born, and then to Australia in 2012. My relations still live in Baguio City. We look forward to 2022 to see how much further, higher and faster our academic journey that started in Baguio City will go! Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year Baguio City, we miss you.
