Ernest Tse

Ernest Tse has been sitting in my classroom every morning for the last two months, so I have no idea why today was the day that his name caught my eye. I was quickly skimming over my seating chart in order to take attendance when his name jumped off the page at me.

I said –more to myself than to any one in particular- but loud enough for the first few rows of kids to hear.

“Oh my goodness, this is so cool. Look at Ernest Tse’s name. The last three letters of his first name –reversed, are his last name.”

This was too awesome. I decided that everyone needed to know that Earnest just won the Who’s-got-the-coolest-name-in-Mr. VanNoord’s-morning-homeroom contest. So I repeated my observation. Louder. For the whole class. I was expecting oohs and aahs of wonder and agreement. Instead I got stares and silence.

I waited.

I pointed to my clip board by way of explanation.

Nothing.

Come on people, work with me here.

I don’t care what a bunch of eighth graders think at 7:50 in the morning. Having your last name imbedded in your first name –in reverse none-the-less- is just too enviably awesome.

In fact, inspired by Ernest Tse, I’m changing my name to Jack Caj.

Then again, maybe not.

-Jack