One of Paolo Agloro's favorite expressions is "astig."  I don't know the etymology of the word, but it's a Filipino expression used to decribe a person who is in-your-face gutsy.  We were talking about our students (as we often do when they're not around). 

The one student whom we considered to be astig was a third year MIS major named Debbie Manay.  Debbie is one of the top students in the batch.  She is brilliant as well as hard working.  She picks up fast.  She "gets" stuff--even big picture stuff. What we admire about her most, though, is that we find her daring.  She doesn't back down from a challenge. When confronted with something difficult, she rushes towards it rather than away from it.  She's an incredibly slim wisp of a girl, but she has the "bring it on" attitude that you'd find in a professional wrestler. And she's a genuinely, sincerely nice person.

Debbie has earned our respect and, without meaning to pressure her, we're all watching and waiting to see what she'll do next.