LOS BAÑOS, Laguna, Philippines—Turning what used to be his waterloo to an advantage was how 36-year-old Ernie Aragon Jr. developed his unique memory technique.

He is no longer just the guy who can round off Pi to the nearest hundredth digit or memorize 40 items in a minute. He has gone on to establish Power Memory Franchising Inc. (PMFI).

PMFI, which started in March 2003, offers training programs to anybody who wishes to enhance his memory capacity. The technique is basically associating an item with another object that the person is familiar with.

Ernie, now the executive vice president of PMFI, has adopted and modified portions of the Lorayne and Buzan methods, as well as that of the ancient Greeks, in devising Power Memory techniques and teaching application.

Memory-training specialist Harry Lorayne authored the “Ageless Memory,” while Tony Buzan is the proponent of mind mapping and mental literacy techniques.

Biology professor

Ernie remembered a professor telling him that, although he was good in analysis, he was also “lazy” when it comes to memorization. This prompted his research in 1993 to enhance his own memory.

When he graduated, Ernie taught microbiology at the University of the Philippines Los Baños for five years.

Since his students were just about his age, he tried to earn their respect by giving a demo at the beginning of each class.

“I would ask them to list anything without me looking at it.”

From simple terms to phone numbers, foreign words or even scientific names, Ernie memorized all the words, leaving his students in awe.

“Other teachers thought the exams I was giving were easy because my students scored high,” when in fact, he only taught them an easier way of memorizing terms.

Partnership

By practicing the technique, at least among his students, Ernie said he was able to improve it and formulate various modules.

Ernie introduced the technique to entrepreneur Ed Pilapil Jr., 38, who was in the nonlife insurance business then.

“I was amazed [with the demo] that I asked him, ‘Could you teach others that? Could you teach others to teach it? Could you write a manual?’” Ed said.

When Ernie said he could, the partnership was born.

PMFI started with a capital of P50,000 that Ed had to borrow from a friend. In three months, they were able to sell around ten franchises, acquire office equipment, buy a company car and settle their accounts.

According to Ed, who acts as chair, PMFI currently has eight franchises in Luzon, Bacolod and Cebu, with around 15,000 students enrolled.

Genius within

Ernie said Power Memory requires focus and attention.

“You have to be conscious that you are memorizing,” he explained.

Since PMFI has students from seven to 74 years old, it uses a nontraditional approach by injecting games and visuals in the class.

“We even ask our coaches to crack jokes during their audition (job application),” he added.

The program and teaching styles are designed according to age group instead of the usual subject-based courses. According to Ernie, the technique in memorizing unfamiliar words, whether these are engineering or biology terms, will just be the same.

Power Memory also differs from other techniques since it utilizes not only the left (technical) side, but also the right (creative) side of the brain.

“Each person has his own learning style. There is a genius within oneself. But sometimes, we say a person is stupid only because his [learning style] does not match the style of traditional schools.”

And there are many other areas of intelligence, such as kinesthetic, artistic and musical, that need to be looked into, he added. It is for this reason that PMFI employs different methods of teaching.

Total recall

When Ed first took the Power Memory diagnostic exam, he scored only two correct items out of 20. But after a two-hour training with Ernie, he was surprised to get a perfect score in a 60-item memorization test.

“You can immediately see the results,” Ed said, adding that “we even have the audacity to give customers their money back [if they’re not satisfied].”

Three modules are recommended for grade school level, two for high school and one for college, with each module divided into eight sessions.

PMFI also offers the Master’s Program in which a student is trained to become an “expert” in applying the technique in different areas. The shortest course they have is the 20-hour module.

Helping others

While many of those who took Power Memory have shown dramatic improvement in academics, Ernie believes “grades only put your foot in.”

“Social and leadership skills are also important, [that is why] we encourage [students] to be more holistic,” he explained.

Ernie remembered one student who, according to the parents, used to study the whole day everyday at home. After taking Power Memory, the parents were surprised to see the kid finish reviewing his lessons in 30 minutes.

“He still topped his class,” Ernie said of the student. “But this time, he had more time for recreation and other stuff.”

As a way of “giving back” to the community, PMFI has tied up with foundations in giving free Power Memory training to public school students and to pastors of the Victory Christian Fellowship.

Ernie also shared their plan to modify the business from franchising to small licenses, in order to “help others do business by making it (Power Memory) more affordable.”

“We want to build a strong learning foundation, and part of it is memory,” Ed said.

According to Ernie, he devised the technique to help improve education in the Philippines. They are looking forward to expanding the business internationally, primarily in the Third World nations.