LONELINESS

l(a

le

af

fa

ll

s)

one

l

iness

The letters or syllables above constitute a poem written by Edward Estlin Cummings or popularly known as E E Cummings. As you would read the letters and syllables outside the parenthesis, the word “loneliness” is created. And when you read the letters and syllables inside the parenthesis, the fragment “a leaf falls” is formed. At first, understanding this poem is very difficult to do. There are no words formed in each line. There are no meanings of the syllables but as you reflect and observe deeper on the words loneliness and a leaf falls, you can detect that the word and the fragment is some kind of related to each other.

According to Mark Twain, “the worst loneliness is not to be comfortable with yourself”. Being lonely means we do not understand our selves. When we are alone does not mean that we are lonely, we become lonely even If we have our friends around us but there is still something lacking in that very moment. Something or someone is still like missing in your heart.

When you see a leaf falling from its branch and lands to the ground, the leaf that fell would be alone in the ground separated from the other leaves. The leaf would be lonely and it would be uncomfortable on the ground that is why it flies with the direction of the wind and would be lost. The leaves that were left would also be lonely because they would miss the leaf that fell. Unlike when it is still attached to its branch, the leaf would not be lonely and would not be lost and so as the leaves that were still attached. The leaf could be related in our real life. When someone falls from its branch or dies or passes out in this world, the people around him would be lonely just like the leaves that were left behind the tree.

As what I have understood in his poem, Cummings is trying to convey the truth that when someone would leave us behind, there would always be a time when we would be lonely because something is missing in our life.

A WHITE HOUSE IN CEBU

The Provincial Capitol of Cebu will be celebrating its 69^th year of inauguration this coming June 14, 2007. The magnificent structure is standing for almost 70 years despite of its old age.

The history of this structure would trace back to June 27, 1936 where it all began. The building was constructed during the term of the late president Manuel L. Quezon. Cebu’s ex-governor Sotero Cabahug together with the ex-vice president of the Commonwealth, Sergio Osmeña Sr., led the cornerstone laying.

According to Mr. Roger Cerna, Juan M. Arellano was a nationally renowned architect from Manila who designed the magnificent structure. He was an American educated Filipino Architect who graduated from Drexel Institute of Philadelphia. The Capitol Building was an edifice of the White House in Washington, home of the United State’s president.

It was during the term of Cebu governor, Buenaventura Rodriguez when the completion of the building happened. The initiation of the building was attended by the late President Manuel L. Quezon which was held on June 14, 1938.

Unfortunately, the building was destroyed during the war but in God’s grace, it was mended and it was aided by the Americans under the Philippine Rehabilitation Act of 1946.

Until now, programs concerning the beautification of the edifice still exist.

This Provincial Capitol of Cebu is relevant to the Cebuanos for it is the home of one of the leaders in Cebu, which was the Governor. With this edifice, the people would honor and respect the government. In connection to this, it would be a haven for the people for it is where they could ask help regarding on matters concerning their stay in Cebu.

MY SIGNIFICANT HUMAN EXPERIENCE

It was still four o’clock in the morning when a boy from the tourist class went out to the balcony of a boat to watch the sun rise. That boy was I. I was on my way to Butuan City to spend another summer vacation again with my cousins. I was very excited on the boat. I cannot even sleep. At last, after how many days of waiting for classes to end and for CWTS training to end, vacation has finally come. I slept on the boat at around 12 midnight and woke up 4 o’clock in the morning. I cannot really wait to see my cousins again.

First day of May 2006, I arrived at Butuan city. I saw my cousins and hug them tightly. I want to tell them everything I did before summer vacation. I want to tell them how much I miss them.

Everyday, my cousins and I play computer games together. We also joined a basketball summer league but unfortunately, we failed to make it to the finals. We play and practice basketball together everyday because I know we will be apart again sooner or later. I did not allow a day to pass without bonding with them. I always make sure that everyday is a nice day to remember. I did not even join the crash course in calculus because I was too busy playing and bonding with my cousins.

Did not notice that I was staying in Butuan for a month. I thought it was it was still a week. Time goes by so fast. I have to go back to Cebu because enrolment is going near. Inside my head, I kept on thinking on what am I going to do after I will arrive in Cebu? My life would be very boring and everything will change back to the usual like waking up early and ride 13C to go to school.

Then came June 3, 2006. Time to pack my bags and say my goodbyes. When I was at the car with my cousins while going to the port, everything was just fine and happy. It was like I was not going to leave. It was just like going to the mall with them. But when we arrived at the boat where I would stay again for a night, I realized that I would be alone again then tears fell in my eyes. I will not be seeing them again for a year but hey, I forgot I still have my friends in school. Even if I am no longer with my 3 cousins, I still got a thousand of friends and a my girl friend who is always there to fill up my lonely days.

My summer vacation ended fast but the experiences and memories I had still continues to grow in my heart. Then back to school again and I realize I do not only have 3 friends but a thousand of them and a special someone in my heart.

PHYSICS BEHIND LOVE: GRAVITY

“Gravity is not responsible for people falling in love” This quotation can always be seen every time you go inside the physics laboratory. Before, when I still do not know the concept of gravity, I always taught that this quotation is exact and logical. How could gravity have a relationship with how a person feels towards another person? Gravity is responsible for humans falling down on the earth’s surface but not humans falling in love.

But as I increase my knowledge about physics and the concept of gravity, I have learned that something is wrong in the quotation. I have a theory and I will share it with you.

According to Newton’s “UNIVERSAL LAW OF GRAVITY”, everything pulls on everything else in a beautiful simple way that only involves mass and distance. According to him, every mass attracts ever mass with a force that is directly proportional to the product of the two masses and is inversely proportional to the square of the distance separating the two masses. It is given in the equation: F = G(M1*M2/Dsquared) where G is the gravity constant which I would not tackle in my topic.

So as we can see, the force of attraction being represented by the letter F is actually LOVE. According to Newton, each one of us is attracted to another person with the distance closest to us. The smaller your distance apart from another person would mean greater force of attraction of love and the greater are your masses or weight, the more molecularly attracted you are with each other. But why is it that we do not fall in love right away with the person next to us? It is because our heart gets involve instantly in making our decisions if we would fall for that person or not. The heart right away interferes at this stage. It is not only gravity or the attracting force that is being considered when we fall in love but also ho we see that person inside and out. We love a person not because of his or her mass but because of his or her beautiful personality that attracts us more to that person larger than the attraction of the force of gravity.

So intelligently speaking, we are all molecularly attracted with each other and it is not wrong to say that gravity is responsible for people falling in love because in the first place, it is gravity who is liable for a simple attraction that would eventually lead to a greater, unimaginable love.

In Newton’s equation, the relationship of mass is directly proportional to force of attraction. But it is so ironic in my situation because I have a girlfriend who is thin who is attracted and in love with me, a skinny person but our force of attraction is so huge that we have loved on another for almost four years and just keeps on getting stronger everyday no matter how far our distances maybe every time we part ways.

In relation to physics, let me grab this opportunity to thank our physics professor, Mr. Jover Nuñez who explained us amazing things about physics.

LOVE, AN ACT OF THE WILL, NOT OF THE HEART

Funny it may seem that people all over the world, whether black or white, young or old are searching all their lives and spending all their time trying to search for that very one perfect match. But let me ask, how do you know if he is the one? Will there be signs? Signals? Symbols? Or whatsoever you wish you may call it to indicate that he is really the one? I have heard a lot of people say that you will know if he is the one when that special sensation called love is knocking at your heart one day and by that time, you will know then that he is the one. Sounds like convincing right? But let me ask again, how do you know if it is true love or just something else? Can someone tell me what love is?

What then is love? They say it is a feeling aiming straight from the heart. But is it merely a feeling? A sensation? A feeling of bliss or happiness you felt when that person is around and that as if your heart is beating so fast and so loud that he or she could almost actually hear it? Is it just a sense of admiration for the good looks and talents of that person? Tell me is that what you call love? Well, I do not think so!

One must be willing to accept the qualities of that man or woman in order for a person to experience the true meaning of love. For love means to accept the person’s darkest aspects and not just the qualities that are most appealing. It takes a great act of will and courage to do so. So you see, love is not just a feeling coming straight from the heart like what most teenagers say today but rather it is an act of willingness to accept a person for who he or she maybe.

MY BARKADA

According to Walter Witchell: “A friend is one who walks in when others walks out. As we walk to our journey in life, we meet unique individuals along the way. Then without our knowledge, these individuals eventually become our friends. We all have friends in our lives who cheer us up when we are sad, who carries us when we are tired of walking and who understands us whenever we are confused. I call my friends my Barkadas as what a friend’s layman’s term is. We all have our barkadas and I have my own too. I would like everyone to know who my barkadas are:

I would first introduce the best of all my friends, which is Nico Martin Eñego. This man was the only person who was been there with me in times when I was very down and depressed since I was still in first year. I share with him my darkest and most personal secrets. No doubt this man could really be trusted. He is also very good in giving advices with your problems.

Next is John Paul Catubig. Even though this guy has a flat nose, he could always smell if something is wrong is going on. He is a thoughtful and loving friend. You could always count on him in times of trouble and he is always willing to wait especially in going home.

And of course, David Aiello Zamora, the most handsome guy in our batch. Even though this guy has quite heavy hands, he always shares his stuff like powder, gel and perfume. He is never selfish in his possessions.

Then Melbert Ivan Mepieza. “The monkey” This guy does not really look like a monkey but we just call him a monkey. Actually, this guy is handsome and has a gentle heart and humble personality. We even had a group called “The Dream Team” where the members were me, Melbert and JP.

Then Neil Audrey Talolong. This guy is also humble and he has a very neat handwriting. He has also a kind heart.

And of course Reniel Pañares, “The Dreamer” this boy is fun of sleeping during classes. But even though he sleeps in classes, he could still catches up easily with the lessons.

Ralph Anthony Zambrano, this guy is very good in playing basketball and so with Joseph Esteban.

Byron Douglas Enriquez, the legacy of music, this boy really loves to sing while playing the guitar.

Then Janua Quilo, the bisrocker!! he is "the father of all dogs" in our group. And Bryan Salazar, "the small James Yap" He realy looks like James Yap.

And of course, Artsron Sumabong, usually the leader of the group. He is really not blessed with so much height but he is a very athletic player. He is the most experienced person in our group. He is called the “lolo” or old man in english.

We all had different and unique personalities but we all stand as one. These are the people who walked in my life and never walked out. These are my friends. These are my barkadas.

KILLER CANCER

Every time I am on my way to school or I am on my way home, I always meet beggars along the streets. I always wonder why did they become like that? They are so skinny and it seems like they are not eating every day. They look like a person with a cancer or even worse. Philippines as we all know is a growing third world country but why aren’t we improving? Why do poor people become poorer and the rich become richer every year? It seems like our government is doing nothing in fighting poverty in our country.

According to the latest PERC survey, our country ranked number one in Asia’s most corrupt country. I think I found out the answer to my questions. The cause of why the lives of the people are getting miserable everyday is CORRUPTION in the government! Corruption has existed since the start of civilization. It has been passed on from generation to generation and is becoming worse every year. It has devastated millions of people’s lives.

Corruption is a killer cancer that has killed millions of people since from the beginning of its existence. This disease is incurable. It is because man by nature is constantly wanting. He or she is never contented with what he or she has so when he or she has given a little power, he would really take advantage of it. You give them an inch, they take a mile.

When a poor official is elected, he or she would step down o his position rich and wealthy. This is very evident in the public servants of our country. Corruption could be clearly seen in our country today. I was very angry with our government officials when I learned about the extreme over pricing on the deco lamps that were used during the summit. Imagine, a post of deco lamp costs 80 thousand pesos and in Mandaue, it costs 224 thousand each instead of 15 thousand per post. Visualize the severe ness of corruption in our country. A thousand posts could have helped millions of helpless people and victims of calamities. After the summit, the deco lamps would be useless and the money of the people is just wasted. About 90 percent of their taxes are in the pockets of our government officials. I hope these corrupt leaders would realize the destruction they are causing to this nation.

How could they steal that large amount of money? They do not deserve to be called public servants. They are killing millions of feeble people who deserve to live a good life.

For me the only cure of this disease; Corruption is the society. if we would just only elect the loyal, humble and simple public servants who would serve us and help the less fortunate, then their would be no Cancer in the society and in the government and no people would be infected.

The worsening poverty of the people is just only one of the side effects of this very deadly and lethal cancer called Corruption.

NO RETREAT, NO SURRENDER

Retreat is a time where a person reflects on how he or she spent his or her life with God and the people around him or her. It is the time to know your classmates and friends better. A time to forgive and to ask for forgiveness to the people you have offended intentionally or unintentionally. It is a time to be close with God and to bond with your friends.

Our batch has its retreat last Saturday and Sunday, March 24 and 25, 2007. I bought my snacks a night before the retreat together with my girlfriend. The next morning, I arrived in school at around 8:00 in the morning as what was planned. We would all meet in school before going to the venue of the retreat. There was a little orientation about the retreat inside the classroom of IV- Tan.
I did not expect that the first part of the retreat would be in school. Our batch was grouped into two. The first batch stayed inside the classroom and forming a circle with their eyes closed and the second half stayed outside the circle that was formed of the first group. The person who stayed outside the circle would say something positive to the person in front of him or her and he or she would rotate to the next person and so on and do the same thing. Then the people inside the circle would exchange to the people outside and do the same thing. This activity is called Positive Stroking. Many of my friends cried because they never expected that they are like this and like that. They were like surprised with their personality. After the activity, we ate lunch and departed UP High at 1:00 in the afternoon to St. John’s Mission. This is a monastery and is where we would spend a night for the retreat. The road to St. John was very steep. The angle of the hill was like 70 degrees. The trip was very exciting.
When we arrived at the monastery, the boys and girls were separated. We had a separate quarter with the girls. I love the beautiful landscape of the venue. It was very peaceful and quiet and is really the perfect place for the activity. We had some talks in the conference room and I learned how to pray in the adoration. When it was 7pm, we all gathered and ate and after eating, we all took a bath except for some people. I was together with Janua when I took a bath.

After everyone was fresh, we again proceed to the conference hall and had an activity called Circle of Love. It was like an open forum. Everyone were given a candle to be given to the person they have hurt or who have hurt them. Many of my classmates cried and I can understand of course because this was a very emotional activity.

After the activity, we, the boys proceed to our quarters. We talk many things. We talked about love and even fart. We were laughing. me and my room mates slept at around 3 am in the morning. We had plenty of topics that we talked about and we even had magic tricks on cards. When i woke up at around 5 in the morning, I immediately took a bath and my eyes were very irritated. There was a mass at around 10:30 am and my girlfriend and me joined the mass. 12 pm was our departure time from the monastery to our homes.
The retreat was very memorable to me. It was only the time when my friends and me bonded compactly together. Retreat does not mean surrender. It is just backing down to reflect on the things we have done to be guided in our future life.

THE LOOK.....

Stephon kissed me in the spring
Robin in the fall
But Colin only looked at me
And never kissed at all

Stephon’s kiss was lost in jest
Robin’s was lost in play
But the kiss in Colin’s eyes
Haunts me night and day

According to English books, Poetry is the oldest form of art long before people learned how to speak and to write. Poetry has two kinds, which is first, the Narrative poetry, which is a poem that tells a story, and the Lyric poetry, which expresses feelings, emotions and ideas. There are several kinds of Lyric poetry but I am not going to focus on the different kinds of poetry. I am trying to understand and interpret the poem above which was written by Sara Teasdale.

To be able to understand the poem, it needs a step-by-step solution just like in solving a mathematical equation or problems. First step is to understand every word in the poem. Second is to find some key words that may be able to help you in understanding a single line. Third, look for elisions where some words are omitted but still have the same meaning. Fourth is to look for allusions that you are not familiar with and last, try to paraphrase if you still do not understand the poem.

Now, I would first define all the unfamiliar words in the poem. The word jest, which is found in the fifth line, means to laugh about. There are no elisions or allusions in the poem as I can see.

As what I have understood in the first paragraph, the author is Sara Teasdale, had three lovers. First was Stephon who had kissed her in the spring then Robin also kissed her in the fall but Colin did not kissed her but only looked and stared at her. The spring and fall may be a symbolism or it may be the season when the two guys kissed her. In the second paragraph, Stephon and Robin’s kisses were all lost but the look of Colin haunted her night and day. The look of Colin haunted her night and day because “A look has several meanings”. She does not know what the look of Colin meant that is why his look cannot get off his mind. She did not know if it was a love, hate, anger or admiration. She could not figure out the meaning of the look so she kept on puzzling the definition of Colin’s look that is why it is not lost in her memories unlike the two guys who just kissed her.

The poem could also mean that the usual things in life like a look would never leave your memory unlike the usual things we do like the kiss in the poem which is like often done. We often neglect the common things in our life but the rare ones are the ones that disturb us the most.

This is how I understood this poem. There is no really an exact meaning of a poem. It depends on how the reader interprets it and how the author conveys the theme of the poem.

I WANT TO BE REMEMBERED AS A.........

Time is passing by so quickly. Graduation day is fast approaching and hopefully, we the Seniors will be leaving the portals of UP high. But before I leave this fun and memorable school, here is how I want to be remembered by my friends and all the students wherever life takes them.

I want them to remember me as a respectful and responsible person. Since I was still in first year, I had been very obedient with the school’s rules and regulations. I never had a misunderstanding with a teacher. I had been absent only once in my four years in high school and I had only a couple of tardy marks. Though I was not really that serious in my studies unlike some of my classmates did like Eldee or Micheal, I was still responsible enough to comply with my requirements, pass my subjects and even recognized once in a recognition day.

I also want to be remembered as a kind hearted, humble and generous person. I had been very kind and generous to all the people who believed in me and asked for my help. Even though I am not that intelligent, I would be eager to help when someone approaches me about matters involving assignments or what so ever within my limit of knowledge. I was never been selfish to my classmates. I showed to the people in the University love and respect especially our beloved teachers.

I also want to be remembered as a true and caring friend by my classmates and friends. I never had left a friend behind in times of troubles just like a soldier that never leaves a wounded man behind. When my friends are down and troubled, I am always ready to help them and listen to their problems. I can be trusted with their secrets.

I also want to be remembered as a good basketball player, a good athlete. Basketball as my classmates know is my passion and I want to show to everyone my talents and skills in playing it. I want to be remembered as a man of sportsmanship. I had always been humble in all my victories and gracious in all my defeats.

I want everyone who knows me to remember me as me, a good friend and a person of humility. I know that there are bad sides of my personality but what I showed in the school and outside the school for the past four years was my true self. From being shy, I became confident not necessarily confident in speaking but confident in expressing my true personality.

To everyone whom I have offended without my knowledge, I apologize for that and remember me always as a person who also commits mistakes and a person who is willing to ask for forgiveness.

I can not demand anyone to remember me as how I like to be remembered but I hope that the people I met along my life would at least remember my name when our roads cross again.

YLANG-YLANG SCENT VS. COCONUT ODOR

Our country the Philippines is blessed with abundant plants and flowers. Cananga Odorata or more popularly known as ylang-ylang is a kind of flower that blooms all year round in our country because of our country’s location which is in the tropical region. The ylang–ylang tree grows in rural and urban areas and is therefore very accessible to people. It has a very fragrant smell and is usually used for aromatherapy.

Our research project was all about the Effectiveness of ylang-ylang flower as a coconut deodorizer. Its main objective is to find out an alternative use of ylang-ylang flowers. Ylang-ylang flower’s scent is usually neglected because of its abundance. Our group is trying to make more uses of the fragrant scent of this flower. Our group chose to deodorize coconut oil because of its great uses to people despite its awful smell. It is extracted by pressing and boiling method of grated coconut meat. Most people use coconut oil as massage oil and hair conditioner but the number one problem mostly faced by people is its foul smell. A natural scent needs to be mixed to make the coconut oil soothing and fragrant to everyone’s skin. We have come up with this study for the benefit of coconut oil users.

Our research design was a descriptive type of research. It does not involve any experimental treatment which means it does not involve calculations and significant differences of values. It is just pure description which means we describe what we see or smell during the experiment.

In our research procedure, we extracted coconut oil from grated coconut oil. Then we soaked overnight the ylang-ylang flowers to ethanol. The source of our flowers is outside the Administration building of UP College. We then collected the ethanol extract and placed it on a condenser. We then extracted the ylang-ylang extract and mixed it with the coconut oil to increasing volumes of ylang-ylang extract. Our objective was to determine the exact ratio of fragrance of the ylang-ylang to coconut oil extract. We are trying to determine the ratio where the ylang-ylang scent completely dominated over the coconut oil odor but not too acidic that it would be irritating to the nose. Our problem was we do not have a device to determine the acidity or basicness of the scent. We just trusted on our noses and we have concluded that the ratio 3:9 is the most soothing of all the mixtures. Actually, our procedure was quite complicated. We still counted the number of days the ylang-ylang scent dominated over the coconut oil odor but our conclusions are accurate.

With our study, we hope that the people who are using coconut oils for hair and body massage would love the ylang-ylang scent of the oil and we hope that people would go back to the traditional way of conditioning their hair through coconut oil. And for the industrial commercial companies, our group is hoping that they would develop a product which is ylang-ylang scented to make use of the abundant ylang-ylang flowers in our country.

HALL OF MEMORIES

The Junior and Senior Promenade or the J.S. Prom is the most exciting and awaited occasion for any high school student. That is just according to my observation in my 4 years in high school.

Last February 9, 2007, UP High School in Cebu had its J.S. prom with its theme: Blazing Trails of Friendship and Legacy held at the Arctic hall, Waterfront Cebu City. Everyone was very excited except for the freshies and sophies of course because they are not yet part of the occasion.

There were no classes on the morning of February 9 because students were given time to prepare there selves for the big night. Some went to parlors and spas and some just dressed there selves at home. But me, I just went home to sleep. I woke up and took a bath at 2 pm and dressed myself and left the house at around 3 pm.

When I arrived at the venue, there were still very few students. I saw my friend David and we toured around the place. The event started late at around 5 pm. First in line was the presentation of Junior and Senior girls with their escorts. After everyone had walked with their partners in the aisle, Invocation immediately followed that was led by Ms. Sheena Gobrin. After was the singing of the Pambansang Awit and was followed by a Welcome Address by Patrick Pata. Then my favorite part came which was the Dinner!

There were several dishes served at the side tables. The soup tasted badly and the dessert was not really that attractive. The main dishes were just fine but the food was better last J.S. prom. Even though it was not that delicious, I have finished 5 plates of food. My stomach was really full.

After everyone was done eating, the Junior’s tribute immediately followed. They sang to us and gave us cds which contained songs related to High School life and friendship.

The next part of the program was the most awaited and high light of the prom. First was the presentation of the Junior’s Prophecies. Every Senior was waiting for his or her name to be called with their future acted out in the stage. The presentation was very funny and I enjoyed the show. After the prophecy was the handling down of the Senior’s Legacies.

After the legacy was the Turnover Rites led by Euvic Ferrer followed by an acceptance speech then the giving of tokens. All the Seniors Received pillows from the Juniors. After were the Candle Lighting Rites and then the Proclamation and Coronation of the Royal Court. The Prom King was Marc Quimbo, a junior student and for me, he really deserves the title. Of course, as I was expecting, Gayle Lorraine Tallo was our Prom Queen. She really looked magnificent and beautiful that night. After was the Royal Dance. Everyone danced with their partners and during the disco, everyone was jumping and yelling and just enjoying the night except for some of course. When the last dance was played, everyone danced with their special someone. I danced with my girlfriend. That night was very fun and memorable.

Every beginning has always an end. It was time to end the celebration. We all formed a big circle and held each other’s hands while singing the Fellowship Song led by Mr. Bap Palen. To officially end the wonderful night, we all sang the UP Naming Mahal.

It was time to go and going home fore me who has no car is very difficult because of taxi competition. But I was very lucky because my girlfriend has a ride and I just hitched with them. I arrived home at around 12:30 midnight and I can’t still get over of all the wonderful things I had in that hall of memories.

WHY DID I APPLY AS A CWTS OFFICER?

When I First entered U.P. high, I saw some fourth year guys and gals wearing black shirt but most of their batch mates were wearing white shirt. I wondered who were these senior students who were wearing black shirt and I found out that these students were members of the CWTS officers or Civic Welfare Training Service officers. These students were the ones who train their batch mates who where not officers or so called cadets. These young officers help maintain order in the school and teach the students proper discipline. Since then, I was interested in becoming a CWTS officer in the near future and I’ve got a lot of reasons why I should become a CWTS officer.

My first reason why do I want to become a CWTS officer is to learn how to lead. I want to lead my fellow batch mates and teach them proper discipline. I want to be a good and responsible leader. According to Albert Einstein, “Setting an example is not the main means of influencing another, it is the only means”. The only way to lead the students in the school to become good and responsible people is to set myself as an example. If the students in the school do not have proper discipline, then I am not a leader.

Another reason why do I want to become a CWTS officer is to learn how to become a responsible person. If I want to lead my batch mates and teach them to become responsible, I must also be responsible. During training, I will learn to become responsible in my time management especially waking up early during summer and to be responsible in my tasks and challenges. If I want to have the power to lead, then I must take responsibilities. Just like in the movie Spider Man when Peter Parker said that “great power comes with great responsibility”. As an officer, I have great responsibilities in school and therefore I must not escape and take for granted those responsibilities.

Another reason is that I want to prove something to myself. That I am not just an ordinary U.P. student who only knows playing basketball every afternoon. I want to improve my self-esteem. I want to prove something to myself that I can be somebody; I can be a CWTS officer who can lead and can share what I have learned in the training to my batch mates and become a good role model of a responsible person to them.

Another reason is that I want to become a well-disciplined person. I can never be a CWTS officer if I do not have discipline because during training, discipline is very important. Applicants are not allowed to go to malls and needs to be on time during training. Without discipline, I can never do those things. Another reason is that I want to test myself how brave and how tough I am in facing challenges and test how strong I am in facing problems during training. If I will pass in the training and become a CWTS officer, it means I have faced challenges that will make me a stronger person and the things I have learned from the training can be applied to my future challenges.

Another reason is that I want to have an achievement that will make my parents proud. Becoming a CWTS officer is a great honor to my parents and family and also to my school. It is a tribute for them and a sign that their son can be somebody in school.

Another reason is that I want to learn how to obey and follow rules to my teachers or the present CWTS officers. It is only when you obey that you have the right to command just like the quote of John Florio that says “who has not served cannot command”. My teachers in the CWTS training for sure obeyed their trainers because they can never be officers if they did not learn how to obey.

Another reason is that I want to gain friends because the moment I apply as an officer, the present CWTS officers or my teachers automatically become my friends and if I would become an officer, I can gain friends from different year levels because I am now a school leader and the next applicants will also be my friends.

Another reason and I think for me is the most important is that I want to experience everything about being a CWTS officer. I want to experience the fun, the excitement, the thrill, the hardships and the joy during our training to become a CWTS officer. I want also to experience different activities with myself as an officer. With my experiences, I know I would learn a lot of things especially from my mistakes. My experiences would help and teach me to become a better person. Just like what my best friend Nico Martin told me, “experience is the best teacher”. We would never learn unless we have experience failure.

And the last reason why do I want to become a CWTS officer is that finally, I can wear black shirt instead of white. It sound silly but since I was first year, I always dreamed of wearing black shirt as a sign that I am an officer and think that I am a page ahead of some of my classmates but I believe that we are all equal.

To become a CWTS officer needs a lot of determination. Since the day I have learned about what are CWTS officers, I was very determined to become one of them. And now, I am so much blessed that I have met the required grade to apply as a CWTS officer. Some says that becoming a CWTS officer is just for others to respect you but hey, I have learned that if you want to be respected, respect others first. I hope I can survive all challenges and become a good CWTS officer.

MY LOVE STORY

I have a girlfriend named Yolike Sablada Alverio. We have known each other since we were still first years. When I first saw her, she looked like a very ordinary girl to me. I am not even attracted to her beauty. I was still very quiet then sitting on my chair when there is no teacher around. When I am silent on my chair, this girl keeps on speaking to me until she hears me talk back to her. I admired her friendliness and thoughtfulness but I have no special feelings for her.

One time, we had homework on social studies about current events. Unfortunately, I had no newspapers at home and the only contact number I had on my classmates is hers. So I decided to call her on the phone to ask if she could bring me some newspapers the next day. When I heard her voice on the phone, I felt something strange, something I have never felt before. My heart beat faster and I was happy to hear her voice. I kept on thinking about her that night.

The next days I was already talking to her often. We became good friends and talked about each other’s life. There was a time when Melbert and John Paul were playing games. Melbert said that “Yolike is mine” then JP said “No she is mine” and they kept on saying that. I did not know what was on my mind and I just said that “No, she is mine!” They were shocked because it was the first time I bonded with them and told me “Ok, she’s yours”. Of course that was only a joke because I am not in love with her. Then the next weeks, I began texting her “I love you” even though it was a joke. I forgot when it became serious. All I can remember is that one evening, she just texted me “gudnyt! Love yah!” That was the first time she told me “I love you” I was jumping in my bed that night. That time, I knew I was really in love with that girl!

We began texting and giving cards and love letters and gifts to each other. Her thoughtfulness is what I liked about her the most! She never forgets in reminding me to eat on time. She never fails to text me goodnight every evening and every last word of her text is always an “I love you!” I forgot when did I court her but I can remember the day she said “Yes!” It was on the cloudy morning of September 27, 2005. I was very happy that morning. I can’t describe how I feel.

At first when she is still not my girl friend, her parents do not really like me. They do not want their daughter to be involved in relationships. But despite their strong disagreement against me, I still continued to do the things we do. I always accompany her every time she goes home. Do some of her assignments and so with her to me.

Now, we are close with her parents and we still continued to do the wonderful and memorable things we used to do. I hope my love story will have a happy ending.

THE PROBLEM WITH MEN AND WOMEN TODAY

When God created Adam who was the first male human being, he realized Adam was not happy living alone without any companion. All organisms except Adam had a female companion so God decided toe create Eve, the first female human being. Adam and Eve lived in paradise happily and satisfy each other’s needs. Mutualism existed between the opposite genders just like any other organisms. They need one another to survive and strengthen each other’s weaknesses.

Through out the course of human history, great changes happened. Many men and women of different races and ages excelled in different fields like science and math. Competition between who is superior became tighter and tighter and a gap existed between opposite genders. This gap became wider and farther as time passes by. Number of cases of women being abused rose up to very alarming figures. Divorce cases between married couples became more often.

The problem with men is that they think they are superior to women. Just because more men excel in different fields means that they are the stronger gender. They forgot that God created all human beings, may it be a male or a female, equal.

The problem with women also is that they just allow themselves to be battered and degraded. They are afraid to fight for their rights because they think they are not capable of protecting themselves in times when men danger their life.

But since I am a male teen-ager, I would be talking about the problem with teenage men and women today, which is more or less true to men and women in general. Base on my own experiences, here are some of their problems:

About 80% of the thoughts inside a man’s brain is all about sex. Boys usually talk about sex and pleasure when they are in a group. Result is more girls are being abused and raped because of boy’s curiosity and stupidity.

In a relationship, their problem is that they keep too much secrets. They are not fun of sharing their secrets and real emotions they keep to their girlfriends. Result is more boys are prone in having another affair. Boys are also sometimes insensitive with the feelings of the people who love them. They do not see sometimes that they are already hurting the people they love.

As for women, their problem is that they ate sometimes too sensitive to the people around them. They would give meanings to very small things and make a small issue a big one. They are also very conscious on their looks, the way they dress and how would they appear in public. Girls are also very hot tempered especially during their menstruation. They easily get irritated to the people around them.

In a relationship, girls are usually naggers. Result is, boys become irritated with their girl-friends which lead them in looking for another affair.

These are just some of the common problems with men and women today.

KNOW YOUR SCHOOL DAYS

Teachers are our mentors in school. Everyday, we learn new things from them. They are considered our second parents to our second home which is the school. Being a teacher is tough. It needs a lot of patience and understanding towards the students. Our teachers help us in shaping our personality. They mold us into a better person.

UP high school has an activity every year called KYSD or Know Your School Days. It is an activity where students are given the chance to teach their fellow students and hold the responsibilities inside the classroom as a teacher. They are given the chance to experience what it is like to be a teacher

Last January 28, 2007, the University had its KYSD but unfortunately, I was not able to apply because of the limited time. The activity would only last for 1 and a half days. I was planning to apply for a physics teacher because it is my favorite subject but our physics teacher told us not to apply on his subject because it would only be for an hour and he still needs to give us an S & T test. Its okay, I understand our teacher.

Being taught by a student or a classmate is something that is one of a kind because teachers usually do that job. Student teachers have higher powers compared to us students. They can give tests to us anytime they want within their subject. Some say that it is unfair but for me, it is just fine because they are just doing their job. I respect the student teachers as much as I respect the teachers.

Student teachers for me are brave because they had the courage to accept the responsibilities of the teachers. They had the guts to teach their classmates even if it is some kind of insulting to their other classmates who do not want to be taught by a classmate. They are not shy in teaching in front of the class.

For me, being taught by a student does not make me a lesser person. It does not degrade my intelligence. It does not lower my self-esteem and does not insult my pride as a student. I also do not instill hatred or anger towards the student teacher every time he or she scolds or corrects me. They are considered teachers for that day and I should treat them as one during their classes. Student teachers are just one page ahead of us. They know the lesson better for that day than us so they deserve to be respected.

At the end of the day, we are at the same page of our student teachers but they are ahead in their teaching experiences.

The event ended Friday noon and the giving of certificates followed by at the afternoon. I wonder what it is like to become a teacher. I wish I could also experience being a mentor to my classmates, teaching them new things and fill their knowledge. I hope in college, their would also be a KYSD.

AN ORDINARY DAY

The University of the Philippines high school in Cebu celebrated its Family Day last Sunday, February 26, 2007.

A week before the big day was a very tiring and stressful week because the school also celebrated its Science and Technology week. There was only a very limited time in practicing the Field Demonstration because everyone was busy with his or her Science Exhibits. The tents were decorated the day before the Family Day.

During the big day, the program started with a holy mass from 8:00- 9:00 in the morning because it was a Sunday. But not all families joined the holy mass because some of them are non-Catholics. After the mass was the Field-Demonstration, which was the high light of the occasion.

After all the dancing, there was a soccer game between the freshies and the sophies. The freshies won the game with a score of 1-0. After I watched the game, I went back to our tent and when I was on my way to the tent, I saw a store inside the campus that was selling dairy products. I bought a milky bar and when I tasted it, I was addicted to it and bought more bars. I finished 5 bars and still I was not contented but the store ran out of my favorite chocolate flavor so I stopped buying.

When it was time for lunch, all gathered in the table and prayed. It was time to eat but I do not have utensils because not one member of my family came. They were all busy because it was a Sunday. But it’s just fine, I understand my parents. I was so thankful to John Paul’s mom because she lend me the utensils I needed. I ate together with my friends. This was my first Family Day that I did not eat with my family.

After I was done eating, I was very thirsty but I was thankful again because my girl friend’s mother gave me a drink. After I drank, I rested for a while and the program in the afternoon started. A lot of games are to be played by students, parents and teachers in the program. I did not join any because for me, those games were boring. They do not have any ball games so I went to the covered court and played my own game. I played basketball the whole afternoon. I did not listen to the winners of the raffle tickets. I just stayed and played in the basketball court the whole afternoon.

I played with my friends and some alumni and outsiders or should I say visitors. I did not notice that it was almost 3:30 in the afternoon so when I look at the watch, I hurriedly went back to the tent and saw my girlfriend packing up their things and told me that they would go home because the family day has ended. I thought my girlfriend was mad at me because I played the whole afternoon without her permission but she just smiled and told me were just fine.

So I changed my clothes, packed my things and said goodbye to my girlfriend and her family. For me, it was just a very ordinary day. I did not feel the spirit of the family day unlike the past 3 years. Maybe it’s because of the Sci-Tech week that gave us a very little time to prepare for the big day or maybe it’s just because my family wasn’t there with me.

SHOWCASES OF TALENTS

Last Friday, March 09, 2007, UP high school celebrated its 32^nd Drama Fest. It has been a tradition of the university to have the 4^th year students their drama fest as a requirement in their Filipino subject and is celebrated every February or March. Last Friday was the time for our batch to show to everyone our talent not only in acting but also in producing a big production. Everyone has his or her own part from technicals: lights and sounds to props and set design and of course acting.

There were two productions namely: Tanikala Productions from section Tan produced by Razel Paldo and directed by Artsron Sumabong and the Quivedo Productions from section Gonzalez produced by Euvic Ferrer and directed by Jann Krystel del Mar. The two sections were competing for 16 awards: 8 came from the technicals division and 8 from acting division. The stories of the two sections were some kind of similar because the stories were all about family and the conflicts were both father and son.

We were given about two months to practice and perfect every scene of the play. Each one was assigned to different committees. It was not easy to come up with a good production. Everyone must do his/her part from memorizing each one’s lines to delivering it perfectly with emotions and from setting up the stage and making the props to the coordination of the lights and sounds in the scenes of the play.

The show started late at around 6:30 in the evening. The audience started to become thick. Pressure started to build up on the actors and the different committees. When the show started, there was a random selection by picking paper on who will go first. Unfortunately, my section, which is section Tan picked number one and performed first. The two sections then prayed independently asking for our Lord’s guidance.

After the stage and the technicals were all set, the theme song of our play, which was entitled “Bulag” played that signaled the beginning of the play. Since from the start of the play, we experienced technical problems because the main switch of the lights was busted which was out of our jurisdiction. It was on the part of the school, not on our production. I then asked myself “Why? Why of all the practices, we had not encountered this problem? Why did the switch get busted on the very evening of the play?” “We have been practicing and perfecting this play for how many tiring nights and a busted switch would just only destroy the whole play? No way!” I said to myself! Our section repeated the whole play from the top to be fair with the next group.

Our lead characters were John Paul Catubig who played the role of a son and Joseph Esteban who was the father. My role was only a policeman but I gave my best performance even though I am only a minor character.

When our play ended, section Gonzalez set-up the stage. Their play was entitled “Sa Ngalan ng Ama” and it was a very touching play. A playwright wrote their script while ours was only from an ordinary student. So from the start, I supposed that they have an advantage and would win the best production.

Their lead characters were Nico Eñego and Paul Gutib. The play was really nice but there was something wrong, the lines they speak could not be heard clearly by the judges because their background music would overlap with their voices.

When the play was done, it was time for the awarding. Our section won the playbill and I was very happy because my girlfriend spent sleepless nights over those playbills. In the technical division, our section only won one out of 8 awards which was the playbill. Some of my classmates were discouraged and lost hope in winning the major awards. When the judges announced the winners for the next 8 awards, which belong to the performing category, all my classmates were starting to shout and jump. We had a winning streak of seven out of eight major awards that includes the best actors and actresses and the best direction and production! I was very happy and jumped of joy! We really did not expect that the best production would go to our section.

After the awarding, the wonderful show ended and we cleaned all the mess on the floor. I went home at around 11 pm in the evening and I brought with me a poster and a playbill of our production. I brought also with me unforgettable memories I had in that exciting and victorious evening.

I LOVE THIS GAME

Basketball: the most popular sport in our country today. Every time I travel or go to different places in our country, the Philippines, one common infrastructure that is never absent in every town besides the church of Inglesia ni Kristo is the basketball court. This only shows the evidence that this sport knows no mountain could not be reach. People of different ages know how to play this sport. Kids with ages 3 years and above already know a few rules and even babies who are still months old are already being taught by their fathers. Teenagers and adults are mostly playing this sport. This is because they have stronger stamina compared to younger or aged persons.

Here are a lot of reasons why people love this sport. Based on my experiences, here are some good reasons why people love playing basketball.

First, it is because the moment the ball gets into the hole of the ring, the feeling you can get is unexplainable. It is very fulfilling to score a basket in a game. It improves your self-esteem. It earns you respect from the other players and you can be famous for making spectacular or “crazy” shots in the game. The more baskets or scores you make, the better man you are in the court. When you can hear the sound of the net splashing when the ball gets in the ring, you would be eager to score another basket again because it just really feels good to hear that sound.

Another reason is that you will learn the value of teamwork because no single person could split 5 defenders and score a basket. Everyone must do his or her role to set a play to attack the opponents’ ring and win a game.

You can also gain many friends especially during tournaments. For other people, there are millions of reasons why they love basketball. Maybe it’s the ball that they love to dribble or the jersey they like to wear that made them addicted to basketball.

When I am bored in our house, I just get my ball and dribble it. I love to do fancy dribbles. We have a small ring outside our house and every time I am not in the mood or I am angry, I just dunk the ball into the ring and after a few minutes, I feel much better and at peace. The ball is like an outlet of my emotions. I can express my anger in the ball and it keeps me healthy. I even have a small ring attached in the wall of my bedroom in front of my bed. If I am bored at night and I can’t go to sleep, I just lay down in my bed and shoot a small ball in the ring.

I love collecting basketballs and as of now, I have 5 official size and 2 junior size balls. I want to have millions of basketballs someday. I also love watching NBA and my favorite player is Dwayne Wade of the Miami Heat because he is very good in making fancy shots and very versatile which means he can play at any positions.

I also join in basketball leagues sponsored by the SKs. I have already joined 3 times but my team never became champions. It doesn’t matter anyway because what matters is that I am enjoying playing basketball.

What has been my outlet of emotions yesterday has become my passion today. Basketball has become my passion and I will play it as long as I still can.

THE MATRIX

How do you define real from unreal? According to Morpheus from the movie: The Matrix that if being real is how we see things, then reality are just electric pulses being carried out to our brain. Is the world that we are living today and the things that we see around us are real? Then what is unreal? What is the purpose of our existence?

Last Saturday, January 27, I watched the whole matrix Trilogy. There were 3 chapters and as I watched the movie, I began to wonder on my existence and the things around me. For some of you who still did not see the movie, the story goes like this:

The story circled on the life of Neo, the person chosen to save the city called Zion, the last human-inhabited place on earth. When the time where humans were so dependent on the machines, there was a shift in the history of mankind. Machines became very intelligent and realized that humans were the disease of this planet because of depleting the Earth’s natural resources and thus, they need to be eliminated. The only source of power of the machines was the sun but humans, to cut the power source of the machines covered the earth that time with electrically charged dark clouds. However, machines found out that a human being itself can produce a thousand volts of electric current thus they are capable of supplying power for the machines. Instead of killing humans, they were placed in a cocoon like structure made by the machines to serve as their batteries. Cities were destroyed and were made in to a machine colony except Zion. To give the humans comfort while they are asleep in the cocoons, the machines created a program called the Matrix. It was a program designed for the people to make them experience and feel like they are living in the real world but the truth is that the real world is already destroyed. People do not know that they were just part of the Matrix program. Everyone was created for a purpose. To cut the story short, Neo was released from the cocoon by Morpheus and his crew and was brought to the real world, the world of the machines. Neo could not believe what was happening and he was confused of how to distinguish reality from dream. But the bottom line is that Neo saved Zion and the machines and the humans were at peace.

As I was watching the movie, inside my head were many questions like is this the real world that I am living? Does Matrix really exist? If yes, then am I a part of it? What is my purpose in the Matrix? I can’t stop myself from asking these questions and thinking of all the possibilities.

What if the history of mankind was only a part of the Matrix and everything that has happened in our world was planned and our future is already written in the codes of the Matrix? What if Jesus Christ was only a program created to establish the religion Christianity? What if my English teacher Sir Elmer Montejo was designed only to teach us students language and literature?

I can’t stop thinking of the possibility that maybe; we are controlled by machines and trapped inside the cocoons in the real world waiting to be released from the world of Matrix. Is this the Matrix that we are living today? Who knows? Who knows?