She Lives

If only this came with a "Dress for the future" edition

I have been constantly complaining about how awful last school year was for me. In both semesters, I earned the lowest grade average in my entire academic life and had to take removal exams (yes, in both semesters, one for advanced Calculus and the other for organic chemistry). Anyone of you who knew me in elementary and/or high school will find this hard to believe; I am not being conceited, but I was always one of the better, if not the best, students. I say this with basis.

When one graduates from my high school, he or she is expected to take a science-related course in college and enter the workforce as a contributor to the technological and physical development of the country, since my high school is a semi-public school for the sciences. I always had high marks in science and math during grade school so I thought studying in a science high school would secure my future, which, predictably, it should.

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Be Creative! Be.... A Journalist

Over the course of the week I have realized four things:

1. Some journalists run on the idea of sensationalizing everything. (Sensationalize? What? E.g., recall one of those cheesy classroom games our social studies teachers hold to emphasize a point in their lectures: the one called Pass the Message, where we line up and relay messages to the last student. The winning group is the one whose unluckiest member recites the message verbatim. During the game, each person remembers the message differently depending on which part interests him or her the most. It is practically impossible to recite the whole message word for word, especially with the time limit, so the whole story is bogus and blown up by the time it is recited - unless, of course, the students have Asperger's syndrome.)


2. They do that because they need to support themselves, and to support themselves they need money, and to find money they need to write something that could sell. What would be a better story than a story that is about sex, which is every conservative's favorite immoral topic? Conservatives account for (probably) around sixty percent of the media audience, so how could they not take advantage of that?


3. It is even more scandalous if the people involved are minors. Mention the word and everyone comes clamoring about justice and morality and religion. The word minor provokes this motherly instinct hidden (deep, in some cases) within the psyches of normal human beings, be they male or female. Suddenly, people who never actually cared about acid throwing incidents in South Asia are advocates of women and child rights.


4. Most people will believe anything the media presents.

Right now, in a better and less complicated alternate world, I would be studying to be a journalist or a writer; and yes, I have the utmost respect for these people. In fact, most of the people in my to-meet list (I shamefully admit that I own and maintain such a thing) are writers - though the whole purpose of the list has been defeated ages ago because some of them are dead. I am very sad because some people who call themselves "journalists" are shallow enough to think that manipulating facts in their reports would propel their careers.

But, hey, what do I know? I'm a Chemistry major.

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I Wanna Go Surfin'

Or studying. Basically it's the same thing when you're swimming in schoolwork.

This semester has been unforgivable - partially because I have been prioritizing org work (is it my fault my majors are boring?) and, I don't know, taking exams feeling like Santa during summer. As much as I have enjoyed my RGEP classes, I don't think I will be regretting "graduating" from my majors; assuming I pass them, that is.

Our finals week is next week. If you see a waif running around from room to room next Monday, you may assume it is me. (We're doing a lot of assuming in this post.) Four of my exams are to be taken this Monday; I don't know what's worse - the fact that that day will probably be my last as an academic or my first as a breathing corpse. I believe in euthanasia, though.

So here is a picture of my and my roommate's tortoise, Cumin:

How have your semesters been?

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I Suck at Writing Essays In Under One Hour -

- which is why, although I was given the most answerable question about same-sex marriage, a part of me died. It was a decent experience worthy of the usual Pinoy litmus contest craze but I think I just trampled on what could have been an opportunity for... something.

Nevertheless, let us choose to ignore that.

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Planning, Doing, Planning

Before anything else, the UPCAT results are finally out! I was in the same pathetic place roughly one year ago. I woke up particularly early to check the results and when I found out I passed Diliman I was so stunned, I wasn't able to sleep afterwards.

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Cue in "Woo hoo!"

This night was my first serious fashion show experience.

An organization I joined in at UP hosted a fashion show in Plazuela de Iloilo, "Fashion's Night Out" (patterned after Vogue's event of the same name.) The designers who featured their designs are Bo Parcon and members of the Young Designers of Iloilo group: Doddie Vril Tan, Angel Tan, Djohn Clement, Jor-el Espina, Marvin Banaag (also a UP student!), and Mike Sorilla.

A Bo Parcon piece from PFW. Image (c) Nash Albacea

I made a BIG mistake of forgetting to bring a camera. The pieces were definitely something I'd have liked to capture on film. I am a naughty little blogger.

The preparations really took a toll on everyone working backstage. (I wore pumps, which was a very stupid idea because I was one of those backstage folk and had to run from one end of the venue to another. I have to hand it to myself, though. I've got mad skills in wearing heels.) Still, when the designers arrived, it was more than enough to compensate for our strained gastrocnemii.

The show was a success. I don't really know how to judge in that area but I was mesmerized all the while, so I guess my opinion has some rational basis. I hope next year it'll be even better, if that's even possible.

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The Semester in a Few Agonized Paragraphs

Most of our grades are out in the university's computerized registration system (hoo-ray to innovation) and right now I'm in the midst of being uncharacteristically religious because the grades for Math haven't been released yet. After leaving me slightly traumatized last semester, the subject chooses to induce paranoia in this agitated time interval.

Where is the justice in that?

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UP and Everything Else

This is the University of the Philippines - Visayas, Miag-ao Campus:

Image (c) Arnel Telesforo
http://sirpabs.ilahas.com

This is where I'm taking up an undergraduate degree in Chemistry. This is where I stay for six days a week, where I eat meals worth thirty pesos, where I attend classes (late) and where I see numerous people sporting the same hairstyle as I. This is where asphalted roads need a lot of repair and Chemistry labs need more distilling flasks. It's a pleasure to show you around.

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Why I Can't Write and Writing About It

She sat in front of the computer; or, rather, the computer sat on her lap. The advancement of technology welcomed the spawn of computers the size of notebooks a few years ago but that certainly did not pose as a remedy to writer’s block.

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This Rare Breed

Given the situation below, what would you do?

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Mental

My first feat this month: I have survived five whole days outside the virtual world created by HTML, CSS and Javascript. Right now, I'm home (from Miag-ao, it takes about an hour to reach the city) and happier than ever to be within the vicinity of free and unlimited internet connection yet again. The university requires students to have their laptops registered in order to avail of the rights to social networking and other Worldwide Web benefits, including Nyan Cat. Aside from the extreme hassle of filling up a registration form and deciding which physical address is the MAC address of your laptop, it takes several days before you can actually use the wi-fi connection.

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Moving In

Today I moved my stuff into the house my friend and I will be staying in for college. It would have been swell and all, you know, if it weren't for the sun. The sun's always the culprit, isn't it?

I haven't had the chance to take photos because arranging the furniture took a lot of time, and my father eventually had to haul us out of the house because he still has a trip to catch up to. I'm pretty happy because although we were given a smaller room than the one we initially planned to take, the folks we'll be living with are the type of people you can easily approach. Mister actually looks like a tanned Santa. They even invited us (I was with my parents, of course) to lunch.

Our room has a faded blue hue, with windows on two adjacent walls.  The floor is covered with vinyl tiles that are already smudged, which give me this persistent impulse to wipe them all off. The folks let us borrow a large table we can use for studying and eating (very thoughtful of them!), and our cabinet is big as well, but we only get to use a part of it. It is painted off-white and the wood is sort of chipped. The bedroom doesn't feel like home yet, but we will get used to it. Especially once we get it dirty.

School starts in less than two days. Until then, I shall immerse myself in YouTube and my bed-less bedroom.

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I am Now Well-oriented

I don't know why, but the school I'm enrolling in for college holds orientations before the students are actually, well, certified students. I spent the whole day in the AV Hall of UPV (University of the Philippines in the Visayas) Miag-ao's School of Fisheries, where I, along with roughly two hundred and fifty incoming freshmen, was shoved in.

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This Week: Graduation + Rebecca Black

Our graduation song was composed by Karl Ragas and Jason Licerio.
I'm the one looking lost right in front of the microphone.

A lot has happened over the week, though most of the time I was sleepy enough to miss some important parts of my slowly unwinding life. Right now, actually, I'm feeling physically deprived of mucus-free sinuses and my eyes feel like they've been gouged out and are now being deep-fried (ketchup on the side, heh). So while I try to breathe normally through my semi-clogged nose, I shall narrate the events of the week:

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Can You Pick A Lock?

The Photon (my fourth year high school section. I was dumped into a section with the same classmates three years ago!) chat box was empty when I signed into Facebook. I am so deeply amazed, I have to mention this rare occurrence in today's post. (YEAH, I talk as if I update everyday.)

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Because I'm a Sucker!

Forget, dwell... Neither?

I'm idly reminded of graduation. It's sixteen days away and parting just seems... impossible.

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No more coins for the wishing well

Two days ago, our Economics teacher asked us to create a wishlist. He wanted to know how we envision the Philippines nineteen years from now, in 2030.

I have to admit my groupmates and I didn't take this one seriously; the only instruction we complied to is our teacher's unintended joke of drawing the poster (derived from our wishlist) like kindergartners. Check our wishlist out:

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Surprise, surprise.

Perhaps the only subjects in school I am actually fond of learning are Biology and English. Chemistry is “fun” but advanced topics can be a dose of allergen for academic asthmatics; Physics is a breeze when you’re studying the concepts but when it comes to solving, well, you can only hope the solutions don’t require you a minimum of half a page to write.

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Extasy!

Talk about ignorance.

I was on my way home when I passed by a graffiti. Probably the perpetrators were high while spray-painting the concrete wall because all I saw was the word, "extasy"...which isn't a word even in the most updated dictionary.

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ACET: Friendlier than UPCAT?

CREDITS: http://www.apparelateneo.com/

61/67: this is the number of students in my batch (PSHS-ly speaking) who have decided to take a chance in the entrance exam of Ateneo de Manila University, one of the most prestigious colleges in the Philippines.

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