Argh!

Today was definitely one of the most horrifying days of my life!

I woke up 9am and was late for class. Yes, we still have classes at a time when all other students from universities are enoying their breaks. So unfair!

Since when did sem breaks stop coming? Unfair.

By the way, as I hurried down to take a bath and get dressed, I tripped at the carpet. Cool.

At the ride to school, I found out that I forgot my favorite pen. I have lots of those, okay. But that one I forgot is my favorite.

When I finally reached school, haggard and sweating, my classmates said we don’t have classes for this day.

Pooh! Fate might be having a good laugh at me.

Just when I thought I’ve had enough of bad luck, the jeepney ride home got stucked in heavy traffic. And by heavy, I mean vehicles were hardly moving.

Totally pissed off…

Can’t sleep…

By She-hero

The Sentiment of a Duhat Fruit

Minsan naiisip ko kung if Philippines is really a “free country”. E kung tingnan ako baga naman ng tao, parang gustong masunog na ang buong katawan ko at mawala na sa mundong ito. Siguradong di naman nila ako lalamunin dahil di nila type ang mga tulad ko. Pakiramdam ko tuloy wala na akong maipagmamalaki sa lahat. Ni hindi ko nga alam kung may karapatan ako …at kung may karapatan ang tulad ko na mabuhay dito sa mundo ….
Sino nga ba naman ako? Sa totoo lang, isa lang naman akong piraso ng DUHAT na nagpupumilit sumiksik sa mundo ng mga UBAS kung saan di naman ako kabilang. Alam ko nang di ako katulad nila, pero siyempre may personal reasons ako kung bakit andun para rin ako sa piling ng mga ubas. Well, sa akin na lang iyon. Pero minsan….madalas pala…naiiinis ako dahil ang GANDA-GANDA ko kaya di ko magawa ng tama ang aking MISYON. Pero sa totoo lang ay hindi ko rin alam ang tunay na misyon ko dito. Ano nga ba ang naidudulot ng DUHAT sa lipunan? Mukha namang wala, eh. Ni hindi ko man lang naaaninag ang silbi ng mga katulad kong duhat, kahit man lang sa isang tindahan ng prutas (Ni hindi ko Makita ang iba kong kauri…o baka naman napapailalalim na sila ng ibang prutas dahil mas mabenta yung iba….
Kung di lang matiyaga ang amo ko…kung di lang niya kailangan ng pera para sa maysakit niyang asawa…kung di ko lang mahal ang amo ko at ang trabaho ko rito…matagal na sana akong umalis …Haay…minsan nawawalan na ako ng pag-asa, na ang isang katulad ko na duhat ay di man lang pagpipilian sa mga prutas na inihahain sa hapagkainan ng bawat pamilya. Kahit nga nagdaramdam ako eh kailangan kong maging matatag. Baka lalong di ako bilhin pag di ako nagtino. Pero nagpapasalamat pa rin ako sa Diyos dahil kahit papaano ay may nagtitiis pa sa isang duhat na katulad ko….
By: Duhat na mahilig maglakbay…ang isip

Mysteries Unraveled: The Five People You Meet in Heaven

There are always mysteries about life that continuously beg answers to human understanding. We never could reach the most rational explanation of what is life after death. Questions concerning the concept of heaven and hell, God and the devils and all the possible eternal pictures that our mind can conceive always bring us to mystery. Even so, we would even ask who the first people are to meet us in paradise. Very odd to realize: our personal beliefs would rather supplement their explanation.
Through his surrealistic imagination, Mitch Albom came out with another heart-jerking story that will probably rouse each reader’s inner being. Entitled as “The Five People You Meet in Heaven,” it provides a deemed description of what it is to be in heaven and how people are faced with it. Unlike any other novels, it begins the story with the ending—telling that from that point starts a new journey. The author unravels the plot very intricately in a way readers would get wired right up to the last pages of the novel.
The story begins with Eddie spending his last few minutes on earth, reminiscing of his sweetest moments. His birthdays have always been the highlight of his life. All of a sudden, while he was watching what was happening in “Ruby Pier,” the amusement park which he had been working in, an accident happened involving a little girl. The place was put into intense suspense. Oblivious of his remaining time, he tried to help the girl and suddenly fell out of consciousness.
Eddie woke up and saw an almost earth-like paradise. The place was in ambiguous resemblance of the world’s setting. Out of nowhere, a person named Blueman faced with him and informed about meeting of five people. Including Blueman, each of them would teach him lessons that he needed to understand every happening which affected his life on Earth.
As the conversation went on, Eddie learned that the Blueman was the one who he and his family had attended the burial of way back in his childhood days. Such scene has a thrilling twist and appalling revelation about how the man died because of him. Two angles of the story were unfolded and a conclusion was drawn—each affects the other and the other affects the next and the world is full of stories, but the stories are all one.
All the people whom Eddie met were related to him. The next person he faced taught him about the essence of sacrifice. Through him, he learned to consider the things he possessed: when to keep and let go of them. After which, he still could not totally engulfed himself in the situation.
The third person introduced herself as Ruby. She informed Eddie that the amusement park with which he had worked in was named after her. The talk took him a little patience to know their relation. Her story was mainly involved in his work place but centered on how his father treated him. The moral lesson was: he must learn to forgive his father no matter what he did that hurt him.
“Love does not have an end,” this was the fourth lesson Eddie learned from the next person—his wife. His wife whom she has loved so much explained to him that her death did not end their bond. She further told him that when people die, love takes a different form: lost love is still love. With this thought, he must value his feelings forever.
The fifth person Eddie met made him realize his worth as a human. She revealed him his heroic deed before dying. With that, he was elated because he had saved the girl in the amusement park.
This very radically presented novel could not just offer entertainment means but rather could feed reader’s imagination with a thrilling concept and ideas about what heaven would possibly be. The author was able to sew the events smoothly from drawing of flashbacks to relating them with the other scenes. His characters’ dialogue even imbued essential values which are of help to humanity. The influence of this novel would go beyond generations and would keep retelling us about the beauty of life. What is interesting about our life is the chance to mold our own destiny.

by Ronald Cena

Venturing the Fate

When you do something which does not interest you and you excel, would you still be proud? This circumstance shows how vague life is. You can not always jive with fate. Sometimes, the harder you try to fulfill a desire, the more it gets elusive. Others are daunted to continue struggling because they believe that they can not make it. Surpassing the challenges might possibly be the hardest demand of life. No one can escape it. There is no better way to get out than facing it. Suffice it to say, such troubles and other earthly trials that we may all be experiencing are mere flavorings to spice up our lives.
When we had the major classification exam for our course, I got curious about what field is best for me. Since my reason then in taking up Development Communication course was to be famous, I preferred broadcasting as a major. My notion about such profession was that, when you are in this field, you could easily be known by people because you are a TV and Radio icon. To tell it short, I was after the merits of influence. Another reason was also to earn greater income in such away that I have forgotten the essence of purpose. Thus, something to that effect thrilled my desire to pursue so.
I took broadcasting as my first choice. I underwent the examination and interview process. Before the result came out, I had already sensed that I would not be put on my first choice. Perhaps I don’t have the talent for such art. I told myself that if ever ended up with my second choice, which was journalism, I would just accept it. Since both majors are related with each other, I raised no resentment to whatever would be the result. What I just worried about was my ability to write. This thought made me analyze my innate abilities. The thought went like this, “if I could not make it in broadcasting, how much more in journalism”. I brooded over this matter many times over.
As I absorbed the thought, the notion became clearer. After a two-month vacation, the result finally came out. Seemingly tense but rather excited about where I would be: I found my name listed on the journalism major. With a burst of excitement, I felt exultant about it, probably because of its grandeur as a profession.
As days elapsed I learned to love the craft although sometimes I could hardly catch up with it. To be honest, I am not really good in writing. I need a lot of trainings to improve. But, inasmuch as I am in this field, I must live in it. I crave and work harder to possibly be proficient in my work. I would rather focus on my calling— to serve people.
My reason is to live purposively and meaningfully. I strive to grow and acquire essential knowledge to have something to share to humanity. To be able to help others is to have something in you. I want to make a difference through my calling.
I do not know where the fate would lead me. Though sometimes I tend to get discouraged by the challenges of life, still I show resilience in my faith. I will just do my jobs whole heartedly and contribute something magnanimous to the people.

by Ronald Cena

Catalysts of Change

“Youth is the hope of the Fatherland,” was quite a strange adage I used to hear about. So vague it was for me that I did not even care why Rizal made such a statement. Perhaps, my childhood made feel passive about everything that was fed of me without trying to ponder on it. Not until I reached high school did I understand a little about being a responsible citizen. I began learning different matters regarding current issues which greatly concerned Filipinos. I gradually absorbed the essence of Rizal’s aphorism—realizing my worth in this society. I appreciated my opportunity of having education. I valued every moment I was in school and imbibed a lot of knowledge that were beneficial in creating a better person in me.
When I entered college, it was a good chance for me to realize my passion to serve. Being in the course BS Development Communication changed my perspective in helping people: to serve people is to help them help themselves. I began venturing journalism class. I found it helpful because if ever I graduated with such a degree, I would have the edge to serve better—responsibly, even. I will not allow myself to be victimized by bribery and threats. No matter what it takes, I will serve the truth that every Filipino should know about.
I believe that every youth could contribute to the development of the country by just doing what he is called to do–as long as it does not harm anybody. In my case, I would use the influence of writing to educate, to infuse values, to inform people of the societal issues, to suggest reasonable solutions to existing problems and to lead every Filipino towards understanding one another.
More so, having turned nineteen, I would wholeheartedly practice my suffrage in the coming 2010 elections. Voting responsibly and wisely will eventually foster the country. Having a good leader that will manage the entire state is indeed an advantage. To have such, we must take a wise and collective effort of choosing. Let us not sell our precious votes for a certain price or means: remember that the consequence of our decisions will far outweigh these short-term supplements.
How can we say that we have a progressive nation? Is it by having an economic development? Probably, it is just a factor. Meaning, it is just a contributory component towards national development. We must also consider the preservation of our culture, patronizing of local goods, conservation of natural resources, healthy socialization and the like.
As youth, we can preserve our culture through practicing our Filipino values and customs such as using “po” and “opo” in talking to the elderly, accepting visitors cordially and obeying our parents. We must always assume that we are the best role models; hence, we may be obliged to do rightful actions for the younger ones to follow.
Since the greatest percentage of the country’s population is the youth, why don’t we take initiatives in promoting our local industries? Let us patronize the Filipino products so as to promote our goods—to boost our economy. If this happens, there will be more jobs and livelihood opportunities waiting for Filipino workers in the country. Furthermore, the Philippine work force will be strengthened.
In nation building, it is necessary that we respect and love our countrymen. No matter what religion we are in, customs we practice, languages we speak; let us consider that we are from one race.
To be honest, I used to speak vulgar and hurtful words about and towards others. My frankness sometimes tends to be irrational to the extent that I almost lost etiquette. I know that being so unethical in communicating is a dangerous manner. I could lose friends or worse, destroy people. By pondering on such matter, I realized that I should mellow down. Those usual arguments regarding religious beliefs which led me to discriminate and stereotype people ironically changed my outlook in life. It became clear to me that religion has nothing to do with the way you act: it is your relationship with God that will suggest what you are.
If every Filipino would consider this thought, definitely the nation will advance farther. There would be more understanding among us; therefore, we can work undividedly for the betterment of our country.
Inasmuch as we love our nation, we should also protect our natural resources. Again, as a youth and a future journalist, I would advocate in my writing the preservation of our environment. I will not just inform every body about preventing pollutions, managing the ecosystem properly and reviving the destroyed natural resources, I will act on them as well.
These things are simple gestures that the youth could do. We may have our own individualities; still we can make for a better nation. All we have to do is to use our differences and various capabilities to complement a collective effort towards development. Let us be active. Let us be the instrument of progress. Let us be—the catalysts of change.

by Ronald Cena