English ‘Learning’ Time

Every afternoon at 4:00 to 5:00, our last subject of the day is English. Sometimes, it’s not an ordinary class of boring lessons. It’s sometimes like a teacher-student bonding time. Ma’am May is not like a boring, scary, awkward teacher, she’s like a mother and a friend for us. That’s why English time is fun time for us. So, I would like to share some experiences of mine in this subject.

During our First Grading, our class was divided to groups which each group will perform a part of Romeo and Juliet. Each group was assigned to different settings and should modify their script. I got the role of Romeo in our group which was assigned with the Jail Setting. Well, I enjoyed it. We practiced on the smaller gate of the canteen right in front of the clinic. We practiced there even there are students passing by. It was fun and challenging at the same time. And on the day of the performance, it was a success. We were proud of ourselves doing that and it’s an achievement for me.

I almost forgot. Before that, we had a discussion about Romeo and Juliet with the guide questions. Of course, it’s about the love of those two, and there we mentioned that Romeo can’t find another girl to love to because he’s always comparing them to Rosaline. Ma’am teased me about my ex because she wasn’t around that time because she got chicken pox. Ma’am asked me teasingly if I was comparing my ex to the other girls I see. Well, we’re close and she’s like a friend to me.

Ma’am didn’t just teach us how to learn from her but also how to learn from ourselves. She gave us Jazz Chant piece, Oration piece, Speech Choir piece, Poem Recitation piece, etc. She made us work with ourselves to accomplish something. That’s the best thing I like in this subject. Especially our last performance, our Speech Choir: The Bells. We crammed that morning of the day of our performance. Just minutes away, we will be performing in front of her. We haven’t finalized it but we didn’t turn back, we continued it, and we did our best. We performed the best we could and we are proud of it. She taught us indirectly to do the best we can, so we’ll be proud of ourselves.

Every ‘You’ is Special.

Well, I bet none in the universe except me who can play basketball this good, can do tae kwon do this good, can play badminton this good, has talent in Math this awesome, can dance this cool, can stay this good-looking, can act this good, can play guitar this good, can read poem this good, has mom and dad this awesome, has a stubborn handsome younger brother, has a beautiful and talented sister, can study in a science high school, has this height, has house with two floors, can dress this cool, has the most beautiful and cute girlfriend and many amazing things.

I bet you can’t have those things at the same time but I can. That’s why I’m special, because you’re not like me. There’s no one like me. That’s also the reason why you are special. And also the one beside you, in front of you, behind you, all the persons you know and even some who you don’t know. Because I don’t have all what all you have got; you don’t have all what all I got. The same thing with you and another person, and to another person, and to another, and to another. We are all different from each other, and that makes us individually special so, feel special.

God, I Love My Parents

Dear God,

First of all, I want to thank You for all the blessings You have given me especially my parents. They are the ones who took care of me. I want to thank You for giving me a wonderful couple who will always be there for me. For being patient, understanding, supportive, protective, kind, caring, loving and a good model for me, thank You for giving them to me, Lord.

I’m terribly sorry for the sins I have made especially the ones I did to my parents. The wrongdoings that a son must not do to his loving parents, I’m truly terribly sorry. At times when they are scolding me for my own good, I had been rude to them. At times when they are saying the usual things to do, I always am irritated. At times when I should do what they said, I had been a hard-headed. Those were only some of my wrong-doings to my parents and I’m so sorry for that. I should be an obedient and a loving son for them but sometimes, I can’t show it. I’m sorry for all of that.

Lord, I just want to wish the best for them. I wish them to grow old longer. I wish to be with them longer even if I’ll have my family of my own. So if we will have free time in the future, we can talk to each other. Laughing and happily talking to each other about the times that I was just a boy naïve for not following them, for hurting them unintentionally. I wish that time will come that I grew old and I still have them. I wish that they will be much patient, understanding, supportive, protective, kind, caring, and loving for me and my siblings. I also wish, Lord, that You guide me to be a better son for the two of them.

There is something that I cannot comfortably say to them personally but I hope this letter will help. I want to say to them that I’m thankful and grateful to have them as my parents. I’m really sorry if sometimes I’m a bad son for them but really I want to be a better son for them. And lastly, I love them so much, really.

A Loving Son,

JEMFG

Setbacks Into Triumphs

Life is just a big maze with many obstacles or, in short, a big obstacle course. Obstacles, which many people had gone through and some are still going through, are the parts of our lives which some of them have made us better, stronger and mainly made us learn from them. These obstacles I’m referring to are problems. And some of these problems are regrets. Regrets, setbacks; setbacks, regrets. For me, regrets are setbacks. Setbacks, because if you regret something, it means that you had done wrong rather than doing the right thing, and which makes a delay for you to your success. May I just share my own regret.

It happened when I was in Grade 6. From Grade 1 to Grade 5, I had always ranked first in my elementary school, OLHRS. I had always ranked first in our School Quiz Bees. I always was highest scorer both in CEM test and Achievement Test in our school. I had always got high scores and most of the time the highest scores in our tests and quizzes especially Math. I am good in Math and it is my favorite subject. I used to make some equations of my own to solve faster in Math problems; practice more in Math to excel in that subject; and review sincerely my lessons before I’ll take an exam. I was undefeated.

Until, I reached the 6^th Grade, became over confident, and took it all easy. I thought I was still undefeated. I didn’t take reviewing my lessons seriously; exert my best effort in making projects and sometimes, I passed my projects late. I still got high scores in my exams but not the highest anymore. The sign of failure started to appear; yet, I ignored it.

Extra-curricular activities also became the reason of my failure. I became a Math quizzer, as usual. So, I was excused from my classes to review for the contest for few days but I didn’t give time to cope up with the current lessons in our class.

Our Basketball couch took me to join his Varsity team. I was excused again for few days for practices. Our team won 1^st place and I also won gold medal in my TKD (Tae Kwon Do) tournament in the Tanza District Meet. So, we will play in the WCSU (West Cavite Sports Unit) Meet. I was excused again for our practices for few days. Our team lost in the said Meet but I won gold medal again in my TKD tournament. So, the winning team in TKD took me and trained me in their gym for the Provincial Meet. So, I was excused again for few days. Still, I wasn’t coping in our current lessons in class.

I graduated salutatorian and I realized that no matter how good I am; I can still fail if I will not give my best; I should balance everything. I should be effective. That’s my regret. But for my perspective, setbacks are triumphs in disguise. The question is, what is my triumph?

From that experience, my regret is not balancing my life specifically my school life. That’s why from then on, I always do my best and balance everything. In my high school life now, in CNSHS (Cavite National Science High School), I was able to go to the top section from my 1^st year to 2^nd year. I was able to go to the top 10 of the batch from my 2^nd year to 3^rd year. I always try to improve, do my best and balance everything. In short, I am trying to make myself effective.

I told you so, setbacks are triumphs in disguise.