There are many decisions that we must make to move a step forward to self-fulfillment or to make things right and make ourselves happy. Many dilemmas always come our way in which both choices are of equal value and weight to our life. We get to choose between adobo or humba, Converse or Nike, or Nursing or Pharmacy (but, I would never want to choose between any of them). But sometimes, we must cross the Rubicon between two beloved souls which are very close to our hearts that will affect our lives forever.
He was once a student of the Blessed John XXIII Seminary when he was still in high school. He is a deep thinker with a brain filled with ideas, philosophies and principles in life which are very logical and reasonable. Since he is a person with a great mind, no wonder why he decided to study philosophy in college. Even though he chose philosophy, a stepping stone to priesthood, confusion still troubles him if he would go for being a priest or not.
“Being a priest is a nice idea but if I would be one, that job would be forever, there’s no turning back,” he said.
One thing is certain, he loves God. He wants to serve Him. He wants to share God’s love to others by going into the mission and search of young men who would also want to devote their selves to serving the Church. This mission is pretty tough. Nowadays, teenagers don’t have the mentality and right knowledge why being a priest is the right path in loving God more. Today, the conviction of the people is that they could serve God in many ways other than being a priest or a nun but a few people gets to know what it takes to be one—one in a thousand, perhaps.
“Only a few of us could think of being a priest as a lifetime job because no one ever says—WANTED: PHILOSOPHER,” he said. Maybe it’s only God’s will and his love for God is what’s keeping him in the seminary and into being a missionary.
Those who belong to the “thousands” who would never consider he being a priest could think of a million reasons why he would live in any way he wants but priesthood. He should sacrifice falling in love to someone, give up all his worldly things and live with his vows of poverty and chastity which is so hard for them to give up. He will miss his old self if he would enter that kind of life. But for the “one-in-a-thousand”, maybe he’ll miss the chance of serving God in the way priests do.
Another “he” never wanted to be the one-in-a-thousand. When he was still a kid, his parents would always take him to the church everyday. After every mass, nuns would always ask, “Will your son be a priest when he grows up?”
Currently, he is taking up Information Technology. He just chose this course just to stall the time that he would enter the seminary. His parents are willing to give their only son back to its Creator by letting him serve in the church. As I have known him, I can never even imagine him being one! But no one ever knows God’s plan. Up to now, he never had the courage to tell his parents that he would never want to enter the realm of the single servants of God who are in a convent. He just doesn’t want to disappoint his parents’ expectations.
Even if my other friend chose to enter the seminary, there are still confusions that are troubling him. Even though he has the freewill to choose, he has to weigh things reasonably. He must choose between his full service to God or his self or for someone he might love someday. As for the latter, I hope he could gain the courage to tell his parents his decision. But whatever path they may take, I believe it is part of God’s plan and will. They may personally regret their decision but when they would reach the end, I’m certain that hey will realize the self-fulfillment they are looking for.
Don’t be afraid to cross the Rubicon, may it be between the two beloved souls who is your own self and God or between any choices we may make, but be just equipped and you’ll end up doing the right thing although it may not be that instant. Regrets may just be a spice but it is just a domino falling that leads you to the right end. I believe everybody would have his happy ending.
Saturday, February 3, 2007
Tuesday, January 30, 2007
NCAE
I did not know what it stood for until I received my test booklet.
Without a clue, the orange cover page read: “National Career Assessment Exam” now I understood why every senior high school student should take that test. It was supposed to let us know what skills we have so that we will be guided on what course we should take up in college or something like that—supposed to be. But I don’t seem to….anyway; this was the whole idea of the NCAE.
All of the senior students of each high school in Cebu took the said exam last January 11, 2007 (but I suppose that the seniors of all the high schools in the country have to take this test too). That was the talk-of-the-batch that time. I just heard about this NCAE thing from my elementary friends but I never had the idea that we too are to take the test.
“What? You’re school doesn’t get to take the exam? But why?” Becky asked. What a pleasant surprise. She was the one who told me that it is only our school that’s not taking the exam together with all the other schools in Cebu. To my surprise too, I cluelessly replied, “What’s that NCAE you are talking about?” I was devotedly (oh, really?) studying for our periodical exams that night I had my conversation with Becky. I began to think, “Is our school really that special that it is the only school in the whole of Cebu which is not taking the exam?”
Or, so I thought.
After our exhausting exams, the next thing I knew is that we are going to take the said exam the next Tuesday after that week. Oh, what a sudden change of plans. Then, I was starting to wonder what that test really was.
There were seven parts of the whole thing. The test parts that I remembered were: Science, Math, and Clerical Ability, Reading Comprehension, mechanical skills and entrepreneurial skills and oh, there was this part where you get to assess your economic status and attitude towards my interests. It was a multiple-choice kind of test.
First Part: Reading Comprehension
Tick-tock, tick-tock. The time was running so slow. We got to finish that part in just a few minutes when they gave us the whole eternity to answer it. Every one of us were just so bored, we can’t help it but we really had a chat with my classmates even though we are not allowed to do so but of course, we never touched on the topic about test items (rest assured!). Almost an hour has past after we were finished answering when our proctor said, “Time’s up. Let’s proceed to the next test part.” Oh how we were longing for that statement!
The Science and Math part were good but that sometimes we got confused on some of the test items which their answers were never in the choices. Sometimes, the questions were so out of the topic and so vague. There was even one part in the Science subtest which read,
For item no. 36 only, (then there’s a table below it)
The question in that item was never coherent with the table.
Question no. 37, Based on the table in item no.36…
Now, that’s what you call inconsistency or perhaps, irrelevant.
…supposed to be. But, I greatly doubt if it would serve its purpose. That was the standard National exam. I presume that the test items were reviewed a billion times before the test booklets were produced. I presume that this tool is effective for getting the actual career assessment of the students so that our career won’t be mismatched with our skills. But, there are many typographical errors or should I say misused concepts in the test items. Some of the questions have answers or sometimes there is not enough information to answer the questions.
I just hope that this would really help us and not just a test to waste our time with no reliable results.
Without a clue, the orange cover page read: “National Career Assessment Exam” now I understood why every senior high school student should take that test. It was supposed to let us know what skills we have so that we will be guided on what course we should take up in college or something like that—supposed to be. But I don’t seem to….anyway; this was the whole idea of the NCAE.
All of the senior students of each high school in Cebu took the said exam last January 11, 2007 (but I suppose that the seniors of all the high schools in the country have to take this test too). That was the talk-of-the-batch that time. I just heard about this NCAE thing from my elementary friends but I never had the idea that we too are to take the test.
“What? You’re school doesn’t get to take the exam? But why?” Becky asked. What a pleasant surprise. She was the one who told me that it is only our school that’s not taking the exam together with all the other schools in Cebu. To my surprise too, I cluelessly replied, “What’s that NCAE you are talking about?” I was devotedly (oh, really?) studying for our periodical exams that night I had my conversation with Becky. I began to think, “Is our school really that special that it is the only school in the whole of Cebu which is not taking the exam?”
Or, so I thought.
After our exhausting exams, the next thing I knew is that we are going to take the said exam the next Tuesday after that week. Oh, what a sudden change of plans. Then, I was starting to wonder what that test really was.
There were seven parts of the whole thing. The test parts that I remembered were: Science, Math, and Clerical Ability, Reading Comprehension, mechanical skills and entrepreneurial skills and oh, there was this part where you get to assess your economic status and attitude towards my interests. It was a multiple-choice kind of test.
First Part: Reading Comprehension
Tick-tock, tick-tock. The time was running so slow. We got to finish that part in just a few minutes when they gave us the whole eternity to answer it. Every one of us were just so bored, we can’t help it but we really had a chat with my classmates even though we are not allowed to do so but of course, we never touched on the topic about test items (rest assured!). Almost an hour has past after we were finished answering when our proctor said, “Time’s up. Let’s proceed to the next test part.” Oh how we were longing for that statement!
The Science and Math part were good but that sometimes we got confused on some of the test items which their answers were never in the choices. Sometimes, the questions were so out of the topic and so vague. There was even one part in the Science subtest which read,
For item no. 36 only, (then there’s a table below it)
The question in that item was never coherent with the table.
Question no. 37, Based on the table in item no.36…
Now, that’s what you call inconsistency or perhaps, irrelevant.
…supposed to be. But, I greatly doubt if it would serve its purpose. That was the standard National exam. I presume that the test items were reviewed a billion times before the test booklets were produced. I presume that this tool is effective for getting the actual career assessment of the students so that our career won’t be mismatched with our skills. But, there are many typographical errors or should I say misused concepts in the test items. Some of the questions have answers or sometimes there is not enough information to answer the questions.
I just hope that this would really help us and not just a test to waste our time with no reliable results.
Monday, January 29, 2007
The Man Syndrome, The Woman Syndrome
Sometimes, I just can’t convince myself why it is better to be a girl than a boy. There are just many things that I can’t do when I’m in this kind of body. I can’t just remove my shirt in front of men whenever I feel so hot (nah, uh—not the hot feeling whenever we are in the summer solstice!); or I can’t rush things like traveling whenever I get caught by the rush hours by just hanging on to the jeepney instead of waiting in vain for a ‘spacey’ jeepney. I can’t ride a bike if I’m wearing a skirt. I can’t do the “spread eagle” (You know what I mean.) in public and; the worst is, being uncomfortable every month of my life (as if I have “this” every month.). These are just some out of a million things that I hate about being a girl. But, I come to think of this—these are just minor problems (hey, that’s another problem of a girl!), there is more to femininity than these girly problems.
Being a female is much more of good news to me because women have high endurance of pain than men. Talking about the labor and pain in giving birth, emotional and sometimes psychological problems that women have the greater chance to survive—this can explain the statistics that show that a bigger percentage of men commit suicide than women.
Okay, enough for the women’s good points. Let’s tackle on the weak sides of both men and women. I don’t want to be too one-sided on this, so I asked a man who is my friend Timon (Hi Monti!), to give me some inputs on the issue on the men’s point of view. So this was his answer (verbatim):
“The problem of men and women:
A woman likes the seduction part (flirting and stuff). A man likes what comes after. The problem of a woman is to maintain all of that attention. The problem of the man is how to reach the end. As Don Quixote said, “Love for most young teens is NOT love BUT LUST.””
I was surprised with his answer but he has a point there. That’s what I have observed by most teens now like what my friends saw at the lagoon last Sunday (I don’t have to mention it.). But as a teen, I can’t somehow relate with what Don Quixote said because I still haven’t sot to the point where I was to draw a line between love and lust. On the lighter side of the issue (still verbatim) he said, “I do have minor problems as a MAN, problems like shaving and other hygiene practices for men (but some women do some of those). One of the men’s problems is the moral obligation to protect women (but some think that it is a sexist mentality).”
It’s just so funny why he sees that obligation as a problem like it’s a burden. I just don’t know, maybe it really is. I can’t judge them of what they totally are and how they live their lives because I don’t get the feeling of being one, of course.
Both sides have their own problems so there’s no point of arguing on which is the better gender. Now, I’m finally convinced and contented that I’m a girl. I suppose you are satisfied with what your own gender offers you too.
Being a female is much more of good news to me because women have high endurance of pain than men. Talking about the labor and pain in giving birth, emotional and sometimes psychological problems that women have the greater chance to survive—this can explain the statistics that show that a bigger percentage of men commit suicide than women.
Okay, enough for the women’s good points. Let’s tackle on the weak sides of both men and women. I don’t want to be too one-sided on this, so I asked a man who is my friend Timon (Hi Monti!), to give me some inputs on the issue on the men’s point of view. So this was his answer (verbatim):
“The problem of men and women:
A woman likes the seduction part (flirting and stuff). A man likes what comes after. The problem of a woman is to maintain all of that attention. The problem of the man is how to reach the end. As Don Quixote said, “Love for most young teens is NOT love BUT LUST.””
I was surprised with his answer but he has a point there. That’s what I have observed by most teens now like what my friends saw at the lagoon last Sunday (I don’t have to mention it.). But as a teen, I can’t somehow relate with what Don Quixote said because I still haven’t sot to the point where I was to draw a line between love and lust. On the lighter side of the issue (still verbatim) he said, “I do have minor problems as a MAN, problems like shaving and other hygiene practices for men (but some women do some of those). One of the men’s problems is the moral obligation to protect women (but some think that it is a sexist mentality).”
It’s just so funny why he sees that obligation as a problem like it’s a burden. I just don’t know, maybe it really is. I can’t judge them of what they totally are and how they live their lives because I don’t get the feeling of being one, of course.
Both sides have their own problems so there’s no point of arguing on which is the better gender. Now, I’m finally convinced and contented that I’m a girl. I suppose you are satisfied with what your own gender offers you too.
Sunday, January 28, 2007
Zildjian
All of us in the family love music. We share almost the same feeling for music. We like the same genre of music. Well, most of the time my brother gets to influence much of the music that I like. We get to like various genres of music—alternative, rock, mushy love songs—anything! But “boy bands” is a NO-NO under our roof! It’s like a taboo if you’re in our territory. But sometimes, we get to laugh at our boy band jokes or sometimes make fun of them. Because of our love of music, specifically the beat of the drums, my brother and I wants to learn more about how to play the drums—drums of a band set (because you might think of just any other drum in the world). In fact, we just can’t get enough of the movie Drumline. We always watch it over and over again. We just want to hear the drum beat.
So what’s with the name?
I would like to note that Zildjian is a name of a drum set. It’s the world largest manufacturer of these world-class cymbals. They also sell drum-related accessories, such as drum sticks and drum heads. Its name is a living legend since it is one of the oldest in the whole world since it has existed for over four hundred years now. Zildjian is one of the best brands of cymbals all of seasons. The name itself is pleasing to the ears. This is what’s so special about the name—Zildjian.
Now, why am I so into this name?
He is more than a pleasant noise that rings my eardrums. He is a cuddly little thing that soothes my soul. When I hear his cry, it’s like something has hit the crasher. When he laughs, it’s like he’s playing with the ride. When he’s sick, it’s like he felt the vibration as the bass has been hit by the virus that is infecting him. When he is not in the mood, it’s like his snear has been hit by the snares of the bad forces of nature. Zildjian is one of the most beautiful things that the storks brought into our home. His chinky eyes twinkle at you. His dimple caves in deep into his face every time he smiles. His chubby cheeks (like mine! Oops!) make his face rounder. He means everything to me and everyone here in the house.
Now, you may have the actual idea of what I’m talking about.
Well of course, he’s not my son (if that’s what you really thought—oh my goodness! Still too young here!). He’s my nephew. Now, it’s about the name. Why Zildjian? Go back to the top of the page and you’ll see the reason why we thought of that name. It’s all about the love for music, ladies and gentlemen. We just can’t get music out of our heads just don’t get to think that I can play musical instruments. Ironic, huh? But, coincidentally, it is an anagram for his mother’s name, Janzel. Get it?
So what’s with the name?
I would like to note that Zildjian is a name of a drum set. It’s the world largest manufacturer of these world-class cymbals. They also sell drum-related accessories, such as drum sticks and drum heads. Its name is a living legend since it is one of the oldest in the whole world since it has existed for over four hundred years now. Zildjian is one of the best brands of cymbals all of seasons. The name itself is pleasing to the ears. This is what’s so special about the name—Zildjian.
Now, why am I so into this name?
He is more than a pleasant noise that rings my eardrums. He is a cuddly little thing that soothes my soul. When I hear his cry, it’s like something has hit the crasher. When he laughs, it’s like he’s playing with the ride. When he’s sick, it’s like he felt the vibration as the bass has been hit by the virus that is infecting him. When he is not in the mood, it’s like his snear has been hit by the snares of the bad forces of nature. Zildjian is one of the most beautiful things that the storks brought into our home. His chinky eyes twinkle at you. His dimple caves in deep into his face every time he smiles. His chubby cheeks (like mine! Oops!) make his face rounder. He means everything to me and everyone here in the house.
Now, you may have the actual idea of what I’m talking about.
Well of course, he’s not my son (if that’s what you really thought—oh my goodness! Still too young here!). He’s my nephew. Now, it’s about the name. Why Zildjian? Go back to the top of the page and you’ll see the reason why we thought of that name. It’s all about the love for music, ladies and gentlemen. We just can’t get music out of our heads just don’t get to think that I can play musical instruments. Ironic, huh? But, coincidentally, it is an anagram for his mother’s name, Janzel. Get it?
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