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This kid has balls. I wish I was brave enough to do this. Hmmm malay mo lang. :-" I'm on the verge of making a fool of myself anyway. My birthday month's nearing and I swear I'll be making it memorable.
Saturday
Hopeless Romantic.
This kid has balls. I wish I was brave enough to do this. Hmmm malay mo lang. :-" I'm on the verge of making a fool of myself anyway. My birthday month's nearing and I swear I'll be making it memorable.
Friday
NCMH
Yesterday, our class had a one in a lifetime experience of going to the National Center for Mental Health as our exposure trip for our course. I almost didn't get to join 'em since I woke up late. Good thing our professor told me it was okay if I headed straight to NCMH. So after my morning rituals, I drove all the way to Mandaluyong with my mom (since I didn't know how to get to NCMH) and waited for my class to arrive there and rejoin 'em.
My first impression of NCMH was that it looked gloomy. It wasn't just because it was raining hard yesterday, but it just felt sad there. We first went to the Pavilion 2, where the male patients were, and it was sad to see some of the patients there. Most of them were ostracized from their community and were even abandoned by their families. Even if some of them have improved and are considered well enough to go back to their normal lives, their families still do not claim them. I guess their families are just embarrassed with them and don't want anything to do with them, so the only thing they can think of is leaving them there, like they're throwing out the trash from their homes. It's that mentality and ignorance that infuriates me. How could these people just leave their loved ones like that? I mean they should be placing the person in NCMH's care because they love that person, not because they want to get rid of them. Grabe lang.
What also made me sad was when we were walking around the pavilion and seeing the many patients walking in the grounds or locked up in their rooms, you could really see that they were happy to see us. You could see their eyes light up when they saw new people in their environment, and our reaction to this was to greet them and shake hands with them (at least I did). You might be wondering why I'm telling you that seeing them like this makes me sad. It's mainly because of the way I saw them being handled. The rooms were dirty. They didn't have any beds. Some rooms didn't have any space at all. To put it bluntly, it was like a jail. A jail for the mentally ill. I'm not blaming NCMH. I mean they are probably doing the best they can. It's just that the government doesn't pay too much attention to these people. Being a government-owned institution, they are funded by the country, but how can they take good care of the patients when the budget for NCMH gets slashed every year? It makes you think how amidst the problems that our nation is currently having, the plan for action for it goes to the menial ones (like transferring Gloria to the Veteran's Hospital). Our government should have its priorities straight. Heck, our president should get his priorities straight. Rather than trying to make the people like him with PR, he should just do his damn job. It's also not right for the administration to fight with the supreme court. How can you lead people and make them believe in your credibility, when you start conflicts with your own people. The government should be unified in their actions and decisions. Hay nako. Pumunta na sa politics yung kwento ko. Haha. Anyway, what I said is just my opinion.
NCMH really tugged hard on my heartstrings. It really made me sad seeing them like that. Especially in the female pavilion when one of them asked us if we could text a certain number she was stating to us. We asked her whom that number belonged to and she said that it was her mother. "December 8 na kase. Malapit na mag-Pasko. Wala akong kasama dito." I really wanted to hug her. Make her feel secure. What kind of a world we live in where families abandon their loved ones and the ones who take good care of 'em are the ones who don't even have any relations with them. Ba't kaya ganun? I hope NCMH improves its facilities. I guess the only way for that to happen is if the government improves itself first.
My first impression of NCMH was that it looked gloomy. It wasn't just because it was raining hard yesterday, but it just felt sad there. We first went to the Pavilion 2, where the male patients were, and it was sad to see some of the patients there. Most of them were ostracized from their community and were even abandoned by their families. Even if some of them have improved and are considered well enough to go back to their normal lives, their families still do not claim them. I guess their families are just embarrassed with them and don't want anything to do with them, so the only thing they can think of is leaving them there, like they're throwing out the trash from their homes. It's that mentality and ignorance that infuriates me. How could these people just leave their loved ones like that? I mean they should be placing the person in NCMH's care because they love that person, not because they want to get rid of them. Grabe lang.
What also made me sad was when we were walking around the pavilion and seeing the many patients walking in the grounds or locked up in their rooms, you could really see that they were happy to see us. You could see their eyes light up when they saw new people in their environment, and our reaction to this was to greet them and shake hands with them (at least I did). You might be wondering why I'm telling you that seeing them like this makes me sad. It's mainly because of the way I saw them being handled. The rooms were dirty. They didn't have any beds. Some rooms didn't have any space at all. To put it bluntly, it was like a jail. A jail for the mentally ill. I'm not blaming NCMH. I mean they are probably doing the best they can. It's just that the government doesn't pay too much attention to these people. Being a government-owned institution, they are funded by the country, but how can they take good care of the patients when the budget for NCMH gets slashed every year? It makes you think how amidst the problems that our nation is currently having, the plan for action for it goes to the menial ones (like transferring Gloria to the Veteran's Hospital). Our government should have its priorities straight. Heck, our president should get his priorities straight. Rather than trying to make the people like him with PR, he should just do his damn job. It's also not right for the administration to fight with the supreme court. How can you lead people and make them believe in your credibility, when you start conflicts with your own people. The government should be unified in their actions and decisions. Hay nako. Pumunta na sa politics yung kwento ko. Haha. Anyway, what I said is just my opinion.
NCMH really tugged hard on my heartstrings. It really made me sad seeing them like that. Especially in the female pavilion when one of them asked us if we could text a certain number she was stating to us. We asked her whom that number belonged to and she said that it was her mother. "December 8 na kase. Malapit na mag-Pasko. Wala akong kasama dito." I really wanted to hug her. Make her feel secure. What kind of a world we live in where families abandon their loved ones and the ones who take good care of 'em are the ones who don't even have any relations with them. Ba't kaya ganun? I hope NCMH improves its facilities. I guess the only way for that to happen is if the government improves itself first.
We Can Burn Brighter Than The Sun
Can't stop listening to We Are Young by Fun. I first heard it on Glee's Hold on to Sixteen episode, and after that I just couldn't stop replaying it over and over again. It has this anthem feel to it, like it's spoken by the youth and for the youth, encouraging their peers and themselves to be better than what they are right now. Haha dami ko alam.
If you want to listen to the song. Here is Fun's version:
If you want to listen to the song. Here is Fun's version:
Here's the Glee version:
So which version do you like better?
For me I like 'em both equally. The song's just way too awesome, and both did a great job performing it. One comment though, what's up with Fun's official video? I don't get it. Cute girl though. Haha.
Monday
Adventures in NMAT-land
It's been about 10 hours since NMAT ended. Yeap I'm still counting. Haha. Sorry, I'm still shaking off the last bits of the exam from my body. Well at long last, it's finally over. I can go back to my regular self again, but then again, I'd rather not. My regular self is being a procrastinator, hence the title of my blog. I've become such a lazy ass this college that I'd forgotten the drive I've had in high school. Call me a nerd or whatever, but I kicked some ass in the academics department. Yeap total geek right here. I just don't know what happened when college started, but I know it's still within me. I just gotta search for it again or better yet, renew it.
Oh well back to NMAT. I woke up at around 4am (way before my alarm is supposed to wake me up, probably because my body was detecting my anxiety) and started "reviewing" some Bio questions. I still felt like hell cuz I was sick and all. If I had a fever the day before, I developed a sore throat over night. Anyway, I was pretty much psyched to go to UST by 5:50am. Never knew there would be so much people already by 6:20am. As in madami talaga. Even the convenience stores were packed.
I was waiting for Quiam, since we both had the same assigned building, when my heart started pounding. Ayan na. Puta. Exam na. The anxiety was working its way to my brain, but I managed to delay its march when Part I started. Let me tell you. Part I will be easy ONLY if you practice it or you're a mothereffing genius. Nah I'm a kidding, anyone can do it, but you'll be faster if you practiced it, especially the figures. Also, brush up on some vocabulary, since there are tricky parts there. You might also want to practice reading long texts in a short time. Pampatagal lang yung Reading Comprehension na yun. Grabe. So the first two tests were a breeze. I have to pride myself with Vocab and Inductive Reasoning since I finished 'em 30 minutes from the expected time. Anyway, I decided to skip Quantitative since I knew that Math was my Achilles' heel, and being that I practiced Perceptual Acuity the day before, I was more confident to finish that part first before heading to Math.
Buti nalang sa extra 30 minutes kase napatagal ako sa Perceptual Acuity. It was very tricky, mind you, especially the mirrored images. Anyway, after finishing Percep and with 40 minutes left, I headed to Math. Some were easy. Some were familiar. Some were recognizable but I just couldn't remember how to solve it (plus time was ticking). I guess for next time, I should practice my math skillz. Anyway, didn't get to finish Math and I expected it. So for Part I, I was happy (still am). For Part II, on the other hand, well...let's just say the anxiety already reached my brain at that point.
I will arrange the subjects from easiest to the hardest (at least for me): Sociology (duh may Psych diyan, course ko yan), Biology, Physics, and Chemistry (Lagi akong "Yay... 'C' for Chem" Hahaha). Part II was nuts. You know the feeling that you get when you're facing the test paper, and you don't know shit? I ain't exaggerrating. Ganun talaga ako kanina. It was like answering a test in an alien language. Grabe. Gun to the head lang talaga. I'm not proud to say it, but it was 85% guesswork. Estimate lang yun. Don't make me solve. My brain's traumatized already.
Anyway, when I was in the last test (Chemistry), I was on the verge of giving up. Apparently, a few people in the room have been done. SUS! If I know, they were shotgunning their way to finish the test like I was. But that's when it hit me actually. I was so sure that I'd be retaking it again in April. I was honest to myself. I didn't study for it, nor did I enroll for some review center. It was pure ability and stock knowledge, and I guess it just wasn't enough. My mom was right to pester me to study back in October. But she, just like my dad, was very comforting. They told me that I did my best and reminded me that I only took the test to get the grasp of it. Sure, mas okay sana kung pumasa na this year, but it wouldn't be bad to do it again on April. I'm glad my folks are really understanding and supportive.
I've learned a lot of things from NMAT. One of those being able to regain that drive I was talking about. Yeap, I think I'm beginning to be an achiever again. While I'm typing this entry, I'm also doing my reviewer for tomorrow's quiz. Hopefully with baby steps, I'll go back to being a nerd. Oh well bye for now!
P.S. Woooh. Humahaba na blog posts ko. Haha.
Oh well back to NMAT. I woke up at around 4am (way before my alarm is supposed to wake me up, probably because my body was detecting my anxiety) and started "reviewing" some Bio questions. I still felt like hell cuz I was sick and all. If I had a fever the day before, I developed a sore throat over night. Anyway, I was pretty much psyched to go to UST by 5:50am. Never knew there would be so much people already by 6:20am. As in madami talaga. Even the convenience stores were packed.
I was waiting for Quiam, since we both had the same assigned building, when my heart started pounding. Ayan na. Puta. Exam na. The anxiety was working its way to my brain, but I managed to delay its march when Part I started. Let me tell you. Part I will be easy ONLY if you practice it or you're a mothereffing genius. Nah I'm a kidding, anyone can do it, but you'll be faster if you practiced it, especially the figures. Also, brush up on some vocabulary, since there are tricky parts there. You might also want to practice reading long texts in a short time. Pampatagal lang yung Reading Comprehension na yun. Grabe. So the first two tests were a breeze. I have to pride myself with Vocab and Inductive Reasoning since I finished 'em 30 minutes from the expected time. Anyway, I decided to skip Quantitative since I knew that Math was my Achilles' heel, and being that I practiced Perceptual Acuity the day before, I was more confident to finish that part first before heading to Math.
Buti nalang sa extra 30 minutes kase napatagal ako sa Perceptual Acuity. It was very tricky, mind you, especially the mirrored images. Anyway, after finishing Percep and with 40 minutes left, I headed to Math. Some were easy. Some were familiar. Some were recognizable but I just couldn't remember how to solve it (plus time was ticking). I guess for next time, I should practice my math skillz. Anyway, didn't get to finish Math and I expected it. So for Part I, I was happy (still am). For Part II, on the other hand, well...let's just say the anxiety already reached my brain at that point.
I will arrange the subjects from easiest to the hardest (at least for me): Sociology (duh may Psych diyan, course ko yan), Biology, Physics, and Chemistry (Lagi akong "Yay... 'C' for Chem" Hahaha). Part II was nuts. You know the feeling that you get when you're facing the test paper, and you don't know shit? I ain't exaggerrating. Ganun talaga ako kanina. It was like answering a test in an alien language. Grabe. Gun to the head lang talaga. I'm not proud to say it, but it was 85% guesswork. Estimate lang yun. Don't make me solve. My brain's traumatized already.
Anyway, when I was in the last test (Chemistry), I was on the verge of giving up. Apparently, a few people in the room have been done. SUS! If I know, they were shotgunning their way to finish the test like I was. But that's when it hit me actually. I was so sure that I'd be retaking it again in April. I was honest to myself. I didn't study for it, nor did I enroll for some review center. It was pure ability and stock knowledge, and I guess it just wasn't enough. My mom was right to pester me to study back in October. But she, just like my dad, was very comforting. They told me that I did my best and reminded me that I only took the test to get the grasp of it. Sure, mas okay sana kung pumasa na this year, but it wouldn't be bad to do it again on April. I'm glad my folks are really understanding and supportive.
I've learned a lot of things from NMAT. One of those being able to regain that drive I was talking about. Yeap, I think I'm beginning to be an achiever again. While I'm typing this entry, I'm also doing my reviewer for tomorrow's quiz. Hopefully with baby steps, I'll go back to being a nerd. Oh well bye for now!
P.S. Woooh. Humahaba na blog posts ko. Haha.
Saturday
NMAT Countdown
While I'm typing this entry, there would be 14 more hours till the NMAT exam, and by the time I would be finishing, there would be only 13 hours left. Pardon my counting, but it just shows that I'm nervous for tomorrow's exam. I'm always like this when I'm going to take an entrance exam or a qualifying exam, but there would be varying degrees of nervousness for each exam. Like when I had my UPCAT, I was really nervous. DUH. UPCAT yun eh. Kahit genius, nanenerbiyos dun. ACET made me nervous, but I was more pressured to get a high score, because it was my dream school. USTET was by far the easiest among the three, and I was only nervous for it because it would be the last of the entrance exams I had applied for.
If I were to rate my nervousness for NMAT, it would be almost in the same degree as the feeling I had with UPCAT and a little bit higher than ACET. I'm not aiming for a 99 or a 90. I don't expect myself to even pass for UP-Med. I just want to have a grade that would make me pass UST-Med or UERM's standards. Gahd, why did I ever allow myself to be more stressed when I already have a ton of workload.
Haaay, imma just chill. It's only my first time naman tomorrow. Sa April, handa na talaga ako!
If I were to rate my nervousness for NMAT, it would be almost in the same degree as the feeling I had with UPCAT and a little bit higher than ACET. I'm not aiming for a 99 or a 90. I don't expect myself to even pass for UP-Med. I just want to have a grade that would make me pass UST-Med or UERM's standards. Gahd, why did I ever allow myself to be more stressed when I already have a ton of workload.
Haaay, imma just chill. It's only my first time naman tomorrow. Sa April, handa na talaga ako!
Thursday
Words to Live By of the Day
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Wilson Lee Flores
"We are all destined to be successful. We just have to claim our birthright." )
"What is failure? It is only temporary setbacks. Don't be afraid to fail, especially the young. Worst risk you can make is not taking the risk."
Francis Kong
"Winners have winning habits."
"Learn. Yearn. Earn."
"Don't let the losers live your life."
"What you are today is the product of your decisions."
Winners Have Winning Habits
Yesterday, some of my blockmates and I attended the AFICS Leadership Convention @ ADMU. It's the 2nd AFICS event I participated in, and even if I'm "required" to join to most of their activities, I don't really mind. I'm actually quite interested in most of their events. So anyway, yesterday was awesome. Partly, because the event was in Ateneo (...oh wait THE Ateneo. Haha.) For the folks who already know me, I always dreamt of attending Ateneo, even though I've been in LSGH since Kinder. Oh well, that's another story.
Another thing that made it awesome was listening to two of the most inspiring speakers ever, Mr. Wilson Lee Flores and Mr. Francis Kong. Even though the two of them taught me a lot, I have to say that I enjoyed Sir Francis' talk more. But I'm not saying that Sir Wilson did a bad job. He was actually very interesting, and he really did his best. He even said sorry that he wasn't able to talk as much as he was expected to, and said that "I'm a writer, so I'm better read than heard anyway." I appreciate him for that. For me, he showed humility, and that's one of the most important values a successful individual could have.
So based on the pictures, you could kinda say we had a good time. Mad props to the the AFICS EB for a great convention. I hope my org can invite Mr. Francis Kong next year. *here's to hoping*
Another thing that made it awesome was listening to two of the most inspiring speakers ever, Mr. Wilson Lee Flores and Mr. Francis Kong. Even though the two of them taught me a lot, I have to say that I enjoyed Sir Francis' talk more. But I'm not saying that Sir Wilson did a bad job. He was actually very interesting, and he really did his best. He even said sorry that he wasn't able to talk as much as he was expected to, and said that "I'm a writer, so I'm better read than heard anyway." I appreciate him for that. For me, he showed humility, and that's one of the most important values a successful individual could have.
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| Mr. Wilson Lee Flores |
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| Ate Kaice and Kit |
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| Bagong gising HAHA. |
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| Sir Francis Kong |
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| Okay nainis ako kase may mga sumingit na random people samin and wrong timing yung click. I look high. AMP. |
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| Graduation? Haha. |
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| Ateneo's Next Top Stripper |
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| This is Ateneo's version of TYK. DAYUM. |
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| AMP. Next Top Model raw. |
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| Sorry Horcacio De La Costa. |
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| Who knew Ateneo kept wild monkeys in the school premises? HAHA |
So based on the pictures, you could kinda say we had a good time. Mad props to the the AFICS EB for a great convention. I hope my org can invite Mr. Francis Kong next year. *here's to hoping*
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