RESILIENCE

Remember you are good enough. Everyone is different. Stop comparing yourself. Individuality rocks! \m/ Learn something new daily. Involve yourself what you love doing. Enjoy things that make you happy. Not everyone can be 1st, 2nd, 3rd. Care about yourself and others. Expect that some days won't be great .
-Mr. Ramelo C. Gloria

Aim High

Reaching your goal is really a wonderful moment. Aiming high is one that can help you reach your goal. I remember how I climbed on the wall in Amore Leisure Park. At first I was really nervous and I thought that I will not reach the top. When I was already in the middle part of the wall, I can feel my knees and my arms getting tired and weak. I feel like giving up. I was thinking if I'll let go of the rock which I was holding onto or just keep on going. Later on I've convinced myself and realized that I only have one chance in reaching the top and if I'll let go and give up, I will never ever have the chance to reach the top. That was actually the second time that I've tried wall climbing, my first was when I was still in grade school.  So I continued on climbing even though my arms are already tired. When I tried to look up to see if I am near to the top of the obstacle, I found out that it's just a few meters from where I was. That's why even if I could already feel my sweat rolling down my face and through my back, I kept on going. Then there came a time that the rock was far from my reach, Once again, I lose hope. That's why i took a rest for a while then I thought of something to do. With my feet on one rock, I tried to push myself and leap from that rock so that my hand could reach the rock far from me, and there, I reached it and i continued climbing. After climbing a few more meters, I finally reached the top! And from there, I looked down to see how far I went just to reach the top.

So what's the point on telling these? What I'm trying to say is that in life, problems may come, and we may feel that there's no more way out or there's no more solution and we feel like giving up but there will always be a way. If only we try harder. If we feel that we are tired, we have to take a rest for a while, maybe a vacation or something that could relax our mind. My struggle on climbing the wall simply showing how people also struggle to get what we aim for. We try so hard just to reach it, because later on it'll make us happy! It'll make us feel lighter. We always have to remember that those who quit never win. This is what I learned from my adviser: "We sholud always try our best in everything we do, so that if we fail, at least we know that we gave all of our efforts and we have nothing to regret."

Treasure

          Third year life? Uhmmm, they say it's the hardest part of being a high school student in our school. Well, on that I do agree. There's a lot to do, and some of the teachers are strict too. Despite of the strictness of our teachers, I still love them and I would like to thank them for they are loving teachers. They are the ones who taught me discipline. Their efforts pays a lot in the learning and the knowledge that we, students, acquire from all the things that they taught us. They are in deed good in teaching. Students could really learn from them not only about academics but also in good moral.

            About my classmates? They really are incomparable with all the classmates I ever had in the past two school years I had here in CNSHS. They are the noisiest, most playful, most inconsiderate, and craziest I think, but in spite of all those negative traits that my classmates have, they are the section I that I will never forget. Our section is the combination of the noisiest and most playful students in our batch; there comes a time that the could be so inconsiderate about the feelings of our other classmates, that's because they are too naive. They nearly don't care about the feelings because they are not aware of the feelings of other people around them. Our section is somewhat carefree with almost everything, the reason why sometimes we forget to take other things SO SERIOUSLY. Despite of all of those things, they gave me so much to remember in this part of my schooling. A lot of memories to keep, a lot of learning, a lot of knowledge, a lot of new experiences, and a lot of emotions that they have made me feel in the past few months that I've spent with them. I am very thankful that I was given the chance to spend my junior life with them.All those gatherings every time we have to practice? All those times that we ate together? All the times we bring food for our breakfast? All those picture taking moments? They are really worth remembering. There are all the ups and downs. The hardships that we encountered and at least we were able to get through those things, and I am proud with that. We learn all together at the same time. 

               In this point of my schooling, I learned how to accept, love, respect, be humble, and more countless things to be learned by a person. Accept all the things that aren't for you, all the things that are in the situation, accept that no one is perfect and everyone commit mistakes and accept the truth that you're not always the best and there may be someone who is greater than you. Love, I learned to love my classmates and my teachers. Respect all the decisions that people make and learn how to cooperate with what is said. I learned how to be humble with everything. I love my junior life! There's a lot of first times that I have experienced during this time. It's sad how fast the time flew when you are enjoying. It seems like yesterday when I was oriented on being a Junior student and now it's my third year life is nearly over.

[Blog 4.5- Third Year life]

Am I Special?

         

 Being special to a person is a big thing. Being treated as one by the one you also treat as a special someone is a bigger thing I think? So if it's about being special, everyone is, but not everyone feels that they are. That's the reason why some people tend to feel so lonely and feel like they are nobody, when in reality they are SOMEBODY. Before anything else, let us know what is the meaning of special? According to Mr. Merriam-Webster special is different from what is normal or usual, unusual in a good way, better or more important than others.  For me, based on my understanding of the word special, it is something to do with what you are, how unique you are, and how different you are to other people.

             Going back to the topic, am I special? For me, I consider myself as a special one, because I know that I am different to other people in a good way. Of course it's impossible to be completely the same as another person. There might be similarities but in totality, there will  always be the slightest difference. Even the identical twins  have differences. Generally, everyone is special in their own way, it's just that few are being noticed because of the standards that is set by people. There's another form of being special, specifically special to your family. Your family members consider you as one of the special persons in their life, because you are their family. Everyone treats their family special to them. Going to a higher and as a deeper meaning of special, let's talk about being a special someone, or treating someone special. Treating someone special is caused by the "SPECIAL" feelings you have for that "someone". That feelings may be LOVE, love which you feel for someone opposite of your gender and is not one of your family, that form of specialty is the one I don't have. There are also times that your friends are treating you special, something that they don't do to others but they are ready to do it for you because you are one of their friends. So as what I said, I consider myself, special, because there are some characteristics that you can find from me that is totally different from others. Attitude that I am the only one who possess. Yes, there is no one who consider me as their special one by means of that special feelings which is LOVE. Well at least there are still someone whom I know treats me special, and those are my friends and my family.

            If you feel like the one you treat as your someone special is not returning the favor of being special in a way that he/she feels something for you don't worry as what the lyrics says "There’s somebody out there who’s looking for you. Someday he’ll find you; I swear that it’s true. He’s gonna kiss you and you’ll feel the world standstill. There’s somebody out there who will. He’ll take you dancing and pull you in close, spin you around and won’t let you go till they turn the lights off and he’ll take you home. There’s somebody out there who will." Being special doesn't only mean that you have to be a somebody's someone special by means of the special feeling they have for you, it may also mean that you are different to others in a good way. Uniqueness is already enough for you to be considered as a special person. JUST BE YOURSELF AT ALL TIMES.

[Blog 4.3]

A Letter to God, A Prayer for My Parents

Dear God,

         You're the one who made the heaven, earth and all the wonderful creatures that has ever been made. You gave me things so much worth thanking for, even if all the blessings you gave to me are all worth thanking for. You are the one who guided me through my life, You are the one who provides everything I need and takes care of me. You protect me and my family each day. You give us Your blessings. There are so many things that I want to thank You for. One of those greatest things that I want to thank You for is for giving me such wonderful parents.

          My parents whom You gave me for You to be able to make me feel Your love and Your care. I want to thank You for giving me such understanding parents like them. They are the ones who guided me as well. They are the ones who let me knew about You. They are the ones who taught me about You. They are my first teachers, and for that I thank You. I thank You for giving me responsible and caring parents like them. Even if they are strict to me, I know they have their own purpose and reasons why are they as strict as what they, which sometimes people can't understand their strictness, I'm still thankful for that because I know it's for my own good. Thank You for giving them long patience to handle a moody teenager like me, and for taking care of me when I was still a toddler. I also want to thank you for giving them the strength and again the patience to teach me how to walk, to speak, to read and to write. i hope that you will continue on giving them the strength, patience, and the will to continue on guiding us and watching over us. I know that You know, that me and my sibling still can't stand alone without them, and even if we can already stand alone, there is still a part of us that need them. I don't know if this is too much to ask but, I hope that they could still live long, long enough to spend their lives guiding us throughout our lives. I know that You are always watching over them, Lord God Almighty, I hope you would continue on showering your blessings over them. Give them everything that they deserve.

          Another thing God, I hope You could forgive me if there are times that I disrespect them unintentionally. Sorry if I don't treat them as much as how You really want me to treat them

            Lord God, to end my prayer for them, I hope You could tell them how much I love them, and I'm sorry for all the things that I made which hurt them.

                                                                                                                                   Your Daughter,

                                                                                                                                            Ivana





[Blog 4.2]

Bittersweet Oversight

         Mistake is something most people wouldn't want to have. It's like every people is looking for perfection in all things. Mistakes are the stepping stones to learning. If you haven't commit any mistake in your whole life, you probably haven't tried anything yet but there are mistakes that we really shouldn't commit. There are things that we regret that we've done in our past and we wish that we shouldn't have done those things. In the other hand, we can learn a lot of things in our mistakes.

              One of the worst mistakes I've ever done in my life is that there were times that I had some opportunities, and the sad part there is that I just let those opportunities walk in front of me and just let it pass by me. I should have taken the opportunity to enter some contests that I was asked to join into. Later on I've realized that if only I have joined those contests I may have been able to develop my skills. I realized that I should have took the opportunity when I was asked by my mother to join a swimming lesson, and good thing I have realized immediately that I need to learn how to swim. Swimming is like a way of life. There are times you feel like you are already losing air, that's why from time to time, you have to reach the surface just to get air. Sometimes, when you are swimming in lower depths, you feel the pressure in your body, it's like the whole world is on your shoulder. Swimming in depths are times that you experience problem in your life. There are instances in your life when you are losing all hope and you feel like you are drowning like a hopeless bird that does not know how to fly yet and suddenly fell into a pond.

                  Another mistake that I have committed is being too sincere to almost everyone in most of the time. My friend told me about this mistake. She even quoted a quote saying: “A little sincerity is a dangerous thing, and a great deal of it is absolutely fatal.” She explained to me that being too sincere to someone could lead that person to take advantage on my sincerity in all things. 

                    I knew a way on how to avoid the first mistake that I've mentioned is, you should trust yourself. Always be ready to take chances and don't be afraid to take opportunities. So that you wouldn't regret that you just let it pass by you. The second mistake could be avoided by lessening the sincerity you give to people that you don't knew that much yet. 

                There are times when we have problems, we refuse to let others know about it. It goes the same  with our mistakes, we are ashamed to admit our mistakes. All of us have committed mistakes, but some just don't want to admit that they have one.

[Blog 4.1- Figures of Speech (credits to whoever own the picture)]

An afternoon with a Country Pop Star

Yaaaaaay! I feel so glad and so excited because later this afternoon I'll be meeting my favorite artist, Taylor Swift. I’m also happy because I am her in PARIS. LIKE, OMG. So to continue what I was saying earlier, I asked her if I can meet her at the coffee shop downtown to have a small chit-chat with her, and then she said yes. AND I'M LIKE, "WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOW, THANK YOU VERY MUCH, YOU DON'T KNOW HOW MUCH YOU MADE ME HAPPY FOR SAYING YES!", and she's like "You're very much welcome.". After that she told me to send her a message of when are we going to me, like what time are we going to meet at the shop. So I send her a message saying: "Hi Taylor! Let's meet at the coffee shop at exactly 3 o'clock this afternoon. Hope you would really be there! I promise that I won't be late. ^_^ See you there! :* Lovelots. XOXO". Then she replied: "I will surely be there. ^_^". 

There is still thirty minutes before 3 o'clock when I arrived at the said coffee shop where we'll meet. You may think that I'm so excited; I’ll be like, WHO WOULDN’T BE IF YOU’RE GOING TO MEET YOUR FAVORITE SINGER? Like, DUH? It’s like once and a lifetime chance. So yeah, I’m ready to wait for her even it’ll take forever to see her. After some minutes I ordered 2 cheesecakes for us, and before going to this coffee shop I dropped by to Starbucks to buy her favorite Mocha Frappuccino (of course I both two). So I waited for a few minutes more while listening to her songs in my iPad. Hmmm, I’m wondering why isn’t she here yet… Then I looked outside the window and FINALLY! I saw her walking.

When she entered the shop…

Taylor: Oh, Hi. Are you Ivana?
Me: … (still under the effect of star stuck.)

Taylor: Uhmm? Hello?. (snaps her finger)

Me: Oh! Yes. I’m so sorry, I just… I just… I just can’t believe you’re here! In front of me. I’m like, “OH MY GOSH AM I DREAMING?”.
Taylor: Oh my dear, you are not dreaming, this is all true.
Me: Wow, Thank you for coming.
T: Your welcome.
M: So I ordered you a cheesecake and a Mocha Frappuccino.

T: Wow. These are all my favorite. How’d you know?
M: Well ,that’s the secret of a fangirl. ^_^

T: Oh well, I don’t treat you as a fan right now, and I won’t treat you like one again.

M: (me thinking that it was a bad thing became teary eyed) BUT WHY? L
T: hey, keep calm. Of course I won’t treat you like a fan anymore because you’re my friend already. (smiles sweetly)

M: (still processing what she said)

T: …
M: Wait, WHAT? ^_^ YOU CONSIDER ME AS A FRIEND OF YOURS? WOOOOOW. I can’t believe this. Well, it’s my pleasure to be your friend. WAAAAAAH. You don’t know how happy am I right now. Thank you very much. J

T: you’re pretty much welcome. ^_^

M: So I’ve been wanting to ask you this question. And I’ll ask you directly already…

T: Uhmm, okay go on.

M: To whom do you dedicate your song entitled “Back to December”?

T: You really don’t know?
M: Well I kinda know but, I just want to confirm it and hear it from you. J

T: Well, it is for Taylor Lautner.

M: I knew it! So why did you broke up? I’m really a big fan of Taylor squared.

T:  I was just too busy to stay in a relationship that time. I tried to say sorry but it was too late, that’s why I wrote Back to December.

M: Oh.

T: So don’t you have any questions to ask?

M: I have plenty of them but I guess I’ll just ask you a few of them. ^_^ So here’s another question. Is there any chance for you and Ed Sheeran to be… uhm, you know? In some sort of a relationship?

T: Wow. Haha. I think we’re cool in being just friends. We’re really good friends.

M: oh? Really. Well. Okay. Another one, why did you and Harry Styles broke up?
T: Uhmm, it’s because some of their fans, you know? The directioners sent some death threats to me, that’s why we chose to end our relationship to stop all their fans from sending hate and death threats to me.

M: ugggggh. L So here’s another one.

T: What is it?

M: Why did you broke up with John Mayer?

T: Because, I was still young that time.

M: Oh, just like what other teenagers say. So here’s another question. What was the first song you wrote?
T: The first one that I really finished that wasn’t like a structureless, eight-minute song was when I was 12 and I wrote this song called “Lucky You” about this girl who’s different. She believes in herself. It somehow got leaked online and it is a terrifying experience when people bring it up because I’m like, “I sound like a chipmunk. I’m 12 in that.” But you look back on your first experiences with writing and every one of those experiences turns you into who you’re going to be. And so I don’t think you can ever discount the creations you make when you’re really young.
M: So what was your childhood like?

T: I grew up on a Christmas tree farm. We grew Christmas trees for other people to put in their houses. And we had all kinds of animals running around, and I remember having a lot of room to run and just come up with wild stories, and I feel like it was a time for me to really let my imagination run wild. But, you know, I don’t necessarily think you have to have a lot of wide open space in order to let your imagination run wild. You can see beauty and fantasy and things that aren’t real and things that are magical in any place you grow up if you think hard enough and reach into your mind. But my childhood was really fun. It was a blast, so thank you for asking about it. That was a good question.

M: Wow, so your childhood was awesome.

T: Yes. So let me ask you a question.

M: Uhm, Okay. Go on. (flashes a very wide smile)

T: Do you have a best friend?

M: Uhm. Yeah, and you know what’s great? She is also named Abigail, like your best friend Abigail Anderson. And uhmmm… actually she’s coming cover this shop to meet you too. Is that okay?

T: Yes, why not? I think that would be fine and fun at the same time.

M: Yaaaay! Thanks. (looks at the entrance of the shop) Oh, look, she’s already here! Hey Abie over here!
(Abigail sat beside me)
Abie: Wow, so you’re not joking?
M: Geeez, duuh? Can’t you see it’s for real. ^_^

A: Wooooah.
M: So Taylor, I want you to meet my best friend, Abie. Abie, you know. This is Taylor.
A: Hi Taylor! ^_^ Sorry, I thought she was joking when she told me that she’ll be meeting you here. It’s so nice to meet you.

T: Oh, That’s fine. ^_^ Nice to meet you too.

M: Did you know that back then in our grade school days, we were singing your songs in duet like Tear Drops on My Guitar.

A: And also Speak now. We often sing that in chorus.

T: Aww, that’s cute.

M: Tear Drops on My Guitar was Abie’s favorite that time actually.
T: Well, it’s good to hear that some other people likes my songs.

M and A: We don’t like it, really. WE ONLY LOVE IT.

T: Aww, you two are so cute. J I’m missing my best friend because of the two of you. So Ivana, what is your favorite song of mine?
M: I actually love all your songs. But there is this one song that I can relate to as of now. And that is Invisible.

T: why is it your favorite?
M: you see, as what I’ve said, I can relate to it so much. I’m experiencing that thing. Like you’re so invisible to one person because that person is busy looking at the girl he loves.
T: aww. Well that’s sad. How about you Abi?

A: Well, one of my favorite is still Tear Drops on My Guitar. I can also relate myself to this song at some instances.

T: Oh… don’t worry those tears will soon dry up...

(her phone rings)

T: Girls, I think I have to go now.

M: Aw. Why too soon? Well. Go ahead. ^_^ Thank you for coming!
A: Yeah Thank you for the time.

T: You two are welcome.

M: Uhm, Taylor! Can we have a picture?
T: Well, that’s great.

M: Abi, can you?

A: of course… 1 … 2 … Say Cheese

M: Thank you so much. I really had fun. Goodbye

A: Me too. Take Care, bye.

T: Thank you too. For the cheesecake and the Frappuccino. And thanks for your time. You two are adorable. Stay Strong. ^_^ Bye.

[So that’s all. Some parts of the question and answer were taken from .http://blog.scholastic.com/ink_splot_26/2013/01/taylor-swift-interview.html]