Throwback Thursday

2 years ago, while I’m on my way to CDO city to attend a demanding make-up class, i happened to meet one of my elementary friend inside the jeepney. It was early (around 7am) when we chat about things we miss a lot and the things we are currently busy about. But one conversation really caught  my heart which made me speechless for like an hour, regaining conscience, retrieving events.

( Allow me to have this conversation in bisaya.)

Him: musta ang pag skwela rus? Hapit na guro ka mahuman no?

Me: Uu hapit na jud. Pero kapoy na kaayo. Murag walay pulos aqng ginastudihan kai dli japon q ka anser sa uban. Bagsak2x japon. Kapoy na, gusto nako muundang.

Him: Ayaw ana rus oi. Magpasalamat ka naka skwela ka. Ako gani ron. Padulong q trabaho. Kapoy guro magskwela pero mas kapoy mag trabaho nga wala kai naabot. Ginagmay ra sweldo, hago pa. Dili pa cgurado kanus.a taman. Kaya lage na rus, mapuslan rana tanan. Salig lang.

Me: (i dont know what to say for i am embarassed, so i turn my head to the window and said): Rebisco ka noh? Abot naman diay ka. Cge2x au baya.

And he went down smiling ready to fight the demand in his work. He walked down as if he is not tired of the routine he’ll be facing again and again.

The jepneey continued to roll its wheels faster and faster. All i hear was my heartbeat and his words dancing in my mind. The sense of guilt was there, you want to cry but you cant, you want to scream but its not appropriate. It hurts, but its true.

That moment i saw, witnessed, felt INSPIRATION. That no matter what it takes, ill finish my course and be an engineer someday. That ill be COMPETITIVE and STRONG to surpass such hurdles in the academic labyrinth. That moment, i was in awe that in times when life scrolls some curtains of pressure and struggles, God, in His little ways, uses instruments like my grade school classmate to inspire me to fulfill what i have dreamt of.

Now that i already had my license as an Engineer, i am now tasked to Inspire others, to contribute in any ways i could. In my small community, i hear some children saying they want to be a Chemical Engineer too, and i said ofcourse they could. U dont have to be that super brilliant to acquire such title, hold on to such dream, believe, and do your very best. Allow positivity and gain friends. Inspiration is any form. Appreciate them, acknowledge them. We may have these unstable problems and chaotic thoughts scrambling, but remember that these are just curtains covering the facade of our beautiful life. Pull them off and see how beautiful life is.

For my grade school classmate, who unconsciously help me in that instance, your words live forever. No matter what our standings/statuses are, i still have high respect on you. God Bless You. J     

Happy Birthday to You

Good day friends.

You remember the semi-sexy romantic movie Unofficially Yours? Aside from the fact that its story is really one of a kind (about someone patiently waiting and another someone who dodges love’s curse after being hurt from her past), it was delivered well by contemporary actors Cruz and Locsin and I’m a fan. However, my entry will not focus on their story but from their job – journalism. I wanted to be one, to be a feature writer. So here is a thing. I will try to create one. And by the way, the person ill be featuring really wants this since 12 months. Haha. Planning to post this on Christmas day but i guess he can’t wait anymore.

                His name is Reymond Tayone. He is dark, short (i mean not so tall), overly concern with his pimple, has a good penmanship, talented, competitive, and intellectually inclined person. But these descriptions are nothing compared to what he is within. Let us talk about experiences.His big experiences.

                I could describe him as a “choosy” individual. I dont know, at first i was not expecting it from him, but time comes, he started saying, “dili ko ana, dli ko gakaon, dili ko ganahan ana, kato ra ako”. Well, its good to describe what he likes and what he’s into. He can’t live without internet. (Youtube starmometer, krizzy kalerqui, yahoo and a liitle bit of facebook are in his list. ) He doesnt like macaroni salad, liver-based viand, some types of fishes, cornbeef other than purefoods, vegetable mostly, carrots, japanese cuisine or outside-pinoy foods, raw foods unless there is toyo, and more. He is more into unripe mangoes with salty dippings, shomai (clean ones), boiled green banana with bagoong, spicy foods, salty viands (very salty), and sweet chocolates and milk teas. He is not a sporty type of person but he knows how to. He is a KathNiel fan. He is a big fan of music competition, american idol, the voice and x factor (uk, us, aussie, phil, holland, scotland, peru, guatemala, lol). He doesnt like “the-what-so-common-thing. He is against stereotype. He is against maybe of what your doing now. HAHA.   

                Intellectually inclined and competitive. Not the stereotypical competitive stud but the one who will never ever ever ever settle on petty shallow-styled results. Having these characters, expectations from him was elevated. Elementary and high school, he got the highest honors but he never bragged about it because for him “it’s not for me, its for those who expect from me”. High school was a roller coaster for him. Yes he had the highest honor but behind those are struggles worthy to remember. He experienced being attacked, being pulled down, being judged. It came to a point where he had almost no one in his side, and no one supported nor stood for him. He said it was ok. He said he never regret what had happened for it gave him the chance to overlook who really is his friends are. It was a turning point for him. It was a bold moment even wanting him to strive more and prove something glorious. And he was successful. He used such defining moment to step his gear up and reached such target.

Reymond Tayone is also a lover. Back then in his alma mater, he fell in love with someone who he thought he will be spending all his life. I mean he also experience some not-so-serious-type of relationship, but after a two or a three, he said he want someone serious, someone life changing, someone worth to live with. So he met someone in high school. All he gave in, all he was proud of him, all was filled with happiness and joy. But nothing was constant in this affair, he tried to pull things together, he tried to fix and fix and fix. Its hard for him, waking up each day hoping things will get better. But he was hurt, he was stained and paralyze to fall again for someone. His high school was a bit drama, but looking at the glory, these experiences led him to what he is today.

Most people know him but he will never consider himself popular aside from his build-up likers in facebook. He had known people, variety of them, and he knows how to socialize and associate each individual. Despite of, he struggles to find the real friends, friends for life, friends who could understand him, friends who could extract the best of him. But looking at him now, he has already. He found them. And that is why he is so cautious on being with them. He takes care more than one friend could do. A lot of people would describe him as the jolly witty student but behind those laughs and jokes are sorrow longings and unending issues he had for himself and for others. Insecurities and low self esteem are part of it. He has stories to tell, he has righteous ideas to share.

He has been a part of my life. Even if we just met for like 13 months. He taught me a lot of things i never thought i would get from an 18 year old student. Am i corrupting one? He knows i am less than his personality, he knows i’m not brave nor true to myself than him, but he accept and understood me for who i am. Sometimes he gets angry over me for my lapses but he never quit and he never left me behind. In times of sorrows, he will be there, he will be true, and he always bring thoughtful words making you feel comfort. He may not fully trust me, but sharing a part of his life was one memorable stage of mine. I was honored, i was acknowledged and atleast i became true to someone i trust. I caused him a lot of troubles and paranoia, i caused him pain he never deserved, i was an ass in his life sometimes, but mind you people, HE WILL ALWAYS BE THERE WHEN YOU NEED HIM. And that’s why I Love Him.  He will always be remembered. He will always be here, here in my heart. J

                  

MY VALEDICTORY ADDRESS: DON’T COMPLAIN OVER THOSE SWEATS!

This photo wasn't actually from my yearbook photo. I just edited to look like one :)

Indeed, I am a competitive person! But this character has not made me become an awardee from last month’s graduation. Being competitive, I guess, is not enough. However, I never ever ever ever in my quirkiest mind dreamed of having such award. I just thought that I should bring this competitive alter-ego behind me to surpass the pressure of that mind-stuttering-jaw-enlarging-bone-breaking-pancreas-dewing course. So, to fully scrutinize and fulfill this competitive alter ego behind me, I thought of doing something that could somehow put me to higher spot, something that every competitive student dreamed of. Tadang! It’s the VALEDICTORY ADDRESS. Month ago, it was my musclemate-overly-smart-weird-smiling classmate Dean Cris Acabo who delivered this opportunity. So I was thinking, what if I could take his place, what if I could be in his 9-inch shoes, what if I could be the one wearing that medal for  few minutes. So I have this address, something personal, something different I thought, something that fits my character.  

He didn't even let me borrow his medals! HAHA. Lol. That is my musclemate-overly-smart-weird-smiling classmate Dean in the left side doing our signature pose. :)

MY SPEECH:

Today, in this very moment, my dear Batchmates, we might be wiping our sweats because of this very warm greenhouse-like building. We might feel uncomfortable because we are like sitting millimeters away from each other that no single ant could even pass-by in between (well, I guess this is an optimization purpose). We might also feel embarrassed because our crush is behind us looking on our wet-dreadful hair (which some of us spent hundreds for it). Or we might get bored because in front of you is just an ordinary handsome and sexy man delivering his not-so-significant speech (ehem). But hey, these UNCOMFORTS right now are no match from the experiences that we all had! We sometimes have to climb like a mountain-far just to reach A606 or E606 that we can’t use those elevators because those vandals are harassing us (my personal disposition), but then we suddenly hear from a sexy-blonde classmate that there is no class (suicidal feeling, an option could be jumping from that floor to the ground, and blame the teacher for not telling the class in advance). We sometimes extract our very mind just to answer a non-coverage topic which cost 1 point from a 50-item exam and made us not to sleep for weeks because we miss to answer that non-coverage portion of the exam for the reason that it is not covered in the discussion (clear!). I hate that (personal disposition again). We sometimes cry for a missed exam like it’s the end of the world and try to call our loved ones and family to ask advices on what to write in a suicidal note (Is that even possible?). We sometimes took our break for 10 minutes but unfortunately that time was spent only for running and dashing to that far canteen (cause I’m from engineering and I just need rice, no viand, and the engineering canteen businessmen were not offering that promo) and compete with some zombie-like-they-never-ate-for-years studs. That 4, 5, 6 or whatever years we had in college is so aaaaahhh. If we could just quantify all the energy we spent over those years, we might as well empower the whole Cagayan de Oro and beat STEAG and earn BILLION and get rich and get cars and get castles and drink coffee in Starbucks daily!

So my Dear Batchmates, I only have 1 point in this address of mine. DON’T COMPLAIN OVER THOSE SWEATS! This UNWEARY situation right now is far from the sacrifices our parents had gone! These SWEATS are not even a significant fraction from our teachers who did their best every after exam to adjust our grades so that at least ONE could pass (tragic isn’t it). Let’s us think beyond the atmospheric situation of this greenhouse-like building. We should be THANKFUL and HOPEFUL that because of those sweats we had all over the years, it made us worn these un-ironed Togas, it made us grant to take a step towards our future goal. And because of these sweats, we feel alive and that we should aspire more to become the person we want to be. So, SWEAT more, LIVE more, ASPIRE more. Congratulations BATCH 2013 of Xavier University! God bless me more, and also with you. CHEERS!