Dreams Never Fade

“The gull that flies highest sees the farthest.” This is the most famous proverb in the novel Jonathan Livingston Seagull written by the famous author Richard Bach. The magnificent novel is all about the unpredictable adventures of a witty, spunky gull named Jonathan Livingston who is very different among all the seagulls living near the fishing dock. He chooses to be away from the flock and rather practice flying at faster speeds near cliffs than hunting and eating fishes with foolish seagulls on the vast ocean. Jonathan sees the life of a seagull as not limited to just eating for survival. He dreams more of becoming the fastest flying seagull ever born of all time. Of course, the other gulls including his parents and flock elders just laughed at his hopeless dream. His once colorful and well-developed feathers on his wings were one by one falling due to crashes on the ocean. Then one time, he accidentally crashed on the place where all the other seagulls were busy eating their meals. He was ordered to stand in the Center for Shame and it means that he no longer belong to the flock. He was called a foolish outcast but this does not hinder him from fulfilling his rightful dream. Sooner than later, he met two seagulls flying at higher speed while he was practicing an acrobatic elevation of flying and they let him joined their group. He realized that the he and the two seagulls have the same dream and that is to be able to fly at higher acceleration and soar at higher altitudes. Afterwards, he was taught by an old but fast-flying seagull on the proper way of doing acrobatic flying and the secret way of defying the forces of nature such as the wind factor. As time passed by, he was the fastest flying seagull in his new flock. He never lost hope and did many sacrifices before he patiently achieved his goal.

I really enjoyed reading the short but interesting novel for it tells us of one important thing, and that is to fulfill your dream no matter how long it would take and the circumstances that will come. I can relate myself to Jonathan Livingston because at first, he lose hope but sooner realized that letting the opportunity to pass by is a foolish act. Because of the novel, I knew that my future does not depend on my destiny but destiny depends on my doings. The novel taught me about the real fact about patience, sacrifice and the determination that you will succeed in achieving your most admired ambition in life. To tell you honestly, I easily lose hope especially when things turn out what I did not expected. But after taking a moment of reading the novel, I switched that attitude. Now I know that no thing can really hinder me from my success if I just do what is rightfully correct. I do not care if people all around me think that I am crazy. The best way to magnificence is not to avoid problems in life but rather overcome those problems and still have faith to go to the right path. Dreams never fade away but it only takes up so much time that is why people must practice patience in a hard way.

Discipline

“Discipline is the name of the game”, this is the famous quote ever uttered by the famous basketball all-star Michael Jordan. Honestly speaking, all successful people and even powerful leaders all around the globe are equipped with discipline. Discipline really affects a person’s way of thinking, actions and most importantly, his behavior. I know not all people are disciplined like a monk but every one can be if we are only guided by quick-witted, disciplined people.

I know I am not totally disciplined for I always end up being called by our student welfare for violating again a not-so-serious school rule. Sometimes, I even sleep in class because maybe I hate the teacher or the subject. I even easily lose my temper when playing hardly on the basketball court or arguing to my classmates on a heated debate. I am a short-tempered person who outrageously acts first before thinking what I have wrongly done. But all of these changed when I was in fourth year high school. The reason for my step by step changes is when I took Civic Welfare Training Service or CWTS for short. At first, I was not really ready for the subject because first and foremost, I do hate discipline-oriented subjects. I hate being told by my CWTS officers to do things that I never have done before. They always tell me to tuck-in my white t-shirt which I perfectly hate because I am some kind of a guy who adores hip-hop very much. They also watch every move I make which I feel like I was controlled by a wicked dictator. Most of all, they demand respect from us by telling us to do side-steps whenever they walk in front of us and calling them “sir” whenever we talk to them. Funny but true, I do not like being controlled by any of my classmates. Honestly, I felt at that time that I was like a pet and the officers are my strict owners. Sooner I realized that I was just over-exaggerating and foolish when I thought of those things. One by one I adapted to their style of disciplining us, the cadets. They told us that we do all their rightful demands so that we can be disciplined individuals. Discipline is not just about being quiet in meetings or listening to all of your teacher’s lengthy lessons but also following other’s commands without much hesitation. What I meant is discipline is the way of teaching correct and acceptable patterns of proper behavior. Thus, our CWTS officers were disciplining us all the way from the start. Of course, one also needs good thinking to know what is right from wrong. The officers taught us about the real essence of cleanliness, responsibility and patience. Most of all, they oriented us about teamwork since we, the cadets, are grouped into platoons.

I learned many things in our CWTS class that really shaped me to be a better individual and at the same time, a good model to young ones. Now, I never committed a violation of our school’s rules again and I always play basketball without losing my concentration and temper. Most importantly, I now know how to balance my study time and leisure time. I know it takes time to change all your bad habits but all we need is just plain patience and the strong determination that you will possibly change.

CyberFair: A Portal to Technology

ARTICLE

A PEEK AT THE NATURE

“Enjoyable, natural and memorable,” these are three of many words that best describe the liveliness in Mountain View Nature’s Park. This gladsome place is located at Barangay Busay, Cebu City. The park is very wide and the exuberance of the trees makes the place cold like winter. It is a good place to hang- out and to have a picnic with your friends and loved ones. Mountain View is appropriate for all ages since it has a delectable playground where young kids can enjoy playing the seesaws and monkey bars under the blue sky. Older ones can also have their conversations anywhere since the place is clean and blithesome. The fanciful mini zoo can also allure the visiting tourists. The place is so natural; you can bask under the heat of the sun. People are always secured wherever they will go because the park has affable and approachable personnel. If you want to stay for two days or a week, you can check- in at their homesteads. The most interesting part to visit in the whole park is in the giant cross’ spot. In there, one can pray to God and thank Him for the blessings you received from Him. When the night comes, you can see the whole view of the city from the topmost part of the park since Mountain View is situated at the hills. One can also feel the cool breeze while stargazing. Mountain View Nature’s Park is like your second home, a place that animates your odd life. If you visit Cebu, never miss the opportunity to go to this magnificent park and experience the total enjoyment of your life.

SUMMARY

We made a website for our group’s topic which is the Mountain View Nature’s park. This is a well-built park where families, friends and lovers spend together watching the whole view of the city below. It is a nature-filled place that accommodates people with its nice cottages and well-furnished rental rooms. Most of all, it is a good place to hangout since the place is cold and very peaceful. We had a very hard time in making our article because the park’s management staff does not like to be interviewed at least for a short while about the park. But the good thing is we were allowed to take pictures anywhere on the park. We took twenty-eight pictures of the different areas in the huge park which includes the Mini-zoo area, Children’s Garden, Camping area, Giant Cross area, the Children’s Garden and many more.
Funny but true, we also had a hard time roaming around and taking pictures of the whole place because it was very sunny and the park is very wide and we do not have any transportation at that time. So, I recommend to people that when they plan to visit in Mountain View Nature’s Park, they must have vehicles to ride on. But despite the hardships we took, we still managed to create a unique website of the park which was one of the many topics of our school’s website piece for the International CyberFair Contest 2007. Nothing really is impossible if we believe that we can make it.

Lifelong Memories

Last Saturday, march 24, 2007, we had a pre-graduation reconciliation of hurts seminar or most commonly known as Retreat. Our first activity was the Prediction of Outcomes activity which was facilitated by our dear school guidance counselor Madame Anabelle Maglasang. According to Madame Maglasang, “predicting outcomes enables a person to choose and make good decisions in life. Life is what you make it, thus adolescents must think about what can happen after he makes a risk-taking decision.” During the activity, I had hard time thinking about a certain question that really shocked me. The question I rarely asked by people but one needs deep thinking to answer it. The question somehow tells us that we should be thankful to God for he blessed us with lives so we can feel happiness and excitement but sometimes, hardships and pain. Life seems so hard to fulfill but it is not just about the problems but also the good memories and experiences. By the way, the question was “What would happen if you got an illness and was told to live for only a month?”

I really stirred up my mind to think about the answer to this riddle. If ever that happens to me, I would be very sad for my existence has come to an end. The very first thing I would do is to tell all my family members that they are very important to me for they made my life meaningful, complete and colorful. I will say sorry to my loving mother for all the bad things I have intentionally done. I will also apologize to my understanding father for I have not been a very good son to my parents. To tell you honestly, I am a type of son who sometimes does not follow my parent’s advices. I am also the type of guy who is down-to-earth secretive, I do not show my true feelings towards people.

Next, I would meet all my friends in high school. They helped me to be a better person and they are the ones who undoubtedly accepted me no matter how I act to people. I would definitely spend time with them reminiscing all our high school days like group jam sessions and funny basketball experiences.

I would surely miss all my most memorable and embarrassing moments in life. I would also miss all my friends, family and relatives who shaped me to be a better individual to everyone. I know that death is inevitable but before it comes, I would do all the things I have never done before. The last thing I would do during my last day on earth is visit the tombs of my grandparents. They are two of many people whom I have not shown my love with. They died while I was still at a very young age and I did not even have an opportunity to say to them how important they are to me. I regretted much and everyday I feel that I was not a good grandchild to them. If I can do these things for less than a month before I die, then I would die happily knowing that I left a part of my soul to all the people I have met and known better when I was still alive.

The Real Treasure

What makes a man rich? Is it his wealthy fortune? Is it perhaps his family and friends? What really makes life worth living? These are questions that always stir in my mind. But sooner, I had realized the true meaning of wealth, and it all started with a quite oddly movie showing.
Last sunny Sunday, March 25, 2007, I had plainly nothing to do so I watched an interesting animated movie entitled Flushed Away. The movie starts with a wise, well-groomed and happy rat named Roddy who is a pet of a rich, loving family. Although he is living happily in the big house of the St. James’, he is still sad because he does not have a family or a circle of friends but only toys the same size as his. While the St. James’ are on vacation, he felt more loneliness in his heart. Then one time, a happy-go-lucky, mischievous rat from the sewer flushed Roddy in the toilet that led Roddy to the sewer down under. For the first time in his life, he met thousands of rats living in a quite peaceful place in the sewer. Actually, the place looks like a town with buildings made of recyclable garbage. There he met a witted, spunky and loving female rat named Rita who owns a boat named Jammy Dodger. Roddy told Rita to guide him back to his house in Kensington against the ravaging waters of the sewage system in exchange for a precious ruby owned by Roddy’s owners. As time passed by, Roddy found out that Rita had to look for ways to earn money to support her big family. Actually, Rita has fifteen younger siblings to feed including her parents and grandmother. Roddy sooner realized that what makes life worth living is having a family and friends on your side despite the circumstances that may come. The animation film ended with Roddy staying gracefully with Rita and her family in the sewer for the rest of his life.

Honestly, I was carried away by the thought of the animated movie. Now I know that a man is rich not because of his bags of precious jewelries and money but because of his family and friends that always support him in all moments of his life. I found out that being with your family and friends is the greatest gift of all that money can not buy. I do not want to die in this world knowing that I have heart full of loneliness. I am so thankful to God for He gave me a family that cares for me. I have a hardworking father who does his best to support us and, I have a loving mother who never forgets to care for us and teach us good habits and real-life lessons. I have also brothers and sisters who always make me laugh. Most of all, I have funny, jamming friends whom I can talk to whenever I have problems. They make me laugh very hard all the time and they are also my basketball playmates. Definitely, they are the ones who truly accept me for who I am. My family and friends are my most treasured gifts and I hope that I will also be a good gift to them. I maybe far from perfect but I will do my best to make their lives worth living too. If only my grandparents were still alive, they would find out how rich I turned out to be.

A Journey to Live On

Being a high school student is not as easy as it seems. One has to endure the stress caused by sleepless nights of studying difficult and boring lessons. As a high school geek, one must go through strings of hardships to be praised by your not-so-typical teachers. First of all, always keep in mind that you must strive harder for the improvement of your totally-wrecked grades. Set a goal to achieve for it enhances more your determination to gain progress in school. Next, love the teacher and his dreadful subject. Funny but true, this philosophy works out most of the time and I do not know why its existence is much of a great help. My friend and classmate told me that the humorous principle works because the teacher will eventually like you for loving his subject. Funny it seems, I tried to like my subject teachers but their subjects don’t love me in return that is why I end up having only grades little higher than the standards. I guess that philosophy does not work out for happy-go-lucky guys.

Third, never lose concentration during classes even though you are having a hard time understanding every detail of your lessons. Unfortunately, I have a short span of concentration that is why I sleep during class hours when I do not understand the writings on the blackboard. Please do not be such a fool like me because you will only end up scolded by the teacher and be embarrassed in front of your classmates. Now that explains my stupidity.

Fourth in the checklist is that you must always pass your homework and projects earlier than the deadline of submissions. I am not saying that you just pass a mediocre and hastily-done project but rather a well-made one. This will definitely help in because it constitutes one third of your class grades. It does not only make your scores higher than the usual one but it also leaves a positive effect on your teacher’s perception towards you. Next, be good to everyone in the school campus and do your obligations as a responsible student and a model to younger schoolmates.

Lastly, learn to enjoy yourself. Have leisure time by either playing basketball or any kind of sport. You can also take naps during snack breaks so that you will not fall asleep when the teacher is having a lesson.

These are just few of the thousand tips to be a better student and at the same time, a better person. Just like what the movie Coach Carter portrays to everyone, education is the only best option if you want to succeed all circumstances in life.

We should be thankful that we are still studying as of the moment because not everyone is blessed with the opportunity to go to school. Education is the key to one’s success and not as a burden to carry or an opportunity to waste. In life, we must do what it takes because everything happens for a reason. We may not be perfect in nature but we can do better to be almost perfect.

Time is not Enough

Just like the good old saying goes, “Time is more precious than a thousand lumps of glittering diamonds.” Time is like a rightful destiny that can never be reversed nor stopped by any mortal breathing on this world full of miseries. Strangely but true, I always dream of going back in time to correct my ill-laden mistakes on the past. I somehow wished that I will have a magnificent time machine that can go back in time when I was still a small, naughty kid in the neighborhood. A famous proverb says that “to err is human, to forgive is divine” but too much mistakes is not normal but rather a shameful one. That is why I am totally ashamed of my wrong doings in the past for I have hurt several human individuals due to the “frigidness” of my self. I was very insensitive and inconsiderate to the feelings of other people around me during my younger years. So as to correct those errors I have done in the past, I have realized that going reverse in time I would definitely change those mistakes.

If I accidentally rub a magic lamp and a so-called genie comes out, I would definitely ask that genie for a single yet a meaningful wish. My one and only wish is that I would go back in time when I was just a little rascal and my grandparents were still alive. Honestly, I was not able to show my love to them because I was still a mischievous child when they were still on my eyes. They were the ones who cared for me during my childhood days, days that were filled with their love and happiness. I admit that I was not able to show to them my love and that they were important persons in my life. If I can possibly travel back in time, I would surely tell them how important they are to me for they brought joy, happiness and color to darkness-shadowed life. I always reminisce those good old times when my Lolo was the one who fixes my not-so-good-quality toys, and my Lola who spanks me in the butt every time she realizes that my clothes are very dirty after playing in our backyard along with my neighbors.

Thinking back again, I am a guy full of regrets. I always think every second of my damn life that I would had a better destiny right now if I just made the right choices along the path. But life is not just about regrets but more on the happy side. I know I am just human and it is really hard to be me. I somehow overcame those mistakes in the past and I hope that I will never foolishly do those again. Apparently, I disagree with the adage “don’t bring back the past and try to forgive” because it is not easy to forget the past especially if it had a big impact on your life. Just like the song Superman goes, “I am only a man with a funny red sheet and its not easy to be me.”