Warmth in the Heart By a Tiny Lamp

All things perish, every moment has an end and every creature has to face all of these. Life is viewed complicated by some. There are also those who view it as a harmonious form of existence. Each of us has  different impressions, different perceptions, diverse outlooks and has a very unique form of personalities. Some are made blessed and some are made very unfortunate. But we are all equals in the eyes of our Creator, yet the world is just a cruel place to live. People inherit the rights of others. Some are even deprived of all the marvels that they could truly have.

As a Psychology major, it is a must for all of us to immerse ourselves in different situations with those different kinds of people. We believe in the principle of individual differences, thus we should be able to consider others who have more or less capacities than us. In our Educational Tour, what made me shed tears is the child that I have come to interact with in the RSCC-DSWD, Cagayan de Oro City, a home for abandoned children. He was deaf-mute, blind and is malnourished. He cannot walk, that is why he is just placed in a trolley. At first, I was afraid of holding him, because he seemed so vulnerable. What I did was that I talked to him, comfort him with my hand holding his back. I was surprised when he got my hand and held it. Even though he can't respond with words, you can see it in his face that he was happy. That part touched me and I realized that happiness can really be found in small packages. When it is time for us to go, I said my goodbyes to him, yet it seemed that he didn't want us to go. His grasp with his little fingers was so tight. He also seemed to be crying. Even though it's sad, but it is really time for us to go.

That child really made me happy all throughout the day. Eventhough the time that I spent with him was so brief, it is incomparable. I felt compassion. That was really unforgettable. That also made me love my course even more. What I realized was that I have made a very good decision upon choosing the couse. I am looking forward now for more activities that would let mew view the reality and sweetness of life and the wonderful capacity of a human being.

Lost

For the past few weeks, the Psychology majors failed to keep track of what's going on with the world of English 2. It is for the reason that our major course required too much of our time. This is especially true for our Educational Tour, which is a mjor requirement for us to uplift our grades. For the term paper writing, I felt so anxious of starting it. I haven't been able to Consult Teacher Lynnie for our outline. The situation also got offhand because we weren't able to meet last week because of the seminar that our teacher has attended to. All of my classmates was worried about not having to finish our term paper and the probability of not being able to submit it on time also lies. Last meeting, I have scannned through variuos reference materials and was able to come-up with an idea. It seemed that at that moment, I was enlightened.

We are now facing various kinds of paper works, especially for our major courses. It is really essential to utilize the writing techniques that English 2 has to offer. This course enabled students who will be taking up English 8: Technical Writing to have a background of the things that should be done.

I am looking forward for positive outcome on my term paper. For I know that finishing this will be one of the major achievements for this semester.

Our Last Meeting

For our term paper, we have discussed about Thesis Statements. As far as I know, it is like a formulating a hypothesis. The atmosphere in our classroom has been evolve into a very good place of learning. The brainstorming is really a good idea. We have been able to interact with our other classmates, as well as we have shared what we have in each of our thoughts.
About the APA format for the bibliography, I have just learned recently that it stands for the Psychological Association of the Philippines. The format is such a convenient tool for cititng the different references that we will be using for our paper.
We will be in for our outlining tomorrow and we are looking forward for a good outcome for our group. Last time I was not able to join them because the Psychology Majors were not around due to our scheduled class picture-taking.
I think making an outline will be a task that really requires critical thinking and I do hope we will be able to live-up with that.

Honesty is a Must

The upcoming elections put a twist in the lives of people since it is another time to elect for leaders that might hold the possible future of this country. It is a time of controversies for many and especially for the politicians since almost all of them regard themselves as appropriate for the positions that they are aiming at. The Philippines is regarded as one of the countries with the most corrupt officials. This is for the reason that our justice system only breeds mediocrity. Usually this is caused by people who want to dominate over others. Also, the traditional tabulation of votes is making it harder for the votes to be calculated in time. It might take days just to find out who wins for a certain position. For easier tabulation of votes, our country is now adapting a modern way of conducting the elections. This is what we called as the automated election since every voter's ballot will be automatically scanned and recorded into the computer system.

Yet there will always be a negative aspect of it. Biases can never be avoided. There will always be the possibility of manipulating the data and thus the so-called "dagdag-bawas" will still happen. Adapting new ways isn't that bad. But it is now the people's responsibility to take into consideration the good outcome of his/her every deed. Because if a person will always have honesty in himself, no matter what the situation is, he can still manage to resist a very tempting situation. That is why if we really aim for a fair and clean elections, let us be honest with each of ourselves. If we begin by our own self, then this world will be a better place.

The Fruit of Being Fortunate

In preparation for our Educational Trip for our Developmental Psychology, all of us are busy with all of our tasks. Each group is responsible for all the institutions that will be visited by the class. We are planning to have it in Cagayan de Oro City. It is for the reason that more institutions are available there and we also need a broader sense of experience for the purpose of learning. All is excited to conduct it, especially because travelling is really an enjoyable task for adolescents. Yet to attain the realization of our plans, it requires unity, effort and understanding of the whole class.

At this point, all of us are active for the preparation of the letters that is necessary for the fulfillment of the said activity. Our professor would want to teach us independence, since every activity that will be covered by this Educational Tour will be handled by us. We must work for all the preparations and must also spend for it. Time, effort and money this is all we need. Thinking about it, it will really drain all of your energy. Yet I believe that this would be self-fulfilling, since this is what we really all want. Learning to interact with different people from all stages of life is an experience that not everyone can have. This opportunity will enable me to understand more how blessed and thankful I am to partake with this.

In our film showing in our CWTS Class, the documentary featuring the life of street children that has been jailed together with adult inmates was viewed by us. The miseries of their life inside that place were truly an experience that we really don’t want to have. The scarcity of their primary needs- food, water, beds, medical facilities and sanitized comfort rooms is so terrible. Some of them just stand when they sleep, because of the lack of space. Those children who are with those adult inmates learned to adapt with the ways of the people in there. It is so sad to know that a situation like that exists. I realized how blessed I am to experience a life that is really blessed with responsible parents, a home that can shelter us from the heat of the sun and the rain, and an education that every individual should have. Those children have a very great chance for their lives if only they have been raced properly. Some of them even showed a sign of intelligence. Let me end this with this question: when would situations like this stop? Each being should learn to appreciate more of what they have rather than getting too insecure of the things that they long to have.

Take Your Time

A lesson regarding life occurred to me like a light. It told me about few things that I must make for my own day and as well as sharing this thought to others. I can still clearly remember the first time I encountered this. I have leaped through the pages of the book a Purpose Driven Life by Rick Warren and it said there that “each day, we should live our lives as if it’s our last day on this earth”. The reason behind this is that people will set their minds to accomplish satisfactorily their plans for their living. Now, as we come to our last topic in Developmental Psychology which is Death and Bereavement, this thought has been acknowledged once again. Often, we just don’t realize that every moment of our life is a precious one that once spent; it will never go back to us again.

There are some things that I realized how all of us are getting ourselves too preoccupied with the idea of laziness. We are stunned by procrastination, and in fact, this would just generate failure for all of us. An old friend has told me the difference between Time and Money, because Money can still go back to your hands no matter how you spent it. There will always be ways of looking for Money, but Time, no matter what degree of effort you exert on it, there’s no way of receiving it again. That is why the cliché stating that “time is gold” hits us like a speeding bullet. We are not able to feel the pain at first but after a while, we’ll just realize that we are bleeding. We should know enough of what to do with all our priorities. When we think that we have still so much time, we should also think that only very little of it remains as we waste it.  At one end of the rope remorse lies and it just keeps us from blaming each of ourselves. Often we waste opportunities to let people know how much we would want to show our affection for them. We believe in the idea that everything last forever but no it doesn’t. All things under the sun perish at the right time.

Time is an essence of our lives. It goes with us in every second and with every wink of an eye. The meaning that you give to death will reflect the meaning that you give to your life. This was stated by our professor, Dr. Alma G. Maranda. This is definitely true; we should be able to make our priorities worth for all our sacrifices, so that at the end we can proudly say that “life is not a struggle to be solved but a gift to be enjoyed”.

           

Way to a Calm Afternoon

Walking along the boulevard in a placid afternoon while waiting for the tranquil sunset could bring you a feeling of warm easiness from the cacophonic streams of the world around. The Dipolog City Boulevard is a place for people to exercise early in the morning, to walk their dogs, to sit on the concrete, painted benches and to relax from their everyday encounter with stress. There are many young couples that make the boulevard their dating place, as well as they are fond of witnessing the dramatic scene of the sunset that portrays a blissful story of the day’s end.

The Dipolog City Boulevard extends for about three kilometers, starting from the shore lines of Sta. Cruz, Central Barangay reaching to the Galas Feeder Port. It is like a very long horizontal concrete road that has four divisions. The first part is about one meter wide and is elevated at about 8 inches from the middle part, this has no protection barriers, and so if someone is not careful enough, he might eventually fall down into the sea. This is the one that touches the sea with its seawalls during high tides; during low tides, the seawalls only touch the sands of the shore. The second part is a road for the people to stroll into, it is elevated for about eight inches from the middle part and is about three meters wide; the benches are lined up two meters apart from each other at the edge of the second part; each bench has one lamp post beside it, while the coconut trees are planted three meters apart at the center of the way, which makes them face the benches. The middle part of the road is where the vehicles pass by; at every edge of this part are street lights. This is about three and one-half meters wide and has pedestrian lines on it. The fourth part is the widest of all; it is about four to five meters wide. This is an area for vendors and tenants who sell food, especially barbecue and drinks. Some also sells souvenir items. This area is divided into blocks that are about four meters wide and six to seven meters long; in between the blocks are roads that will lead the visitors to the city proper, making their exits from the boulevard. The first block has comfort rooms for men and women and as well as orchid vendors, since Dipolog City is labeled as the Orchid City. The second block has a multi-purpose stage and steel bleachers that caters any activities that the city government will hold. The third block is for small eateries and the rest of the blocks is still vacant and were planted with grasses and seedlings. The second phase of the boulevard is still under construction and everybody is anticipating its full completion soon.