It's remarkable, isn't it? All of those nights I spent cramming for the test the next morning, all of the books I have read and the essays I wrote, all of the lessons I learned from not only my teachers, but my friends as well, all of the friendships I began, ended, and mended, and all of the wonderful and terrible experiences I have had throughout high school life. I have already been through so much, but with so many people behind me. Now I must learn how to keep going even when everyone seems to be against me.

Teachers, classmates, friends, and family: people touch my lives in a lot of ways. Some of my lifelong friends have read this; there are also some people I will never see again. No one wants to be the person to say that. But just because people are in our lives for a finite amount of time does not mean they cannot be infinitely important to us.

Time is how we measure it; you can split a minute into 100 million segments, then split those, then split those. This means a moment is as long as you want it to be, it is infinite. And meaning something to someone in a moment, being the one who asks a classmate what's wrong when they come into homeroom worn down, making a friend laugh so hard they cry, listening to someone when they feel alone, picking someone else up when they fall, these little pieces make up lives.

I often hold the negative moments in my heart, a criticism of my face, a bad score, a fight, discrimination, judgments, accusations, wrong sort of words and betrayals. We can't let them go; it's an annoying part of human nature. But it's the moments of strength I should hold on to; those are what unite us long after we walk back out that door. Those are what hold us all together as time and space separate us.

I found me, and the passion to become the first-rate version of myself. And while it really is an amazing honor for you reading this after all those days junior year staying up until 3am reading novels for leisure reading reports, or about technology for science, or unending scratch papers for mathematics problem, I can't help but feel a bit like the scene of Two Wives or The Legal Wife.

There are those who are committed athletes. You shatter records in basketball, volleyball and badminton. You practiced for hours and hours, woke up early for workouts, went to days, ran suicides, pushed past mistakes and losses and you should be so proud of the person you have become. There is also who excelled at history fair, those who take breath-taking photographs. There are those of you who write poetry, who write novels. You are best friends, older sisters and little brothers. And there are also those who are devoted to be a dota player or lol who sacrifice their class hours and later on become the headline of Forbes magazine. There are also students who tried to sneak out for class because they hate their teachers and eventually become teachers. There will also be some of you who are trouble-makers yet become a lawmaker someday. And none are just one thing. Among you is a math genius who writes poetry, basketball or dota star who also performs on stage, fierce taekwondo player who is also fiercely compassionate with his crush, a  dancer who excels in the computer laboratory as much as she does on the stage.

Days are passing by so fast we're off to Great Places. Some of us had it rough, and others had it easier: we all know what it took to get us this far. But this is a jumping off point; only the beginning of our journey. I have been given all of the tools I need to succeed.

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           I’m moving gently forward over the wild and beautiful world below me. I’m floating in silence and breaking it up with the sound of my breath. Above me there’s nothing but shimmery light, the place where I’ve come from and will go back to when I am done here. I’m diving. I am scuba diver. I’m going deeper past the wrinkled rooks and dark seaweed toward a deep blueness where a school of silver fish waits. As I swim through the water, bubbles burst from me wobbling like little jelly fish as they rise. I check my air I don’t have as much time as I need to see everything but that is what makes it so special.

            Now that I’m breathing above the periwinkle-like light upon the sky, a young man lend me a white towel as to make myself dry because I will be getting late into my real job-an accountant. I am not yet the woman of the world I’ve been dreaming for so many years but at least I can say that it is now so close to reality. I am giving myself a reward lately for I will be promoted later on regardless of the few years in the industry. I pursued so I get what I deserve. All things went straight, went well. I am having a shower when the telephone rings, and I was like “Oh, no my dog did it again.” Handling my towel, there I go looking for Pachuuu who got the telephone and keep on dialling random numbers. I found him at the garden and somebody is talking. I grabbed the phone and stopped the conversation. I am now having my breakfast when someone is beeping in front of our unfinished abode, and suddenly rings the doorbell. Hesitantly, I opened the door and slammed it after allowing that person to enter, my little brother. I forgot that he is now graduating and I need to lend a time with him later on for some necessary papers and more but he chooses to stay a little longer in the house to take some rest after a long ride out there. I am looking for my briefcase and carelessly I accidentally dropped something, a picture of my Neneng days and as usual, my past visits me again until I heard my phone rings.

            I have decided to go home for a while but I am not going to our family house instead going to a place where a moment has been shared right there and had witnessed a pinky swear to a very important person that we will meet again at the same place and time, January 3. As I walk through the aisle, one by one all the memories that have never been forgotten for years, I can see how it happened, how the words keep me going, all the deafening voice of happiness, it all came once upon a time and right there I saw a familiar scene where a pair of shadows stand before the statues. I saw the smile and pairs of eyes vying the world. As I go nearer, everything is fading. “Wel,” Did someone just call my name? It must be my imagination again but wait, did someone just lean his head on my shoulders? Slowly turning my back, “You win. I came.”, he murmurs.

            Imagination is sometimes the closest to reality, not a dream. You control everything when you imagine because you are using at the same time your brain and heart unlike dreaming your mind ONLY does the activity. Your mind knows where you should go but only your heart can tell where you can find your happiness. Dream big? No, Imagine great!# read more

Have you ever seen the dawn? Not the dawn with lack of sleep or hectic with mindless obligations and you are about to rush off on an early responsibilities, but full of deep silence and absolute clarity perception?

A sunrise is God’s way of saying, “Let’s start again.” Every second, every minute, every hour, every day is a beginning which God giving us the opportunity not to erase of what we have done wrong yesterday or make the same mistake but to make things right the way it should be. We are always puzzled of thinking how to begin a thing. We are always afraid to fail of what we begin. At some instances, we are about to give up not because we must but because we can’t. We are pinned down with doubts to our capability to hold on to things. We have the hands to take in action but we do not have the heart to fulfill it. Everything we do has its own purposes which are done with a grateful heart so we can avoid messing up things we are responsible of what will happen and no one to blame but ourselves. A successful ending doesn’t need a perfect beginning. It just needs a person who has the perfect vision to his own positive outcome where he puts his whole innocence to the things he believes in. One who can balance positive from negative, who can give his wholesome attention and focus and one who cannot be easily driven away to the challenges of life he will be facing about. We should bear in mind that no one is a master at the beginning, everyone starts from initial level. We only need courage to take that step and patience to keep walking until we reach our destination. We do not expect congratulations to a successful beginning but applause at successful ending.

We do not have to see the beginning and the end of our lives, but we must close our eyes and live as if we didn’t start or would never end.

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Something big and exciting is happening to Ilocos Sur’s Kannawidan Festival. Ilocos Sur’s piece of fairy tale like event considered by many to be the heart and soul of Ilocanoes is slowly but surely will become, in time, one of the most attractive festivals in this part of locality.

            The Kannawidan Festival as an important tourist attraction has moved a step closer to reality. Management seeks to fully develop this astonishing place, upgrade its facilities, and make a visit to this vivacious festival something to always look forward to. The said festival is a view of a perfect vacation paradise for local and foreign tourists who are seeking out for new places where they can commune with the desired products of respective places.

            The expected melodious music of every school in Ilocos Sur will make the Kannawidan Festival lively. The deafening sounds will be made by those local instruments, the way graceful dancers will enchant the audience. Audience will be astonished of what they will see.

With the inexcusable commotion of crowd, the melodious music of every school in Ilocos Sur made the festival satisfactory. The ear-piercing sounds made by those lively instruments, the way elegant dancers put in touch throughout the event. Audience did not mind the portentous situation they were bumped into just to watch and it was not regrettable at all.

Getting involved with this big event was my pleasure though it was a great sacrifice in my part for staying there in the middle of the night. A numerous droplets of sweat did not bother me at all. Seeing those magnificent smiles of the performers faded away my tiredness. Getting cheesed off with the annoyance of ear splitting sounds made by the different uncertain sounds.

I truly understand if the judges were screwed up making decisions where to put the crown in every event. It was a battle between champions among champions. A fairy tale-like music hooked up the crowd and sometimes forceful sounds made us triggered. Tucked up with those pleasing blends of instrument. Blind with the colorful costumes of the energetic dancers and had moved the attention of everybody.

It will never be a waste of time because of the charm by the wonderful presentations they will show. Seeing those magnificent smiles of the performers will bump you into gladness. Coming here will not be regrettable because in here the word boring does not exist and never will be.

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             Just as simply looking by the window how the year had brought along the undiscovered bonding with fellow. As calm as the cold breeze outdoors, the warmth of being compact together in times of miserable and unexpected yet adventurous moments. A grown love that is contagious to the minds and hearts of everyone that if ever tried to fall out that one must die.

Special Mathematics Class

A classroom where it began almost all first times had done but never gone. A group of people who just love to have a fond with because they believe that a person is not born to be a child forever. No rules, no complaints just fun, which are the family, build up together with different personalities, attachments and past. These are just people who seem to find out already what life really means and that is protecting each other like your own eggs. Not just once but many trials, forgotten trials, to sum up of how could this relationship between all of us much stronger than any out there. Yes, at some point people misjudged them by simply believing what they see and hear but we are not and never been bothered hearing all those lies bumping unto us. Do they simply know the root of that tree? No. People keep on messing up our name and yet, honestly we are hurt but not guilty of what their words mean to us. We just flip up our hair and laugh at whoever says that. We are in grave of the reality happening outside of that window but whatever is there, we have the world we have just began to rule. We do not intend to offend someone but rather we are just being ourselves and nothing has to do with vengeance or somewhat called revenge. We do not even care what others may say, it is enough for us to know that we are a solid team. We are not bad eggs as they told so but we will not use a single second to show them what we are.

We are just as simple students as they believed. But only the difference is that we are not leaving a day without a memorable incident, bad or good. This is how compact we are, the oneness regardless of each histories of life because we are not living in history rather we are writing our own. We are Special Math Class, the keepers of freedom.

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A Von Voyage to the Old Life

Have you ever seen the dawn? Not the dawn with lack of sleep or hectic with mindless obligations and you are about to rush off on an early responsibilities, but full of deep silence and absolute clarity perception? Have you ever heard the windless place which drags people to unrealistic happenings just like the thought of having an endless happiness? Leaves of autumn keep falling from a tree where it believed to have a forever stay but unfortunately it will only stay as a hope.  Everything changes of what it should be from the beginning.

My life is elusive. My life sucks. My life is a curse. But how come others have worse than me but never heard a word from them? Does that mean I am weak? Is it that bad? No. With the life I’m having is the portal of others to see that whatever uncertainty they have there is still someone has it worse, and that’s me. Does that mean, there could be worse than mine? But where are they to make me see that I am still lucky compared to them? Oh. I knew it then. They are certainly busy improving their lives unlike me keeps on talking a mess of complaints.

Start of a New Beginning

A sunrise is God’s way of saying, “Let’s start again.” Every second, every minute, every hour, every day is a beginning which God giving us the opportunity not to erase of what we have done wrong yesterday or make the same mistake but to make things right the way it should be. We are always puzzled of thinking how to begin a thing. We are always afraid to fail of what we begin. At some instances, we are about to give up not because we must but because we can’t. We are pinned down with doubts to our capability to hold on to things. We have the hands to take in action but we do not have the heart to fulfill it. Everything we do has its own purposes which are done with a grateful heart so we can avoid messing up things we are responsible of what will happen and no one to blame but ourselves. A successful ending doesn’t need a perfect beginning. It just needs a person who has the perfect vision to his own positive outcome where he puts his whole innocence to the things he believes in. One who can balance positive from negative, who can give his wholesome attention and focus and one who cannot be easily driven away to the challenges of life he will be facing about.

We should bear in mind that no one is a master at the beginning, everyone starts from initial level. We only need courage to take that step and patience to keep walking until we reach our destination. We do not expect congratulations to a successful beginning but applause at successful ending. We do not have to see the beginning and the end of our lives, but we must close our eyes and live as if we didn’t start or would never end. Let the world drain you from nightmares in past. Start a new.

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The Season of Everyday

A countdown to the spring of love, forgiveness and giving-Christmas! The symbolic cold breeze of our sphere wraps people from different races, from different nations. One heart, one soul to the religious unordinary event which gazes the rearing of the true essence of the awaited day. It is the day where dignity, honour, rights, pride and name being stepped on will be executed and let they be resurrected and start over again.

            I was about to play with my ace when suddenly a thing just came out of my mind and knocks the door of my numb heart-friendship. Tears running down to my face and once broke out the silence upon me. I didn’t possibly expect that it brought me this too far. But I was stepped on by everybody and it was not that bad I thought to speak out for me just for once. I was humiliated. I was pinned down in depression. I was about to change everything in me that I used to be just to get out of this mess and start a life without a single one of them, my so called classmates. I was hurt. I was the victim. Was that too much to forget? Was that too much to forgive? What did I do wrong to take their way in me?

I didn’t do a single thing that may hurt them. I never did think of ominous ideas for them to make them throw those words unto me. I didn’t make anything that could probably push them away from me. But all of a sudden, with a single glimpse, the damage has been done. It is not that easy to pretend, to forget, to forgive and just get over those trials. It was not that easy to cover up every day my agony, despair and pain within me just to get this through and let the things just go on as if it was not bothering me at all. I am a human too. I have feelings. I have my name protected for how so many years but how come that in just one click they had all vanished. Is this too much for a person like me to hinder? Is this too much to ask a break and let me fix everything?

Yes, it is indeed Christmas time, love, forgiveness and giving season but how am I going to make things up when I am in the middle of nowhere whom nobody never bothered to think of what could their words penetrated me? I am still in my process, process of understanding every single detail even the smallest reason. Am I that bad enough not to just forgive them because they just drowned by their emotions? But did they ever think of me having a Christmas like this? I don’t think so.

And one day, I ended up being so tired of not releasing my feelings. They told me the reasons, the mistakes. I told them how these things got me through. Silence between us. I burst into tears while remembering all their words and all they had to do is to listen, stare and I have no idea of what they were thinking of. I just gave all of my words.  They asked for forgiveness, I accepted.

That is life, very simple. And that is Christmas, we may not notice it embracing us but we live to it not for only every 25^th day of December but for EVERYDAY. Merry Christmas!

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