001. THE U-TURN

I thought the worse was over. I thought everything would be fine now. I thought I would never again experience to be teased and be hurt because of something even I do not want to have. You see, I’m sick. It is not that serious, actually, it isn’t even contagious. It is simply not pleasant to the eyes, an eyesore in short. I already tried to fix it and I was successful, well, I thought I was.

                This afternoon it came back, though. I can no longer hide it from my classmates and so they were able to see it. They teased me afterwards. The incident happened before our exam and so during the exam I can no longer concentrate. The moment I finished answering, I left the room immediately. It was so humiliating. I was really hurt. I do not know how to face them anymore. But you know what? It pains me more that they did not even realize that I did not choose to be sick. That who on earth would want such problems?! 

Random Questions 002

Do you have regrets in life?

                 Yes, I do have regrets, many regrets in life. At the top of the list is the fact that I am too proud to admit something. Say a mistake, a special feeling for someone, or even saying that I am wrong. I care so much for my pride that I neglect assuring the people around me that they are love and that they are important. I can actually cite three stories that could explain this and here they are:

Once I have this guy friend that really likes me and I like him, too. The problem is that I do not see him as the right guy for me. He simply does not fit my standards and so, I ignored the feelings I have for him. But I guess, the more you suppress something, the more it will haunt you. So the feeling continued and grew stronger until one day I realized that I cannot fight it anymore and need to tell him everything. But just as when I finally gathered the courage to confess, I learned that he already has feelings for someone else. And that was the end of my love story.

The second  one is about friendship. Back in high school, I belonged to a group of five girls. I can say that we were the best of friends. We eat in the cafeteria together, stay up late in the campus, practice church songs (we are all members of the church choir), and would go home together. We were inseparable. But like what they say, some good things never last. And that what happened to us. The friendship we once shared was ruined by some misunderstanding. The fight lasted for a year, and even if we are now in good terms with each other, the bonding; trust; and love did not return.

The last story is about the death of my Tatay. He died when I was in my third year in high school. You see, I am never really close to Tatay. When he was still alive, seldom do I get a chance to have long talks with him. And when he is away (he is usually out of town because of work), the more I do not get a chance to talk to him. When he got sick, he just stayed at home. He did not want to be sent to the hospital for that would mean additional expenses for the family. While me and my two siblings continued to go to school and acted as if there is nothing wrong, my Nanay was the one who took care of Tatay. Tatay died without me and my sister there. A family friend fetched me and my sister at school and told us the bad news on our way home. You see, I consider this as my greatest regret in life. To be away from Tatay when he died. Shame on me because I was not able to take care of him when he was struggling for life but to be away at the time he died is even more unbearable.

004. Detrimental Results

                 Just received the results of my exam. Guess what, I failed. This means that the examination on Saturday, 26 March 2011, is my only chance to improve my grades. I better start reviewing, I do not want to take that subject for the second time around

Random Questions 001

What do you want to do for a career and why?

                 For a career, I would love to have a business of my own. I want to have a place renovated and landscaped in such a way that people could celebrate their must precious and special moments together. I would love to have a place that could be rented by people for special occasions. Furthermore, I would love to have a coffee shop. That would be nice and cool. Still have not found a place where to set-up yet but I would really love that. Why? It is because I want to be part of somebody’s life even for just a few moments. That they would eternally remember the place. I will practice my degree only to a certain point. I really do not want to spend my whole life out in the field and be with the forest. I already have my share with that in my college days. It would be great to spend my life on social gatherings for a change.

003. Morning Pain

                 I woke up this morning with an aching back. I guess it was because I fell asleep in a not so comfortable position last night. And to my dismay, I was not able to finish (again) my readings. It is a very saddening truth you know, waking up. Waking up knowing you still haven't finished anything because you fell asleep but more so because you do not have any determination to finish them. It really sucks. So all I did was to pray. Pray that God would give me the determination and will to finish everything on time this time. I really need that you know. I really do.

002. GRADUATION GOT-AWAY

I woke-up this morning with a dream I cannot forget. A dream that is all about graduation. You see, I am a fourth year college student. I’m suppose to graduate next month but for some academic reasons I cannot. I would be extended for a another semester. From a university where  academic overstaying is a norm, I could be considered lucky being extended for only one semester but I guess then again, am I?

                 First, let me give you a little background. From where I came from, people put high value on education and treat their children as precious possessions and a n object of pride. They would usually send their children to the most prestigious school that offers quality education and values. The most common but obscure way of bragging their children and achievements is through religion. Entering the church in our town, one would notice that all are dressed in their most formal attire. At first glance, one would think that all are there for the sole purpose worship but look again and you would notice that there is something more than just worship. But wait, there is more. Another thing that I do not like about our place is that the town’s people being a gossipers.

So, you see, thinking things over, I really feel guilty of being extended. Aside from the fact that my family is already financially-challenged and my Nanay is already having a hard time working just to send me and my other two siblings to school (I’ll get to that story later), it’s the town’s people that worries me. Because for sure they would bombard Nanay so many questions about me and why am I not graduating this semester.

IMPACTS OF INCREASING HUMAN POPULATION

sI am totally aware that the planet Earth is now highly populated. But I was shocked to know that in every second two people are being born, that everyday 200,000 people are being produced, and that in a year 80 million people are being added to our already large number. These make our population today to be approximately seven billion. The reason for this is simple, we have about one billion teenagers which will eventually have families of their own, and their children will also have children of their own and so on and so forth. We just keep on multiplying.

            So, what is the problem if we have the capacity to double or even triple our population with such a short period of time? Isn’t that an advantage to our kind? The answer is no. In his book entitled “An Essay on Human Population”, Thomas Malthus said that the power of population is indefinitely greater than the power in the earth to produce subsistence for man, which is true. The earth has what we call “land carrying capacity”, it is the amount or number of life an ecosystem can support. This means that there is a limit to how much life the earth can sustain and with the numbers our species is reaching, we are nearing that limit.

            Increasing population means increasing demands for food, water, energy, shelter and the like. The pressure that humans have put into these resources is so intense that the resources’ sustainability is already impaired. Water, for instance, is getting scarcer. Though 70% of the earth is covered with water only 2 ½% is freshwater, and out of that only 1% is available for human use. Unfortunately, this 1% is not use in a sustainable way. Pressure on water resources also puts pressure on another important resource– food. Productivity of the land in terms of food supply should now be doubled in order to feed our growing population. Energy, another resource that we get from nature, is now harder to find.

            To reduce the negative impacts brought about by increasing human population, we must try to stop consuming too many resources; change technology; and reduce population growth. Some countries, such as China; India and some parts of Africa, are now making a move to reduce their population. China enforced a one-child policy; some time in India, the government held festivals that provide vasectomy operations; in some parts of Africa contraceptive pills and even hormones are made available. All of these activities are attempts to reduce or stabilize a countries’ population growth.

            What China, India, and Africa have done in order to reduce the impacts of increasing human population to our natural resources is not the only solution. An understanding of the nature is also crucial for the sustainable use of resources. We, humans, were given the ability to think rationally and that intelligence is the one that could lead us to innovate new things that could help us save not just ourselves but the whole planet Earth. 

001. EXAMINATION FAILURE

Just got home from an out-of-this world examination. I feel so terrible because the only page that I did not bother to read and review in the given handout was the one and only question in the examination. So, obviously, I do not know what to answer. I just made-up strategies and steps in doing a comprehensive management plan.

              

 It really sucks, you know. It sucks because I was not always like this before. I use to pass all my exams and sometimes top it but now, look at me, I am nothing but a failure. But you know what really sucks? It is the fact that every time I try again I would end up losing and finding myself even buried deep under the mud.