Choice Vs. Destiny

“Is life a matter of choice or destiny?”

As I remember, this was the first question our teacher asked before introducing us the story of Iliad and Odyssey. My first opinion about this is, it’s a matter of Destiny. I based my answer with what the Bible said that our lives are already planned by God. But as we tackle our lesson my mind has changed…

On my experience, Greek culture, the god and goddesses are not that easy to understand. I got a hard time dealing with them especially with their words and how they delivered it.
I can’t even understand at first why would they do such brutal things like what Achilles did to Hector. It just doesn’t make any sense to me. But as we go on , I discovered that honor has a great impact to them. Also, The Greek gods and goddesses like helping the mortals hurt each other. I don't have any idea why they do it .

As we go on with Odyssey, I find myself enjoying it.

My favorite among the adventures of Odysseus is his journey inside the cave of Polyphemus. Though his foe is a giant cyclops, he didn't get scared and still thought of a way to get away from that danger. This is just one of the most unforgettable event in the story.

In conclusion, I believe that a man's destiny is based on how he make his own decisions. Just like what happened to Odysseus during his adventures, even if many people or even gods become obstacles in achieving what he want, he was able to reach his goals with full of courage. Honestly, even if I had a hard time dealing with Greek lessons at first, I find it enjoyable at the end. And so with this, I learned a lot of things and I hope that I can use this or some of this in my future.

INVINCIBLE yet VULNERABLE

ACHILLES

Achilles, the son of military man Peleus and the sea-nymph Thetis was known to be the most powerful warrior. When he was young , his mother dip him into the "river styx" so that he would be a immortal. In Greek mythology, Achilles was known to be a legendary but reluctant warrior who fought in the Trojan War .

Upon reading the book 22 of the Iliad, I came to the conclusion that Achilles is a brutal and mercilles warrior. "and then my heart might shed its dreadful sorrow, for he's taken from me many valiant sons. Some he's butchered.Others he's sold in islands far away ." (22.57-60.221) proves how brutal he is. He didn't kill them, he butchered them.

Everyone has a weakness, to some, it may not be visible to others. Just like Achilles's heel. Though almost his whole body was immortal and invincible, his heel remained mortal and vulnerable. In the end, his strength and brutality was not seen, it was his death caused by an arrow that hit his heel.

“How a man plays the game shows something of his character. How he loses shows all of it.”

"An Enormous Homemaker"

Proverbs 31:29 “Many women do noble things but you surpass them all”

Before, women were only asked to stay at home to do household chores and men were the ones who used to work.. but now, even the woman could handle such things as men’s do..


Many women today work outside the home because of many reasons and one of them is to help in sustaining their family needs.
I don’t need to search for other woman whom I admire because she’s already in front of me. As what I’ve said in my previous blog, I grew up in a Christian family. My mom was my first teacher , as I remember she first told me what’s right and wrong. And as I grew up, I used to explore my own world carrying out all the advices she taught me.

I consider my mom as an extraordinary woman.. Imagine this, a woman on top of the roof getting some fruits of malunggay tree, isn’t it amazing . What about a woman repairing an electric fan and a flat iron ? She can even cook , sweeps and mops the floor while washing the clothes. WOW!

I really admire my mom, she works hard for us. Sometimes I used to see her very tired about her work but when she noticed that I was looking at her , she will just smile and say “hi baby”. No matter how late she sleeps at night she make sure that she can prepare our “baon” the following day. She cheers me up when I am blue. She treats her children like a baby in the evening, because she’s still finds time to cuddle us and sings a lullaby before we sleep.
She’s a best friend to us her children too. We can share everything to her. We share some jokes, even our thoughts and feelings. And she always say,” I understand your feelings
because I have gone through that.”

A working mom, a teacher, a guidance counselor, a student, a maid, a doctor, a sewer, business woman, shoemaker, technician, chef, singer, writer, a helper, joker (kahit minsan korni), and a wife. In short , a HOME MAKER.


"Look in those eyes... Listen to that dear voice... Notice the feeling of even a single touch t0’hat is bestowed upon you by that gentle hand Make much of it while yet you have that most precious of all gifts. Read the unfathomable love of those eyes; the anxiety of that tone and look, however slight is your pain. In after life you may have friends, fonds, dears, but never you will have again the inexpressible love & gentleness levished upon you which none but a mother bestows."
- Macaulay

LEADING THE WAY..

"Encourage and assist each child to strive for academic excellence and to make excellence his/her way of life”



This is one of the mission of Taytay United Methodist Christian school (TUMCS). This institution continuously developing students who are not just good in academics but also when it comes to spiritual matter. And because of its high standard, the TUMCS became popular in Rizal. The discipline among student inside and outside the campus makes the TUMCians become popular in other schools. So let us not blemish the reputation of our school, Instead strive hard, like other alumni they reaped many awards during their collegiate times.

My dear fellow students let us continue in pursuing our goals not just for our own sake but also for God’s glory and for the reputation of our beloved school. And lastly, let us be proud to be a part of this CHRISTIAN SCHOOL.

GAFFE for ENRICHMENT

Writing is a craft that requires both talent and acquired skills. You learn by doing, by making mistakes and then seeing where you went wrong.
-Jeffrey A. Carver

Since elementary , I really had a hard time dealing with ENGLISH . I hate reading books and opening the dictionaries when I encountered unfamiliar words. There was a time when I asked my mom about the meaning of a word and she just answered me back dictionary ba ako ? “ . Every time I asked my mom about that , I already knew her answer. Sometimes I asked myself “bakit kaya hindi ako magaling sa English ? puro math lang ba ako ? “. There was also a time when my mom said that “nakakatuwa kayo , si kuya magaling sa Social Studies, si bunso sa English at science at ikaw naman sa math “ but the most beautiful part there was “so kung ang isa mahina doon , magtulungan dapat kayo “. So when I stepped in high school, I’ve practiced being independent. I’m trying to do my best to love every lesson in each subject especially in English.


It was February 22, 2011 when my teacher entered the room with papers containing our errors in our blogs. When I got the paper, I scanned it immediately thinking that I may have some errors included there. While I was checking and correcting it something came to my mind “there are still many things to learn “. Yeah! It is true that I have a lot of things to learn when it comes to writing.


As we all know, grammar is one of the most important lesson in English because it helps us to express our thoughts. And if we know how to use it correctly we can have a good conversation with others. Think of this, “How can someone understand what you are about to say, if your words make it confusing? “. Writing is also connected with this, “how can it be effective and interesting to readers if it doesn’t make sense at all ? “. Grammar is really important to us, we may find it hard sometimes but remember if we learn from it, it’s worth it ! .

More over , we can improve our communication skills through READING and WRITING. Sometimes we may encounter some mistakes but let it be our way for our improvement not just as a STUDENT but also a WRITTER .

For…

“Writing is an exploration, you start from nothing and learn as you go “

Staying within the Tracks

“Success or failure is caused more by mental attitudes than by mental capacities”






February 14-18 , 2011 was the most exciting and enjoyable week for most students because here, we can express our own talents and skills when it comes to physical activities. It also helps the students to discover their hidden abilities.





I was so glad because I was chosen by my teacher and classmates to join the Volleyball and Basketball girls. And for preparations, I used to watch the recorded games of my brother and get some techniques on how to play basketball; also the things I shouldn’t do while playing. But before the sports fest, someone told me that they changed the players in volleyball and they don’t include me. It’s alright I’ll just focus on basketball.

It was February 16 when the intramurals started. I was so nervous on what may happen during the game and when I saw the schedule , we’ll be competing with the 4th year students. Suddenly my father came, I was shocked when he asked me what time was our game, I said it was 2:05 in the afternoon. While waiting, all the girls were told to go up at the 5th floor. If I’m not mistaken it was a seminar given by “Whisper”. That seminar ended at 3:05 and when we go down my best friend told me that my father came and he told him that we’re upstairs so my father just went home. When we go down, they announced that the game is not yet done and it’s our turn. I got nervous again for the second time. The game has started, and they said that there was no fouls. Oh! I thought there was.. While playing a 4th year student suddenly punched my face I don’t know if it’s an accident. It was very terrible because it’s alright if we’ll hurt each other but not that worst. At the end of the game, we lose, but it’s alright. After the game my father came back and I told him that we lose, I’m surprised when he smiled and put his hand on my head and said “ok lang iyon, very good! “.
I just smile and thought “we need to win tomorrow”.

The next day, the same thing goes by, there was an incident when someone was hurt. People thought that “it’s alright to hurt others, there were no fouls”. But for me, even if my friends told me that “banggain mo na, wala namang foul eh! “ I just thought of the saying ”Do not do to others what you do not want done to you".


I’m just inspired to do well by the people cheering us “GO JUNIORS!” and also my close friends who kept on supporting us. But even if we exert our very best, we still lose the game . Above all our hard works, I still thank God because nothing bad happened to me.

Truly, teamwork is very important with this kind of competition. You need to trust one another to won the game. Very importantly, never hurt other people just to get what you want. Be FAIR.


“People may be unkind... Be KIND anyway. They can cheat you... Be HONEST anyway. For when time comes, it’s between YOU and GOD not YOU and THEM. “

BEYOND ONE'S VIEW

“A person’s true feelings can’t be seen within his or her facial expressions, sometimes you have to look beyond One’s View to clearly understand one’s situation”





Since grade 5 , I started using eyeglasses because the doctor said I have a hereditary eye problem. So even though I hate wearing eyeglasses, I need to for my own sake. As years past, I feel comfortable about it thinking that I’m different among my fellow students. But this made me change my perception about myself. Maybe they do not know that I am a type of person who mind and think about things even if it’s none sense.

When I was 13 years old, I first heard the words that really affect my life. A relative of mine said that “Si Joy mukhang MANANG, buti pa si Ruth pang model ang dating “. This made me think of such thing like “Am I ugly? “, “Why do they always say those phrases whenever they see me?”, also a weird question came to my mind “Does God really want me to be like this forever? “. I know inside that it’s wrong to question God, but maybe I thought of it because I was hurt. “Why do they need to compare me with others? “. I have all the “why’s “ in my mind but I can’t express my thoughts and feelings, so I just accept what they thought of me because I know that God has a plan for me, “why do I need to be bothered anyway ? “ . This challenge made me stand up and face life. Whenever I heard my relatives and other people saying such things, I just smile at them and whisper: “God I know you loved me and you don’t want me to be like this forever”.

And now with God’s grace, He changed my views in life and He let me enjoy life without feeling discriminated by other people. I want to live my life full of love, being simple yet happy. These challenges made me grow and learned so many things. I’m very thankful ‘because I know that God doesn’t give me all that I want but He gives me things that I really need and most importantly what I deserved.

“Be thankful with all life’s circumstances because this will help us to improve ourselves”