Taking the Test of a Lifetime

     Third Year is here and college is near! It is already time for us to choose our course for college and to get ready for the flood of college entrance exams. But are you still choosing  the perfect course for you? Well, not to worry! The National Career Assessment Examination (NCAE) is here!

     The NCAEs are conducted in all schools in the Philippines early in the school year to the Third Year students. Reviewing past lessons is not needed in taking this exam since it just uses your stock knowledge. Interesting topics are what usually stays in our mind right? The data from the test will let you know what course would be best suited for you. 

     Of course taking the NCAEs are essential! As said above, it helps you choose the best course to take in college. With this you'll get the best career as well. It also assesses the student's abilities and skills in different fields and subjects. Taking the exam is fun and is great experience in itself. Though you are not really required to follow what the results say, it always your choice. It is still you who writes your own future. 

Be a Sport!

     The CNSHS Intramurals is just right around the corner! Preparations are being done. Student athletes are training. Muses and escorts are  looking for the perfect outfit to wear. Green Celtics, Yellow Madrid, Red Bayern and Blue Chelsea, everybody is just so pumped up! Wooo!

    The first things which we think about during Intrams are of the course, the SPORTS. Which sport should I play? No! Don't get my spot in that game! I wish we could beat the other teams!--We usually hear these statements echoing through the classrooms. But this is not why Intrams are conducted. Believe it or not, not only is it conducted to let students play sports but also to teach everyone lessons and values in life. 

     Sportsmanship should be observed at all times. Being a good sport means that you are fair. You do not cheat in any way just to win. You are generous and you give others a chance to play and be in the spotlight. The rules to a sportsman is everything. It is always followed. And when one loses, you accept it willingly and also uses this loss as a stepping stone to success.

     All in all, intrams is not only for one's physical body but to the personality as well. :D

  

Native Tongue or Second Language?

      Being bilingual truly has its benefits. Me, knowing Filipino and English use both languages frequently. But sometimes, questions pop in our heads. Which should be given more importance? The mastery of our native tongue or the fluency of English?

     Our native tongue, Filipino is the first language mostly taught to us by our parents. This means, most of us grew up speaking in Filipino and is used to speaking in this language. Mastering this language starts by speaking it and is enriched when we study it at school. Learning basic concepts about Filipino makes our understanding of it deeper and better. With this, we show our love and nationalism.

     Becoming fluent in English means that you can speak in this language easily and without much flaws.  Also, reading books and other texts and understanding them in English would be a breeze. Our vocabulary, in turn, will broaden. English, being the universal language will enable you to talk to anyone, even to foreign people. You will be confident to converse to anyone in English. You will gain jobs easily since most jobs require people who are fluent in English. 

     When you ask me, I think I would to choose to be fluent in English. This is because I think it would be advantageous in school, and to my work in the future. Most subjects in school use English as the medium of communication. Learning the English language is easier for me than mastering Filipino. Also, problems in Mathematics and Science are in English which makes them easier to understand in my opinion. In the future, when I will apply for a job, they would surely hire people who speak in English effortlessly. And I think, life would be easier with English everywhere! :))

      

Falling into Infinity

     Water, water everywhere. I'm sinking, I don't know where am I. A pool? A lake? The beach? I suddenly don't remember. And what? I don't feel the need for air. My lungs and my diaphragm are not moving. I feel so vacuous, so weak. What is that light? It that a wraith? It's becoming bigger. It's filling everything in my limited sight. Waaah! It's eating me up! AAAAH! 

      

     Everything was just a dream. I sat up from where I was lying down. There's a cool, ocean-like breeze. I hear waves and splashing water. Really, where was I? A thick fog enveloped the place so I couldn't see anything. I couldn't ask anyone where I was, since there was no one. But then, I heard a child, vociferating in the distance. I followed the cries until I saw a little girl curled up in a corner. She was stroking her babushka like a doll. I approached her slowly but she cried louder. Maybe she thought I was a knave. I talked to her and after some time, we developed a rapport. She also agreed to  walk with me around the place. She became so garrulous, it was funny and cute. The emptiness I was feeling was filled with happiness because of this little girl. I think I would have gotten mad if I hadn't found her. 

      I was too lost in thought when I suddenly hear the girl say, "Boat..". Yes, we were in a boat, a moving boat! Why didn't I notice it a while ago? It was so conspicuous. Well, a really big boat, more of a ship. I became confused, how did I get in this ship? I don't remember getting on this ship.. I don't even remember anything from the past.. Weird.. The ship stopped. I heard something on a loud speaker, but I wasn't very audible. It said something about a stop at some place and that we should be back after 20 minutes or the ship would leave. Sparkles came out of nowhere and materialized into a bracelet-like wristwatch on my wrist which scared me and it pulled towards an exit. 

      Another bright light met me.  As I opened my eyes, I saw that I was inside of what I think is our school campus. I felt a smile on my face. "Finally! A place where I know someone! Maybe I can ask them what's happening..", I said. The little girl came with me, her hands tightly holding on to mine. I walked to our room. It had a very gloomy atmosphere. "Yo everyone! Does anyone know what's happenin' around here??", I shouted cheerfully. There was no response. Everyone was taciturn and had a coy look on their faces. Even the buffoon in our class was miraculously silent. The obnoxious girly girls who always had coiffures on their hair were crying. I asked them why they were crying but still, no response. I saw my best friends huddled in an assemblage surrounded by my other classmates. They were faineant and did not move. I was about to join in the assemblage when my wristwatch rang so loud that it was like the Big Ben on your wrist. I think the 20 minutes was over. It pulled me again towards the ship.

      Too many impossible things just happened. It was like my friends didn't see me at all. Tears suddenly formed in my eyes and before I knew it, I was crying. I didn't know the real reason, but I was really just upset. The little girl hugged me and it startled me, I forgot she was still there. A few moments later, the ship stopped again. I saw a dark figure of an ephebe in the distance. He looked familiar, but I didn't recognize him. I followed him until he stopped in a brightly-lit room. The room then transformed into a huge ballroom with chandeliers decorating the high ceiling. Affluent people in  exquisite garments filled the ballroom. The man I saw was still a dark figure, he didn't transform and upon close inspection, he was holding a small box in his hand. He ran, as if he was looking for someone and I ran after him. He stopped. He sat on a chair in table with a lady across him. Wait, she looks like me. Woah, it is me, only older. The guy shape-shifted. He was now a handsome young man who was very familiar but I still didn't know him. They talked for a few minutes and the man knelt in front of the older me. He's proposing. I saw the older me turn pink, I nodded. Darkness suddenly swallowed the whole room. My wristwatch rang again and pulled me towards the ship.

      In the ship, I analyzed everything that just happened. Did I just saw my future? Very weird indeed. A suddenly voice echoed so loudly which cause me and the little girl to cover our ears. "LAST STOOOP..", it said. I wonder where this ship will take us next and what could happen after that? Well, I started walking down to the ground. It was moist and very grassy. I heard thunder, and rain started pouring. I wasn't getting wet. It didn't surprise me anymore since this place was very out of this world. People started appearing. They were all in black. The man I saw from the ballroom was walking, I followed him. He stopped in front of a tombstone. I read the inscriptions in it, "Here lies Lia Takumi...", the other words on the epitaph were not readable. 

      Memories flashed before me. Everything became clear. I suddenly remembered everything. That was my name, that was me lying there. I was already dead. I just was a mere spirit wandering through my own recollections. And the man standing before me, he was my husband. The little girl following me around, was an imaginary figure of my little sister. Me waking up in water, was the last memory of me alive. I fell from the ship I was in and died drowning in ocean. The ground I was stepping on, turned into water. I couldn't swim up, I couldn't feel anything. I tried to scream for help, but the only word I was able to whisper was my final goodbye while I feel into the depths of the infinite ocean.

First Grading, done! Second Grading, here I come! :)) 

Drops of Gold and Silver

A new sun has just risen
The dawn is now breaking
The yellow light with the soft blue sky
It seems like a beautiful daydream to me

It is now in the center of heavens
An intense warmth emits from it
Its fierce light ablaze
It has almost blinded me

The sun, it is now setting
But oh, look at those captivating colors
Red, orange and yellow
Floods the infinite sky

A silver light has been shining
The moon so luminous
With countless shooting stars
Enchanting the eerie night

Slowly Wasting Away

      The world is slowly wasting away. With pollution everywhere, high energy consumption, rising of global temperature, overpopulation and depletion of natural resources, it seems like there is only a small chance for  the survival of everything in our earth. But we should never lose hope. When there is a will, there is always a way. 

        Our earth can still be saved, though it is uncertain how exactly. A lot of people has thought of ways how to lessen contributing to  the continuing ecological crisis, but we all know, it is still not enough. Everyone of us must do what we can to help.   We  should support or  join different programs implemented by  the government for the environment. If not, just start at home. Lessen the use of energy, turn off lights when not in use, unplug electrical appliances after using them, conserve water, reuse plastics and paper, segregate your trashes and many more. 

Just think, if we continue our sick little games, no one in the future would sing this:

♪ I see tress of green... red roses too 

I see them bloom... for me and for you 

And I think to myself...what a wonderful world 

I see skies of blue...clouds of white 

Bright blessed days...dark sacred nights 

And I think to myself...what a wonderful world 

The colors of a rainbow, so pretty in the sky 

Are also on the faces...of people...going by 

I see friends shaking hands...sayin...how do you do 

They're really sayin...I love you... 

I hear babies cry...I watch them grow

They'll learn much more...than I'll never know 

And I think to myself...what a wonderful world. ♫

So let's all stop this destruction and take some action. :D