DIVISION SCHOOLS PRES CONFERENCE.

Wheew. It's been three years since I last joined the DSPC. I was on News Writing and Copyreading and Headline Writing (ENGLISH) back then. But this time, it's a whole different story. Feature Writer ( FILIPINO) and Online Writer ( ENGLISH). Wow. I mean, I love changes, especially when they are for the better. :))

Maramag was so hot. Yes, i mean H-O-T. But, before we even reached the venue, let me first tell you about our travel. Well, I felt like we were traveling for 4 hours. Umm ..we were aboard a white van, and yes, we were comfortable. I didn't have the chance to enjoy the views because all I did was to sleep and sleep and sleep throughout the journey.

When we reached Maramag Central Elementary School, Mrs. Macamay registered the whole crew. I saw familiar faces there. Though I felt happy and excited, the image of high school students holding pens and looking like professionals only made me feel the PRESSURE.

On our quarter at BNSHI, I felt cozy because we didn't have to share the room with other schools. By the way, have I mentioned my companions? We have Rika, Alaiza, Jezrelle, Graciola, Vicar, Kyra, Earl, Ezra, and Niño. We all had fun spending time together. :)

For feature writing, we went to RR Spring Resort. Well, it was a beautiful place, very colorful. But, sad to say, I only got the 7th place. For online writing, we were given instructions on how to do it. Honestly, I didn't pay much attention, coz I was busy laughing with my new friend from Alae High. The facilitator even scolded us, so we kept quiet. We were there for --- I think 4 hours? It was so hard, especially since i was not yet used to online writing. But .. I was shocked to find out that I won first place! Whooo! RSPC here I come! :))

By the way, HCHS won the title for overall champion in the english category. What a big comeback! I hope the school is proud of us. In Hoc Signo Vinces! :))

"Oh my God. Are you kidding me?"

That was my first reaction when the doctor told me I had chicken pox. It was dreadful! Yes, dreadful indeed. I had to wear a mask, because aside from the fact that I AM contagious, i didn't want anyone else to see me. I looked hideous. Well, as a girl, of course I was conscious, and I was worried about how I would look like, especially since they told me chicken pox would leave deep scars on the affected area. :((

So there I was.. dancing and competing for the cheer dance while wearing a mask. I know i looked dumb, but at least I still danced well! Oh, and what was funny was that Rowen had chicken pox, too! Yeah, we had it at the same time! Funny how we called ourselves "sis" because we were like sisters in every way, --- well, except by blood. :) We experienced almost same things at the same time. Our lives are like closely related to each other. :))

Right now, hideous scars are on my face. They really make me so conscious. >.< But, I'm treating them. Hopefully they will fade out soon. Ü

Today is Marbert's Birthday! :) Yeah, I know it's kinda weird to write a blog about someone else's birthday, when my birthday was last August 25th, and his is August 27th. It's just that, I couldn't write anything about my birthday! Instead, I had so much fun at Marbert's birthday.

Well, after class, we were supposed to go home, but .. since Marbert has invited us for his birthday, we went to his house. His whole barkada was there, while I was with Minette, Laiza, and Chabell. The day was really fun, with all the food, chikka, and laughters we had. It was getting darker but none of us seemed to mind. :)

By the way, despite the happiness, I was also embarassed, because I was having my menstrual period and suddenly .. oh, you know what I mean. I felt so embarrassed, and I also felt pity for the poor chair. Good thing it wasn't made of cloth so the stain was easily wiped away. Sorry about sharing this incident tactlessly. ;) I just feel like it's sort of important, just so you know. :))

I got home at 9 pm. Miraculously, my father didn't scold me! Well, probably it was because he understood my reason, coz i clearly told him I went to a birthday party. That day was really one of the best hangouts in my life. :)

Today was such a nice day. Everything was in perfect balance. The cold breeze, my happy mood, and the fact that we had our recollection at Betania Retreat House, Malasag, Cagayan de Oro City.

The place was so quiet, so remote. Far away from the noise in the city and the roaring of cars on the highway. It was a perfect place to reflect and feel PEACE.

We traveled by van, and I was assigned in van number 3. Mrs. Macamay was our chaperon. We prayed the rosary, which is indeed very important when traveling. But when ma'am told us we still had to contemplate on the joyful mysteries, I could feel the frown on everyone's face inside the van. They were murmuring about exhaustion, but I continued on praying, although i must admit I was definitely tired, too.

When we reached the place, our mouths fell open. It was a paradise! From the hospitable employees who welcomed us, up to every little inch of the place, all I could say was "Wow." Everything was perfectly arranged.

As we stepped out of the van, we were instructed to form two lines, by gender. Slowly, we registered our names and entered the conference room. We were then given a short presentation about Betania and its facilities. After that, while we were waiting for our speaker, we were allowed to explore, but we should be back once we hear the bell ring.

The first place I went to was the sea-side view. It was fascinating. I could hardly see the sea, because it seemed like it was one with the skies. There were mushroom sheds, but i wasn't able to sit on it, because my feet didn't want to settle down. I wanted to roam around. But then, the bell rang, so we went back to the room.

Our speaker was Kuya Macky. He used to be a seminarian but he went out for almost 2 years to know if priesthood is really his thing. As he spoke to us with confidence and joy, I could really tell that teaching is his passion. He made us watch cool videos, but among all the videos, the one about Mr.Hoyt and how he supported his son, and the clip about Christ's sufferings, with the background music "How beautiful" really made me cry.

Aside from all the crying, the food was one thing I enjoyed! Ha ha! Especially lunch, because my favorite food was served! Spaghetti and fried chicken! These two dishes really make my mouth water.

The places where I hung out the most were the Duyan Deck and the Mountain View. The scenery was breathtaking. How I wish we had 10 recollections in one school year. :(

I will never forget this day. This is one of the BEST memories in my whole high school life.

I miss this! Typing words as swiftly as I can, as if someone's chasing me! Ha ha! It's such a nice feeling to be back!

I haven't written a post for almost a month, I guess, and I have loads of things to share here! But sadly, my memory serves me poorly. Honestly, I can't even remember how my freshman and sophomore life worked out! I'm hoping that this year would be different --- that I'd be able to remember each detail of my junior life.

Well, moving on, I would like to share some of the things I remember. Like maybe, the SOCCER and SCRABBLE teams bringing home the beacon! Or, the time Mrs. Macamay scolded us! It was terrible, feeling like each word was a needle pricking our hearts. We really did disappoint her, and so I'd like to apologize ma'am! Let's see, what else? Oh! Have I told you about our flunking during the folk dance elimination? I can still recall Mrs. Añasco's angry expression. The score of our group was 76%! Ha ha! That was so embarrassing! That's why I'm doing everything that I can for our bulletin board. At least we can show her we're not total losers after all. ;)

Hmmm.. Have you heard about all the punishments for our section? The solo hataw we did? Well, actually, THEY did, because I was late at that time. And the words we had to jog for Miss Magadan's satisfaction? Oh, that was so exhausting, but kind of funny because Miss Magadan's face looked like the whole world fell on her! Ha ha!

Oh, it's getting late, and I need to memorize 20 pages for our Research exam tomorrow. Can you believe it? Even if just a single word is missing or maybe stupidly added, automatically zero! That is way too harsh! :(

By the way, I'm working on a very special project. I'm writing a Stephenie Meyer inspired novel. Rowen started reading it, and she said I must continue! Well, this is my dreamy side. I always dream of ALMOST impossible things. But hey, who knows? Maybe my book would soon be the next NEW YORK TIME'S BEST SELLER. Ha ha! Silly me. Oh well, wish me luck for tomorrow! Whew! What a great relief it is to be able to write everything here. Words rush out as if they have been captives locked up for too long! ;)

This is one of the most embarrassing days of my life! You see, I arrived early at school today, which is a total miracle! I actually woke up early so that I could start putting up decorations for our bulletin board. I was so hysterical. When the bell rang, I instructed all my classmates to go out and form their lines, while I take care of our bulletin board. But Shane and Mark insisted on helping me, so I agreed. For me, it was going quite well. But never did I imagine that these shoes of mine would catch the attention of the 600 students praying the rosary! Ma'am Borong told us not to make any noise, and so I just nodded my head. But then, the next thing I saw was Ma'am Macamay, standing at the exit door, telling us to go down and form our lines. Damn it! I thought to myself. At that time, I was worried about two things. First, the eyes that would surely be staring at us while we make our dramatic entrance to our lines, and second, is the frown I've put on our adviser's face. If only I took those noisy shoes off! Ugh! Stupid me.

My heart was bouncing up and down as I stepped on the staircase, and I felt a lot more embarrassed due to the loud creaking of my heels. Damn it! I repeated over and over inside my head. Eyes were staring at me. Actually, I didn't need to look up just to see that they were staring at me. With my head down, I could already feel their scrutinizing gaze.

It became worse when Mrs. Cabang told us to go to her office during second period! When we got there, she asked us about what we did inside the classroom. We told her nothing but the truth, and so she forgave us and said that she doesn't want this incident to happen ever again.

Well, at least our bulletin board is now much more presentable. Honestly, though this experience was humiliating, I felt happy! Maybe it's because I seldom do crazy things and I was craving for it! Ha ha! What an abnormal range of thinking I have! Oh well, the damage has been done. And so from now on, I promise not to stay at the classroom during assemblies!

Whoa! This week has been the most stressful week of my entire junior life! So many things i needed to accomplish on my OWN --- the TLE poster, the power point presentation, and the undeniable fact that I still needed to study for the PRELIMS examination. Well, thank GOD everything went well. It's just that, I don't like all the pimples popping on my face! My Mom says this is a result of my 5 straight nights of sleeping for just 5 hours. Ugh! Actually, as I write this post now, my eyes are burning and my eyelids are involuntarily closing. I guess I really have abused my body.

I haven't written a post for almost a week, and I just love playing with the letters on this keyboard. I feel like my emotions inside me have a connection with my tapping fingers. Let's say, if I feel happy, my fingers are gracefully dancing from one letter to the other. But when I'm angry, they're banging and typing swiftly --- as if I want to pull each button out of its placement. Well, right now, my fingers aren't dancing. They're banging! I feel like a useless person. A coward. A host --- infested by parasites.

Why can I say that I'm a host? Well, it's because of my stupid attitude. Ever since my elementary years, I had this feeling of a great need for everything to be perfect. I have no trust in others. I only trust myself. And so parasites, during the announcement about group projects, take that advantage on me. Like for example, the poster. It was supposed to be a work of three persons, but I was the only one who did it. And the power point, I stayed up until 1:00 am just to finish that by myself. It was also supposed to be a work by threes. Well, I'm not actually blaming my group mates, because I know since I'm in third year right now, they, by all means, wanted to take part in doing our projects. It's just that --- I can't afford to take the risk. I'm afraid that when they do something and I don't like it, I might hurt them with my comments. I really had no confidence in others. What a nincompoop! I hate myself for this, but this is a part of me that I can't just share here and forget about it the next day! I had to get rid of this slowly, and learn to trust others with their own potentials.

I hope I could eliminate my "PERFECTIONIST" side. I really do wish for that. I know it will take time, but I think I've got loads of it! But as of now, I have other urgent things to worry about. Like getting rid of these fast multiplying pimples all over my face! Or my eye bags that are darker than coal! So, better scram and get some of that beauty rest! Ha ha! Stupid stressful week!

Thank God for this day! I woke up at 6:00 am, and I can tell by experience that if I rode a multicab in going to school, I would've been forced to sweep leaves again! But just when I was on my way to the waiting shed, my father called after me. At first I thought I left something, but when I returned, he told me he was going to Agusan, so he could give me a ride and drop me off at school. Luckily, when I arrived, the bell has just rang. What a big relief!

School worked out quite well. As usual, I enjoyed all the laughing and teasing inside the classroom. But what really made my day was not the hyperactivity of my super funny classmates! It was the never ending debate of my child-like parents.

It all started when my Mom once told my Dad that a child acquires 85% of her intelligence and abilities from her mother, and the remaining15% from her father. Dad laughed out loud and objected because he said there's no truth to this. He said all my talents were from him! Since Mom didn't want to argue, she just gave up and let my Dad boast about his abilities.

I thought that topic was long forgotten, but today, it was brought up again! Well, I was drawing our poster for Nutrition Month when suddenly, I noticed my Mom and Dad staring at me. Then Dad whispered to her "So, is that part of your 85%? Ha ha!" and my Mom just laughed with him, because she knew for herself that she couldn't draw as nice as my father does. After a while, my Mom spoke. "Well, at least we know she got her intelligence from me!" Dad disagreed, and so they had a debate again.

When I went inside our bedroom, Dad came to lay beside me. Then he said "You know, you're very lucky to have us as your parents. The combination of our genes is extraordinary! She's good in writing, I'm good at singing, dancing, drawing! And we're both salutatorians during high school! We can see it all in you."

I just grinned at him. Usually, when he told me this, I would freak out. I mean, I didn't want to hear him boast about his achievements in life and his extreme talents! But tonight, I actually agreed with him. Not with his theory that I got all their talents and blah blah blah! It was just because he said I was so lucky to have them as my parents --- and I would never, ever disagree with that. Regardless with whom I got most of my special gifts and talents, the two of them would always be the most precious gifts that God has ever given to me.

"Isabella Swan, I promise to love you --- every single moment of forever." - Edward Cullen

This is the day I have always been waiting for! Today, I finally got my part of the deal! You see, my mother and I made a compromise last month. If I sing for the Monday Convocation at the Municipal Hall, then she'd accompany me to watch ECLIPSE in theaters! I've been dying to watch this movie, and I'm so glad that time flies so fast!

I'm a die-hard fan of the TWILIGHT SAGA. I've read all four novels, the short novella, and the draft of the fifth book. I've seen almost all of the pictures taken during their shootings, downloaded every poster and promo of the movie, and I spend hours reading articles about the latest update of the movie. I even have a magazine, a pin, and a poster at home! Right now, I'm even planning to join the raffle where the winner gets a free ESPRIT ECLIPSE WATCH. I wonder how fancy it would be to have a watch like that!

It was really a great day. The movie was filled with action, romance, and drama. Definitely the type of movie I want to see. Aside from the fantastic movie, The thing that made this day extraordinary was the company of my mother. She's like my best friend, because I could tell her my opinions freely and without hesitation. When we ate, I felt comfortable because both of us were so hungry that we didn't speak at all! We laugh at our corny jokes, and we even talk about our dreams! We talk about nearly impossible things, like me applying for a scholarship in Harvard University, or me buying her the car she saw at the mall today! I guess we really are both crazy!

Well, this day was a total blast! And I am looking forward to watching the fourth part of the saga (in theaters next year) with my mom!

Today was same as the past few days. I came to school late AGAIN, and I feel like I'm used to getting punished. Picking up leaves was no big deal to me, but dancing like fools in front of Father Cabonce's statue was so embarrassing! That's why I promised myself I'll try to wake up earlier, so I won't be forced to do stupid dance moves again.

The classroom was same as usual, too. My classmates always tease me by calling me "PINOTE" and it's really awkward! When I accidentally stand close to him, they'd all tease us like were some hit love team in the movies. But honestly, although my classmates could be annoying at times, they make me feel better. They always make me laugh, especially Marbert and Jerome. I feel like our classroom would always be the second safest place for me, of course since the best place for safety will always be my bedroom.

But I've got to admit that there are times when they really piss me off. Those are the times when they would all shout and clap their hands whenever a teacher says "YOU'RE THE NOISIEST AMONG ALL SECTIONS!" It seems that they are rejoicing for winning such an awful title.

I also got really mad today when Jude and Jerome fought inside the classroom! The boys told me not to interfere, but who are they kidding? It is everyone's job to protect the reputation of their sections, and since it seems that no one else could do that job, I am doomed to take the responsibility. They had to realize that when they do something ridiculous, they are not only bringing their names but also the name of their section and adviser. Sometimes I think they are really immature and have to go back to fourth grade.

Well, aside from that incident, my whole day went well. It was my daily routine to go home with my clique, and we had fun taking pictures of each other before we all went home. High school life is really full of challenges, but since I'm now halfway towards the finish line, I'm pretty sure not even the scene of all my male classmates punching each other will stop me from enjoying my third year life.