THE WILL TO CARRY ON

The Human Spirit

Humans, created in the image and likeness of God, are now in the peak of their evolution. Gifted with high intellect, adapting capability and strong sense for survival are the traits that give superiority to humans over other animals. If these gifts are our greatest advantage over nature, then we are no more than nature’s pawn.

I believe that what gives us power over nature is our innate spirit. Over the years passing by, nature has ingeniously crafted legions of species and that include us humans. There is a wide variety of critters of nature yet only one stands out to possess power over them. It is man with his spirit.

Human spirit is a strong asset to victory and yet it is also the weak spot of humans. Like everything else that has advantages, it also has disadvantages.

Humans, unlike any other creature, possess this fighting spirit which is essential to total victory in life. With our spirit, we are more formidable in facing problems and fixing errors. This spirit also contributes in our socialization with fellow human beings.

Yet this spirit is so fragile than glass. If broken and torn apart, it is more than hard to mend. It takes another spirit to show us not to give up and that is when healing comes in. We are the masters of our body and soul. It is in us that we survive; it is in us that we triumph, and it is in us now to recover from the wounds to stand and carry on!

This short essay was written by one of my students, Mark V. T. It is a mature, sensible reflection of the triumph of the human spirit. The pictures accompanying the essay were those of some candidates of Men Entice - Mr. Intrams 2002.

Unfortunately, this was the first and the last search for Mr. Intramurals. John Rey went down as the first and the last winner of this fun-filled, entertaining and life-changing experience.

LIFE'S JOURNEY

-A Journal of a Graduating Student

I am Manfred. Life to me is like an old staircase. After every step another follows. While climbing you may find broken steps. This represents hardships and obstacles in life. You must face and get through them to get to the next step. You must not skip a step or else you’ll fall. Like a staircase, life must be taken one step at a time and you must face all its challenges.

In this life, I am a typical teenager; that’s how I see myself. A typical teen who is striving to make his dreams a reality-a guy who is willing to face any challenge for his dreams. Another face in the crowd, they may say. I may not rise above all the rest but I’ll do my best to bring out the best in me and survive the challenges to make it to the next step.

My years as an elementary student were fine. Yes, it was quite a challenge and I was a bit irresponsible but I somehow managed to get through it. All of this changed when I got promoted to a greater challenge, high school. Instead of rising up to the challenge by improving myself, I degraded. I became worse than what I was before. My personality and the way I did things were inversely proportional to the challenges. The challenges became harder but I degraded. I did twisted things that didn’t contribute to my wellbeing. I forgot the value of time, the importance of knowledge. I missed what is supposed to be the foundations of my high school education. I wasted my crucial first two years. Mistakes I did in the past that I cannot take back.

My outlook in life only changed when I was in my middle stages of high school. It was in my third year that I learned the true meaning of friendship. I met friends who always wanted the best for you but never left when you were at you worst. They were friends who held together even in the darkest of days. They helped me in a very nice way that I was able to help others in need too. They made me realize that you can have fun while learning. I was able to get through the end of my junior year and entered my senior year with what they taught me. At the start of my senior year was a bumpy ride but I was able to make it until the last months of the school year.

My high school days are indeed coming to a near close. I can hear folks joke about the toga so near, they could smell it. This does not mean it’s the end of my journey. Next stop is a greater challenge, college. Here is where I’ll be polished more to become a better person. This time I’ll do my best to live up to the challenge. I’ll change the way I do things by being more responsible in contrast to what I did in high school. I’ll get through college’s four year span with the consistency of my new found wisdom.

Hopefully in the year 2011, the year for my college graduation, I’ll graduate with flying colors and face a far greater challenge, the true test of life, the outside world. I’ll be busy finding a job for financial security. Then I can help my parents and let them experience the luxury they sacrificed for me. I’ll be married then but only after I have set my priorities. I must find financial stability for my first family before I start a new one.

Every new beginning comes from some of the beginning’s end. As a chapter of my life ends, another one opens. Each and every time a new one opens, it imposes a greater challenge. Each and every time the challenge becomes greater, I’ll do my best to live up to this. This reminds me of a line I heard from a movie I once saw, “It doesn’t matter if you win or lose, as long as you came.” It’s better to face the pains of defeat than to face the pains of forfeit. After all defeat has his consolation. The greatest gift of defeat is wisdom, wisdom that makes you a better person for the next upcoming challenges. I’ll strive even if I fail to achieve my dreams.

(This was written by one of my graduates last SY 2008. I like this work for its sheer honesty. The author writes with sincerity, a mature take of what life was and what it will be.)

FEBRUARY IS...THE PROM SEASON, SADLY

Never teach false morality. How exquisitely absurd to teach a girl that beauty is of no value, dress of no use! Beauty is of value – her whole prospects and happiness in life may often depend upon a new gown or a becoming make-up; if she has five grains of common sense, she will find this out. The great thing is to teach a child the great value of a new gown or shirt and a well-made up face or a well-combed hair; and that there must be something better under the make-up than a pretty face, for real happiness. But never sacrifice truth.

In the light of the present financial instability of the country where the exception of the rule is being opulent, what is the Turning-over Ceremony and JS Prom all about?

It is education. Being beautiful is not vanity but the truth; however, a very thin line separates the two and we are well-aware of the demarcation. The Prom is a continuing saga of our struggle to uphold the truth. I may sound so philosophical, so please do forgive me and indulge with me.

A Turning-over Ceremony and JS Prom does not just pay homage to beauty and poise but also to courage, leadership and talents. After all, education is supposed to be the intermarriage of good character, sophistication and survival.

But unfortunately, we do not have the JS Prom anymore for two years now. It is sad, so feast your eyes with some of the most colorful JS Proms the school ever had!

LETTER NO. 4 - THE LAST BUT NOT THE LEAST

December 29

Dear Jolly,

I would like to thank you again for the nice gift you gave me.

What stuck to my mind though was the message that came with it! I was humbled by the trust you gave me. I was sincere when I told you not to be afraid to flap your wings and reached the sky just like Jonathan did, because I would always be there to catch if you fall.

You have soared to greater heights in life today. You got almost everything. You are more than intelligent because you are educated. You are more than physically appealing because you are beautiful on the inside. Your manners and demeanor leave everybody wanting. You have been weighed; you have been measured and you have been found close to perfection.

I don’t want to call you intelligent because you are not. Intelligence stops at theories in life. Education commences where intelligence ends. You have survived college, and the hospital therefore, you are not merely a bundle of brain tissue but rather a complex of guts, brains and brawns. Only educated people can survive life because they are meant to. Intelligent people sometimes become the problem. Educated people have always been the solution.

You have also come to grow very attractive. It’s all in the genes, you may say. I know that. But more than just physically attractive is how beautiful you are within. You have a beautiful face but your heart is lot more beautiful. Your heart is as pure as your intentions. Today, what counts is not how you look from outside but how you appear from deep within. You are indeed one of God’s favored children.

Not only are your intentions as pure as your heart but also your actions. The way you move speaks of grace, confidence and good manners. Never have I seen you conduct rudely or impolitely. The way you carry on a conversation speaks of your respect for others.

For all these good things I have seen in you now, I know you have imperfections still. You are only but human therefore you have shortcomings too. You have problems too. You pained too. Never mind. These things will remind you of Him. HAPPY NEW YEAR!

I remain...

Your good friend,

Sir Carlo

A THIRD LETTER TO MY STUDENT

Deciembre 30,

Do,

Nawad-on ko sa mga pulong sarang pagagamiton pagsugod niining akong hamubong sulat para kanimo. Unta ako nakahunahuna na man gani nga dili na lang kini pagasulaton ug hingpit ko na lang ipabati kanimo ang akong pagdayeg ug pagrespeto pinaagi sa maong card hain kining maong sulat nahilakip.

Usa lang gayud ka butang ang gusto nako nga ipaambit pinaagi ning hamubo kong pakigsandurot sa imong hunahuna ug balatian. Ako Do, perte nga pagkapilian kung ang pagatuki-on na gani mao ang panaghigalaay ug ang akong mga kahigalaan. Imo na seguro nga nasinati nga pagkamasud-ungon nako sa tanan. Maingon ta nga pagkamahigalaon nako nga pagkatawo. Tinuod nga maabi-abihon ako sa tanan pero niining mga tawo nga akong gisud-ong ug giilang mga higala, pipila lang ang giisip kong tinu-od ug bug-os. Usa ikaw sa mga higala kong tinuod ko nga gimahal, gidayeg ug girespeto. Kadtong mga maanindot nga pulong nga nahipatik sa balat nianang card nga seguro imo karon nga ginakuptan dili pagabiay-biay sa pagkatalagsaon mong mga hiyas, birtud, abilidad ug panag-ingnan.

Sa tibuok kong kinabuhi, tutulo pa lang ka mga tawo ang giila kong mas makinaadmanon kay kanako. Usa ikaw niining mga tawhana.

Ako wala ni gamay nga pagduda nga ikaw makinaadmanon. Ang imoha nga panglihok-lihok ang pakighinabi nagamatuod sa kadako sa imong kaalam. Usahay, babati-on ako ug dakong kabalaka nga basin unya ang akong mga ginabatbat ug ginatudlo kaninyo imoha nga gihatagan ug dugang pagtimbang-timbang sarang mapamalandong mo ang katinu-od ug kahusto niini. Hinuon nagatuo ako ug dako nga kung ugani aduna man kaha ikaw makita nga pagkulang sa mga magtutudlo, kini imoha nga pagahilomon sanglit ang pagbutyag niini ikahibutang man sa maong magtutudlo sa pagkamakapahiubos ug pagkamakauulaw nga sitwasyon. Tungod kini kay ikaw dili lang makinaadmanon kun dili ikaw matinahuron ug but-an pa gayud nga tinun-an.

Ako na lang upod nga pagapahimuslan kining maong higayon sa pagpasalamat kanimo sa mga pag-antos nga imo nang nasinati ug pagasagubangon pa isip gobernador sa atong tulonghaan. Ako nahibalo unsa nga sakripisyo imoha nga gi-antos aron lang nga ang matag-kalihokan ug mga kalamboan sa SMA mahatagan ug katumanan sanglit kitang tanan nagahandom man ug kausbawon para ning maong institusyon. Sa matag kadaugan ug maayong dungog nga sa tulonghaan ginaani ug gitagamtam, ayaw kaulaw pagsinggit sa katawhan nga ikaw nanahimo nga kapalaagihan sa pagkab-ot sa ingon.

Tungod ning tanan kung giasoy ug gibatbat, niining adlaw ikaw uban ang imong pinanggang mga ginikanan akong gibati ug usa na upod ka mabulahang bag-ong tuig. Ako upod manghinaut nga tagaan ikaw ug maayong lawas ug nga dili ka na unta magada-ot ning bag-ong tuig nga miabot.

Dinhi na lang ako kutob. Sa makanunayon pa…

Ang pagkamaambongan mong higala ug magtutudlo,
Sir Carlo

MY SELF-MADE YOUNGER BROTHER

(Vermont - Autumn Leaves)

Unfortunately, according to Dr. Alan Loy McGinnis, we humans tend to introduce ourselves by how much we have accomplished in life rather than who we really are.

I want to introduce to you my younger brother. This is to encourage everyone of us to try our best and make it successfully in life. My younger bro is a self-made man. He is a software engineer based in Florida; however he travels a lot. What is very interesting is that he has no formal computer education. All he did was read computer books and tinker with his PC. I hope the pictures I posted will encourage some of the graduates taking up Computer Studies to excel and be as equally successful as my brother.

He is our youngest brother among a brood of five. I come to know him ever since as somebody who really loves to read. I cannot call him the friendly type of guy but he keeps a small circle of acquaintances. He is dedicated to whatever he is working on and oftentimes becomes engross with what he is doing. He seldom smiles. He is too serious with life. I once thought he was autistic because he seemed to live in his own kind of world. But obviously he is not, for he turned out to be one of the brightest minds in the family.

He finished his elementary years way back in Dalaguete and pursued secondary education in the University of Santo Tomas. One of his greatest achievements in high school was landing in the Battle of the Brains Grand Finals in 1996. It was in high school when he discovered the electronic wired world of computers. In fourth year, he wrote a program that incorporated the coefficient of air drag or friction in the formula for solving equations for projectile motions. He pursued a bachelor’s degree in Actuarial Science in Santo Tomas and continued his graduate studies in CISCO engineering at the same university. He passed the CISCO licensure examination several years ago. He was once connected part time with the UST College of Engineering. He also used to manage his own solutions provider company and internet café in Manila before he went to the US. He also tutored children and pre-schoolers on computer and the internet.

He was my first teacher in computer. From OS to programming, from the intricacies of the internet and the basics of computer elements, I learned from my brother. He is Giovanni, my very close friend and brother.