Chief Girl Scout Medal Scheme: After 371 Days

Girl Scouts attending the CGSMS orientation

Reminiscing myself being one of these girls 371 days ago makes me smile at how fast time really flies. It's a fleeting feeling imagining the me a year ago and the current me. I wonder what I'd say to my past self? Should I thank her for making the current me an even stronger, much independent and intellectually competent lady? Nah, I'll probably give her a bear hug and a peck in the cheek.

Today's agenda was the Chief Girl Scout Medal Scheme (CGSMS) orientation with more than 70 Girl Scouts who joined. I've been attending the orientation for 3 years now, and the number of attendees keeps on rising. The  CGSMS created the greatest impact in my life, so I really did not want to decline the invitation of being one of the speakers during the event. 

USJ-R Senior Planning Board 2013-2014 (L-R): Joyce Ann, Mary Grace, Lyza Grace, Marianne Dell and Lara Alexis

Being a candidate of the scheme, I highly encourage it to ladies (Girl Scouts) who want to make a huge difference in somebody's life. It's the highest award any Girl Scout can receive that involves a one-year community project under one of the 4 fields: Ecology, Health, Livelihood and Cultural Heritage. I chose Livelihood as my field, specifically Dressmaking, but save the details for lateeeer.

In front: Tita Jo Ann Marie P. Jayme, GSP Cebu Council Executive Director

"The scheme isn't about the award, it's about a loving servcie to your community, delving yourself deeper in the worldwide community that is Girl Scouting."

It's a bright year ahead for the Girl Scouts of the Philippines - Cebu Council as the CGSMS officially kicks off.

Living the Girl Scout life,

Transcending Thyself

What’s old and what’s new, what’s past and what’s now. This day that’s done, the night that has come is a blessing yet a curse. Once you step forward, you can never come back. Change: a never-ending cycle, the inevitability of life.

The more I think, the more I realize that not only do people come and go, habits also change, personalities sometimes collide and time takes its course, but then that’s how we live. Years pass and memories become distant reminders of our past selves, but we would never have become what had aspired to be years ago had it not been for the multitude of titanium barriers we had to break.

People grow up, some forget, others try to forget and the rest they admit the truth of reality. It’s not a friendly world out here, it’s full of people who try to pull you down and break you into pieces bit by bit, yet even if you have reached your breaking point, stand proud and continue moving on. Defeat is the best motivation to do better, and once you do better, give it your best—that’s life’s mantra.

There’s so much in life that is to be learned and so little lifetime that’s left in us. It’s in acknowledging one’s ignorance that wisdom is gained. Life’s never boring, it’s always makes me full of curiosity.

 Why is life so mysterious?  Until I learn the meaning of life, I will forever be in search of it. :)

The past and the present, the old and the new

Your city gal,

Imperfectly Beautiful

The one question that’s been bugging everyone for ages: what is beauty? And the million sub-questions that come after it that includes ‘Why am I not beautiful?’, ‘Why was I born ugly?’, ‘What is being beautiful?’, ‘Can I become beautiful?’  Oh mirror, mirror on the wall, who’s the fairest one of all?

Nobody would disagree when I say that every one of us always finds a flaw within ourselves. Being zit-faced, a few pounds overweight, flat-chested, yada yada are the usual complains I hear, and I myself am no exception. It’s true that feeling good about yourself gives you the confidence you need to succeed in your endeavours, but what if your pessimistic side takes over your optimism of your current look even if you look fine to everyone?

The feeling of insecurity caused by discontentment of one’s body makes a person do desperate things unimaginable. Take for example fad diets and its mythical effectiveness in losing weight. You not only spend money on these fake diets, but you also risk your health by jeopardizing your food intake because of some scam that promises you 50 pounds off in a week. Media and its fetishes, indeed, will forever be the cause of everyone’s beauty dilemmas.

Looking perfect is good, but looking good is not bad and looking bad is definitely not a sin. No one is perfect, not even that pretty girl/ cute guy beside you. Ask that person and she/he will tell you a thing or two she/he doesn’t like about herself/himself.

What’s trending worldwide is the so-called plastic surgery to ‘enhance’ physical appeal or air brushing and digital editing to ‘perfect’ the picture. The truth is you’re more beautiful than you think. 

Whenever you start hating yourself for how you look, always remind yourself that true friends and true love care least about the things you feel insecure about because it’s those imperfections that made them stay with you.

Sincerely yours,

Fun Run: My Great Feet

Life just keeps getting better with another added hobby in my bucket list--fun runs. Aside from burning off tons of extra calories with running, you get to build up your stamina, give your heart muscles a good workout and say bye-bye to stress, insomnia and osteoporosis and hello to healthy living. 

Finish Line: the 5k Run for Juan

One of the things I love about fun runs is that these events are organized with a definite purpose which is offering assistance to various non-profit organizations through the proceeds from the registration fees. It's running with reason.

Fun running with my Kuyakuy :)

The fun run entitled Run for Juan, Run for Governance was organized by different medical colleges in Cebu (CDU, UV, CIM and SWU) under the Association of Philippines Medical Colleges- Student Network. The proceeds from the fun run would go to ‘One MED for Juan’, a start up non-profit organization geared towards building a community of medical students that is united beyond affiliations and boundaries in reacting positively to disasters, national concerns and other related issues. --www.takbo.ph . 

The 5k run around Ayala being my first made it definitely tiresome. I think I'm going to be sore tomorrow, ugh. Maybe I'll stick with 3k for now, hmm? 

Souvenirs!

Your city gal,

Primum Homo Esto

Officially a CDUcian

                   "Let Him First Be A Man." 

Everyone remembers the 1st day of classes. We all remember the butterflies struggling to get out of our stomachs and that gut feeling of unrest and nervousness brought by the paranoia of eyes following you screaming the words "ALERT: new kid on the block". When given a moment in the spotlight, we're all left with the challenge of being 'man' enough to stand up to the new phase of studentship before surviving the turmoils and waves of adulthood.

The summer of March 2012, I told myself 'I want to become a lawyer'. I wanted to become a successful criminal lawyer who took up local and national cases and maybe serve in the public office too. I'd make acquaintances with politicians and build a charity. Idealistic, isn't it? Then again, I wasn't thinking everything through.

I was driven by the charisma, wit and knowing aura possessed by a lawyer, but not by the course itself English is my forte, but I'd rather stay behind the scene typing or writing rather than facing people. I thought, "What if I had a family of my own? My kids would call my parents lola and lolo. I would have to be a working mom, and what if my kids get sick? What if Mama and Papa will get sick?" I thought it funny to think of those things, but it was that train of thought that made me realize who I want to become--a successful doctor.

On the way to school, 1st day of classes

The school I chose was, to be honest, not my first choice. A school excels at certain programs or courses, and of course who wouldn't choose the best? I wanted to be in my 1st choice, but at a hefty price to pay. My High School life was incredibly toxic, super busy in other words. I was from a top section who wanted to maintain being in that section. I joined a total of 8 organizations throughout HS, most of which I am an officer.

Wasting time is as expensive as antimatter, I had 5-10 min. of lunch break and went home 7 pm most of the time because I had my extra-curricular activities keeping me busy. Added to all that, I applied for the Chief Girl Scout Medal Scheme. Being able to sleep for at least 4 hours was already heaven for me. The most I could do was not sleeping for 42 hours, and after that time limit, sickness would come next. The diagnosis? Over fatigue. 

I definitely DO NOT want the same experience in college. Don't I deserve a time out? I wanted to be out of the busy life. Don't get me wrong, I love all my organizations and the pressure, but everything and everyone deserves a break. 

From INSPIRE to CDU CARES

Remember guys, just because you're not in the most qualified, most expensive, most prestigious school in the world doesn't mean you're education is undermined. School is a factor of getting the best out of your education, but it's the the total factor. The one thing you can do is be the best and excel wherever you are and whatever field you choose.

Thus begins my journey at the Cebu Doctors' University. :]

Free food sponsored by our department

College is, more or less, like High School, yet back then, I didn't have to drive the family car to school. People come and go. No more cleaners to clean-up the classrooms, eating utensils to place in the bins, prayer before classes, class monitor to check the attendance, staying in one room and flag ceremony.

6 floors, all classes are held on these floors

I'm going to miss a lot of stuff I got used to during the whole 12 years of being in a Catholic school, but then life goes on. New faces, new friends and new less rules.

When you're in college, nobody would care if you skip classes or leave the campus during a class hour because there is no standard class hour. Auburn hair, glossy nail polish, cellphone in one hand and laptop in the other? Coast is clear. Just stick to the 40-paged school manual and you're safe.

What's so great about college is independence. The great breakthrough away from not being able to do the things you had so long wanted to do. That's always the greatest thing for most people, but not me. College is fun, there's no mistaking it, but mind you, if you flunk college, you flunk the rest of your life. 

CAMS: Our college seniors giving us a dance number

No college degree, no job. No job, no money. No money, no asking from Mom and Dad. Underlined and bold for emphasis. Your parents are not you're lifetime care takers. What are you, a monkey in a zoo? Maturity people, come on!

Smart, prim and proper? No, not really. College maybe a step higher the education ladder, but it's still part of the ladder. It's good to get to know people in college, and someday you might thank yourself for knowing those people. There's a lot more about college that I'd like to say, but I'll save the rest for next time. It's still a looong trip down the collegiate road.

Your city gal,

Occupation: Neat Freak

It's post-summer clean-up before the last 2 days of summer officially ends, and the perfect opportunity to let out the excessively obsessive-compulsive that is me. Call it O.C. or whatever, and yeah, I'm that. Who ever arranges their books by sizes and thickness, keeps an inventory of the items they own and has a mini educational supply? Well, that would be me.

Seriously speaking, it's not about keeping tabs of how spic-and-span everything is. It's more like putting things in place so you won't spend an hour or so looking for something you misplaced in the pile of clutter you call your room. It will save you hours of mess, I promise.

Clockwise: rings, bangles, beaded bracelets, chokers, necklaces with stones, metal necklaces and beaded necklaces. How's that for clutter-free? :))

 I keep my accessories super kempt. I do not like my bracelets and rings overlapping my necklaces because when I'm in a hurry, I tend to not care whether the whole rack falls off when I get a piece of accessory that's underneath. It's also easy to mix and match accessories if they're kept this way.

Bags are arranged with my go-to bag at the front and the less used ones at the back. Purses  are kept in one big bag.

Are you the kind to switch bags every now and then? Had you accidentally left your valuables (e.g. keys, I.D, money, cellphone) in your other bag when you did a last minute switcheroo? If so, then that makes two of us (high five)! After I learned to arrange my bags the way I do now, I do not leave valuables as often as before anymore.

Paper bags are kept at the leftmost portion of my cabinet. The rest are  educational supplies, and at the back are my learning materials.

Cartolinas, emergency gift wrappers, foils, bristol boards, felt papers and bamboo  slats are kept in a round basket.

Being your average student who regularly uses every student's necessities, I keep an inventory of all my educational supplies. Do you hate it when you get a group assignment to bring a specific cartolina color and remember it the night before, then you rush to the store and buy it, but realize a few days after that you had that cartolina in your forgotten heap of clutter? Inventorying, that's your solution.

DM for Downtown Miss? Nah, it's for Malata and Di-malata garbage.

A 5-year-old birthday card given by a dear friend.

Uncovered beneath the mess: a National Achievement Test stub of the exam I took in Grade School

.

Besides the card and the stub, I found ballpens, craft materials, stickers, jewelry, etc. and money. Who knew room cleaning duty could earn you cash? I had made a list of the stuff I was going to buy when school starts (see the blue sticky note), and had a couple crossed out after the cleaning. See? You could also lessen future expenses by cleaning your own room.

*Sniff, sniff* Remembering childhood memories.

Proud K-ZONE and Otakuzine subscriber a loooong time ago

Yeeeeah, so I was an otaku and still am. The oldest K-ZONE mag I owned dated 2004, about 9 years old. I still have the anime stickers I collected in kindergarten too, thougth they do not stick anymore, and the anime scribbles and sketches I did in grade school was still intact without signs of yellowing (and NO WAY am I posting those sketches, PERIOD).


Cleaning was great, it was fun. That is me, then there is you. Yeah, you who's reading my blog post. :)

Heeey there, how's your summer? Mine's been awesome-packed and definitely fulfilling.

I'm certainly looking forward to university life. 'Til the next post!


Your city gal,

First Try @ D.I.Y.

My new hobby--Do It Yourself a.k.a. D.I.Y. crafts. Okaaaaay, so the first try wasn't what I had in mind, but at least it was presentable. 

Bracelet made of embroidery thread, pearls  and chain

It was fun trying to make this, certainly worth 2 hours of endless bending and cutting using a Swiss army knife, ha!

The final product

My debut into the world of D.I.Y.

Visit my other blog: http://poshartiste.blogspot.com/, where I'll be hosting my craftiness. ;]



Your city gal,

Driving at Seventeen

On a humid day in a traffic infested, pollution-inducing highly urbanized city, commuting just won’t do. Frizzy, messy hair and air fumes are not something I want to have to go through every day, so what better solution than driving the family car.

Windows, mirrors and lights? Check.

Seatbelt and seat adjustment? Check.

Locks? Check.

My A1 Driving School student ID

The 1^st day at A1 driving school was like a pop quiz before a lecture. Five days happened in a heartbeat, it was both fun learning to drive and incredulously nerve-wracking.

“Clutch and change gear. Clutch and break. Clutch and…red traffic light. Uhm, ahhh...”

(my car shuts off with other cars honking behind me)

What would you do if this happened to you? Me?  At first I panicked, but then that’s how the learning process starts. Every mistake you do is a learning step that leads to the driving basic which is focus. Driving is like chess, it needs strategy and you follow rules. If you don’t, say hi to Mr. Cebu City Traffic Operations Manager or Mr. CITOM for short.

It’s important to give your whole attention and focus when you drive because a lot of things happen when you’re on the road that you don’t notice when you’re a mere pedestrian. Kids playing on the street and small vehicles blocking the road are worst scenarios I’ve had so far.

Precautionary measures, defensive driving and the right attitude make a great driver, and I’m hoping someday I’ll be like that.

Driving lessons in A1 may be done, but with my father, it's not. Not until my student's permit expires that's for sure.

Your city gal,

USJ-R: Living the High School Life

"We Bring out the Best in You" 

"I.N.S.P.I.R.E, Adelante!"

Who could ever forget these lines?  Four years, four unforgettable years in the University of San Jose - Recoletos. The mind might not remember every detail of what High School was twenty or thirty years from now, but the pictures will always serve as great mementos and everlasting memories.

One of the things I love the most about this school is how it always pushes its students to be better. Education is the reason we go to school, yet there's something broader than this big word that USJ-R (being biased, kidding) made me see, and it's the fact that education does not need and have to be limited to English, Math, Science, etc. 

We are flexible intellectuals. Who would want to study all day without play? That is why extracurricular activities exist. There are TONS of these activities the school has to offer, and I'm listing the ones I know and joined.

P.S. This will be a brief description. Do let me know if you want more info and I'll do a post. :)

1. GIRL SCOUTS OF THE PHILIPPINES (GSP)

 Yes, USJ-R is indeed known to be very active in the scouting movement of both Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts. GSP is a non-profit organization that engages girls in active community involvement and teaches skills in the out-of-doors. Activities are, and not limited to, encampments (Backyard and Showdown for USJ-R), conventions, trainings, sessions and conferences.

Community Outreach in Sapangdaku, Cebu City. CW: Sandra, Feresa, Lyza and Joann with twins Sam and Nicole

2. PEER FACILITATORS (PF)

The extended arms of the Student Development and Placement Center (SDPC). I've been in this org for three years and a lot of students do not really know much about it. Peer Facilitators are student counselors who, in times that the guidance counselors have their arms full, take on the job of 'little counselors'. Every year, the PF with the SDPC have a one-day training to enable incoming PF's to understand their roles as the helping hands of the school's guidance counselors.

Clay-making session during the PF Training 2012 in Mt. View Park.

  
3. JOSENIAN CAMPUS AMBASSADORS 

A branch of the Media Club, Campus Ambassadors are trained in diplomacy and press relations. Otherwise known as the 'welcoming committee', they promote the Josenian core value of service by offering help and assistance to visiting guests in school.

 Carmela (at the far left) and yours truly during the Students' Congress of Recollect Schools (SCORES)

4. RECOLLECT AUGUSTINIAN YOUTH (RAY)

As a Catholic school, USJ-R incorporates not only great mindsets in students, but also the importance of creating a deeper relationship with Christ through RAY.  Under the Campus Ministry Office, students can grab the opportunity of enlivening true Christianity. Activities this org delves in include the RAY Heartsteps, Friday Mass, Archdiocesan Campus Ministry Pakighimamat, Youth Encounter, RAY Summit, RAY Camp, animations and 4th year tribute.

Group sharing last RAY HEARTSTEPS 2012

5. JOSENIAN OAR (JOAR)

If you love writing as much as I do, then JOAR is for you. This is the school's official school paper, but before becoming a member of this org, you have to enroll in Journalism classes during summer. Like any school paper, JOAR has a pool of talented writers that write school articles, compete in press conferences and bring honor to the institution through their literary skills. Though becoming a good JOAR writer requires a lot of dedication and a couple of sleepless nights, the end point is you get to participate in local, division, city, regional, national and even international competitions. You up for it?

 

Journalism class of 2012. Taken after the session with Mr. Joshua Cabrera, editorial cartoonist of Sun.star Cebu

6. JOSENIAN PUBLIC SPEAKERS (PUBSIES)

PUBSIES is actually a summer workshop, just like Journalism, that was short lived (2 or 3 years?). Trainings included impromptu speaking, extemporaneous speaking, oratorical speaking, declamation, choric speech, emceeing and many others. The org may have already ceased to exist, but its legacy continues through the Josenian Debatista, and I'm proud to have been one of PUBSIES' products.

Community Outreach of PUBSIES 2012 in Greenbelt, Quiot

7. JOSENIAN DEBATISTA (JD)

The newest organization of USJ-R and the official debating team. It was organized last 2012 and continues to recruit aspiring debaters from all year levels. If you love wit, words and arguments, then I highly recommend you to a be part of JD. Become a pro in the High School debating arena so that when you graduate, you'll get the chance of a lifetime to be recruited int the elite college JD.

 

Adjudication during a debate with the college Josenian Debatistas

8. COLUMBIAN SQUIRES AND SQUIRETTES OF MARY

Being a 4th year High School RAY members entitles you the privilege of becoming a squire or squirette. "Squires are the Junior Knights of Columbus and the Squirettes are the Junior Ladies Club. 10 to 18 years of age are the requirements," according to http://www.phatmass.com/phorum/topic/9233-are-you-a-squire-or-squirettes/ . Like the RAY, Columbian Squires and Squirettes of Mary deal in parish works and works of charity, but a lot of times both orgs crossover. It's kinda hard for some to distinguish which is which, so do remember the quotation above.

Chief Squire Orland Marc and Chief Squirette Kim Blessy during the RAY Heartsteps 2012

High School is definitely fun with the right mix of academics and extracurricular activities. Now that you have an idea of what High School's really like, which will you choose?





Your city gal,

 Photo credits go to: Kim Blessy Apolinar, Zerimar Alo, Sir Philip Hope Mamugay and Annaliza Alforte