Chevalier School Alumni Homecoming

by John Carl on 01. May, 2007 in Experience

In the recent CS Alumni Homecoming, which was held last April 28, 2007,

I was expecting a grand event or something that could make a difference among other homecomings. With this expectation, I judged the said event as an ordinary one. I don’t blame batch ‘82 for the event’s not being close to our hearts. Maybe I was just expecting a disco. Just kidding.

Weeks before the celebration, I was planning what clothes I would wear. I was already counting the people who claimed to attend.

Just hours before the start of the event, I was in our house, calling my classmates to ask if they would go there. It seemed like no one wanted to go, so I decided not to, as well.

After a few minutes, Benjamin asked, or should I say pleased, me to come. He said that true friends were going to attend.

I arrived at Chevalier School at around 8:30 p.m., and I saw my friends Benj, Anthony, Raphael, Marty, etc.

I immediately noticed a booth of San Miguel Beer. I asked for a glass and drank it straight. I drank a total of four glasses of pale pilsen. I guessed Jaime was shocked when he saw me drinking glasses of beer in just 30 minutes.

Right after my friends saw me getting glasses, they asked for the same drink from the booth, and they all the way drank.

I met Tonee, the friend of Benj, whom the latter has been sharing stories with me about. She is so easy to get along with. Actually, I enjoyed the night partially because of her presence.

We went to Northern Brew to have a cup of hot coffee. For three hours, Anthony, Benj, and I were sharing many things about college life. Of course, the other things we talked about are secret.

We decided to go home when the clock struck 12:00 midnight.

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How To Fall in Love

by John Carl on 18. Apr, 2007 in Work

Here are the steps on how to fall in love. Before anything else, the following must be complied first: you should have a free and open heart; you should have erased your past romantic feelings; you should have forgotten the odd and hurting memories of your past. After complying with, the first step to do is to gain many friends and know many people because you can fall in love with one of either group. Next, you must get to know them by heart for falling in love happens when you truly know the personality of a person. Alternatively, you can experience love at first sight, and, after that, comes the getting-to-know part. While you are knowing each of them, cherish the moment and be sure to know if there is a spark in your heart towards at least one of them. Afterwards, you must decide who among them just caught your heart, conjured the unexplainable warmth in your chest, made your heart beat faster, and captured the magical feelings between the both of you. Then, you must confirm that it is not infatuation that you feel by knowing if you could accept and understand her whole being. If you have affirmed you found the right person, don’t let yourself resist glancing at her face and soulful eyes, do make yourself kilig whenever you’re with her, don’t stop making personal contact with her, and do let yourself stare afar, hug your favorite pillow, and like no reason at all whenever you think of her. Lastly, you should have gained the feeling of romantic love that will fill your empty heart. Congratulations! You then finally fell in love. It is up to you if you would follow your heart, or be defeated against all odds.

“How to Fall in Love” is a process paragraph in partial fulfillment of the requirements in English 1, 2nd semester, S.Y. 2006-2007.

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Farewell Fencing

by John Carl on 09. Apr, 2007 in Experience

Last March 21, 2007, my fencing family had our last game. It was actually the day of final examination, but as stated in one of my previous posts, I was exempted from taking the exam. That day, I just watched my beloved classmates fence, and I just had chit chats with Ate Roma, Kuya Manuel, and the rest of the gang.

Kuya Albert and I fenced without body gear (of course we wore masks and gloves) for 30 minutes. We had a great time feeling the hits on our chests, arms, and legs.

Prof. Guerrero asked me what my rank was. After I had answered him, he just wrote on his notebook 1.75 opposite my name. I mean, after all those hardships, my grade was just that. The champion for the women’s division got 1.5. The other guys who got to be on the top 5 also got 1.75 except for Ate Roma, who got 1.0.

Oh well, it was better to keep my mouth shut. Besides, only one of us got 1.0.

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The Catholic

by John Carl on 09. Apr, 2007 in Work

For the past seventeen years, religion has defined how I lived my life.

Religion is the creed embedded to us when we were baptized. It is the noun which identifies us to what tradition or practice we are following. It is the particular system concerning the existence, nature, and worship of a deity or deities. It is the strong belief that embodies our faith to an omnipotent being. It is our cradle when everything we do goes wrong. It is the holding of hands of many people while looking up above, praying. It is also the kneeling and bowing of one person, facing a direction of holy place.

I am a Roman Catholic, and I know how I came to be a practical Christian. First, I was christened in San Guillermo Parish, Pampanga. In my religion class, I learned that, when I was baptized, my body became a templeof God. Thus, He is with me everyday, and He will never leave me until the bitter end of life. Baptism is the sacrament that we first receive in life.

Second, when I was two years old, my mom taught me how to pray. Every night, before we slept, she held my hands together and said in a soothing voice, “Baby, this is how you pray Angel of God.” The key to praying is listening to God’s voice for praying is talking to Him. Actually, there are four purposes when I pray. These are to adore, to praise, to thank, and to ask. I often thank God when I talk to Him for I believe that everything that is happening in my life couldn’t have been possible to happen without Him, and everything that He allows to happen has a reason that is for everybody.

Next, my family and I always went to Holy Masses during Sundays. With that, I knew that God has to be praised for He is the One who created us all. Eventually, with my knowledge about who God is, I received the next Holy Sacrament, which is the Sacrament of Confirmation that enabled me to participate in the Holy Eucharist during Masses. Holy Eucharist, on the other hand, is the next Sacrament, which allows me to take the Blood and Body of Christ. At first, this was hard to understand for me because this is a part of thePaschal Mystery, but then, I realized the thought. Knowing and understanding the mystery are not the real concern. Instead, it is faith.

Afterwards, I learned how to lay down myself with the Sacrament ofReconciliation. Committing sins is a big crime for me. After I do it, my conscience always bothers me that I cannot focus on my other works. Reconciliation is process that involves admitting sins, being humble, confessing, regretting, and praying the Act of Penance. With Reconciliation, I found out that God really loves me even if I turn to wickedness. Of course, it is better to be benign.

Finally, I was taught how Catholics live, how they celebrate feasts, how they venerate Mary and all other saints, how they commemorate Christ’s life, how they teach God’s love which is told in the Bible, and the like. These are the things that I actually enjoy doing, even though doing such requires a lot of sacrifices. Nevertheless, in the end, there are fulfillments that are felt by me.

There may be loopholes in the process of being a Catholic. There are some statements that are hard to understand that ended without further explanations. These focus on the central point of my religion, and the holes ask, “Does God really exist?”

The Bible is not an enough evidence to show that Yahweh exists. The Book of Books is just a mere manuscript or form of literary work written by people inspired by God. No one knows if they based their work on true happenings or imaginations. The Book of Genesis is an example of writing that only assumes that there had been a deity before anything else came into existence. How could have the Creation been true if there was no witness to tell or write the story? How could have the writer knew that God created everything in seven days? Why not in just a nick of time? Some of the plagues in the time of Moses, the Exodus, were already proven to be real by science, not by religion or miracles. Moreover, God only showed Himself in form of symbols like the burning bush, clouds, lightning, and characters in Jesus’ parables.

Nonetheless, throughout the despising, I’ve stayed to be a believer of God. Whenever I pray to Him, I feel His presence. Whenever I need Him, He is always at my side. In times that I fall on my knees, He is ready to catch me, or he lets me fall and, later on, heals the wound. I believe in His divine intervention, and to prove it, I have experiences to tell.

When my best friend, whom I consider a part of me, had a series of arguments, I just prayed to God and asked him not to let our friendship fade away. He answered my prayer. My best friend and I reconciled.

I had attended novenas before the University of the Philippines College Admission Test results were released. I believed in the power of God that He will make me study in the country’s premiere state university, and I heard the next day that I passed.

When I was in high school, I was chosen to represent our school in a speech contest. At first, I didn’t believe in what I got, but when I prayed to him, “Lord, please help me win,” he eventually answered my prayer. I thanked Him so much.

The only weapon I carry in life against entities or happenings that may harm me is faith. As long as I believe and trust God, I will not lack anything for he will fill my needs. Yes, it’s true that I can’t see Him, and if I He doesn’t exist, why do I love Him?

If I never felt pain, how would I know that He is a healer? If I never felt sadness, how would I know that He is a comforter? If life was perfect, would I still know Him? I believe God does exist. I just can’t prove it.

In the course of this development, I identified myself as a Christian in practice. I knew that thru good deeds, God’s love can be multiplied. I now live life they way it should be, according to Church teachings. This religion of mine defined how I live my life.

-
 “The Catholic” is my final paper answering the question, “What dimension of identity do you feel has most defined how you lived your life?” This is in partial fulfillment of the requirements in English 1, 2nd semester, S.Y. 2006-2007.

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4th Out of 50 Hopeful

by John Carl on 18. Mar, 2007 in Experience

The UP College of Human Kinetics (UP CHK) had its Foil Fencing Tournament on March 14, 2007 at 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. It was organized by the UP Fencing Club for the 50 foil fencers coming from 2 different classes. It was my first time to join this kind of tournament.

The tournament was divided into men’s and women’s divisions. Ate Roma (second year) was included in the men’s because of the coach’s prerogative. Each division was comprised of four to five Pools of Elimination. Each pool had five to six fencers who would fight to each other in a round robin basis. I was really terrified with the pool I was in because the five fencers in the same pool of mine were really really really great. Four of them are actually upper classmen. I didn’t expect that I defeated the ones I didn’t defeat during class hours. I won 3 out of five games with index points: 3, 5, 5, 5, and 4. I was the second placer in our pool. When the pools were tallied, I turned out to be the in the sixth place. The top four had a “bye” standing, and the lower half were eliminated from the tournament. Actually, all I really wanted was to be included in the upper half, so that I wouldn’t take the final exam (the bout between me and the professor).

The next level was the Piste Round where there was a direct elimination – kapag natalo ka, tanggal ka na. Before it started, Kuya Albert had said to me, “Promising ang mga moves mo dude. Keep it up. May future ka sa fencing.” I had the opportunity to fight against the big guy I had fought against before. I focused on his weak points and confidently hit him as fierce as I could. I won by a score of 8-4. I was so happy because I was just one match away from the semifinal round!

When the referee called my name to fight against a fencer who had a “bye” standing, I began feeling the fear of losing the match. He was of the same height as mine. When the referee said pre alle, I started attacking him, but he started to make a big circular pari (defense) to block my foil to make a tushe. My lungs started to resist contracting. My arms were already aching. My palm, which I used to hold the handle of the foil, didn’t have a tight hold. I lost my focus. All I did was to attack and attack until I got the chance to hit his torso. After five minutes of pari, tushe, palpara, and face, I amazingly won by 8-5! My whole body was aching after the fight. Nonetheless, I then rose as one of the TOP FOUR! I got into the SEMIFINAL ROUND!

The only thing that I didn’t like was that I had to fight immediately against Kuya Gary who was so tall. I asked the organizers if we could rest for a while. They agreed, but they only gave us three minutes. My blood was rushing so fast. I was continuously sweating. I was having a hard time to breathe. I drank water to refresh myself. I even washed my face in the rest room.

I changed my gloves with one that has more friction. I changed my mask with a more comfortable one to wear. I made myself ready for a fight that would decide if I would fight in the final round. The referee called my name. The bout began.

I was the one who first attacked, and I got the first hit. I was actually losing my control. I knew that I could beat him because I had beaten him before. My lungs started to resist contracting again. Kuya Gary hit me, and he hit me again. He beat my foil, and it was thrown away. The referee said to me, “Ano’ng nangyari sa’yo? Ok ka pa ba? Kaya mo pa?” I replied, “Ayokong sumuko kahit alam kong matatalo ako.”

The bout continued, and I had the chance to hit him again. After that, he hit me. When the score was 7-4 for Kuya Gary, I shouted, “Masakit na!” I took off my glove and saw my index finger having a wide peel. There was blood. I saw the muscles. The organizers immediately gave me a first aid. They asked me again, “Sabihin mo lang ‘pag ‘di mo na kaya ha?” I nodded.

None of the two of us hit each other for our defenses were good. I was moving backwards so that his hits wouldn’t hit me, but I fell on my back because of my aching right leg, which I used to make a lunge attack. I stood and took off my mask. Everybody shrieked!

My whole face was of color dark red. My eyes were bulging. They saw my shoulders moving up and down – a sign of asthma attack. I wore the mask again. I thought to myself, “Why now? Don’t make me lose this battle! I know I can beat him, but why do you attack me now?” My adversary wasn’t Kuya Gary anymore. Instead, it was my asthma. The referee asked me for the last time, “Kapag hindi mo na kaya, ‘wag mo nang pilitin pa. Ikaw rin ang mapapahamak.” I shouted, “Kaya ko pa! Ayokong sumuko kahit alam ko na matatalo na’ko!”

He hit me. He won.

I took off my mask, and Ate Roma hugged me. She said that it was a great fight. Kuya Jomar said that I had a brave heart because I didn’t surrender. For that, I felt so happy. It was just like I won the fight. I said to myself, “I am so lucky because I had the chance to be one of the top four. I am just a beginner. I am just a freshman, but I made it to this point. What more could I ask for?”

The final round was between Ate Roma and Kuya Gary. I already expected who would win. I was right. SHE did win. The champion for the men’s division was a girl, Ate Roma. I congratulated her.

Kuya IE came to me and said, “May laban pa tayo…for the third place.” I was surprised. Nonetheless, I knew I would be defeated. He is a fifth year student, and he has loved fencing since. I didn’t exert much effort, for my whole body was somewhat numb – could I say paralyzed? He won, as expected. He said to me, “Marami ka pang pagdadaanan. You’re a great fencer.”

I didn’t even felt jealousy, for the top three received medals. I went home with a smile.

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