ALIPIN ng kaHIRAPan

Last time, we surprised him with a despidida party during one of the meetings of the staffers in the publication. And truly, if I may base this from his reaction, he was indeed surprised to hear our special messages and acknowledgments for him. He was even teary eyed.

This post is supposedly for Noriel only but I know that once I get this post published, everyone can read. So I should be introducing him to you. He is Noriel Bajon Jr.--a blogger, a friend, a colleague, an adviser, a very talented guy, a course mate, and a very wonderful person--as in walang masamang tinapay sa kanya and he can wear any hat anytime and he could handle it very well.

He was a sophomore Mascom stude while I was a freshman when I got to know him . However, although we were course mates, we did not become close instantly because he was still a bit timid then, not until we both decided to join in the college student paper. Since then, I saw him transformed into a lively, jolly, and confident individual with overflowing talent and ceaseless energy.

Every time he enters the office and sees the low shoulders of the staffers, just one joke and he would send everyone laughing out loud effortlessly. He is an inborn comedian. But aside from that, what I admire him most is the way he deals with people around him. He is definitely a debonair--a friend to everybody. For four long years that I've known him, I couldn't say anything bad against him.

But just last month, he finally graduated which would also mean he has to leave the publication because a job is also waiting for him in Bacolod. I know he would be a big loss to us, but I understand we all have limited time in the university. Sooner or later, we would all be graduating and leave the publication at once. Anyhow, we know that our friendship is not limited to the publication alone, nor will it end when one leaves. On the other hand, we know that it would be continuous despite the distance and so we are holding to that.

Perhaps I, like everyone else in TN, am not yet accustomed to the thought that he will no longer be there to cheer us, he would no longer be there to perform for us, and he would no longer be there to let me borrow his laptop and play plants vs zombies or watch movies all night.

Bon Voyage! Hapit na pod mi, one more sem to go! :)

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As we bid farewell to one of the members of our family in the publication, it is truly never easy especially that he was one good soul and a very wonderful person. But on a positive side, we are happy for him because I know that this is what he wanted. Basta, we will miss you Noh and thank you for everything. Kung idol ko nmo, mas idol tikaw Noh. Godspeed and do well in your career. See you at the big one!

After enjoying a few days of vacation brought about by the semestral break, it's back to school again. It is high time again to hurdle another semester full of school works--assignments, quizzes, projects, etc. It is high time again to get frustrated with our no-show teachers who would teach us nothing with our major subjects.

And speaking of subjects, it's a good thing that my remaining subjects this semester are all major subjects. In other words, no longer will I be worried with my arts subjects because I'm saying goodbye to them all.

I could still remember my tender years in the university where my prospectus is loaded with arts subjects--Social Sciences, Filipino, English, PE, and Math--my least favorite. Modesty aside, although I got high grades with my Math subjects and that I'm proud to say that I learned more in this subject compared to my secondary years, I still don't like this subject much. Perhaps, dealing with numbers isn't just my forte that is why I end up taking Mass Communication.

Nonetheless, I have a feeling I'm not the only one who seem allergic with Mathematics. I would presume that a lot of students also find difficulty with this subject. Well, they could not blame us because Math is Math and you can't argue with that. If you can't understand it then you can't understand it, unless you get a tutor and seek for a little help.

It's absolutely true, maybe you just need a tutor to help you understand the principles of Math especially with your Algebra lessons. However, you may find it awkward also to hire a tutor who is a complete stranger to you and let him/her come to your place. The good news is that, you don't have to stick with this conventional way of tutoring anymore if you find it inconvenient for you.

Like they said, we are now living in what they call 'Computer Age'. Truly, we can now do a lot of things through the help of our computer. Even online tutoring has also become pervasive in the internet today. This means you can now get Algebra help without leaving your computer. Just surf the net and you can find many sites that offer online tutoring. One of these tutoring companies is TutorVista where they offer 24/7 online tutoring.

With this contemporary way of tutoring where you can have it anytime and anywhere so long as you have internet connection, seeking math answers for your math problems or any other math word problems and algebra word problems should now be more convenient for you. Topics such as Quadratic Equations and others should not worry you anymore, thanks to algebra 2 help.

But anyway, I'm just so happy I already passed my college algebra and trigonometry. :)

If there's anything I want to have in this material world, of course it would be something precious--something as precious as gold maybe. After all, who doesn't want to be rich? Who doesn't want to have more money and live a luxurious life? Anyone?

Well, I just think that gold is one of the biggest tradings anywhere in the world today, which makes it a very good investment for your money. However, since I don't have that riches, I could never invest in gold business, but if I could only dream...

I'd like to have gold jewelry sets, gold faucets, gold coins, etcetera. Like in early civilizations where gold coin has played a vital role in commerce, I'd like to bring back those times where gold coin will be used in lieu of cash trading.

But if you want real gold coins, you can search for websites that sell gold bullion coins. Like in gold coins gain website, you can find various gold bullion online. This may come as a haven for those who want to collect gold bullion coins around the world.

I wish I could also afford that expensive collection. But who knows right?

This ain't the time to emote. I just noticed that my blog posts lately were all sort of mushy. But now, I just feel so positive. I don't know why. Maybe because the sun is up, there's no brownout (we experience brownout almost every Sunday in our place),or perhaps I just feel that this is going to be a happy day for me, really.

Well, whatever it is, I hope it won't go the other way. No. Never. Oh Lord, please don't allow that this positive vibe I'm feeling would turn out to be the opposite of what is going to happen today. I think I should erase, delete, trash, (name your adjective here) that negativity. I started this post with a positive outlook, therefore I should sustain that til this day ends.

Right now, I still have some things I need to finish today so I won't stretch this post anymore. I just want to announce this positive energy I'm having at the moment. I hope it'll be contagious. I hope you are also feeling the same. Bye everyone. It's a sunny Sunday. Enjoy and have a great day. Gob Bless Us Always. Bye for now.

"You can build a shack overnight, but if you want to build a house that can stand against the fury of hurricane or storm, it will take time."

Although I am uncertain if that is the exact sentence, nonetheless I'm sure that the idea expressed in the sentence above is the wisdom that the author of the book, which I've read years ago, is trying to relay to its readers.

We may have different interpretations but this is the way I comprehend it. What the author was saying is that there is no shortcut to anything in this world. You should exert efforts and keep your patience always high. In other words, if you want to own a house you wish to be yours forever, you should work hard so you will have the money to buy it. But if you just want to dwell in it for only a day or two, you can easily rent it because you will only be needing a few bucks, you don't have to work hard.

Now I'd like to apply this principle to the attitude I am possessing at the moment. All this time, I thought I am no longer the same procrastinator I was then, that I'm already a mature responsible person. But look what I'm doing right now. We have many many things to do for our major subjects--articles, exams, documentaries, etc. etc.

All of these have deadlines but I seem not to care at all. I did not even submit an article yet for one of our major subjects while all of my classmates were able to beat the deadline three days ago.

Well, we actually had our news legging and I think my facts would be enough to make a five-page news feature article. But I just can't find the energy or the enthusiasm to do so. It's as if I do not care at all if I'll be given a failing grade. It's as if I do not care to graduate anymore. It's as if...

Actually, this post is supposedly a lengthy one but again, I feel like procrastinating so I will end this piece of crap 'til here only. Sorry for the wasted time. :(

Last night, (if I may borrow these words from our EIC) marked another milestone in the annals of the publication’s history. We just had to put an end to the two-month training of the newbies in the publication.

To come up with a sound decision, the editorial board made a deliberation as to who’s going to make it and who’s not. It was not an easy task of course because whatever decision the board makes, it will directly or indirectly affect the motivation or maybe even the life of the newbies. It might even affect their studies, since we are all full time students here, although it totally depends on how they accept it.

And so a painstaking assessment to their performance during their stint in the publication became our solid basis for the decision. There were verbal tussles among the editors which only proved how difficult the tasked put on our shoulders that time. Matter-of-factly, we even had to reminisce how we went into the same process during our fresh months in the institution. Needless to say, we also felt the same amount of trepidation (if I may use it in lieu of nervousness), the same amount of thrill, and the same amount of cold sweats, thus we were utterly sensitive to their feelings. Of course we understand how painful and frustrating it must be for those who won’t make it, but we have to come up with a decision however hard it may be for us, for them.

I always believe that the hardest job in the world is to decide, and again, I have just proven it right last night. After a careful assessment and deliberation, we finally reached a unanimous decision. But our task did not end there for we still have to announce the decision to them.

Before we revealed their verdict, a series of speeches among all the staffers was done first. Then, finally, we heard the words from the newbies. Most of them were nervous, some tried to be confident, some were teary-eyed, and some even burst into tears. Now could you still break the bad news to them?

Nonetheless, we still have to tell them, after all what’s the use of our deliberation? I don’t know how it went so fast, but we were able to tell them in just a few minutes. But after that, the editors all felt the guilt haunting us. We just saw mixed emotions from them. For those who made it, we saw overflowing joy and gratitude, but of course, we also saw disappointment. I just hope that they would understand that our decision and accept it without hard feelings—I just hope because I was not able to sleep well last night. I have been in the publication for three joyful years now, but I’ve never been caught in I what I considered the most awkward situation of my student journalist’s life, until last night.

On a lighter side, I would like to congratulate those newbies who are now officially members of The NORSUnian. I hope you would continue to excel, stay humble, stay responsible, and keep your spirit up. God bless us.