I have not updated my blog for more than a couple of weeks now because of 2 reasons: (1) I am busy with school, and (2) several significant events have been continuously happening lately, thus I cannot find the time to write about all of them in one seating.

Let me expound on Reason #1. In the morning, what first stumbles upon my sight are piles of paper, my writing pens, and my notebooks. At night, aside from Pinoy Big Brother: Double Up!, the last things I see before I go to sleep are the same ones that I see every morning. This has never happened to me before...or maybe once or twice, but not every morning and every night. Reading, for me, was never stressful, but that was until I signed up for Burn's class. Or better yet, "...was until I was obliged to sign up for Burn's class." Believe me, I technically did not have a choice. I would have avoided his class like what a batchmate of mine did, but I realized that my OrCom experience would not be complete if I did not encounter him at all. His toxicity aside, I find him an effective teacher---a very likable one outside the classroom, actually. In fact, he guided our group to formulate an acceptable research question and a set of research objectives days ago. Therefore, I have less OrCom 140 stuff to worry about.

My thoughts on Burn's OrCom 140 might already be enough to express how worked-up I am lately. My OrCom courses are challenging, while the other General Education courses are bearable. Now, what about Reason #2?

In terms of my OrCom experience I have been to a number of gatherings since a couple of weeks ago. I attended the Dinig Sana Kita screening in U.P. Manila, went to De La Salle University for the Team Comm-OrComSoc event Coalescence, and informally joined the brainstorming on the [previously Shiftees/Transferees, currently] Batch 2012 Christmas Party with friends. Unfortunately, I was not able to attend the 2009 OrCom Night. Allegedly, that was the most worth-it OrCom event this year, and I missed it. I initially felt disappointed because, judging from the photos, the party looked fun. Adding to my disappointment was the fact that I missed the annual Oblation Run in U.P. Manila. Last year, I missed the event as well. There is always next year, I guess.

Apart from my OrCom hits and misses, I also attended my good friend Tessa Trazona's debut celebration, and had dinner with my paternal relatives to celebrate Lola Elfa Castillon's birthday. The debut party was held in Antipolo, Tessa's hometown. It party gave me the chance to bond with my blockmates again, and also to meet some of the important people in Tessa's life. My parents allowed me to sleep over at Antipolo since they preferred that I return home the morning after. Tessa shared her hotel room with a couple of our good friends Rich and Rio, her best friend Neil, and me. All of us shared random stories until the break of dawn; we all left the hotel room at 10:30 the next day. On a different note, Lola Elfa celebrated her birthday last Tuesday. Only 5 out of 6 of her children were present since her eldest daughter is working and staying with her immediate family abroad. We, her grandchildren, are incomplete, too. Regardless of the absences, it was a happy night. The way I see family gatherings, all have always been memorable and eventful---whether with my father's side of the family or my mother's.

Things that are also worth mentioning are my temporary resignation from my part-time work, the Pancake House lunch with Karla, and my new Neo notebook laptop (photo above prior paragraph). Because of my academic workload, I had to sacrifice my student assistanship stint in the Department of Social Sciences. Sa totoo lang, medyo labag pa sa kalooban kong umalis ng trabaho pero mas kailangan kong pagtuunan ng pansin ang pag-aaral ko. On the other hand, Karla and I had an unplanned lunch meeting last Monday. We basically caught up on each others' lives for an hour, and met up with Tessa moments later. A day after our meet-up, my parents purchased a Neo notebook for me. Interestingly, the lunch and the notebook laptop were both unplanned.

School, friends, family, and socializing---mix them all together in 10 days, and you get a whirlwind of events. I might have missed some of the key happenings and even compromised my beloved part-time work, but still, life goes on. There are many years ahead of me, and I am ready for another set of whirlwinds to come my way.

A week and a half has passed since I attended the first sessions of the courses which I enrolled for this semester. Last Sunday, I was planning to post an entry regarding my first impressions on the 6 classes (plus my last P.E. course) that I am presently attending to, but I opted to wait until I attend these classes for the second or third time. I had to give myself enough time to get a good grasp of my professors' teaching styles and how the classes will turn out in the long run.

Before I proceed to discussing my opinions toward my professors and classes, I would like to take this opportunity to acknowledge the death of our youngest dog, Ricky. He was only 7 months old when he fell ill and died on the 8th of November 2009. It was due to his habit of eating garbage that he succumbed to an unknown illness. We miss you dearly, Ricky.

Sorry for the sudden preemption. Below is the list of courses that I am taking this semester, the professors assigned to each of them, and my impressions on both.

Organizational Communication 140, Dynamics of Interpersonal Communication - Professor "Mikee" Inton

This course has got to be my favorite of all the OrCom courses that I am currently taking. The reason why I am very interested with this course is not the premise of the course itself, but the professor. Madame Inton is one of the best communication professors that I have ever met. Although this impression may change while the class progresses, I will hold on to my opinion for now. Everything is natural about Madame---his humor, his knowledge on the subject matter, and the way he handles the class. While his jokes and references on homosexuality are fun, I noticed that he is overusing the topic. BUT it does not affect my liking towards him as a professor or person. On the course, on the other hand, my expectations of it being of the theoretical kind has been met. Indeed, this is a course that requires the student to "read and apply". In fact, 3 long chapters on self identity have been recently assigned to us to read as reference for next meeting's discussion. By the mention of "interpersonal", I am sure that we will be having several group activities and speeches here. Communication skills on the roll!

Organizational Communication 107, Intercultural Communication - Dr. Diana Agbayani

Cultures! I am interested in getting acquainted with other nations' cultures, especially those of the oriental countries like China, Japan, and Korea. However, this course is not only about international cultures but also of cultures in different aspects. For instance, in universities, in corporations, and even in social cliques. In spite of the many things to be discussed in this course, it is actually the one with the lightest workload among all the other major courses. I guess it has something to do with Dr. Agbayani's style. She prefers that her students' participation in class would resemble casual conversations. Dr. Agbayani is the type of professor whom anyone can get along with. I adore her, actually. And her stories about her experiences in Japan and Canada are amusing, too.

Organizational Communication 140, Introduction to Organizational Theories - Professor Jan Michael Bernadas

*Sigh* Bern, Bern, Bern---the most-talked about OrCom professor at present (next to Dr. Sarile, that is). During the previous semester, I had a number of conversations about him with my OrCom 101 classmates. Most of those whom I talked with about him told me how demanding he was during their NSTP classes. Infamous for being scary, "toxic", critical, and simply "terror", Bern (the name he prefers us to call him) proved to a previously non-Bern student like me that he wants things done in a "full-blown" manner. In the 3 instances that I attended his class, I still do not find him as scary as my OrCom 101 classmates warned him to be. He seemed calm during the past few days. What appalled me, though, was his major requirements, and to quote,

I want you to come up with a full-blown Organizational and Management Paper that would be of international conference quality. It should be of the same level as your OrCom 199 thesis, which will be your compulsory thesis in college.

If you want to know how I reacted to what he said, imagine me with both my jaws dropping.

The course is a great theoretical approach in helping OrCom students immerse themselves in different company and organizational settings. Apart from the very objective lessons, Bern's mode of teaching made the course feel like a class in Law School. He even said that if anyone of us wishes to go to Law School, his class may be used aa training ground. Every meeting, he asks us to read 3 books at most, plus he randomly calls a student for a surprise graded recitation.

Linguistics 100, Introduction to the Study of Language - Professor Gina Salazar

Certainly, this class will help me improve and expand my knowledge on my style of writing. Aside from studying the history of language and its fundamental factors, lessons offered in this class will shed light to why there are words that are and are not appropriate in different verbal structures. Ma'am Salazar, whom I first saw in the office of the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, proved to be an effective Linguistics professor. When discussing, one could feel how comfortable and confident she is. Oh, and I also admire her wardrobe. Haha. Very chic.

Spanish 2, Elementary Course II (Spanish) - Instructor Mary Joyce Lozada

Ah, Español. Apparently, the language is very close to home. The 300-year Spanish takeover obviously influenced the Philippines to a greater extent than any of the country's other conquerors. I am happy to have gotten a good mark in Spanish I, but sadly, my interest in this subject is in an all-time low. From the very beginning, I had little liking in the course. Even the pretty, soft-voiced Señorita Lozada failed to motivate me. I guess my heart is still with Nihongo.

Humanities II, Art, Man, and Society - Professor H. Labor

I was never a fan of visual arts. I only took this class so that I could complete the units required for Arts and Humanities. Paintings, operas, and tradition---I guess we would be tackling these matters during the whole semester. What bothers me more, aside from not being a fan of anything visual, is that I am not friends with anyone in the class. I know a number of my classmates since we belonged to the same History class last semester, but that was just it. I just know them. Also, I am the only OrCom student in class. Great. If not for Ma'am Labor's amiableness and my I-must-not-take-my-classes-for-granted principle, I would have dropped Hum II.

P.E. 4, Philippine Games - Professor ? Nuestro

It was funny how the very person who fervently told me and some of my blockmates not to take Philippine Games as a P.E. class turns out to be the one who is assigned to the Philippine Games class that I enrolled this semester. Sir Nuestro was my Arnis instructor on the first semester of my freshman year in U.P. Manila, and I remember enjoying his class. He may be strict and tactless, but he is likable. What I cannot forget about him was that he asked us to pay 600PHP for a pair of Arnis pants that I only used for only 1 semester. I would not be annoyed by that if I had not learned that in the other Arnis class, the pants only cost 350PHP. *Sigh* Nonetheless, Sir Nuestro is a cool prof, no doubt.

Yesterday, I have successfully enrolled for this academic year's second semester. In 4 months or more, I will soon be a college junior. How time flies! Looking back at my performance during the first semester, I am proud to say that I got through the first half of the academic year with flying colors. During the past 5 months, I did my best to juggle my responsibilities as a student, my part-time job in school, and my time with my friends. I decided earlier on that it would seem unhealthy if I choose to spend my precious time concentrating only on 1 out of the 3 mentioned. I certainly do not want to be just a nerd, just a workaholic, or just a social butterfly. In leading a healthy lifestyle, time management is always the key. Knowing that I managed my time wisely during the previous semester, I have high hopes that my efforts will bear good fruit.

And so, a day before the registration/enrollment, I claimed all of my class cards in the subjects that I took last semester. It was pleasant to find that my efforts were not put to waste. I beat my previous feat during the second semester of my freshman year, and was able to achieve something which I did not expect to earn. During the second semester of my freshman year, I surprised myself when I found my name in one of the 2 academic lists in our institution. Between the 2 lists, I told myself that I probably would just be able to see my name in the one with the relatively lower standard and that if I get the chance to earn equally good grades next time, I will still fall on the same list. Considering that the education in U.P. is undeniably difficult and challenging, I used to believe that those who belong to the cream of the cream of the cream of the crop are the only ones who are capable of having their names included in the other list, the one with the higher grade standard. Libre mang mangarap, hindi sumagi sa isip ko na maililinya ako sa tulad nila. Surprisingly, what I thought was impossible happened. (And the rest is history, just read between the lines. I don't want to be accused of bragging.)

My mother's advice worked. She told me to put my best foot forward no matter how mediocre my "best" is compared to others, and I did. Kung ano lang ang abot ng makakaya ko, ginawa ko. The support and guidance that I constantly receive from God and my family made it possible for me to succeed in performing well in school, accomplishing my duty hours at work, and finding time to be with my friends. Having said that, I feel that I am ready to go through another 5 months' worth of challenge. Next semester, I would have to deal with a new schedule, new classmates, and new duty hours. Seeing how greatly rewarded my efforts were during the previous semester, there is no reason for me to slack at all. I hope that when the succeeding 5 months come to an end, I will also feel the same sensation as what I am feeling now, more than happy and satisfied.

Bangs...again

From to

It has been 2 years since I had my bangs trimmed short. During the past months, I would often wear my bangs sideways, but never straight. What I remember trimming short oftentimes is my hair itself. In case you are not aware of it, I have this penchant for haircuts. Every month, and I mean every, I would always look at myself in the mirror and say, "My hair needs a haircut." I tell myself that my hair "needs" a haircut, when in fact, it is fine the way it is. Up to now, I still do not know the reason why I would itch for a haircut every single month. But these past couple of months is an accomplishment to me, however. I have refrained from getting myself a full-length haircut. Having said that, my hair is in its perfect length. So, what held me back from having my hair chopped up these past few months? Since I cannot let go of the habit of going to hair salons every month, I resorted to just having my bangs trimmed. And so, from long and side-swept, my bangs are now straightly cut. What will happen to my hair next month is another story, though. LOL!

Disappointing schedule, what I get from pre-enlisting 2 schedules of the same subject at the same time

When I checked the subjects, rather classes, that were approved for pre-enlistment yesterday morning, I had to give myself a hard bump on the head. The classes which I wanted for next semester were marked as X, meaning these schedules were not considered the batch processing. What the fudge, man! Why did the CRS have to cancel the ones which I preferred? More so, why did I even enlist 2 schedules at the same time? Nagmamagaling kasi ako e. I was too paranoid that I thought of enlisting the other class, thinking that if the one I preferred ran out of slots, I would be able to get the other class without having to register late. It turns out that the CRS staff will be choosing an alternative for me in case the latter happens. I have friggin' learned my lesson. Next pre-enlistment is payback time!

P.S. In the photo above, I forgot to include the sections. So, let me do the "honor" here:

• OrCom 104: MHA
• OrCom 107: MHG
• OrCom 140: TFA
• Span 2: MHC
• Ling 100: TFE
• Hum II: TFD
• PE PHIL G: TBC

Mau's birthday blowout yesterday

Mau's 17th birthday was last week, but she opted to celebrate it with us, her high school friends, yesterday. Those who came aside from me were Anna Mae and Paulo. As cheesy as this would sound, I actually missed them. I know that I have been distancing myself from my high school friends for the past couple of months, but every time that I meet with them, I am happy. We had our lunch in the McDonald's branch in Robinson's Ermita courtesy of Mau. Earlier yesterday, it was only Mau and myself who are at the mall since Anna Mae and Paulo will be arriving late. I have nothing much to say, aside from the fact that I missed them and that I had fun seeing them again.

Driving, driving, driving. Exhausting.

Today, I will be attending the 4th driving session out of the 5 that I will be taking this week. So far, I have learned how to maneuver the car effectively, maneuver the car in reverse, maneuver the car in a slop, step on the brakes effectively, change gears, immerse myself in traffic jams, and look at the side- and rear-view mirrors. In spite of being knowledgeable at the skills mentioned, I still have few experience. According to the man who was assigned to teach me, in the case of driving, experience is the best teacher. In the 5 days that I will be maneuvering a box-type car, I cannot expect to become a decent, if not good, driver immediately. I really need to hit the roads, and practice. Practice, practice, practice.

"You cannot always have what you want," the saying goes. And true enough, the outcome of both the activities that I have long planned to do today were not favorable. If you remember, I mentioned in my previous entry that I will be registering for the upcoming elections today, 8 days before the deadline. I prepared myself for the process yesterday, hoping that something good will turn out. Obviously, nothing good turned out. In fact, before this disappointment, I was already frustrated to begin with.
 

I went to my school this morning for one, sole reason---to check my pre-Final standing in History II, something which I have also mentioned in my previous entry. I was expecting to see the list at the exact time which our History II professor promised to post the list. Also, I was expecting to leave the school premises 5 to 15 minutes upon catching sight of the list so that I could proceed to the COMELEC office in Bacoor City immediately. However, no list stumbled upon my sight at around 8:30 nor did I leave the school premises at the time I expected myself to. I chanced upon my History II classmate in the corridor adjacent to the corridor where our History II room is located. She was reviewing for her exam in Humanities I then, but decided to accompany me in killing the next 30 minutes of waiting. Yes, I patiently waited for 30 minutes just so that I could say that my decision to drop by the campus was spent for nothing. During the wait, which was extended to 15 minutes, I was able to have a conversation with a previous co-block member and caught up on our lives. 45 minutes later and still, the list is nowhere. In dire need to rush to the COMELEC office, I asked my History II classmate to look up my standing for me in the list while I struggle to reach the COMELEC office before lunchtime.
 

I left the school at 9:20, was able to hail a bus at 9:27, reached Talaba at 10:20, and arrived at the Bacoor City Municipal Hall at 10:30. I was forewarned by my mother's friend, whose son attend the same school as my brother and whose daughter Alyssa is my friend and previous classmate, that several people have already gathered in the Municipal Hall since 7:00 in the morning. Indeed, several people were already lining up but they were not several enough to scare me. I readily claimed 3 photocopied election forms and had my U.P. I.D. photocopied in the store which a good stranger pointed out to me when I first arrived on the place, fell in line, and filled out my forms. A few minutes later, a woman was calling the attention of the attendees who are 18 years old to 20 years old. Though I am 17 this year, I will be turning 18 before May 10, 2010, thus I fall into the category.
 

Alas, I am done with the Psychology 10 exam. Since it is the last exam that I was required to take this semester, I am officially starting on my semester break plans at this very moment. As of this time, I guess I can omit 2 items from the list: the ice skating experience with Rich and the "How I Met Your Mother" Season 4 marathon. I am only halfway through finishing Season 4, and it is not because I am getting bored of it. I stopped myself from watching all of the episodes in one night so that the episodes will really leave a mark on me. I will be watching the 12th episode tomorrow morning, after going to the gym. But apart from the things that I have included on the list, I also would like to delve on matters that made me excited and worried today. On top of the list is my ice skating experience with my good friend, Rich.

It was September 18 when we last met before today. While we were eating at the Mall of Asia's food court back then, we spontaneously thought of trying to ice-skate. Just when we were about to embark on our first attempts, we learned that it would cost us 300PHP to ice-skate. Even though the rate was worth an unlimited stay on the rink for the whole day, we figured that we do not have much time before. We promised to ice-skate when we have more time to spare and that promise was carried out almost a month after we parted. We ate at Sbarro an hour before we proceeded to the ice skating rink. When we reached the rink, we paid 300PHP and prepared for our silly gimmick. Unfortunately for us, right when we were already in our skating gears, Rich and I could not even take our first steps on the rink. Eventually, we decided to individually pay for trainers, whose 150PHP-worth of service will last for 30 minutes. It was relatively expensive for a 30-minute stint but hey, we needed them in order to make the most of our 300PHP.

My trainer was Kuya Orlando. At first, I did not want to let go of his hands. I seriously cannot find my balance. I soon fell flat on my butt during the lesson, but while standing up, a new sense of determination came over me. A few minutes later, I started walking on ice. Rich was able to get the drift, too, and also fell flat on her butt. When we got used to walking on ice aimlessly and endlessly, we started carving ice with our skates and threw bunch of ice chips to one another. Ang daya niya. Kapag binabato niya ako, 'yung bibig ko lagi ang pinupuntirya. Ang lamig ng pakiramdam ng yelo sa mga ngipin ko. Hahaha!

But before this event, I was extremely worried about how to contact Rich. There was something wrong with my mobile phone. It was a Samsung E250, a slide-up phone. The buttons on the slide-up part were not working, and even the slide-up itself was not sliding up the right away. I cannot navigate the messaging menu, thus I became anxious on how to contact Rich. Anyway, the problem was solved when my Mom lent her phone to me. When I returned to her office this evening, she told me that it was already fixed. The repairman told my mother that it was damaged due to overuse. I have that phone for a year now, and I have been with it through thick and thin. Now that I am informed of the damage that I have inflicted on it, I guess I should take extra care on it. It is not too late, right?

Moving on from my mobile phone trouble, I am anticipating my standing on History II. My professor on that course told the class that he will be posting a list of our pre-Finals standing, and if we are satisfied on what we see, there will be no need for us to take the non-compulsory Final exam. As for me, whatever mark I receive, I will not take the Final exam. Seriously, I do not want to stress myself over a course that did not stimulate my learning experience. I believe I performed decently in this course, if not excellently. I served as my professor's proctor in class, and abode to his every instruction during class. I recorded grades for him, and even took note of my classmates' attendance and late-comings. I just hope that my efforts will bear fruit.

But hey. Today is the start of my sembreak. I should not be worrying about History II. However, I am on the lookout for my performance this semester. I mean, who isn't? I know that my fellow U.P. students tend to tell other people that they are not grade conscious or anything, but I know in my heart that every single isko or iska is actually G.C.---whether at the mild side or at the extreme end. Kaya 'di tatalab sa aking ang mga denial niyo. LOL! Ramdam ko kayo. Hahaha!

P.S. I will be registering for elections this Friday. Wish me luck. Hoho!

This week is Finals Week in my school, and I am happy that I am not one of the bunch of students who are struggling to review their Bio or Chem notes on a wonderful, breezy day like this. Most of the students who are required to attend the campus for exams these coming days take up science degree programs, like Biology and Biochemistry. It is already a known fact that these Bachelor of Science (B.S.) students experience heavier academic workload than us Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) students but I do not believe that it will make us, B.A. students, any less capable than them. It just so happened that laboratory tests and exact sciences need more practice than social issues and verbosity. Because, as opposed to the hard sciences, the soft sciences' foundation is application and awareness. But blah, why am I even delving on matters like this on a happy, carefree day like today?

The truth is, I have an exam scheduled for tomorrow. The exam is not the crucial type; it is just our second long exam in Psychology 10 (Journey to the Self), something we should have taken earlier but was not able to because of the Ondoy tragedy. I am not being arrogant or anything, but I feel that I could breeze through this remaining exam tomorrow. I have taken higher Psychology exams when I was still a Political Science student, and it is all thanks to Psychology 101 (Introduction to Psychology). Psych 10 is more like a feel-good course, but because I was enrolled in a Wednesday Psychology 10 class, most of the sessions were always preempted by national holidays. Not that I do not like the suspensions, though; I just feel bad that I was not able to savor the "journey to my self" this semester.

Putting aside the last and only exam that I have to take this semester, I would like to discuss how I will be spending the approximately 2 weeks that I will be away from the school premises. Sure, I could still be on duty as a student assistant in the Department of Social Sciences, but heck, travelling all the way to Manila from Cavite just for that is too tiresome. So much for dedication, huh? Hahaha! I promise not to do that on my first professional job. I swear!

1. I need to be a registered voter...fast! The registration period will end on the 30th, that is why I need to get a move on. I am qualified to register for this coming elections, since my birthday falls on the 4th of May, which means that I am already 18 by the time the 2010 election period emerges. I heard that registering is easy and fast; from what I heave heard, I think I will only fill out 3 identical forms, and bring I.D. photos, then the next thing I know, I will be a registered voter. I am planning to carry this plan out on the 23rd, since I also have other things to accomplish downtown around Friday.


2. I will watch all of How I Met Your Mother Season 4's episodes. I had no plans of buying a pirated DVD copy of HIMYM as soon as yesterday, but since I found one from the bunch of DVDs offered by Zorro, the DVD street vendor along Padre Faura, I grabbed the opportunity and bought it for 50PHP. The half-a-hundred moolah that I spent for it was super worth it! The video quality is cool, and even the audio. I watched it as soon as I woke up this morning. Reminding myself that I have the whole 2 weeks to watch it, I stopped at the second episode. Barney and Robin (Robin is a she, okay?) are adorable! OF course, Ted, Lily, and Marshall are equally amusing, too.


3. 500 Days of Summer... Along with the HIMYM DVD copy, I also bought a pirated copy of this movie out of curiosity. I am not head over heels in love with this unlike my butterfly-wannabe friend Chris, but who knows? Maybe I will be...if I find it interesting, that is. I will watch this later.


4. I might be hitting the ice rink tomorrow. My good friend Rich and I planned to meet at the MAll of Asia tomorrow. We are planning to take on our first attempts to ice-skate, worth 300PHP. I hope this will push through. Karla, our other good friend, seems to be looking for companions on Friday. If it happens that our schedules will meet hers on Friday, I think Rich and I will have to delay the ice-skating experience on Friday, and I will register for voting in advance tomorrow.


5. I will find romantic manga titles online. I missed manga-hopping. Since I have several free days ahead of me, I will be savoring them by scouting for romantic, feel-good manga titles on Mangafox. It would be better if the titles are of slice-of-life category. I am a sucker for everyday life romance stories.


6. Because the registration for 2nd Sem AY 09 - 10 is approaching... I will have to prepare myself for my new school schedule next semester. The results of the pre-regristration process will not be released until the 28th, thus I am still anticipating how the next semester would be for me. I will be taking up 4 major courses, 1 foreign language course, and 1 general education course next semester, summing up to a total of 18 frigging units. Oh, and I still have 2 units of P.E. left. The only P.E. class compatible to the rest of the class schedules is the 3:00 Philippine Games class. I am fervently hope that I get on that class, or else, I would have to stress myself during the late registration period.


7. Gradessss. None of the professors that I had this semester has released the final grades yet. I reckon that they will be released on the first week of November. I seriously do not have a clue on the marks that I will be receiving this semester. I am certain that I did well in most of the courses that I took, but the final verdict still lie on my professors. Who knows? I might have done well, but not good enough to match their standards. I am under the pressure of maintaining my streak from the previous semester. It would be disappointing if my performance turned out less than that of my past streak. But of course, I am still hoping for the best.

On a lighter note, I would like to mention in this entry the mini reunion that the Castillon family had a few days ago. The 24 hours that we spent in Tagaytay was fun. I love being around my cousins. The reunion was due to my grandfather, Atty. Egmedio Castillon, Sr.'s 74th birthday, and the Tagaytay get-away was planned by his children as a gift. Ninang Pia and her family, as well as Uncle Toto's children, were not present during the event, however.