What Makes My School Cool? (My entry for TV5's "School ko Cool" promo)

Quezon City Science High School is what thousands of bright and promising students "fight over" every year to get in. Many are called but only few are chosen and even fewer could stand the pressure that this REGIONAL Science High School has to offer. Tons of homework might trouble you all night and you surely have to do extra effort just not to be left behind by others. It's definitely not what you call a "stress-free" school. But if you take a good look at the big picture, you'll see nothing to indicate that. We seem to enjoy the Scientian lives we opt to have.

So what makes Scientians go to school five days a week only to be mounted with piles of these crazy schoolworks? Well, I guess here in Quesci, it's just that cool!

Quesci is where lots of "helping-each-other" happen. And that's one of the reasons learning is easier here compared with other schools. Take for example: it won't be that hard to learn advanced physics if one of your classmates is a physics olympian. Solving difficult math problems would be easier if your classmate is a district, national, or even international champion in math! It's the school where the bests are found. Even the guy with the highest IQ in the Philippines is teaching here!

Not only that we learn from each other but we also enjoy each other's company. We are made up of a great variety of students where you could find the nerdy type, the sporty, the cool dude, the joker, the emo, and many more, yet we still seem to have this strong bond with each other. That's why it's really fun to stay here in Quesci.

Another reason why Quesci is so cool is because of its location. It's just beside SM North Edsa, the largest mall in the Philippines! It's the favorite hang-out place of Scientians. Here we can eat, watch movies with friends, play at the arcades, shop, or just simply hang around. They're just a walk away. Usually, after exams, it's as if the entire mall becomes the new QCSHS campus since Scientians can be seen in any part of the mall. A reward for the sleepless nights won't be bad.

For a whole lot of reasons, I have no regrets for being a Scientian. It's really cool to be one! The memories I've had in the long run now that I'm months away from leaving the school will forever remain and be treasured (I'll just forget the stipend thing --we didn't receive any!).

June 18, 2009 - a day I'll stamp on my brain. An untoward and very annoying incident was witnessed by my very own eyes. In a few instances I've seen it already, I get to hear about it often, though it might even be something like a chronic disease already widespread. Probably I wasn't just observing that well. It's one of the worsts a student could do, yet it still happens. A form of corruption taking place in almost every classroom and stabs every hardworking and fair students at their backs. What happened exactly was:

at about 4:30 pm, My classmates were having a retake quiz in English, I was exempted since I got perfect in the first quiz. So I was just looking around, watching my classmates take the quiz, until my attention got stuck with these two guys seated at the back-most row of the room. One seemed to be whispering to the other while still maintaining his eyes on his own paper. It took them some time to write something on their paper every after the teacher asks a question, it's as if they're having a hard time recalling the answers, but still they're able to jot down something in every questions asked. Their heads were bowed down the whole time not looking anywhere else. Then came the climax, a small piece of paper fell from the lap of one of them. He immediately picked it up in a furtive manner, his lips sucked in, with a slight smile on his face, while looking at the teacher who was just a couple of meters infront of him. No one noticed him except me, of course, since everyone was busy with his own paper. He placed the small piece of paper he picked up back on his lap, slightly beneath the arm of the chair as if hiding it from the teacher. I noticed how his eyes were spying underneath the arm of the chair every after the teacher gives the question, slightly tilting his head probably to get a better view. Then, the quiz was done, one whispers to the other again before passing the paper. The other replied with a whisper too. I heard it slightly but I clearly read his lips saying "Purchase" which was one of the answers in the quiz.

It may not be a new story to you, but we shouldn't get used to it. We should not be masochists and let ourselves get abused by them. But wait, why am I saying all these? I didn't even have the guts to tell the teacher about it! In a way, I thought it might also be my fault if they do it again someday since no one got to teach them a lesson.

The whole incident just keeps bothering me. It's totally unfair that I would soak my head in a book the whole night for the quiz then others would have the same score or even higher in less effort.

But reflecting on the whole incident, I have come to think that there's really nothing much deprived of me, it's still their loss not mine and it's also their own they are fooling.

Remember: Nothing is to be learned from cheating, if you want to achieve something, better choose the right path and be willing to pay the price.

... WORD OF THE DAY!

just something to enrich my vocabulary
...and also for the sake of posting:

sobriquet \SOH-brih-kay\ noun : a descriptive name or epithet : nickname

I'll keep that in mind!

The ABC of My Life (requirement for Journalism class)

The ABC of my Life.

Art – art plays a big role in my life. It’s something that I’m good at. It’s also a way of, somehow, expressing myself especially that I seldom talk with others. When I was young, I used to sketch anything I could imagine and my family would usually be impressed. During my elementary days, I have joined many poster-making contests and anytime we had projects in art, I would usually have the highest grade in class. Lately, my time for art is slowly by slowly vanishing although my interest for it is still there, I just don’t have the time. It’s a really tight and busy school year I’m having.

Basketball – It’s my favorite sport since childhood. I can’t specifically remember how I got into it but it has been my hobby since I got my first ball from my grandfather when I was about six years old. It is also by far, my favorite show to watch in TV, specially the NBA.

Computers – Computers have dominated our society for the past few decades. It has greatly influenced humans’ way of living nowadays. And it got me too! Since having our first PC at home, we quickly learned how useful it was and how it could make a lot of our work easier. There was also a time when I got into playing computer games, but I noticed quickly how it affected my studies and how it took much of my precious time, so, I eventually stopped. Now, it’s something that I almost couldn’t live without especially now that we are given tons of homework everyday and I just need some help from these machines.

Dogs – the most common pet in our home.

Eggs – one of my favorite breakfast meals.

Friends – my second family

God – The reason we are all alive!

Hot chocolate – my favorite drink in the morning…stirs my day up

Internet – a global network of interrelated computers that keeps me connected with my friends and relatives abroad. It has also helped me in most of my homeworks specially that it makes research way easier.

Jeans – my favorite of all kinds of pants…and also the strongest. Its color might fade away but its usefulness lasts long.

Kids – I just find them really adorable.

Lunch time – my favorite meal time. Also a time to bond with the family or with friends (when I’m in school)

Mom – the most special woman in my life since birth.

National Book Store – the most reliable and easy-to-reach bookstore in the Philippines. The store that provided my school supplies since I first entered school.

Oxygen – an element that we couldn’t live without. I’ve been breathing it for almost sixteen years that’s why it shouldn’t be discounted in this list.

Pictures - objects that I love to stare at…they just bring those precious moments back.

Quezon City – the place where I grew at.

Rice – the food that has always been part of my meal.

SM – everyone’s mall…also my favorite hang-out place.

TV – something I couldn’t survive without.

Underwears – I don’t leave home without this!

Videos - something that I enjoy watching specially the videos of my childhood

Water – an inorganic compound that is necessary for the survival of all sorts of organism…definitely a big part of my life.

Xerox – something that made my life a lot easier. Also…the fastest and the cheapest way to copy an assignment from a classmate.

Yahoo! – my email provider and one of the most reliable search engines in the net. It has also brought me closer to my friends and relatives through the Yahoo! Messenger.

Zzzzz… - my favorite hobby.

When everything else seems calm and silent...

Relive The Moments
By Jose Marie Mateo

Now, the sun's just about to descend
Daylight must come to an end
As the sun peeks from behind the ranges
Its radiance fading slowly each second
The moon sheds its glow to the ground
I could hear not even a sound
All I could do was to stare at the sky
And let my imagination fly
No more could I think of anything better
While in the midst of the night's winter
Than to write a poem
Recalling all the moments

I could count not even the years
When I first witnessed this young boy
A child filled with wonder and awe
Fascinated at what ever he saw.
I could recall the moments
He spent with his Mom,
Who taught him his ABC,
The moments with his Daddy,
Who was his best buddy
And the moments he spent alone
Playing and discovering the unknown
Which served as his milestone.

I could remember the moment
When he first entered school
Where he learned new things
And met new friends
The moments they've had
Playing on the fine sand
The moments he spent at the nook
Writing in his first notebook
And the moments he's had
Drawing in his own sketchpad
Where he would be silent
A moment he invested a talent

I could still remember...
...the moments of triumph,
Of high spirits,
And moments of celebration
That made his heart beat
With tremendous exhilaration.
I remember the moment
When he won his first contest,
The moment he grabbed his first medal
A moment that's truly special.
Those oh so precious seconds
Just keep flashing back
To my unceasingly playful thought

I could still remember...
...the moment a youngster entered the gates
Of this unfamiliar place
A whole new society to embrace
A place that taught him innumerable lessons
More significant than the basic ABC
Even greater than the ocean's immensity
A place where this youngster...
...would later on nurture
And transform into a young adult
If I could only relive that very moment
He had that night...
...when he held her hands so tight
He could only look at her sparkling eyes
And cherish that night of romance
The moment he had his girl in a dance

Now, the sun has gone out of sight
No longer could it cast upon its light
But this venturous mind of mine
Still would not recline
And longs for voices of the past
That furnished me memories that will last
And took me to a universe so vast
Now, this moment of time
Will remain in this memory of mine
To reminisce when the twilight comes
A time to relive the moments.

Some Lovely Butterfly Pics by Jose Marie Mateo

Courage To Fail

In dealing with life, we can't play safe all the time. It won't drive us to success. Sometimes, we have to take risks, failing becomes a possibility this time. But if we'll rise from every fall and learn from our previous mistakes, then, this is what drives us to success.

Courage To Fail
by Jose Marie Mateo

I thrive through the course of life
Dodging through what first will strike
Clueless! What will I come to strife?
This ground I'm standing at,
The path I opt to combat
I pray, not the place I'll stumble at

Thoughts just vie through my mind
Shall I risk this fate of mine?
...and gamble with destiny on the line?
Yes! Cast this soul into persuasion
To go through, that's my decision
Failure, it must fail not my mission

Now,
This ever courageous will
Shall no longer lay still
'Cause failures will no longer blockade
Instead, will be an aid
For trials I was once afraid