3 Aspects of Education

In the past education was exclusively for men and women back then didn't have the right to education at all. It was held against their will, they were only trained to become wives who would watch over their children and take care of the house. But times has change and women were given the right to pursue education and now in our present times we don't see education as a right now we see education as a priviledge.

Not a lot of kids are able to go to school because of financial problems which is a common problem in our country today. Even public schools have difficulties accepting students because their parents couldn't afford to pay their school tuitions. A growing number of street children increases every year and it is sad to see these children playing around and growing up in such a hostile environment. Even our government is trying to find ways on how to eliminate this problem, even with the available public schools in some areas because of our bad economy and bad family planning the population of the masses continues to grow. Students who attended schools and higher educations are very priviledge that they were able to make a difference in their lives. They are able to achieve something that many other Filipino children are not able to achieve in their lifetime. So as students, workers, educators, practitioners and businessmen we should help eliminate the problem of the lack of education in our country today because the future of our country lies within the hands of our future. Our children will build roads towards our country's success but first as parents and teachers we must challenge and build foundations for them to stand strong in times of troubles.

Throughout time we saw the evolution of education from being a given right in the past, transforming into a great priviledge in our present but what about our future? I have seen many students whom were given the right to pursue education, given the priviledge to pursue and achieve higher learning but then wasted their time and effort because they didn't make the right decisions. The future lies within the choices we make and as students we understand that the choices we make in our present times shall be the direct result of our great or dim future. It all depends on the decisions you make as an individual, as a student and as a person. The future of our country lies within our children, the future our success lies within our character and the future of our lives lies within a world filled with choices. Education is not a matter of right, is not only a priviledge but also a choice that you decide.

Superman on the Holidays

Superman during Christmas
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My Own Version of a Super Hero

Back in my college days i was very fond of creating my own comic book characters. I was a big fan of superman back then so i tried creating my own version of a super hero. I was working on new set of character with the X-Men cast by giving them new uniforms. This anime is my version of my super hero just for fun. As you can see i was really into superman back then.

A Close Up of My Animated Self

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An Anime Version of Myself

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Beyond the Distance

In a room filled with over 700 people eagerly listening to your every word, watching your every move just to see if you could go the distance. I see myself standing infront of a large number of people with my heart pounding and my palms sweaty. The adrenaline rushed into my viens as i began speaking and yet with fear by my side i went out and gave it my best shot. Suddenly i realize i was speaking out with great determination, driven by a certain goal and the word "win, win, win" was running constantly in my head. Yes pride was my biggest factor back then but it has driven me to go beyond my own capabilities and to prove to myself i could go the distance.

After the presentation hundreds of people applauded and that very moment i have gain the greatest achievement of my life. I was able to present my speech, i was able to go beyond my own capabilies and i stood proud representing my school. For all my life i have never achieve anything, no medals, no plaques, no certificates absolutely nothing. On that night i have gain something more than just mere achievements, i have gain a passion in which i continue to pursue because i believe that i have a future in what i do and that is speaking. This is a gift i have discovered, a skill that i shall honed and a passion i shall love throughout my lifetime. Though we did not win any awards that night, no recognition whatsoever, i went beyond the distance and i came home proud of my achievement that i gain in life.

Serving God with our Gifts

I always had big dreams when it comes to the field of music. Well when i was a kid i never had the knacks of singing or performing not until HS when i learn how to play the guitar which changed my life forever. When i got into college i got expose to many different types of music ranging from classical music to alternative and rock. But my love would always be ballads, acoustics and contemporary gospel songs. I have been playing guitar since i was 13 years old. When i was almost turning 15 i got into songwriting and trust me i wasn't any good at it. After countless disappointing songs i finally got one decent piece and even up to now it has been one of my favorite works (talk about being bias). Anyway since then i've also taken up voice lesson (force by my parents) i hate attending those classes but in the end i wanted to learn more. I only took it up for only 4 months because during that time i got busy with school. Before i never like being on stage i always get stage fright and everytime i try remeniscing those times i always shook my head in disappointment. I always tell myself that if i could just go back in time with what am i now i could have made a better performance. But since time traveling has never been or ever will be invented i had good laughs just remeniscing them.

One of my biggest inspiration in music would be Jose Mari Chan (i know its kinda cheesy but hear me out) this guy not only has a great voice but his songs could last a lifetime. He is one of the Philippines greatest songwriters of all time. A legend in my book because this man not only poccess the great talent of songwriting and singing but he had class and stature to go along with it. A man with a gentle personality and with words that could touch anyones heart. Sad to say he's not that active in the Philippine music industry anymore but he shall always be a classic that would live forever.During my years in college acoustic music was always a trend then came one of the most skillful songwriter and guitarist of all time, John Mayer. Born in the same year this guy is unstoppable when it comes to guitar playing. He inspired many bands and singers such as Maroon 5 and Paolo Santos of the Philippines. His great stlye in music has been an impact in my life as a musician and a songwriter.Before when i was still in HS i hate performing in front of people. Heck i couldn't even speak up in front of a crowd. I never had that much exposure in performing but during my days in college i learn how to talk to people, improve my people skill and learn self-confidence in speaking up. See whenever i'm on stage the first thing that always comes into my mind, what would the people think of me? That thought always haunts me when i would be going up on stage but i did took up seminars and classes about how to improve my speaking skills which kinda boosted up my confidence a bit.

Right now i just enjoy being on stage (ofcourse depending on the audience). You know sometimes how i wish i could just ask God if i could choose my skills and talents oh how i wish i could become a doctor. Come on let's be honest with ourselves being in the medical field is one of the best jobs in the world not only are you helping other people out but your getting a pretty hefty salary as well. But then again if God would give me this certain talent would i be happy? Would i finally be satisfied with what i have by then? I believe that God gave us these different talents because it is a part of who we are. Our skills and talents tells other people who we are as individuals. Personality is considered as the sum total of our uniqueness, individuality and style. This is who we are and as an artist this is who i am as a person. Not by choice but by blessing because God knew before we were even conceive in this world that this is our personality as a person. We all have certain gift and by using these gift to help other people and serve God we are paying back what God has done in our lives. I may not have the brains to become a doctor by profession but i have the heart to serve the Lord in every way as an artist.

From an Introvert to an Extrovert

By nature i've always considered myself as an introvert. I've always wanted to keep things to myself and i tend to be a loner in most occassion. I became anti-social and i wasn't good in relating with other people and often i felt left out from the crowd. My life before wasn't easy especially i had a language barrier problem since i only knew how to speak English and not the local dialect. Still God was faithful that through the hardship i experience in the past i was driven to become a different person when i entered college.

I was still an introvert even during my college days. I still had my language barrier problem and trust me i still suck in speaking Tagalog and Ilonggo (my local dialect in my home province). Most often people would laugh at my weird accent cause it seems like i'm singing rather than talking. Ilonggo has always been know to be very sweet whenever we talk so the accent kinda rubbed in my Tagalog and little bit on my English, not to mention my Chinese.

My college days were great i met new friends and i was able to begin a new chapter in my life. Through my life in college i got to know a lot of different people from all walks of life. Since i was studying in a university of different classes ranging from class A to D i was able to adapt to my environment. I learn how to become more open to other people's opinions and their way of life. I learn how to become more people oriented and i try avoid my shy nature at all times. I learn how to become more confident thanks to my line of work and through public speaking and marketing presentation i realize that i had a knack for speaking in front. I was soon discovering another part of myself, another new chapter in my life. The next thing i notice i wanted to be more involve in gatherings where i get to meet new people and soon my PR was soaring high. I became more approachable to everyone around me then i began to see a big transition in my life, soon i realize that i was becoming an extrovert.

Honestly this was a big change in my life, i never thought i would ever come out from my shell. I never did i imagine myself as the type who would love to be on stage performing and speaking into a crowd. I was driven by the fact i am at a certain phase in my life changing my whole personality from being a quiet artist to a talkative public speaker. I was just amaze on how much i have change since my days in my home province.

Trials are Blessings

"We usually learn things the hard way because the pain is always there to remind us"

I know most of the people reading this wouldn't agree with my title but when you really see the bigger picture, quite often this statement is true. We face trials with negatives reponses because through trials all we get from it is nothing but pain, suffering, hardship and deceit. We tend to become more rebellious towards God because things aren't going according to our wants. But come to think about it why did God put trials in our lives in the first place? Was it just for fun so that God could see us suffer?

God loves us more than anything else but why do we still suffer through the trials we face in life. My parent's often told me that they teach us not to do wrong because it was for our own good but why are we still rebellious toward them? Do we not trust their good intentions or are we just too stubborn to listen? I guess through our stubborness we tend to learn things the hard way. Just like in business we often make mistakes and the results are costly so most often businessmen who has been doing business for a long period of time would tell you that experience is far more fruitful than education itself. As my uncle once told me having experience is like going to college to get an education, our costly mistakes is exactly like paying tuition. We learn from out mistakes and through the trials we face in business we never repeat the mistakes of our past.

How do we see trials as blessings? Well God place trials in our lives not only to test our faith but also to develop our character. If everything in your life was smooth sailing would you consider any room for improvement? Of course not but when everything is against you that where character development comes in. A book that i have been reading for quite sometime is about the life story of the CEO of Starbucks, Howard Schultz, whom i like to consider as the godfather of coffee. Growing up wasn't easy for him but yet he was driven to become a successful person and now he owns one of the worlds most strongest brands.

God set many boundaries in our lives because we develop ourselves through facing our trials. On March 20, 2004 me and my brother were victims of a robbery which happen around 7am in our house. The people who broke in were around 9 people and all of them had guns. They tied us up and they were taunting to kill us if we didnt handed them our money. By God's grace nothing happened and nobody got hurt during the incident. All they took was our computer and small amount of cash. See in a situation like that i could just blame God for not protecting me, my brother and the rest of people living downstairs but instead i praise God that i'm still alive to tell you my story. God did protect me, in fact if he hadn't i wouldn't be alive right now. I even thanked God during that day because He reminded me that without Him i wouldn't be here. He knew i was stumbling and this was his wake up call to me and i pray every morning thanking God that i'm still alive and kicking.

Trials do come and go whether we like it or not but its how we accept and understand His purpose why God place them there. Most often i just couldn't see what God has plan in my life but by entrusting everything to him i feel more secure. Don't get me wrong many times i doubt God that he's not doing his job but whom am i to tell God that what he does in my life doesn't go without purpose. He has a perfect plan set out in our lives but often times we just couldn't accept the answers he gives us. Whenever i do feel doubtful on the plans he has set out in my life i just keep on praying that he would continue to guide me. Sometimes the answers are hard to accept but everything happens for a reason whether we like it or not. The only time we could really see our trials as blessings is when we get to see the bigger picture in God's plan.

What if Martian's could speak Venusian?

"If all people could speak in one tongue imagine the possibilites man could achieve..."

Man could achieve many things as long as they work together as one. Imagine if each person living on Earth could understand one another without any language barrier would the world be a better place? Could you just imagine what man can achieve without having the problem of miscommunication? A prime example would be a story from the Bible, the great Tower of Babel. During those times man spoke in one tongue, so there wasn't any problem of miscommunication. They were united as one working together and through that they decided to build a great tower that would reach towards the heavens. They believe that by building this tower they would be able to talk to God. God saw the wicked ways of man and was resentful of their actions. God confuse man with different tongues and the construction of the tower could never be completed because man couldn't understand one another. From there man spread out across the Earth and began building their own nations.

If man didn't have any language barrier or the problem of miscommunication they would have completed the tower in no time. Imagine the great possibilites if people could understand one another.

"If a Martian could speak Venusian, what could possibly happen?"

Man and woman are two different beings. Men are considered to be more practical, straight forward and rational while women on the otherhand tends to be more emotional. These are two different people but are also alike in some ways. The question is why do male and females often argue with each other?

The inspiration of this article was from the book entitled "Men are from Mars and Women are from Venus". This book talks about the differences shared between man and woman and how they often argue and fight. If man could understand woman and vice versa could hurtful confrontations be avoided?

In this article i would be siting out a few examples on how good communication and by understanding our opposite counterpart could help avoid fights and achieve growth in the same time. I believe that this book is very helpful especially for couples and would also benefit to the singles as well. By understanding our partners we would learn to love them more, respect them for who they are and become more appreciative to each other.

"Women seeks attention while men seeks appreciation..."

The tendency when women get upset over something they become very aggravated and finds a way to release their stress by talking to someone they love. Women by nature loves to talk and releases their stress through conversations and girls are always very supportive to each other (emotional support that is). But sometimes when a girl tries telling the guy about her bad day she tends to flare up not because of the guy but because she's unhappy. Guys usually get defensive by her actions and reacts to her. A guy feels blamed but honestly girls just want that certain someone to listen to their problems rather than lecturing them for what they did. If a guy knew why her love one is feeling agro (short term for aggravated) he would try to listen to her problems and give loving support to her which at the end the girl feels love and important.

Women loves having attention while men loves being appreciated for what they do. When a guy loves someone they always give their best and always go the extra mile. Because when a guy loves someone he never thinks of himself but for the persons he loves. The tendency for men they want to feel appreciated for what they do because its important for us guys that the person we love feels comfortable and happy in the things we do for them.

These are just few examples of what this book has to offer. Just by understanding each person differences we could achieve growth and learn to appreciate each other more. By talking things out could avoid hurtful confrontations but we must also remember that fighting could also promote growth between couples. I used to believe fighting in a relationship can always be avoided but fights do come and go whether we like it or not. Fighting in a relationship could only lead to two things. The growth of your relationship or its death, you decided (this doesn't just apply with couples but even with our relationship with our friends and familes as well). How we communicate with each other is very important because communication is the key to a successful relationship.

So remember whenever when we talk or argue with our female/male companions, be open to one another and be patient on each other short comings. No ones perfect even i have my number of short comings as well and so does everyone else but understanding and appreciating our differences we can attain a more positive outlook in life.

Public Speaking

Speaking in front of an audience is like dying right there on the spot. Well look at it this way, what could possibly go wrong if you tried public speaking? Well definitely your legs begin to shake, your palms get sweaty, you might have anxiety attacks and the worst thing that could ever happen to you on stage...is that you have a complete mental black-out. Definitely not suitable if you have big presentations but no need to fret cause there are some helpful tips that could help you get rid of your stage frights and boost up your confidence.

1. Always prepare before every presentation. Be sure to get enough practice on what your gonna say, on how you're going to say it, on your gestures during on-stage and always practice your voice modulation.
2. Be sure to always have cue cards to help you out but remember being a good presentor you don't pay too much attention on cue cards. The presentor should always have eye contact with its audience and should try to relate with them at all times. Cue cards should only have outlines about your topic to help remind you. Remember your not reporting your presenting.
3. Get enough rest and never stress yourself out. Being too stress on yourself would only make you more frantic on the day of presentation.
4. Practice punchlines and jokes. Cracking jokes is very helpful breaking the ice with your audience if they become bored and stiff.
5. Your the person holding the mic so you are in authority. Remember that people are listening to you and put in mind that you have something to share which they may benefit from. Always be confident on your topic and yourself at all times.
6. My final advice always pray every step of the way.

Remember just to be yourself when you speak in front. You must always make yourself comfortable with the audience and let them feel comfortable with you. So in everything that you do just be yourself and remember public speaking should also be fun so try to loosen up and just enjoy being on stage.

My Insomatic Self

A normal person would sleep 6-8 hours of sleep for him/her to feel completely rejuvinated. For a normal person is takes them about 5-10 mins. to finally achieve dream state which no disturbance or any forms of distraction would be able to wake them up. If you are that person which i just describe then you are very bless that you may sleep soundly every night. For me on the other hand is a much complicated story.

Many times i couldn't achieve 8 hours of sleep instead my normal sleeping habit is sleeping around the wee hours of 2am then waking up early around 7:30-8am. Torture isn't it and trust me that's my normal sleeping time i had worst nights.

Here's another contradicting thought, i love drinking coffee and i couldn't start my day right without a nice hot cup of coffee. I usually drink coffee in the morning if i really need it but often i drink around noontime or in the late afternoon (which would be another probable cause for my insomia). But then again being an insomaic has its perks.

As an artist we never get that much sleep because our work loads (in art school we call them plates) would take most of our time. I would say that fine art students doesn't get as much sleep same as medical students taking up their proper. The work loads kills us but hey i'm not complaining actually most creative ideas comes from staying up late or not sleeping at all. I could remember working 3 straight days without sleep and on the 4th day i crash in my room for one entire day (just imagine how wasted i was back then).

Most of the time i deliberately stay up all night whenever i'm working on my artworks. I could draw for 6 hours straight and only leave my chair just for meals and the bathroom. Once i get stuck working on something i never leave it for tomorrow unless i have the time to spare.

Even group work was fun staying up all night trying to figure out the marketing plan for our next ad campaigns . Working 4 hours on the designs and sketches which are to be submitted the next day for approval, usually i wouldn't sleep in situations like these cause once i hit the shack there's no coming back.