Competition nullified: Voices Become One

                                                                                                                                                     

“Tonight we are victorious! Champagne pouring over us! All my friends were glorious!

Tonight we are VICTORIOUS!”

Me and my warrior face,

Those were the words that kept my mind bugged; it was playing in my mind for like 24 hours after we won. For those of you who aren’t familiar with those lines, that’s the chorus part of the song, titled “Victorious” by Panic! At The Disco. Going back to what I was saying, yes! Yes, we won. After all the struggles we’ve been to, finally, our hard works paid off.

It was a very bright day, hoping that something bright will also happen. And guess what, something bright really happened. It was February 5, 2016 when the SoE and SoMA Chants and Cheers Contest happened.

                It was 7:30 when I left my house and I was so scared, my heart kept on pounding. I’m late! I’m late! The assembly time is 8:00 am and I was very lucky because the completion started at 9:00 am. Besides, I live nearby. No problem at all. Moving on, as soon as I entered our room, room 617, my friend tossed me my own block shirt, a plain pink shirt with a printed logo of our block, ABMA 151. And that’s the moment I realized, THIS IS THE TIME, THIS IS OUR MOMENT.

                We were the first section to be there at the auditorium; we were seating at the very front row, tensed, nervous, excited, and determined as we waited for our block to be called to take the stage. Thank god, there was an intervention, Sir Nomer Yuzon sang a very nice song of his, and that is something very helpful for us, I mean that particular moment relieved us, forgetting about the competition for a moment.

                Back to reality, the judges were there, our fellow competitors are also complete; everything was falling into place. As the host called our block, we quickly evacuated our seats and walk towards the backstage. So this is it, the moment we’ve all been waiting for.

ABMA 151

The beat started to boom.

We were marching to aisle of the stage.

We sat and stood.

We sang and cheered at the top of our lungs.

We did our best.

We had fun.

Game over.

With just a quick glance, everything was over.

Finally, all the blocks are finished with their wonderful and unique performance. The judges have decided. It was time to announce the winners. Only three blocks shall be hailed as winners. Next thing we knew, we were jumping and screaming (except for me, I was just smiling and whispering to myself, we won). The oddest thing is, out of all the ABMA sections, we are the only one who won.

ECE 151 won as Champion, CPE won 1^st runner up, and my block, ABMA 151 as 2^nd runner up.

Another story to remember; can’t wait for more memories to come.

Living a lie, and being the lie.

                Writing is something powerful, powerful more than you could ever know, it has a wide spectrum, wider than you can imagine. Let’s put it this way, there’s a lot of things happening in the world of writing and then there’s us, not knowing that there are some issues that should be discussed. We are given the freedom to express ourselves, to draw, to write, to do anything as long as it is appropriate. The status quo has always been messed, problems fluctuates, crimes afloat. Plagiarism never dies.

 

photo from Google Images.

                “Fill your paper with the breathings of your heart”

 –William Wordsworth.

Plagiarism is the practice of taking someone else's work or ideas and passing them off as one's own. One does not really know the essence of originality if they plagiarize someone else’s work. Plagiarists, persons who stays up in their circle, caged up in their own minds; afraid to go outside the box. Is it because of fear? Fear that their work might not be good enough; so they can look for a prey that they can pounce on and steal their goods? Or maybe they’re just lazy enough so they go off and copy texts, files, or documents from the web and claim it, and then name it as their own. That is such a pathetic move. We have our own minds, use it appropriately.

                I can still remember the Creative Writing seminar I attended last year, the speaker said “It’s the 21^st century, and there’s no such thing as original anymore. The past geniuses have discovered mostly everything, so there is nothing left for us to discover.” In fact, that’s true. The chance of discovering something new is rare. But that’s not a legitimate reason to plagiarize a work. If you can’t discover something new; create something new. Simple as that.

I’m calling out the persons who plagiarize other’s works, please don’t do it, because it won’t do you anything good. Redeem yourselves, you are not who you are when you plagiarize someone else’s work. Knowing that social media has the power of anonymity, that doesn’t mean that you can take it for granted. Even if the community is not that witty, it doesn’t mean they are not smart enough. Thou shall not treat fellow humans as ignorant. Yes, plagiarizing may give you profit just like big companies and those big-tummied businessmen, and big-headed wealthy heads does; steal the work of the hard working laborers then claim it to gain such tremendous amount of wealth.

Plagiarizing is a crime and at the same time, a self-wrecking slap in the face. A proof that one’s work can be deceiving. In the end, your only companion is yourself; your works won’t be with you on the other side of life. Let this be a lesson for you, don’t make your life a lie, don’t be the lie.

| Parasyte |

Shinichi and Migi.

                Marvelous, Incredible, Mind-blowing, makes me feel like as if I was a part of that movie. Parasyte part 1 just triggered my desires to want anime. Honestly, I don’t watch anime that much (EXCEPT FOR NARUTO); which means Parasyte is not counted because it’s a movie adaptation of an anime series. Well, the movie is interesting. If the movie isn’t that much interesting, I’d probably sleep the entire screening time of the movie. The movie is sick, has a good storyline, which fascinates me, and it’s really really interesting. I haven’t watched the anime series nor have I read the manga, but it makes me want to go watch and read it, as if I was being pulled by this freaking movie and gradually attracting me. Too much attraction! Moving on, here are my insights about the movie Parasyte 1.

                The movie is sick, all those crazy scenes, gory deaths, and pain in the eye events made me stick to it. Once again, I felt that crazy feeling; I don’t know what they call it, so yeah. I usually obtain that crazy feeling when I read books, books that hooks me up with its story. Basically, the movie got me hooked up.

                The storyline of this film is extremely amazing. It’s another “Alien Invasion” movie; same genre for the past few years but this, this one is different, it’s really unique. I want to keep this for myself but sharing it is necessary. So here’s a glimpse of the story. An alien race invades earth, tiny aliens that creeps up to your bed then enters through any part or hole in your head. One night, a boy named Shin'ichi Izumi felt something creeping in his face. Next thing he knew, he was sweeping off the alien away. Then somehow, the alien managed to pierce itself through the hands of the boy. Days passed by, the alien grew, taking away the hands of the boy. From that moment on, his life changed. He and the alien named “Migi” knew what was about to go down, they have to take down those parasites; including his mother that loved him so much.

                In some ways, the movie got me really hooked up. Given that the movie was very heart-melting and very awesome, but it’s more than that. It was emotional, inspiring, and most of all powerful. it conveys a powerful message. A typical average boy living his average life and in just a moment, everything changed. That change is influential, despite the loss he had, he's still striving.

                This movie isn’t just for me to watch but it’s for all of you guys out there who likes freaky movie, anime lovers and science fiction fans; actually I would like to recommend this to everyone. Overall, the movie is great. Kudos to the actors who made us viewers to feel like as if we were part of the cast, to the director and producer of this film and especially, to the writer who made this wonderful story.

Thanks for reading my blog guys! Have a good day, and watch out for aliens!!!

| Journey to the center of Social Media |

                “The Millennials are a generation that has hope for the future.” We the people of this generation hold the success of this culture, environment and civilization. We are the key that has the opportunity to open the doors to a better tomorrow. But we cannot achieve these certain goals if we cannot make ourselves a good Prosumers.

                Last January 29, 2015, Mr. Toni Tiemsin, Editor-in-Chief of SubSelfie.com, and former Executive Producer for GMA News hourly bulletin gave us a brief seminar about Mobilizing the millenials as Socially Responsible Prosumer.

                It’s my second time to attend a seminar like this, a seminar about being a good prosumer, so I quickly thought that it would be the same just like the previous seminar. Turns out I am wrong. He gave us so many tips, for me it’s very very very helpful, I don’t know if the other students consider those tips as useful. But for me, it’s very essential.

                “We use social media for entertainment.” Yes, Sir Toni is right; we use social media as entertainment. Some concrete examples are the videos we watch at Facebook, The so called “Memes” we see at our news feeds, and when we watch something at YouTube.

                Social Media has pros and cons as Sir Toni said. And that is something we should consider; especially “Virtual Identity”. Well, that is something mysterious. Imagine a lot of people posting in the net without stating their name. it’s the Power of Anonymity, living a lie and being the lie, and mistaken identity.

                Philippine media is there to inform us and educate us. If you set aside the flaws and imperfections of media, you can really see how it helps us with our everyday lives. Remember, without the media, there would be no reporting of news, there would be no shows to entertain us and there would be no discussions on pertinent issues that may affect the society and individual lives.

                The most important part of the seminar (for me) is the part wherein Sir Toni tells us some facts and tips about news like what makes up a good news such as Timeliness, Human Interest, Significance, Proximity and Prominence. Knowing that Sir Toni is excellent in his profession, he shared his own experiences inside the news room and outside of it.

Me, Ms. Kareen, Olivia, and Mr. Toni

                I have attended many seminars but so far, this is the greatest. I am a current news writer of RAMPage, Asia Pacific College’s official newspaper, and this is very helpful for me. I can say that this is very essential for me for I am student that’s in the midst of learning. And as for being a social media user, I learned how to be a better prosumer. Stay well=informed and well-rounded, check! Be an intelligent producer-consumer, check! Maintain sensitivity, check! THINK OF YOUR "KAPWA", CHECK!