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New Way, New Learnings

"If you are not willing to learn No one can help you If you are determined to learn No one can stop you"

This quotation I saw on Facebook makes me realize a lot of things and it proves me that Determination is one of the key to successfully learn something.

March 25 2020,the exact date we were supposed to march at stage and receive our awards and Diplomas. But the wind blows and changed our dream graduation rites. Our dream to wear "toga" and take a graduation picture did not happen at all. This is all happened for the reason that a Worldwide Pandemic hit us.   If you are going are going ask me if I’m still upset of what happened, I will definitely say yes. That was our moment, a milestone to be celebrated. But I’m not that close minded to not consider our struggling situation.

Now its been a year and we are still in lockdown. And I am now a freshman student trying to learn in a different way than the usual I used to.

August 2020, The start of my my College Life! I remember how excited I am to learn new  lessons from my professors and block mates. Imagining how happy it is if we are  inside a  university attending class and events. But sadly it did not happened, we have to adjust and be more flexible. From classrooms to Canvas, from papers to PDF files, from reciting in front of your jolly classmates to passing a recorded  audio video. I’m so dis appointed because the first year of my college life is far from what I expected. Expectation vs. reality.

But honestly, the first phase experience of my Online Class journey is not that hard and stressful, actually I enjoyed it. Even though we just met virtually I gained new friends and beshies. We share secrets and laughter’s like we are  out from the virtual world.

In the grand scheme of things, however, I’ve felt  comfortable with online schooling. There are of course still positive sides and benefits of distant learning. Like for example in case  that I didn’t quite catch what the teacher was trying to say, there is video in the canvas uploaded which I can easily rewind.  Teachers are amazing about redoing incorrect problems on quizzes/tests as long as you show your understanding.  

Also during this virtual meetings and classes. I discovered new talents or skills. I’m not that good but still I consider it as a new skill.

I think because I spent most of my time being online, I discover how to make simple graphic designs ( Lay outing) and creating invitations. I’m so happy that I’m also gaining some extra money now from this new discovery. In addition, I also learned how to  come up with a blogs. And for me this is really helpful because I am planning to make blogs that can be helpful to everyone.

Taking online classes over the traditional face-to-face courses is not an easy route. Online class offer students the flexibility to learn in their own space and time, but that does not change the amount of work they have to put it in. Online classes offered me the flexibility to balance school, work, and family. Online classes  made it easier for me to add classes that otherwise would not fit with my work schedule. Yes, I am actually a working student. Online classes helped me with saving time as well. The extra time that I saved with distant learning made a huge difference in my personal life. Online classes require discipline and time management as any face-to-face class does. Like traditional classes, online classes have deadlines for assignments, and it is very important to keep up with the deadlines to do well in the online courses. Online classes helped me with time management because I had to take the initiative to keep up with school work.  Hours of self-directed work was necessary to get through

Now lets talk about my struggles during this semester or even from the very beginning of my online class.  First of all is the financial problem. We all know that staying  online requires amount of  mobile data and internet connection and it cost very expensive. In addition, Internet connection is very slow to the point that sometimes I  cant attend zoom and google meetings. And this dilemmas  also occurs even during quizzes and examination. I am also struggling because of the pressure of time, I’m pertaining to the due dates.. And the stressful problems in my surrounding is really affecting me. And lastly  during recitation. I am not able to recite properly in virtual classes. I am more expressive in traditional way.

But despite of all this stressful struggles I am proud to say that I am surviving. As a matter of fact I am one of the Deans Lister  in our university. And that really means to me.

Perhaps Online class is a bit challenging for all the students. But if we take time and let our mind and heart unite together we will be able to finish this successfully. I know the struggles of a student but one thing I can advise to every student out there is to keep your joy in studying. It is okay to cry and break down when you think you cannot do it anymore. But always keep in mind that there's always tomorrow, new day, new hope.  Discipline and Determination are the keys for us to win the battle.

“ I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” Philippians 4:13

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Holy Week in this Trying Times

   We are now in the month of April, how fast isn't it? Time goes by and now Holy Week is about to be celebrate again. What ought to be done and how should we celebrate this special holiday if we are still in midst of pandemic?

I know how this invisible war affected us in every aspect of our lives. We suffer so much and became so troubled. Many of us thought that this two consecutive years is a cursed. A lot of people around the world has became problematic and we start complaining things. I myself witnessed how this pandemic shattered our precious time and life. We spend our days thinking when will this pandemic end, when are we going back to our normal lives. You see, there are variety of questions that keeps running in our minds, we focused in the things we never know when will it end.

This Lenten season is a break for us to stop thinking about those negativities. This is our opportunity to remember how God is working in our lives. I know that that we are all tired with this situation but let us give this time to show our gratitude and thanksgiving to our savior God.

Since we cannot pursue to celebrate it in our traditional way I can give you some ideas that you may do to still celebrate this Lenten season.

Actually I just have three (3) things to share. The first one would be, The Activities. Yes, we cannot go out and socialized with our churchmates outside due to the restriction protocols but we have our family with us. We can still do our usual activities during this holiday. We can have prayer meeting with our family members, read our bible and do our devotion. We don’t have pastors inside our homes but we can be pastors of our own. Let us realize and understand the teaching of God. One thing we proposed to do as part of this Holy week is to have Online sharing with our churchmates. We call this “Online Kamustahan” where we share our testimonies, devotions with our friends in church. We can praise and worship God even we are just inside our houses. We can still declare how we love him and how thankful we are to him. 

Second will be the Family Time,  holy week is a really big and excellent week to include. The most important thing is to help keep your family focused on the true meaning of this season. This time we are able to connect more with our family members and strengthen  our relationship. We can do this by having some simple yet memorable bandings. Why not have a simple dinner  cook together, play happy games but try not to loud, remember that it is a solemn holiday for every Christian and we must respect it. Let us also take this precious time to reconnect with our family  member who we have some misunderstanding , let us forgive and love them more. 

And lastly, Rest and be inspired. Like what I've mentioned we suffer waves of trials this past year until now and we focus our mind and actions toward how will we survive and forgot about ourselves. This time, try to have some peaceful rest for your mind, and physical body. Connect to your self and to your spiritual self. Realize and reminisce things. Do your passion, do the things you want that you never did because for some reasons. Lenten is not only to  reminisce God but also to connect with ourselves. Connect with God in order  for you to connect with yourself.

We have different ways to celebrate this holiday, our brothers and sisters from catholic has their own way, non Christians has also their own tradition and plans for this holiday, for a born again Christian like me we can do what I have mentioned above. But no matter what Christian or not, Catholic or Born again does not really matter. As long as we respect each others views and beliefs that is ok.  

Holy week is a very special time to every Christian around the world. This is how we reconnect with God, reminisce him and thank him. Let us be all responsible and respectful in any way. We can celebrate this without disobeying our safety protocols.  God is always on our side and he can hear all your admiration and aspirations.  God blessed  everyone!

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THE OPTIMISTIC FRIEND FROM ABRA

“There will always be rainbow after the rain, never lose hope and just keep the faith going”

If I am to describe this beautiful creature in one word it would be Optimistic. I’ll introduce to you a very inspirational person who never fears someone. A person that is full of Confidence and Positivity.

Alvinden Guitterez the pride of Abra. At a very young age Alvinden has proven a lot of things that makes his parents and school proud. He was a very talented and competitive student where in he became the school representative for the Provincial eliminations of the UP Namnama for three consecutive years. He was also named third place in the Short Story Ilocano Category and eventually that granted him a ticket to the Regional Eliminations held last January 2020 at Baguio City where he won again second place in the same category. And also awarded by a Non- Government Organization the National Discipline Award along with hundreds of others from the different parts of the Philippines. But he cannot achieve all these prestigious awards without the unending support of his friends and most especially his parents.

Alvinden grew up at Lagangilang Abra. He was the only child of his parents Arturo Gutierrez and Edna Balmaceda. At a very young age, his mother needed to work abroad in order to provide for their family so he was left with in his Father’s care and Grandmother. As time goes by his life never become as easy as what other thinks. He also survived waves of trials in life and conquered  a lot fears and judgements. But this man is very tough, fearless and Positve.

”One thing that best describes my life so far is blessed. With the many that I've experienced, be it sorrowful or joyful, I think that I am blessed with the life I don't really wanted but the life that God has purposely given to me. It made me stronger, made me wiser, and made me the person who I am today. I am blessed not because I have material things to be proud of rather I am blessed because this life is gift from God”

One of  his issue before is  dealing with his sexuality. Alvinden is part of the LGBT community where in he experienced harsh words and bullying from the other people.That cause him his biggest insecurities. He sometimes feel he was not beautiful that he is not nice, he  struggled so much with the way he look and on how to present himself to other people physically since he  was a fat person. But God make him realized that he he perfectly and beautifully made. That he shouldn’t mind the people who are judging him since in the first place they do not know him. When I asked him what will you say to yourself or promise then he said.

“There is one promise I have for myself and that is to never change because of other people's perception. Learning to accept what I have and taking those opinions as a constructive criticism and use that as a way or motivation to improve myself not perfectly but for the best with of course, true and real happiness will make me understand that being me is enough and that I don't need to please everyone. I should trust my self more than anyone else, and start making a positive impact to break the stereotypes towards beauty. This statement may sound cliche to everyone but it is true that “YOU ARE BEAUTIFUL, NO MATTER WHAT THEY SAY”.

Alvinden is currently a freshman Political Science Student at the University of Cordilleras. He finished his Grade School and Highschool at Holy Cross School Lagangilang Abra, a Catholic School. For him High school was the best part of life as a student. It made him even more aware of what the real world is. It allowed him to open doors of opportunities through which he thankful the most. He experienced becoming a student leader, a student commentator during mass, a pageant organizer, host for various activities and events, a choreographer and a trainer for performing arts such as dance and drum and glockenspiel or marching band. This 18-year-old student is aiming for opportunities to come in his life and career. He would like to become a successful educator and at the same time a lawyer someday. He wanted to take the course Political Science in order to get himself closer to the dreams that He wanted to pursue and given that it is one of the best preparatory courses when it comes to law. He has set of goals that he wanted to turn into reality. He wants to travel the world and experience its various people, tourist destinations, food, and their rich culture and traditions that makes them diverse in nature. He also wants to finish his studies in order for him to give back to his parents to which brought him to where I he is so far.

Aside from being a hardworking student he is also a jolly and funny person to his friends and family. He is the Clown of the group, that is why he has a lot of friends. He loves several activities including photography and Modeling. And he is a huge Fan of Korean Wave like Kdrama, K foods and K-pop. He is a self-proclaimed “ARMY” a BTS fan and someday, He want to meet them or even attend into their sold-out concerts. He loves their music for him it I feel like he was in a cloud nine every time he hears their music/songs. These and many more are the things that he wanted to achieve and hoping it will turn out well.

As his classmate and friend, I am so amazed and inspired by how he answers my questions and I am so proud of him. He was so Fearless and full of hope. I can see sincerity in is answers and the way he talks. Alvinden is such a inspiration for someone like me who has insecurities.

“True beauty is not measured by a mere physical appearance, but it is more than that. The bad memories that I have in the past has made me a strong person and had brought me to where I am now. Instead of hating those people who discriminated me,  I am thankful and will forever be thankful that without you, there is no room for improvement within my self. You're the reason why I have the confidence to accept my insecurities and be who I truly am.

I am beautiful and those who think I'm not are nothing but abnormal and insecure.”

        - Alvinden Guitterez

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FAKE NEWS MUST STOP...

Fake News in Politics

Fake News in Showbiz

Fake News in Sports

Fake News in Academe

Fake News in Medical Field

Living in this age of information, it is easy to get lost in the different news reports and sources. Some news is not reliable, while the rest are fake. But first let us define what is fake news. "Fake news" refers to intentionally and verifiably false stories that are largely disseminated through social media networks. It can be very persuasive and therefore it is necessary to develop strategies to identify and critically assess news you read on social media.

Fake news is not only a problem nowadays but also even before. As early as 1700’s a lot of fake news had been exposed. Some of the example of this are the issue about the Catholic Church’s false explanation of the 1755 Lisbon Earthquake prompted Voltaire to speak out against religious dominance.  In the 1800s in the US, racist sentiment led to the publication of false stories about African Americans’ supposed deficiencies and crimes.

In our country alone, Fake news is very common especially that we are labeled as the social media capital for almost five years. A lot of people are easy to be deceived with the fake news. false Updates may reach a thousand citizen in just a minute. A recent (March 2018) article in Science evaluated the dissemination of "fake news" on Twitter between 2006-2017. "False news reached more people than the truth; the top 1% of false news cascades diffused to between 1000 and 100,000 people, whereas the truth rarely diffused to more than 1000 people.

Fake News is a problem in every aspect of society including Politics, Entertainment, Sports, Academe, and even in Medical Field. As shown in the pictures above, Philippines is prone to this dilemma. Most of the citizens are being misled because of this.  Fake News is not just a mere problem it can Hurt people, Physically and Mentally.  There are some in fake information about health or medicine. People who are not aware of fake and cannot determine which is reliable source he may take wrong dosages or medicine that may affect him. It can also destroy credibility.  If you shared a false information or write arguments that are built on bad information, it will be much more difficult for people to believe you in the future.

So, what should everyone do in order to avoid the spread of Fake news especially that today anyone can be a journalist.  So, as you consume “news”, look at the source to determine the likelihood of truth and accuracy. Is it on a website? Social media? Blog? Unless it’s from a credible news source, be weary that the information could be fake. 

First, Do your research.  Check the citations and dates of research to ensure it’s from a reputable source and not outdated. For instance, a study or statistic could have been true at some point, but if it’s more than a few years old, the information could no longer be fact. And then, Find the source. Don’t just google to see if the information is on other sites.  Remember, once fake news is printed, it is often reshared in many other outlets to make it seem as if it is true.

Please be reminded of this every time you click and share in your social media accounts in order to help in combating false information especially in this time of Pandemic and also to protect yourself. Here in the Philippines, there is a law regarding Spreading false information, unverified reports and other forms of disinformation that may affect overall unified response to the COVID-19 pandemic is punishable by law. Citizens caught peddling fake news could be charged for violating Republic Act 10175 (Anti-Cybercrime Law), or under Section 6 (f) of Republic Act 11469 (Bayanihan to Heal As One Act), whichever is applicable.

Fake News is not easy to eradicate but Everyone has a responsibility to combat the scourge of fake news and disinformation.  Fact checking is very important in order to avoid mis information that may lead to chaos and threat. Be an instrument to stop and minimize this dilemma

It may be cliché’ but “ THINK BEFORE YOU CLICK”

CTTO for the pictures

Sources linked.