First semester, first year college.

1 semester down, 7 more to go!

What made you busy in the past few days of semestral break? It is in the mindset of everyone that  students on semestral break go out of their houses, see their friends, stroll around the mall, watch a movie, or hop on to the nearby beach.  But I think not everyone can do that all in the semestral break.

The first pain of a college student: the grades.

Grades being online

I think it is a good thing for our school (and luckily, for most schools in the city) that grades are posted in their respective online student portals. This made the waiting more convenient for students, specially those who cannot wait for the paper results to be in and those students who travel to the provinces during the rest period.

My school’s online student portal.

But the not-so-good thing about grades being online is the state of being worried every single time you are to use the website. Our online student portal may look like a Facebook page due to its blue bar at the upper portion, but this website sometimes spell misery, especially for students who do not perform that well in school.

Also, our Student Information System (or SIS, as Ateneans call it) does not display the numerical grades of the student. Instead, the site shows you letters with a range of grade A to grade B, for example an A for grades ranging from 92 to 100. (I heard that older batches who are still enrolled in the university can see their numerical grades)

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My second personal pain: the yearbook.

I may have graduated high school with flying colors, but my responsibility as an editor-in-chief for our batch memento still exists and is being performed religiously. (Yes, religiously.)

When the break already started, my daily trip to the printing press started again. I had been in constant touch with our dedicated layout artists, staffers and school administrators, each one helping me out and finish it just in time before second year. (Hopefully.)

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Third on my list: love of alma mater.

Since I love my alma mater that much, I have dedicated my time and little expertise to students in need, specially for the radio broadcasting team in the Davao City Division Schools Press Conference, and for the debaters in the 2012 Philippine Schools Debate Championship (Hey, I was there last year!)

My presence was called by the trainors and me, who cannot say no to them, agreed to be there and help.

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Fourth and maybe the last, for now: rest and relaxation.

I need all the time I could have to rest and relax. College life has never been relaxing and easy for me, and I think I deserve that little rest I can get. Who among you would not want to rest even for two week’s time? I guess none.

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This time may be given to us for rest and relaxation primarily, but let us also use this time to be more productive at home: helping in the household chores, doing part-time jobs, and many more. Let us also take time to review the past 5 months of school and evaluate ourselves of our performance and our personal relationship with our colleagues.

How’s your semestral break so far? Leave a comment and let’s talk anything under the sun.

♫ High School Life. ♫

Starting the Sunday after graduation day, when I hear Sharon Cuneta’s High School Life, I come to reminisce my four years of being a high school student: the things I have done to myself, my friends, classmates, teachers and the community included.

I could say that I haven’t enjoyed my high school life as what I have planned four years from now. I have accomplished it only partially because of my other priorities in life, such as household chores, family responsibilities and also my preparations to college, which was way difficult to me, I guess.

I may have done others wrong or the other way around, but I would like to thank them for being part of my high school life, and without these people, I would not be the person I am now.

To my friends, classmates and batch mates, who kept up with me for the years that we have been together in school, thank you for making me the person I am now. It was actually with your help that I have learned to deal with people with different walks of life and different approaches towards another.

To the parents, teachers and the supportive community, you are never neglected, maybe sometimes kinasusuklaman because of what you are giving us, but these things made me even stronger and more prepared to what we will still encounter in the near future.

To God the Almighty (who by the way has resurrected as of this time), who let me experience heaven and earth, You complemented everything I learned and realized with the people around me. Being in the bottom of the wheel of fortune is bittersweet with Your guidance and inspiration and was even better when we are at the peak of all the goodness that I experienced.

It is sad to know that each and every single thing in life has an end, either definite or not. But nevertheless, I enjoyed my past four years in secondary school, and in this, I would be able to espouse what I have learned in high school to my life’s next chapter: college.

Ciao, high school life! Hello, college life!

And for my final word, let me attach to this post the song that inspired me to write this post, with the lyrics below. Enjoy!

High school life, oh my high school life
ev’ry memory kay ganda
high school days, oh my high school days
are exciting kay saya
there are times may problema ka
kung ang homework left undone
pray ka lang, wag tawagin ka
upang di pagtawanan.

High school love, my one high school love
not infatuation or crush
tunay ‘to, siya ang buhay ko
di n’yo lang alam ako’y nagba-blush
bakit nga ba ang first love ko
ay di serious, so it seems?
kung alam lang ng first love ko
he is always in my dreams.

Ang saya ng high school sev’ral years in my high school
di na mapapantayan
t’yak ganyan ang buhay na sadyang makulay
alaala kailan man.

High school life, oh my high school life
ev’ry memory kay ganda
high school days, oh my high school days
are exciting kay saya
there are times may problema ka
kung ang homework left undone
pray ka lang, wag tawagin ka
upang di pagtawanan.

High school life, ba’t ang high school life
ay walang kasing saya
bakit kung graduation na’y
luluha kang talaga?

High school life, ba’t ang high school life
ay walang kasing saya
bakit kung graduation na’y
luluha kang talaga?

Ang saya ng high school sev’ral years in my high school
di na mapapantayan
t’yak ganyan ang buhay na sadyang makulay
alaala kailan man.

High school life, oh my high school life
ev’ry memory kay ganda
high school days, oh my high school days
are exciting kay saya
there are times may problema ka
kung ang homework left undone
pray ka lang, wag tawagin ka
upang di pagtawanan.

High school life, ba’t ang high school life
ay walang kasing saya
bakit kung graduation na’y
luluha kang talaga?