Rizal could be wrong.

 

The story of Jose Rizal throwing the other pair of his slipper to the river because he lost the other pair was constantly repeated through out the movie Red Shoes. He said that his pair of slippers could still be used by someone who finds it and needs it more. He said a slipper is useless without its pair.

The ending was an antithesis of Rizal’s logic. When the child saw Lucas’ pair of shoes but just chose to throw the other shoe and keep the other one, this boy hurried home with one shoe on his hand and gave it to her grandmother who only has one leg. This old woman found that shoe without its pair useful. A slipper or a shoe can still be useful without its pair— proving Rizal wrong.

Envisage

William Blake said, “What is now proved was once only imagined.”

It was an hour to midnight when I was chatting with my best friend in Iloilo a few weeks ago.

After talking about our life in college, we thought of reasons why we put so much effort in waking up, going to classes, taking tests, answering assignments; the list won’t seem to end. We then imagined ourselves as accomplished persons: happy and successful. I will build my five-star hotel and buy a cruise ship with my name on it, while she will have her own line of wardrobe and a fashion TV channel. These imaginations are the fuel that keeps us on fire. We have a burning desire for success and we work so hard for it so that what was once only imagined will become a reality.

This reminds me of Jean, our High School valedictorian who is currently in Ateneo as well. “Years ago, it was my sister giving a speech in front of her classmates. I then imagined myself doing the same.

Over a year ago, I was just picturing myself walking in the halls of the university where I am now enrolled in.

In a talk, Bo Sanchez once told a story of how three basketball teams prepared for a big game. The first team was instructed to practice their free throws two hours a day. The second team was asked to just stay in a room for two hours and imagine themselves practicing their free throws. Lastly, the third team was asked to do nothing. The first team improved by 30% and so did the second team! As you might have guessed, the third team did not improve at all.

In a nut shell, what was Bo Sanchez trying to say is: Your imagination is so powerful that just contemplating could be the same as doing.

Actualization begins with imagination.

It is so powerful, so potent. As the lyrics of John Lennon’s ‘Imagine’ say, “You may say I’m a dreamer But I’m not the only one I hope someday you’ll join us And the world will be as one.”

No one can accurately test the power of imagination and compare it to a universal standard; but everyone knows how to imagine without being taught how to do so. Just like dreaming, it is already embedded in us. The seeds of imagination and dreams are already planted in our being so that we could harvest their fruits. Often times, we forget to water and nurture these seeds. Hence, they wither and die.

I remember that it rained so hard on my first day in college. I have an umbrella but unfortunately, I left it at the Dorm. I had no way of getting it without soaking myself. I thought of the message God was telling me through that experience: we already have what we need; but oftentimes, we choose to just keep it and not use it. We then could do nothing more than just accept the ruin caused by the harshness of adversity.

Albert Einstein said on “Imagination”: “Logic will get you from A to B. imagination will take you everywhere for imagination is more important than knowledge. For knowledge is limited to all we now know and understand, while imagination now embraces the entire world, and all there ever will be to know and understand.”

Every day, I imagine myself as someone who I wanted to be. It keeps me focused and driven. The “want” will then be translated to “will”, the “will” into “is”.

Class Pictures

Block R37, i miss :)

English at Lit Block ko. Sobrang WIN talaga kasi sobrang AWESOME din ng mga prof namin! Maraming salamat kay Sir Roy Agustin at Ms Frances Doplon.

In orange,  left of Jolo (dude in Ateneo Jersey)

ES Blockmates in Laguna

Sa Majayjay, Laguna. Naflat ang jeep na aming sinasakyan kaya’t hindi na namin kailangang gumawa ng excuse para magpakavain :D

BS Legal Management- O3

Sa campus tours ito. Sa may Colayco Pavillion. Naghihintay ng next MOB!

 

Block Party- IntACT

 

Legal na inuman session. Salamat Sir Bang!

Awww :(

In everyone’s life, at some time, our inner fire goes out.  It is then burst into flame by an encounter with another human being.  We should all be thankful for those people who rekindle the inner spirit.

~Albert Schweitzer

 

A management student.

Finally, I feel better.  I seriously need a change of lifestyle.  The physical self can only take so much.

Vomiting once again saved me from what seemed to be an endless drilling inside my brain.

This time, it was the McChicken I ate via delivery a few hours ago.

One of the few things I hate about dorming is not being able to eat good food in a proper dining table setting at the proper time. As much as I want to complain, it only boils down to my own laziness and irresponsibility.

I remember my mom say, “I hope Ateneo doesn’t only teach you Legal Management. What I really want you to learn are the harder kinds of management— Time management and Self management.”

*sighs*

I wonder if you’ll have to keep taking those courses once you’ve failed them.

We must all suffer from one of two pains: the pain of discipline or the pain of regret. The difference is discipline weighs ounces while regret weighs tons.

~Jim Rohn

Story of the Pencil

Before our highschool graduation, we had a batch retreat. I remember the speaker sharing the Story of the Pencil. In case you haven’t heard, this is how it goes:

(I found an excerpt from Coelho’s book. This is probably where the speaker got it.)

A boy was watching his grandmother write a letter. At one point, he asked:

“Are you writing a story about what we’ve done? Is it a story about me?”

His grandmother stopped writing her letter and said to her grandson:

“I am writing about you, actually, but more important than the words is the pencil I’m using. I hope you will be like this pencil when you grow up.”

Intrigued, the boy looked at the pencil. It didn’t seem very special.

“But it’s just like any other pencil I’ve seen!”

“That depends on how you look at things. It has five qualities which, if you manage to hang on to them, will make you a person who is always at peace with the world.”

“First quality: you are capable of great things, but you must never forget that there is a hand guiding your steps. We call that hand GOD, and He always guides us according to His will.

Second quality: now and then, I have to stop writing and use a sharpener. That makes the pencil suffer a little, but afterwards, he’s much sharper. So you, too, must learn to bear certain pains and sorrows, because they will make you a better person.

Third quality: the pencil always allows us to use an eraser to rub out any mistakes. This means that correcting something we did is not necessarily a bad thing; it helps to keep us on the road to justice.

Fourth quality: What really matters in a pencil is not its wooden exterior, but the graphite inside. So always pay attention to what’s happening inside you.

Finally, the pencil’s fifth quality:  IT ALWAYS LEAVES A MARK. “

The Plus in NSTP

Sophomores in the Ateneo de Manila are required to take the National Service Training Program (NSTP).

I signed up for the Literary Training Service (LTS) Basically, you teach Kindergarten to Elementary kids some basic stuff they have to know like how to read, spell, count, do simple arithmetic, and develop study habits.

Today was our second NSTP Insertion already and I know I have to blog about it. :)

My tutee’s name is Chryselle. Chryselle is a sweet grade one girl. Very bright too! In fact, she got a perfect score in the diagnostic test we were required to give them. She has some problems in Spelling, though.

When we were about to be assigned kids, I was really pulling Enzo’s shirt while whispering to him over and over that I want that chubby kid as my tutee.

1.    They weren’t exactly “poor” as in.. “POOR”.

when i entered Chryselle’s little GK home (they were all built alike so the difference is in the interior), I was surprised to see that they have a relatively big TV, a desktop computer, a laptop, an aquarium with healthy and well fed fishes, a framed UP College of Music diploma of my tutee’s mom, a nice glass table, 2 seats, and so much more.

I was honestly expecting the slum-type.

2.    They were very hospitable.

My instructor told us in class that they are very hospitable they’d give you everything even if it meant sacrificing themselves. This I proved to be true. Yes, they have the necessary pieces of furniture and appliances but the space is undeniably small for a home. I admit, my room is bigger or maybe just around that size. Even if they are not as lucky and maybe just get by, this doesn’t prevent them to welcome you to their humble homes. Chryselle’s mom even fed me *blushes*

(It’s bad to say no to food :D Fine, I was really hungry then. =.= )

3.    She has a pet snake

Chryselle is the exception. SHE LOVES SNAKES. I still can’t get over it. :|

I made her draw her favorite animal, she drew a snake. (My NSTP mates think its because the snake is the easiest animal to draw). We played with clay and she only molded Snakes. I asked her why she loves snakes and she replied that they have a pet snake.

Snakes aren’t really my favorite creatures and that is even an understatement!

I saw the snake. I won’t speak of it anymore.

4.    She wants to be a teacher and she loves me

My tutee said “I love you” to me many times. Of course I feel flattered because I try to be loved. I really wanted a sister. Someone chubby like her :( I even wish I could bring her home. It feels good to be a teacher (to cute and chubby kids).

I asked her what she wants to become someday and she replied with a simple…

“TEACHER po”

5.    We ate a lot

After the tutor and bonding time with Chryselle and her mom, we had a processing that was more like a chibugan session. It was our GK facilitator’s daughter’s birthday. She was about our age. We were so happy to eat the food they prepared. The food wasn’t much and maybe just enough for them and their personal visitors, but they didn’t hesitate to share it to almost 6-7 of us? They were literally “serving” us and begging us to eat more. Of course we didn’t eat til we were full! We just ate enough. Ateneans are quite polite and considerate ;) When we were all led to prayer, the mom said that it was to celebrate the health of her child. Her health and life is the most important thing she could ever be thankful for.

6. The world is not fair so it’s a duty to make it so.

We talked about the birthday girl and we found out that she is studying in PUP. There’s no biggie issue about this but what struck me is when her mom quipped with a, “PUP lang kasi pangmahirap lang.”

Our group almost chorused, “Hindi ah!”

I won’t deny that the Ateneo education is something that many would dream of. Sadly, this opportunity for “more” is not accessible to everyone. Me and Enzo had a little reflection about it. And no, I’m not saying that Ateneo is better than any school because I can never tell. Surely there is something that other universities offer that Ateneo can never give.

There might be a sense of self pity on their part. Medyo nakakapressure.

7. Filipinos are the perfect models of HOPE.

Despite the hardships,

WE. NEVER. RUN. OUT. OF. IT.

:)

As life is action and passion, it is required of man that he should share the passion and action of his time, at peril of being judged not to have lived.

~ Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.

Youth: Army of Democracy

According to the statistics shown by Ms. Maria Ressa (Head of News and Current Affairs, ABS-CBN Broadcasting Network), there is an estimated 48M voters this 2010, 1.2M are first-time registered voters. 54% are below 25 years of age.

600 names

A new system

A new hope

Voting is so powerful it can give a meat vendor the same power a CEO has. It is not all about casting your votes. It carries hope and inspiration. It is the political statement of our generation. We are the game changers. We want change.

In the seventeen years of my life, I have seen my country at its worst. I may have not experienced the fateful Marcos regime but I have seen my country losing its worth. I have seen my countrymen trashing their own land, cursing their state, blaming the country for their impoverishment, and losing the nationalism our late heroes worked hard for.

According to Isaiah of the Old Testament, “A people who walked in darkness have seen the great light.”

We have seen how the leaders we elect could affect the country but it takes a collaborative effort for the nation to prosper and flourish. We must work as a country, as a nation. Thus, we have to do our part.
I agree with Dr. La Viña (Dean, Ateneo School of Government) when he said that “The public does not have direct democracy.” We need to pool our voices to be heard.

What’s so good about the youth is that we are thinking beyond. We are thinking of our future, and how it means everything to us. We also have something that the “Jurassic” generation of House of Representatives’ Prospero Nograles didn’t have: Technology.

It is so strong that with this, the innocent youth with true concern for their nation’s future can affect and sway the rest of the population.

HAPPY VALENTINES

Staying up til 12AM.
Hello Valentines.
I may not have a valentines date this time..
but hey!
Valentines aint for couples only.

Appreciate. Love is wonderful.
Since my friend JR told me that it was Single Awareness Day “last night”,

“I, Kirstie Marie Saldo, acknowledge my being single, and that I am aware that I only have imaginary boyfriends (not to mention most of them are superstars) and no actual ones.”

I plan to spend valentines with of course, Nina and Bea. “>>
staying up to greet my family and friends on facebook a HAPPY VALENTINES DAY.
Laaaaaater tonight, we will go to Destiny Church to have a date with my one true love–
GOD.
<3

Have a great valentines everyone! Love is beautiful! :)
Spread the LOVE.

PS. no im not bitter and no im in no hurry. :P to singles like me out there, let us not be bitter! remember that God has someone out there for us.. Someone we deserve and deserves us at the same time :)
Delighting while waiting. I hope my soulmate (whoever he is) will have a blast today. xD

“Listen to the love around you. Your ears are open even if your mind is closed.“