JEI

have you met her already?

note: sometimes lowercase are intended especially if this is all about me! i enjoy the feeling of having a casual talk setting, it makes me feel free and express myself better. so hey! it's me jeileeze.

real reason why i entered this space is to finally get a hold of my words better. i might also grab a chance to discover new terms, words and phrases in which i will enjoy. some might say that an adventure is needed and which is why, it's time to explore! fun facts about her -

The real world has now started…

Ah, after two years of being stuck in one place, I can finally step foot on my school. Everyone was totally excited, some were still adjusting as freedom wouldn’t be a thing now. Freedom in terms you can freely disregard a class because you won’t be seen by your subject teacher getting distracted. What’s funny about the start of this is that I was absent. Dengue reasons. I had to miss orientation because of this.

Well, I had a hard time making friends as almost everyone was a new face. I would always go to the circle of mine whom I already know. At first, everything was normal. It all seemed normal but the fact that you have to run along with time, it added a bit of challenge.

I find this situation funny as this is our last year and we are being challenged to the core. 

Research, events to handle, art was even another thing that challenged me too much in this. There were really a lot of differences. 

Going back to my Grade 8 Intramurals journey, I also became a huge part of this year’s intrams! I took it as an experience but I did want the team to win. The Cardinals were awarded as the fourth team to win. I would sometimes go back to those memories as it all felt like a passing dream.

It also showed that I can really do great with my English answering skills during question and answers. That was kinda cool of me to be honest.

After such a celebration, I even had to experience interviewing and giving our research instrument out. Just being under the quantitative research design will stress you out. Reasons with it need extra examination as it involves statistics and exact numbers to be proven.

Our research is called ‘’Age and Traffic Sign Awareness among Road Users in Bugallon Proper, Ramon Public Market and National HIghway’’ that is yet to be finished as a lot of revisions are needed especially as our upcoming defense is coming. I am still not ready as everything that happened in our mock defense didn’t sinked in well.

All I can say is that I am trying to become sane? Sane in terms of being okay, having the willpower to live as life is really testing my patients.

I am also the elected SSG Treasurer of this school year. Patagalog muna saglit pero tuwang-tuwa ako na nakuha ko ulit itong position na ito. I tried grasping onto this during Grade 9 but due to COVID-19, I couldn’t continue the position I was given by the students. This experience really gave me a twist of events, the main reason is that my classroom, 12 Revelation has been experiencing loss of allowance on a frequent basis. This became an endless loop that is why I would always bring the SSG wallet with me.

Another turn of events is Work Immersion! Binalik ng JETMS ang work immersion! I found this experience endearing as we were placed in the Persons with Disabilities Affairs Office of Ramon, Isabela. There, I got to witness how the real world of work moves.

I was accompanied by Leyamir Santiago, a close friend of mine. She kept the workloads on deck as I did half of them. What really triggered my curiosity is how they work despite their disabilities. Ma’am Elyn has no left hand yet she still encodes the needed personal information online well. Too well actually. Watching her would please you as it showcases the real ability of a person no matter what hardships they have. I would like that this experience would be passed on to the next generation. It is the most exciting part of the process, learning, adapting and socializing with different people.

This is indeed stressful but the experience is worth it. This is a way for our school, JETMS, to let us practice what we can offer to different people. That alone is trusting the process manifestation. 

School year 2022-2023 is about to end next month, exactly on June 30, 2023. What we are really hoping is that we can still march onto the stage without worrying much about the pandemic situation. I still have pending workloads under at least 3 more subjects and I do hope I can pass them all in time, with a good grade and a good mental health.

In time, we can do everything if we do it right.

Laziness was just a part of it but this year, you really need to work your butt off.

Welcome to senior high school, Charleeze! Just another year but you really have to take things seriously and that I mean, not going into class and falling asleep as soon as the teacher starts talking.

Classes initially start at either 7:30 or 8:00 in the morning. That depends on what time the teacher logs in. I would frequently sleep late, making it hard to wake up in such hours. Best examples are classes under Sir Winston and Sir Jojo. Once I’m in the class, I tend to doze off and that wasn’t a great student example as every detail needs to be taken with utmost care and understanding.

The situation didn’t change as everything was just an upgraded and harder version of last year. Seems like they really want to establish a student who will become the best version of themselves and I enjoy that kind of treatment.

They focus on the students’ well-being.

This was also the period wherein I had a lot of new subjects and subject teachers that shocked me.

Before stepping into this grade, I would always want Teacher Annie Pasion to become a teacher of mine. I got that dream and I admired her way of teaching but the online setting isn’t really for me.

Why?

I didn’t pay attention as soft copies would always be shared. I also didn’t focus on what they were saying. It was hard to practice that especially if you already had the routine of going into class then falling asleep.

Not the best version of me. I do agree on that. A lot of mistakes were made and I hated shrugging those lessons off.

But this school year had another hectic ride since I got myself an online job. I became an academic server for the start of January 2022. Most of my money was because of that. My greatest achievement was getting a chance to start my collection of Mark Lee’s photocards. All of it. From my own pocket.

Why was it that satisfying?

Everything that I had my hands on wasn’t used against me. Because it was my own money. My parents would always buy the things we want that they bought as a lever during sermons. It was really frustrating but that all changed because of my hard work. I will always treasure that thought since I can freely buy whatever I want without them using it to further hurt my feelings.

Real reason why I want to continue being part of the world of work. It became an inspiration and also the best experience I could ask for.

This year was also the start of understanding the works of research under Sir Jojo. Since it was still under our online setting, we didn’t have much experience unlike the usual defense practice. It still wasn’t easy since everything taught was used with modules and soft copies. We also had a lot of lapses. I found this subject impressive. It really did put JETMS’ standards to the test. Research can be flexible but the rules you have to follow and formatting was the challenging part. I kept crying while finishing it especially if my groupmates weren’t doing the work I asked them for.

A team is a team right? What would you call it if the majority of them kept on ghosting my messages?

I’m just really glad that I survived another year despite being stuck in a COVID-19 era. What’s great about this is that it doesn’t explore the world of art. I kept my grades just like before and even got higher car grades this time.

And since social distancing was a thing and alert level lockdowns toned down, we got a physical recognition alongside the graduating Grade 12 students! I saw my crush on stage! It was really a great memory as we used the last remaining days to celebrate and chill more. My friends made my day all better. The ride wasn’t that stressful and everything came according to what I wanted to happen.

I stayed happy, healthy and kept things flowing smoothly. I was the happiest with my achievements as this year really made me flourish so much.

My mom looks so adorable in this photo! She's a keeper.

This isn't academics related but I had the chance to go to Baguio City with my Mark Lee photocards! All thanks to my Tita Cherry. I even had to balance my deadlines as this was PETA week so.. I survived!

Time to adjust wasn’t an option as everything went online. Some had blended classes and others were focused on their modules. We were introduced to new platforms such as Microsoft Teams and Google Meet. The only enemy to this story? The slow internet would give us a hard time.

From teachers to students, everything felt new despite frequent orientations. 

The sudden shift gave the idea that another impossible path is being taken on. You’ll continue to walk yet the barriers are too many for you to handle. This was the school year wherein I had to shed a lot of tears before finishing the given requirements.

Aside from math, I really don’t like being near arts. I’m so bad at it.

But because of those frequent art projects, I found my solace in music. Those songs were from Keshi, NIKI and HONNE. I would repeat them whenever I feel like art is making me breakdown once more.

Such incidents happened a lot as another challenge came. All of our art works and projects must be posted online. ON FACEBOOK. Every friend sees it.

From zumba dances to your live video of your artwork to singing a well-known play aka Les Miserables.

Is there anything more challenging than this? 🙂

Of course.

English was a subject that taught us how to create a research introduction of a topic you want to further investigate. Another subject I had to shed my tears on. It was frustrating as everything went on too fast.

Gladly, I still ended up with good grades and being in the honour list. To be honest, I feel like the online setting will really make a person even more lazy.

Just sitting on a couch, watching the recordings or actually being in a live class would make you feel even more sleepy. Our school also didn’t pursue turning the cameras on as it will just make the meeting slower.

But that advantage became a disadvantage. A student could be playing games while letting the class play, no idea what the teacher just said as distractions were inevitable. I would also hear my mother liking that setting more as we wouldn’t receive allowances as we were stuck at home, with enough food and water.

Still, I wouldn’t go back to such a situation as it will just become an endless loop. This pandemic was called endemic for a reason.

I also wouldn’t say that this setting made me closer to my family, the situation was just rough and it was hard to cope with it. Despite knowing that you can lean onto them, they also become those reasons why failure couldn’t be avoided. Not everyone can be emotionally okay, not everyone can be mentally present. Everything will just become a lump of clay, no chances of being molded into something beautiful since you’ll have no physical strength to do anything.

However, their help and knowingness towards our health became a stepping stone. I sometimes would get irritated with how my mother’s mindset works in terms of health. Eat more greens! Drink your vitamins! Do not sleep late.

There’s many more to that actually but it was just frustrating to hear on a daily basis. Still, that small act of service made sure that our health is indeed our wealth. We weren’t prone to any sickness.

By the time that we were given a chance to do a face-to-face moving up photoshoot, I wasn't truly thrilled as everything felt so fast. I met an old friend there and kept my photoshoot quick. I was even told that my body is stiff and I needed to loosen up. Of course our school photographer, Cher Annie Pasion would know.

Something about that shot made me think that maybe, I did survived but I feel like something was still missing. There were a lot of puzzle pieces scattered and I have no clue where I could find them.

I just really do hope that my next school year will be good to me. No more arts please!

Spoiler alert! See you in 2 weeks or see you in 2 years?

I feel like time is flying by too fast. Our memories become rigid and everything is just a ball of memory stored in the deepest part of your brain. Some might’ve enjoyed this year but I didn’t. But still, I’m still thankful for having the best adviser, Teacher Elvira. 

I hated math- no, scratch that, I hate being associated with mathematics and numbers. Geometry and abstract and just solutions. Teacher Elvira would encourage us by giving points out during seatworks yet I still couldn’t keep up. This goes along with subjects like Science too as I performed poorly in that subject. 

But this was the time where I excelled in English! I was a participant of DPSC 2016 in Tumauini and I got to experience the setting of contests with other schools. I was so nervous that I even had to ask for the correction tape too many times. I even saw myself running for the SSG Treasurer during the same school year. News flash: I won.

Now comes the exciting part, the 2 weeks turned into 2 years. COVID-19 struck down in our country and it gave us a hard time to cope. The school year ended with only ¼ of it left. 

I would like to give highlight to the school events that included a consequence of drinking ampalaya juice. Sir Eli took the shot as the other students had some foul faces to even continue their dare. Events like Little Mentors were also welcomed which I found endearing. It also challenged the student to report and act just like a teacher would.

For me, that's great practice.

Basically, this time was also the time that I was mainly in charge of our classroom’s financial status in terms of t-shirt payments and funds that needed to be paid. Due to my small capabilities towards editing, I was also encouraged to create a concept for our class. It was designed to showcase what our future profession will be.

If we are looking at my current position, I want to become a teacher now but if the shirt tells me what I wanted to be before.. I may have gone down a different path.

I dreamed of becoming a doctor.

Wow, a doctor in the family is truly a dream of every asian family!

Of course, my family wasn’t the epitome of that ideal. They wanted a different route. A more of ‘’magaan sa bulsa sana’’ type of profession which made me land into the tourism route.

And here comes the twist, due to COVID-19 I was basically stuck inside of my house. The classes were cancelled and everything went down the drain. It was truly hard to cope especially if everything happening was oh so new for us. This school year wasn’t the best because of this pandemic but life will continue on handing out plot twists.

Ah, welcome to the start of your provincial life. The life that will change your whole perspective on living alongside the different routines that must be done.

At the start of this school year, I was immediately welcomed by Ghiyanne and Max. Teacher Rhodora asked for assistance as we were in the same classes. I was also practicing my introductory speech in front of the new class but they ended up asking what I was going to do and I ended up singing. I do not recommend myself doing that again as that is a memory that should be living down the drain.

My JET Montessori School of Ramon, Inc. life was also filled with school events! Somewhere in I also participated in. It was evident at the start that I was also a student who wanted to be at the top of the class. Making me the participant during the Balagtasan contest as I presented the English rich side. My costume can give that away to be honest. The umbrella was designed by my classmates to further execute the idea. 

I don’t remember what our winning spot was but I’m sure that we didn’t win the whole contest. JETMS was also welcoming towards Buwan ng Wika, Fun Runs and etc. They were good memories as I shared them well with my class and other friends I gained along the way.

We also had fashion shows in one of our classes! It was under Sir Allen, our subject teacher in English. I was the best in ‘’laging kumpleto sa damit at gamit’’ student which made my bag really heavy.

So what really complimented my Grade 8 journey? Me being a transferee student and snatching the Miss Intramurals 2018 crown. It gave my team, the Cardinals, a huge boost in points as my partner also won the award. The overall champion however wasn’t us but a different team which was still okay with me. The whole photoshoot experience wasn’t my forte but since I had lovely coaches, I gained that confidence and used the energy to serve my goal well for the team.

Moreover to that memory lane, our class would ALWAYS and I mean ALWAYS bicker in terms of cleaning. It continued to the point where our adviser, Sir Jobert threw all our trash bins on the ground for us to clean it up once again. Gladly, we ended up doing the classroom chores without any bickering.

But that still didn’t end. The next couple of days, it felt like nothing happened and we were once again bickering with the classroom’s cleanliness.

Oh and also, I learned how to plant in this school year! Teacher Beth was our subject teacher in TLE. We served her ways by pedicures and manicures procedures to planting a chili plant outside and to serve other teachers as well. I find that a good memory as I would always be reminded of how my friend, Rodolf, did another cleaning session on the teacher's feet just to get our grade.

I will always be thankful for that help!

If I could describe my Grade 8 journey, I would say that the impression I made in this new school I enrolled in was so worth it. The transferee won without the fame and the experience, all she needed was trust that she can have the title to herself.

Let’s start off how my life went in Manila. Truth be told, there is a huge difference between provincial life and city life. If I were to choose which one wins, Ramon, Isabela has my vote. All I really do remember is being stuck in a new school building since Global Gleam Montessori School was expanding. It was clean, quiet, and I prefer the bigger space alongside the Grade 6 students we also share the whole floor with. This was probably the time wherein I had the worst sleeping habits. I would watch K-Dramas and read online books throughout the night and sleep my way in during classes.

The classroom was shared by us, the Grade 7 students and the Grade 8 ones since our head count isn’t that big and we basically share the same subjects. I would snooze my day away whenever the Grade 8 classes start or during a vacant period. This continued to the point wherein my adviser, Sir Leinard Satera would notice the pattern and even advised me to fix my sleeping schedule. With a matching handwritten letter and a dolphin keychain. It was pink! I still keep it inside my old sling bag.

That was a gift he gave us once the school year ended, the gesture alone is still something I look forward to. Anothing thing about the start of my high school life is me trying my best to balance my academics and me having crushes towards boys. That is an era I don’t like reminiscing about.

Also, I miss going to small convenience stores just to buy ice cream. We were surrounded by places where we can access food since Manila has a lot to offer. I would also see myself in a spot that wants to eat Mcdonalds but couldn’t due to the lack of money. The simple and quick boat rides too just to pass a river in order to reach my classmate’s house were fun too! It made transportation even more convenient but also, I found it unique since it was a water ride rather than a land ride.

Since I’ve mentioned something regarding boys, all I can say is that someone tried courting me within my class. He was tall and could fit the boy ‘’standard’’ but I already have my eyes on someone else. Nothing happened, just small random crushes and puppy love (if that’s a thing).

Nothing spectacular happened as my school was still new and is currently on further development. All I can say is that Manila was really a place that filled my tummy but emptied my pockets. The food stalls were left and right. Nothing could stop your sudden cravings if you’re already at the top.

Now, let us proceed to special highlights that my school included in their curriculum! Starting off with the United Nations and me dressing up as a country I do not remember. Something embarrassing also happened while I was introducing myself. I ended up saying a different country than following my sash’s country. Anyways…

To continue one of the best experiences Manila schools could offer- we also had fieldtrips! Gladly COVID-19 wasn’t a thing before or else I wouldn’t get to visit Clark Land or get myself my first Starbucks drink with my pocket money. The curiosity of a Grade 7 overpowered me and I ended up buying myself a strawberry frappe for some reason during our bus stop. I have no other memories nor pictures of the trip but I do have some posted in my Facebook account.

Aside from that, Grade 7 was really a coming of age hazy dream. I wouldn’t see myself wishing that this year would be repeated but I would love to see myself in Manila once more, even just for a visit. There were a lot of life lessons as my life was starting to change. A city girl in Ramon, Isabela will surely become a different story to tell.