#batch 2018

College was a huge roller coaster ride for me and I learned a hell lot from it. Not really from the academic side (hehe) but things that i’ll be using for life. Not only that, I also learned many things about myself in my journey through college.

First thing that I learned was that everyone even my friends were competition. Maybe it was just me but i got that vibe from almost everyone. My classmates seem to always want to be on top.

Second is that grades don’t really matter. I actually had this thing stuck to myself since high school. For me grades are just one thing that rates or give student a standards of what being “the best” really is. In reality it’s just numbers that form a hierarchy among students. I mean after graduating it won’t really matter, yes having latin honors is a huge plus but who you are as a person and how you handle yourself in certain situations is what matters in the real the world.

Third, not everyone is your friend. In college there are loads of user friendly people. Got to learn it the hard way. I always had notes back then and i retain a lot of information from lectures. After every lecture my classmates would always ask for notes. After they get it from you, they won’t go near you until the next exam. It pisses me off.

Fourth, kind of connected to the third one, be a responsible student. Always take down notes, always listen, and try your best to be awake. The listening part i have troubles with. My thoughts would always fly after one hour of lecture. But i try my best to focus and get back on track. This will really test on how responsible you really are as a person. If you miss something important it’s gonna be your loss.

Fifth, join school organizations! One of the best decisions in my life was being active in organizations (quick question is it organization or organisation, help please) I got to meet real friends here. And it helps with you knowing how much you can really balance your time. It’s not just limited to organizations but also to school sports. Join as much as you want as long your mental and physical health can handle it.

Sixth is time management, if there is really one thing that college taught me that i know i’ll be using forever it’s definitely this one. I mean how else can you study for 4 different subjects and finish 3 papers that are all due on the same day (this is an exaggeration but you get it, right?)? And how about your organization deliverables? And what about family bonding? And drinking with high school friends (drink moderately my friends)?

Seventh, stand up for your right as a student and as a person. Not sure if all schools practice this but it’s what my college has taught me. Fight for what you want and what is right. Connected to that is to always be up-to-date with the news. As what my parents always say “wag maging mangmang” or in English don’t be an ignorant.

Last is you’d really know who your real friends after 3 years. I’ve had friends who I started my first day with and lost them during our 3rd year. It was not the same after meeting them and hanging out with them the first time. It felt like i out grew them and they just wanted to stay immature. It hurt me real bad knowing that my first friend in college started to “ignore” me. She started go slowly go away from me. We talked it out and I tried reaching out again but it was no use. If she doesn’t want to get back the friendship and so be it.

Woah! What a long post. I think i have a total of 8 lessons here. I actually have a ton more but i’ll just leave it to this. Might take me until next year to finish it off (hehe).

I hope this inspired some of you to finish college. If you’re on the verge of giving up or still scared of what happens right after college don’t worry, everything happens for a reason. If you don’t finish on time that’s okay what’s important is that you get to finish and if you still find yourself lost and feel like a total bum right after graduating don’t worry the right work will come at the right time. Just think that God has a perfect plan for you to reach your dreams. I actually don’t have a job yet but i have people here telling me that it’s fine and maybe I should rest, I think of it as God telling me to take a chill pill and sleep out all the times that college kept me awake.

Well that’s about it. Again I hope this post somehow helped you to regain that enthusiasm you had when you entered college or university.

Bye and don’t forget to always dream big!

THE 20th GRADUATION RITES 2018 | Bulawan Sr. Elementary School

BULAWAN SR. ELEMENTARY SCHOOL Lupi District 20th GRADUATION RITES & MOVING-UP CEREMONY THEME: Mag-aaral ng K to 12: Handa sa Hamon ng Buhay Guest Speaker: CAROL M. LOYOLA APRIL 04, 2018

8:OO A.M

To all the Graduates of Bulawan Sr. Elementary School, Batch 2018, CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL OF YOU! “Kamo an Tunay na Pag-asa kan Satong Barangay na Mapadagos Kan Masunod Pang Henerasyon…Kamo an Poste na…

Mind rarely understood, except by you

Heart soothed by one, when I thought there was none

Although loneliness was all that I knew

It was by you, in the end, that I won

They’ll call us names, we’ll always know better

Offline or on, keeping our straight face

But the day came, you opened the letter

Said to be strong, you fell in my embrace

Don’t ever worry, I’ll always stay here

But your voice was soft, and you whispered low

You told me not to think of that one fear

Now it is you, that I’ll forever owe

Your sermon is done, and I look above

Screaming in my head, you’re the one I love

By Mattia Abad, Batch 2018

Last week, the Beacon Academy successfully held its first ever schoolwide celebration – Filipino Week. The administrative and support staff members, the faculty, and the entire student body all took part in this festive event as they had been busy preparing themselves for it in the previous weeks. The 5-day long celebration was loaded with various Pinoy activities, topped with competitiveness and team spirit especially on the last day.

As a kick off for the week, the Beacon Academy Student Council (BASC) prepared a Food Fest last Monday, held in the Gallery in Building B, through which we literally had tasted what it is like to be Filipino. From fried tusok-tusok and sizzling sisig bowls, to cold refreshments and sweet, creamy desserts, all sorts of the good stuff you would find in a traditional Filipino fiesta were sold from recess time until the end of lunch, resulting to a long, unending line of Pinoy food-craving Griffins.

Aside from the Food Fest, a whole lot more activities came our way throughout the week. Last Wednesday, Ligaya Amilbangsa and the Alung-Alung Dance Troupe were invited during Assembly to introduce us to their preserved art, the Pangalay Dance from the Sulu archipelago, through a mesmerizing performance exhibiting extraordinary balance and control in their movements. After which, they demonstrated and taught us the basics of the dance, letting us experience the art to better appreciate its beauty.

On the same day, BASC also spearheaded a Filipiniana costume contest for which they encouraged everyone to come to school in traditional Filipino attire. The contest included awarding batch points to the cohort with the most people in Filipiniana, which most probably was the reason why Griffins here and there sought even the tiniest piece of Aztec-patterned cloth to wrap themselves with just to be deemed qualified for the said contest. This activity sparked the now blazing competition across all four batches, which was also fuelled by the house system they piloted this year based on the school’s colors, in which the 9th and 12th graders made up Bughaw, meaning blue, whilst the 10th and 11th formed Lungti, green.

To turn up the hype one last time, the school ended the week with a day-long of finales. On Friday morning, the batches, together with their respective advisers, mentally clashed against each other one question after the other during the Interdisciplinary Quiz Bowl, which by the way had an interesting spin to it as they had also incorporated timed challenges such as eating balut within a couple of minutes, sipping coconut juice using two straws, and even the recent social media trend that is bottle-flipping, in order for everyone to earn their batch extra points.

After the quiz bowl, students as well as staff members were able to prove not only their distinct and innate competitiveness, but also their own flairs and guts to perform during the Talent Show and the Cheer Dance competition, as they were able to reach out to and move their community through their own unique performances. Hence, because of the Talent Show and the Cheer Dance Competition, the school was able to witness its students freely express themselves by means of their own creative ideas and strengths.

Ultimately, they concluded Filipino Week with the Palarong Pinoy, in which every batch brawled versus one another through skills challenges, relay and tag games, and even mind games like sungka and dama. Indeed, these kinds of games are catalysts for competition, however in the BA community, we have also ignited the sense of family and camaraderie among the students, the faculty, as well as staff members. The community has definitely grown closer, and will continue to as we take on more of life together within the rest of the year.