Chants and Cheers Competition

The Chants and Cheers competition

Yesterday, Feb 5^th, was our Chants and Cheers Competition. A competition where there are 6-7 rival blocks competing against each other. Here, we showcase our block’s strengths, hardships we’ve overcome and over all, our unity though chants that rhyme, much like those cheerleaders on television that we usually see.

Now, our journey through the past few weeks wasn’t easy, during the first few days or maybe even the first 2 weeks, we were all pretty chill because we’ve already come up with a first and second stanza and so we didn’t bother adding in a few more. 

The next few days we were just practicing the tune we were going to use for the chant. And still, at this point we were all still relaxed and focused on other random things. A few days more, things started to heat up a bit because some of our blockmates had other things to do than practice for the competition and of course, our leader was not so happy about it. Their excuse was “But we don’t have anything to do as of now, we’d rather go home than waste time” now that’s not what’s exactly said at that time, but it’s somewhere along those lines. But things simmered down after a while and everyone was okay again.

Fast forward to a week before the competition, we finally finished a full chant which consists of at least 7 or 8 stanzas. All we had to worry about was the tune, which we finally figured it together, and the actions that we were supposed to do while performing.

Now the day before the actual competition, we had just started to practice our movements or actions, and obviously we didn’t have much time.

During the day of the competition, we all wore the same camouflage type shirt and had face paint on our cheeks. And when it was finally our turn, I could sense that everyone was nervous, well so was I.

When we were on stage I kind of felt that the emanating nervousness diminished because we all just started to live in the moment and we all did our very best and showed everyone how united as one we all are.

Though, sadly, we failed to claim a spot in the top 3. But we all had fun during those few weeks, we found our strengths within one another, and finally we all grew closer to each other.

And I think that’s enough for everyone.

Plagiarism is a crime

Plagiarism.

 What exactly is plagiarism? Well, according to Wikipedia, and various other sites I’ve read from, Plagiarism is the stealing and publication of another author’s thoughts, ideas, or expressions. In short, it is like stealing something and claiming or presenting it as your own.

Here in APC, it is strictly implied that plagiarism of any form is deemed unacceptable and if guilty of the said offense, you will be sent immediately to the guidance/disciplinary office. This could lead to suspension.

Plagiarism isn’t only limited to schools, it could happen in offices, government speeches and most commonly, in written books by famous authors copying words from one another.

Personally, I have not encountered plagiarism face to face. I may have heard friends and/or classmates having a few words from the internet for their reports and whatnot, but it has not happened to me.

I’ve always tried to compose my own writings and refrain from copying from other people’s work because I understand the feeling of working so hard on something and then someone comes along, steals your idea and then boast about it, claiming it as theirs. It’s very frustrating to say the least.

But if I had no choice but to look up something on the internet, I try my best to understand what’s written and then write my own opinion about it or leave a reference link leading to the page I got my idea from. In that way, I am not claiming the idea as my own.

Long story short, refrain from plagiarizing any type of work done by other people, whether it be a report, a speech, a short book, art pieces and such. Because these people have worked hard to gain recognition for this certain achievement they’ve done, and to have that successful feeling taken away from them by someone who was just behind the shadows is truly horrible and disheartening.

Don’t plagiarize, kids.

As always, stay in school and learn what you have to learn.

references : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plagiarism
http://www.plagiarism.org/plagiarism-101/what-is-plagiarism/
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/plagiarism

Filipino Author: Bienvenido Lumbera

Bienvenido Lumbera

He is a Filipino poet, critic and dramatist. He is also a National Artist of the Philippines and a recipient of the Ramon Magsaysay for Journalism, Literature and Creative Communications and many more.

A little background check on Mr.Lumbera: he was born in Lipa on April 11, 1932. His parents died when he was but a mere 5 year old boy.  He received his Litt.B. and M.A. degrees from the University of Santo Tomas in 1950, and then his Ph.D. in Comparative Literature from Indiana University in 1968.

Taught Literature, Philippine Studies and Creative Writing at the Ateneo de Manila University, De La Salle University, the University of the Philippines Diliman, and the University of Santo Tomas.

A few of his works are the following:

Poetry - Likhang Dila, Likhang Diwa, 1993; Poetika/Pulitika, 2008; Ka Bel.

Literary criticism – Revaluation: Essays on Literature, Cinema, and Popular Culture, 1984; Tagalog Poetry, 1570-1898: Tradition on its Development, 1986; Abot-Tanaw: Sulyap at Suri sa Nagbabagong Kultura at Lipunan, 1987.

He has also been the author of numerous textbooks like, Pedagogy; Philippine Literature: A History and Anthology; Rediscovery: Essays in Philippine Life and Culture and many, many more.

To be frankly honest, I have not read at least one of his books but this is not the first time I’ve heard of Mr. Bienvenido Lumbera. I used to hear about him from my grandfather who, sadly, passed away many years ago.

Also, during my elementary and high school years, we have studied a bit about Filipino authors, and to say the truth, I am not that interested in local authors and books, I am more drawn to international books. But this does not mean that when I have the chance to read a locally written book, I would read it. I would read it because I would like to understand these authors and delve into their emotions that they have written on paper.

references : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bienvenido_Lumbera

Jon Santos in APC - Feb. 11

Jon Santos - "Follow your passion.. I did"

Today is the 11th day of February and we were instructed to head towards the auditorium of our building. For  there will be a speech by Jon Santos about his unique journey.

Now let's talk a bit about Mr. Jon Santos. He was famous for impersonating many politicians, celebrities, and the like such as Ate Vi, Sherap Estrada, Sen. Meeryam Defensive, Krissy Aquino and much, much more. 

He has been doing these impersonations for almost four decades, and he has been renowned as "The man with many faces".

Jon Santos gave a very wholesome and serious - though at some point, very funny - speech. He told us about his elementary days when he used to copy the movements of his teachers and mimicking the way they speak. And about his college days when he used to study about Economics. 

He told us that the path leading to his career at the present didn't really involve much of what he studied while he was in college, but he was able to use his knowledge in much more different ways.

Now during his speech, he gave us ten things to remember when we are finally about to choose our own paths in finding suitable careers, most of which I can't remember anymore.

But a single sentence caught my attention. Just one sentence engraved into my mind up to this moment:

"Learning what you love will make you the richest person in the world"

This one short and simple sentence left such a huge impact on me. Learning more and more about the things you love doing and being able to do these for an income, would absolutely be just the best thing in the world. No matter how hard things get, being able to do things you enjoy the most, well, you wouldn't really complain, would you?

That's it for today. 

If you've read through all my blabbering, thank you.