Trees Vs. Invictus (Compare and Contrast Writing)

The trees written by Joyce Kilmer and Invictus composed by William Ernest Henley have similarities and differences. The former is all about how the tree reacts to nature’s daily happenings and how it connects to God for it is Him that created it.

The latter, on the other hand, talks about how firm and courageous the persona is amidst or despite challenges or obstacles he faces. Notwithstanding, these two poems’ interpretations, and implications are not the main or focal concern but their poetical features or elements.

Let us talk about one of the senses of the poem which is the imagery. Imagery is the use of secondary details or descriptions that appeal to one or more of the five senses: sight, hearing, touch, taste and smell. These are otherwise known as “senses of the mind”. The imagery of the Trees s more on the senses of sight or taste. The example in the first and second stanzas of the poem: “T think that I shall never see. A poem as lovely as a tree. A tree whose hungry mouth is prest. Against the Earth’s sweet flowing breast”. Notice the words “see” and “mouth”.

Whereas the Invictus’ imagery stresses on the senses of sight and hearing. Example for the sense of sight is its first stanza: “Out of the night that covers me Black as the Pit from pole to pole, I thank whatever gods may be, for my unconquerable soul”. The word “night” can clearly explain its sense of sight. Another is its sense of hearing, ‘in the fell clutch of circumstance, I have not winced nor cried aloud. Under the bludgeonings of chance, My head is bloody but unbowed.” The word “aloud” is being stressed that certainly gives a reason why that poem has the imagery of hearing.

However, when it comes to the sound of the poem which is the rhyme, the two poems have also similarities and differences. Rhyme is the repetition of the same stressed vowel sounds and any succeeding sounds in two or more words. It has two types: internal rhyme and terminal rhyme. The internal rhyme has rhyme within the line while the terminal rhyme has rhyme found at the end of the line.

TREES

I think that I shall never see 

A poem lovely as a tree. 

A tree whose hungry mouth is prest 

Against the earth’s sweet flowing breast; 

                       INVICTUS

                      Out of the night that covers me, 

                      Black as the pit from pole to pole, 

I      thank whatever gods may be 

                       For my unconquerable soul. 

It is pretty obvious that both are using terminal rhyme. Their difference is their rhyme scheme. The rhyme scheme is the pattern of rhyme form that ends in a stanza or a poem. The rhyme scheme is designated by the assignment of a different letter of the alphabet to each new rhyme. The rhyme scheme of the Trees is “AA, BB” while Invictus rhyme scheme is “AB, AB”. The former has “AA, BB” rhyme scheme because every last word of a line rhymes with the next last words of the immediate line. While the latter uses “AB, AB” rhyme scheme because the last words of every line rhyme right after the next line’s last word.

Besides, their difference is the number of rhyming lines of the stanza. The Trees uses couplet which is defined as the stanza of two rhyming lines while the other makes use of quatrain that has a stanza of four lines.

 Furthermore, let us compare and contrast the types of figures of speech used or applied to these poems. They both have simile. A simile uses a word or phrase such as “as” or “like” to compare seemingly unlike things or ideas. In the trees, the simile is found in the second line of the first stanza. “A poem as lovely as a tree”. The poem is being compared to a tree. While in the Invictus, its simile is also found or located in the second line of the first stanza,  ”Black as the Pit from pole to pole. The word “black” which modified the night is being compared to the word “Pit”.

Additionally, the hyperbole as one of the figures of speech is also utilized. Hyperbole is an exaggeration used to express strong emotion, to make a point or to evoke humor. “A tree whose hungry mouth is prest “ shows hyperbole because we know that a real tree has no hungry mouth but only roots that sip nutrients from the soil.  “Out of the night that covers me” , in this line is so exaggerated because the night cannot actually cover a person.

Similarly, these two poems use two similar figures of speech – metonymy and synecdoche. Metonymy is the use of one word to stand for a related term or replacement of word that relates to a thing or person to be named for the name itself. An example is in the first line of the fourth stanza of the poem Trees. “A tree that may in Summer wear. The word “summer” is just a representation of the time. Whereas, the Invictus has a synecdoche. A synecdoche is the naming of parts to suggest the whole. An example is in the line “Under the bludgeonings of chance, my head is bloody but unbowed.” Notice the word “head”. It does represent the whole body or life of a person.

Lastly, they use assonance. Assonance is the repetition of similarly accented vowel sounds. In the Trees’ lines, “Upon whose bosom snow has lain; who intimately lives with rain. We can observe “o” vowel repeatedly used in the former line while “I” vowel is common in the latter line. On the contrary, the Invictus uses the vowels “e” and “a”. Look into these lines, “And yet the menace of the years finds and shall find me unafraid”.

PROBLEMS AND SOLUTIONS BROUGHT BY TECHNOLOGIES (Problem and Solution Writing)

It is amazing how technology change and makes our works easier and faster now compared to a pre-invention era. Nowadays, we feel so comfortable by the help of the inventions, especially in the 21st century. What people cannot  do, technologies can like getting or sending information here and abroad, traveling from one place to another in just a matter of an hour or even minutes, expanding the lives of people (such as surgery, heart or kidney transplant), processing foods and the like.

People enjoy these things consciously but know unconsciously the bad effects. With the advancement of technologies comes with the various problems brought by the inventions of the experts or let us say people with high-intellectual capabilities when it comes to technologies. But the questions are: Do the inventors deserve to be blamed? How about the millions of users? Can or shall we stop the pervasive and rapid spread of these technologies? We are accustomed to using technologies especially to improve the government and education systems. So we better help one another to somehow lessen the growing problems since we are also liable and responsible for those.

Anyway, what are these problems? How can we address and attend to these so we can find and give solutions? Let us know the first one. It is very rampant nowadays to look for answers to school assignment on the internet. Thus, teachers have to be careful. Students just copy and paste the information without examining the content. In response to this, a teacher has to copy the text and put them on “search bar” or in a plagiarism tracker, and then the source will immediately appear. So the students caught doing this must be warned or else they will suffer plagiarism punishment. Plagiarism is defined as the act of using another person’s words or ideas without giving credit to that person. In order for the students not to be charged, they have to cite the source of the information.

Another problem is societal brought by technology. Young individuals spend their time playing games, logging in social networking sites such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Youtube, etc. These cause isolation from the real world. They less communicate with their family and less discuss problems. These also lead them to meet up with strangers where they knew in social media. A lot of cases reported on television that after they met, they were kidnapped or even harassed or killed. As a result, the parents who are supposed to be responsible for the safety of their children must limit their kids from going out. If the children are attending to schools, it is the teachers who take responsibility. The better way is the teachers have to let the whole class to watch a movie which has something to do with the problem. At least, they will feel or realize their misdeeds.

In addition to this is the pollution caused by technologies as well. Harmful substances and materials are now widespread in our environment. The pollution is not only produced by burning of garbage but also by factories and vehicles. How are factories and vehicles run? It is by fossil fuels. As technologies grow, there is also growth in the consumption of these fossil fuels. Unluckily, our environment will take millions of years because it can produce or form new fossil fuels. There are studies that show that the Erath is running out of fossil fuel supplies. Others believe that Earth’s supply will be ended up within 1000 years. However, a harm done by technology can sometimes be repaired by another technology, but still there are jeopardies that the latter technology may cause another problem. An example of this is an atomic power plant. This can produce atomic energy. This energy will not use fossil fuels, making our fossil fuels safe from consumption. Only that the problem, is that the atomic energy produces radioactive wastes which are not safe for living organisms. So in response to this, the solution is that the scientists are searching new sources of energy. One of this is the plan to use satellites that will collect solar energy from the sun. The energy that will be gathered would be sent to a receiving station on Earth. This time, the solar energy would be changed into electricity. This technology indeed might become a major energy source to be used in the future.

What else? Other problems are due to long use of technology which is detrimental on someone’s posture: neck pain, back pain, eye strain and other problems are common in those who use technology on a regular basis and do not maintain good posture. But what can we do? As usual, common sense prevails. The most fundamental advice is to take frequent breaks, whether using a smartphone, laptop, computer, iPod, etc. even small breaks of a few seconds may be long enough to reduce the muscle fatigue that comes from using these devices particularly if use involves a less than optimal body position. Build breaks into your routine. Don’t take several phone calls back to back. Take a few minutes between calls to relax the muscles. Set an alarm clock for 15 minutes and get up and walk around.

So the bottom line here is self-discipline. If we cannot content these various problems, let us somehow eradicate them.

    

“Mr. Presumptive”: Rodrigo Roa Duterte (Descriptive Writing)

    “The Punisher”, “Dirty Harry”, “Dictator”, “Donald Trump of the Philippines” and many more are some titles that best describe the incoming 16th President of the Philippines- Rodrigo Roa “Digong” Duterte. Known as the tough-talking mayor of Davao City, he did a big jump to Malacañang as he leads the latest presidential election. The 71 years old Mayor and now the “Presumptive President” was born on March 28, 1945, in Maasin, Southern Leyte, his father served as the Governor of Davao while his mother was a school teacher. He spent his elementary and high school years in Davao and then studied in Lyceum of the Philippines for his tertiary education, and later on continued studying law in San Beda College. Shortly after, he passed the bar exam.

    As a public servant for more than two decades, he changed Davao City from the "murder capital of The Philippines" to "the most peaceful city in southeast Asia” and “World’s 4th Safest City”. Mainly, this is because of the strict rules imposed by the City Council of Davao with the full support of Mayor Duterte. Among those rules are the liquor ban in the city from 1:00am to 8:00am; requiring commercial establishments to set up CCTV cameras; and strict speed limits to vehicles within Davao City which he plans to implement in the entire nation as he takes in the Presidential Office on June 30, 2016. Duterte has won many awards including the National Literacy Hall of Fame for being the Outstanding Local Government- Highly Urbanized category for three times. But, still there are some who are doubtful if he can do the same accomplishments in the entire Philippine archipelago.

After leading the presidential election with 38.5% of the vote and became the “Presumptive President of the Philippines”, his way to the presidency wasn’t that easy. Duterte had been urged to run for the Philippine presidency numerous times but refused these offers until well into 2015 on the grounds of a "flawed government system", old age and opposition from his family. Nevertheless, on November 21, 2015, he declared his candidacy in the 2016 election contest for the office of the President of the Philippines. He was under fire for his flirty behavior during the campaign period, as well with plenty of women in his life. He has three children to Elizabeth Zimmerman, his first wife and been annulled for a long time. Currently, he has a common-law wife, Cielito Avancena, who is better known as Honeylet. Far from monogamous, he has publicly admitted to having as many as three girlfriends.

Duterte also faced several allegations of sexual harassment, after photos of him kissing women seated on his lap during the election campaign started to spread locally and have led many to questions on the way he treats women. A lot of women rights groups filed cases against him at the Philippine Commission on Human Rights last April 20, accusing him of the violation of the Republic Act 9710 that was created to protect the rights of women. He did not take the complaints seriously and instead, he told the women rights groups who filed complaints against him to “go to hell”. He added that he has his freedom of expression as his constitutional rights, "Not ever. I have a mother, I have a daughter, I have a wife. Why would I do it? It's not an objective simply because I am separated from my wife," he said.

On cursing Pope Francis he said that it wasn’t the Pope he was cursing but the pontiff’s visit in the Philippines last January 2015 which caused traffic congestion and immediately apologized publicly. Duterte, however, cancelled his planned trip to Vatican City and instead wrote a letter to Pope Francis dated January 21, 2016. During a campaign rally, his camp showed the letter coming from the Vatican's Secretariat of State, signed by Giovanni Angelo Becciu dated February 24, stating that Pope Francis had received his letter and that the Vatican appreciated his apology after allegedly cursing Pope Francis in public.

Duterte was also the country’s main controversial person after he made a remark about the rape of an Australian in one of his rallies. Being condemned widely, he apologized for the incident and acknowledged the comment as “bad remark” saying he regretted his foul words but would not apologize for being misinterpreted. He also added that it was due to his extreme anger which ended in such remark as he recalled the events that followed prior to that hostage-taking incident.

There is no way the President-Elect Rodrigo Roa Duterte can be stopped from taking the Presidential Office this coming June 30, 2016. With his slogan, “Change is Coming” the Filipinos are in big hope that a “radical change” is about to realize for they are exhausted of the promises from the previous presidents to stop criminality, drugs and corruption. On the other hand, Duterte said that he needs the deep cooperation and abidance of the law of the Filipino citizens for him to do his job well and for “change to come”.

The Benefits of Teaching Araling Panlipunan on the part of an English Teacher (Content Focus on Emphasis)

At the first glance at the book of Araling Panlipunan, it is not only the students who feel so drowsy knowing the fact that this subject contains general information. Like in Grade 7, the subject is Philippine history which obviously tackles what happened before or even the current and future affairs of the country. The Araling Panlipunan 8 is all about Asia’s context while Araling Panlipunan 9 tells about the history of the world and included the discoveries on Earth. On the other hand, Araling Panlipunan 10’s description is Economics which probably emphasizes the Philippines’s economy as well as the other countries.

All of these subjects mention above are just easy but most of the students really get bored with the bulk pages of each book. There are also teachers handling and specializing social studies tend to give up because nowadays especially K-12 curriculum based books in Araling Panlipunan use English terms which make them so hard.

So what if your principal would assign you to handle Araling Panlipunan subject? Would you take that challenge as an English teacher? If I would be asked, my answer should be ‘Yes’. Why would I do that? Well, let me enumerate the benefits of teaching Araling Panlipunan.

First, I know I am trained or let me say I am accustomed to speaking English since my course is BSED- English. I know the fact that most books in Araling Panlipunan are written in Filipino terms. So, it is my chance to practice or even enhance my speaking skill especially the difficult words in Filipino. At least it would not be awkward if I talk with my students who are fund or who prefer speaking Filipino language to English language. Little by little, I can read fluently the terms. Also by that, I can communicate well with Filipino teachers. It’s amazing, isn’t it? I’d like to emphasize this word, “Nakakapagpabagabag”.

Wait, there’s more. Handling Araling Panlipunan is not that easy just what other think. Based on my experience especially that I am a fresh teacher or even old ones confessed that they still had to read the contents of the book. Every year or once in three years (depending on the school) the books whether in grade 7 or 10 are changed. For instance, this year’s publisher is Vibal, and then next year is Phoenix. It is very important to note that reading is a “must”. So by teaching Aral.Pan, one has to really read every night before he discusses the lesson to his students. He has to be cautious for there are students who are three steps away from our knowledge when it comes to this subject.  He has to be careful what he imparts because mostly, the contents of this subject are general knowledge which means that the knowledge that the students got from us would be brought wherever or whenever they are. Take note that there are books that contain wrong information or not reliable ones even the newly published books and as an English teacher turned to Aral.Pan teacher, we need to make it as a habit. We must be thankful that our laziness in reading will be somehow eradicated or decreased. Oh, it’s motivating, right? Read now!

Do you think it is over? Well, wake up! Another thing is by handling this subject; we can recall our past knowledge. Nay, do not say you remembered everything because according to some experts on brain-based strategies, we can only remember things/ideas in just 1 to 18 seconds unless they go to long term memory. Anyhow, it is called as past knowledge since you already stored the ideas in your memory bank. So you are lucky because at least you can share to your students what you learned. You will not have a hard time explaining the lesson to the class. Good job! Good job if during your elementary, secondary or even tertiary days you did not just sleep. Shame on you!

Excited to know more about the benefits? Relax. It is so advantageous for us English teachers to handle this subject because as what I have said earlier, some words are written in English terms. Good things that you are considered as a “walking dictionary”. No, no… I know that every lesson, we encounter unfamiliar words which really need to be browsed. We have to laugh because when our students ask the meaning of that word, we can now easily give or answer them. Just tell your memory to function right away or else you would say, “Okay, class that’s your assignment”. Never do that, please.

Lastly, yes this would be the last benefit. Calm down. This is the most important one. Please bear in mind, “the most important one”. As you’ve been focused on your English subjects, you tend to forget to scan or broaden your knowledge about the other subjects. Don’t just study one. Be a voracious reader. I know that you don’t know everything on Earth but at least you would not miss the very important topic. Like in my experience, I just knew that Germany caused all troubles in World War I and World War II. Ooops! I am not anti-German, I don’t invent stories. I read not only one book but more than one. I also watched videos related to World wars.

Wanna know if these things are true? I tell you, handle Araling Panlipunan. It is not boring but interesting!

Keep Away From Them While You Can (Content Focus on Unity)

What is an illegal drug?

According to the Simple English Wikipedia, “Illegal drugs are drugs which have limitations on their ownership or use by the government and are illegal in certain situations (meaning a person is not allowed to have them). A drug is any chemical that affects the human body o mind when it is swallowed, breathed in, or consumed in another day”.

Commonly used by illegal drugs include marijuana, heroin, cocaine, amphetamines and methamphetamine and club drugs. Marijuana is swallowed or smoked. Its acute effects are Euphoria, relaxation, slowed reaction time, distorted sensory perception, impaired balance and coordination, increased heart rate and appetite, impaired learning/ memory, anxiety, panic attacks, and psychosis. While its health risks are cough, frequent respiratory infections, possible mental health decline and addiction.

How about heroin? It is injected, smoked and snorted. Its acute effects are euphoria, drowsiness, impaired condition, dizziness, confusion, nausea, sedation, and feeling of heaviness in the body, slowed or arrested breathing. Its known risks are constipation, endocarditis, hepatitis, HIV, addiction and fatal overdose.

In the same manner, cocaine, amphetamine, and methamphetamine are snorted, smoked and injected. Whereas, their acute effects are increased heart rate, blood pressure, body temperature, metabolism, feelings of exhilaration, increased energy, mental alertness, tremors, reduced appetite, irritability, anxiety, panic paranoia, violent behavior and psychosis. Their health risks are weight loss, insomnia, cardiac or cardiovascular complications, stroke, seizure, and addiction.

But why do people take drugs? They take drugs because they want to change something about their lives. Here are some reasons why young people have given up for taking drugs: to fit in, to escape or relax, to relieve boredom, to seem grown up, to rebel and to experiment. They think drugs are a solution. But eventually, the drugs became the problem. Difficult as it may be to face one’s problems, the consequences of drug use are always worse than the problem one is trying to solve with them. The real answer is to get the facts and not to take drugs in the first place.

What do users tell? Based on experience, according to this person (I will not mention his name), during the whole time, he was on drugs. He taught he had control over his life and that he had it great. But he destroyed everything he had built up and fought up for in his life. He cut to all his drug-free friends and his family, so he had not any friends but his drug mates. Every day revolved around one thing: his plan for getting the money he needed for drugs. He would do anything possible to get his amphetamine- it was the only thing in his life.

Additionally, according to the other user, “I felt that I was more fun when I was drunk. Soon after [I started drinking] I was introduced to marijuana. Later, I was hanging out at a friend’s house smoking marijuana when someone pulled out a bag of cocaine. Snorting cocaine quickly became a daily habit. I was stealing from my parents’ business and from my grandparents on a daily basis to support my alcohol, cocaine, marijuana and LSD habits. Then introduced to Oxycontin and began using it on a regular basis. By the time I realized I was addicted, snorting oxycontin was part of my daily routine. I needed something stronger – and was introduced to heroin. I would stop at nothing to get high. My addiction was winning. And every time I tried to kick it, the physical craving would send me back for more”.

So the question is can addiction be treated successfully? According to National Institute on Drug Abuse, “Yes”. Addiction is a treatable disease. Research in the science of addiction and the treatment of substance use disorders has led to the development of evidence-based interventions that help people stop abusing drugs and resume productive lives.

Another question is, can addiction be cured? Some sources said, “Not always but not like other chronic diseases, addiction can be managed successfully”. Treatment enables people to counteract addictions to powerful disruptive effects on their brain and behavior and regain control of their lives.

Now, what is the best way not to be addicted to an illegal drug? Well, the best way to prevent an addiction to an illegal drug is not to take the drugs at all. Why put ourselves at risk if, at the end, we just destroy our body, mid and life? Why not spend our money to buy foods for our family so that they will be happy instead of buying illegal drugs? Keep away from them while you still have the chance.

PIZZARAP! (Sequential Writing)

We, Filipinos are certified food lovers. One of our favorite past time is eating, especially when we are bored are we feel so much stressed. We love to eat whether it is breakfast, lunch or dinner time. Even eating snacks during midnight and merienda in the afternoon is one of our hobbies.

There are range numbers of various ethnic groups in the Philippines that have a very exceptional food that anybody can truly enjoy. There are foreign countries and people who influenced us their cuisine like the Chinese people who introduced to us the noodles and lumpia and  Spanish colonizers introduced here in the Philippines varied flavors and ingredients. In addition, other global influences such as Japanese, Thai, French and Italian became part of our Filipino foods. One of the Italian influences is the Pizza.

Pizza is a flatbread generally topped with tomato sauce and cheese and baked in an oven. It is commonly topped with a selection of meats, vegetables and condiments. It has been said that Pizza was originated from Naples, Italy and the dish and its variants have become popular in many areas of the world including Philippines.

A slice of pizza indeed has lots of calories but we cannot deny the fact that we love Pizzas especially every time we feel tired and stressed out, we usually crave for one. Pizza can be bought to different stores but the most popular is the Greenwich. We can also make pizzas at home.

Making pizzas at home is both easy and fun. It also fits in well with busy schedules since the dough can be prepared ahead of time and many toppings only take a few minutes to prepare. Most children love to eat pizza; they will also enjoy helping to knead the dough and sprinkling it with cheese and herbs for the toppings.

Now, here are the ingredients and the procedure on how to make pizza dough.

Serves: 2-4

Preparation: 20 minutes

Rising time: 1hr and 30 minutes

Ingredients:

1 oz (30 g) fresh yeast or 2 (1/4-oz/7 –g) packages active dry yeast

About 2/3 cup (150 ml) warm water

3 cups (450 g) all-purpose (plain) flour

½ teaspoon salt

Procedure:

·         First, place the fresh or active dry yeast in a small bowl and add half the warm water.

·         Second, stir gently until the yeast has dissolved. Then set it aside for 15 minutes.

·         Third, place the flour and salt in a large bowl.

·         Fourth, pour in the yeast mixture and most of the remaining water and stir well.

·         Fifth, place the dough on a lightly floured work surface and knead gently and with the lightest possible touch until the dough is smooth and elastic, about 10 minutes. Then, shape into a ball and place in a large oiled bowl. After that, set it aside to rise until doubled in volume, about 1 hour and 30 minutes.

1.       Now, to shape the pizza with a rolling pin, roll the dough out into a disk of the desired thickness. To finish, use your fingertips to make a rim around the edge of the pizza so that the topping won’t drip out during cooking. Transfer the dough to a pizza pan or oiled baking sheet.

2.       However, if you want to shape the pizza by hand, place the dough in the oiled pizza pan and push it outward with your fingertips, spreading it to fit the pan.

3.       Then, when the pizza dough has been shaped and is in the pizza pan or on the baking sheet, set it aside for 10 minutes before adding the topping. This will give the dough time to regain some volume and will make the crust lighter and more appetizing.

4.       Lastly, to make calzones, proceed as for pizza, giving the dough a round shape. Place the topping on one half of the dough only. Leaving a 1-inch (2-5 cm) border around the edge. Fold the other half over the filling and press the edges together with your fingertips to seal.

Thickness of the dough:

Some people like thick, doughty pizza crusts while others prefer them to be thin and crisp. In Italy, the thick, bread-like crusts are typical of pizzas made in Sicily and the south. Further north, crusts are thinner. Some pizzerias in Florence serve pizzas with such thin crusts that if you roll the topping up in them it is more like eating a crepe than a pizza. Try several thicknesses, and decide which one you and your family prefer.

The Experiences of a Public School Applicant (Content Focus on Coherence)

One of my friends, prepared himself for the upcoming RQA (Registered Qualified Applicants). He studied his subject matter so the observer would be impressed and amazed by how he delivered the lesson to the students. Instructional materials like visual aids, flashcards and laptop were brought so that the whole class would be smooth and effective.

In addition, he searched articles related to K-12 so that he could answer the panel of judges. He browsed the website of Department of Education (DepEd) and Commission on Higher Education (CHED) and scanned and downloaded important information. He also asked his friends what they knew about the prospective or possible questions to be thrown by the interviewers to him.

Similarly, he dared to ask for his student’s and cousin’s help to let him borrow their laptops. He needed to bring two in case the one would not function. He tried to borrow LCD projector from his former professor in college. Only the laptops were brought because according to his professor, the monitoring team may visit anytime at his office.

Moreover, he lent money from his board mate for him to be able to travel to Siargao Island where the exam for English Proficiency Test (EPT), teaching demonstration, and the interview would be conducted. In fact, he had to stay in Dapa for four days because the exam’s schedule was separated from demonstration and interview. He called up his parents where and to whom he could stay without fee or just for free since he really ran out of money. The budget was only for his meals. Luckily, the sister-in-law of his sister offered her boarding house.

Furthermore, while he was already in Dapa, he remembered that the medicine of his mother also ran out.  He called up his father that he had to buy it since it’s maintenance for his mother’s health. He was so worried at that time. His co-teacher texted him that there was a problem about his school papers. However, he told himself not to be disturbed and had to focus on his battle. So, he set aside those things.

Amidst those intercessions, he prayed to God that all things would not be in vain. So matters continued. He took the challenge by answering the queries of the panel with confidence though he felt a bit nervous. The interviewers seemed satisfied because they did not throw follow-up questions.

During the teaching demonstration, there was one flashcard lost, the speakers did not function and there was no LCD projector available. Despite the inconvenience, he did not quit. He was able to finish his lesson.

After all these things, he thanked God. Almost all his co-applicants said that he could make it since he had all the requirements submitted to the division office. Of course, he kept his feet on the ground and he hoped for positive and fair result. He kept in touch with God every day asking for his help because he heard some news that as expected, the dirty politicians interceded with the ranking process.

After a month and 10 days of waiting, the result was posted stealthily on the website of DepEd. One of his close co-applicants texted him that he was not able to make it to the top. So, he asked how did he know and the reply was, “lantawa sa website kay pinasikreto ra”. As he opened the website, he was so disappointed because his name was not included. He was even shocked for his classmate and co-applicant made it to the top despite the lack of requirements.

Consequently, he called up someone who had a close connection to the division office and she said that he lacked “this”. He could not believe that since he complied all the requirements compared with his classmate who luckily got an item. From that time on, he couldn’t sleep well thinking of what happened. The result really excruciated him. If only he had a backer, he could have been included in the list.

However, he planned to visit the office to see and clarify the result. He wanted to meet up with the schools superintendent. He knew that it’s too bold to do it but he really had to. He wanted to seek justice.

Truly, he is so determined to push his target. He wanted to fight for his right as he underwent a clean and impartial process of application. Though many people said that he had to accept that because according to them, not all efforts and sacrifices will be paid off and that everything happens for a reason but still one thought kept on reminding him that there’s no wrong in trying. So, he really had to take the risk or else, he would lose and regret.