Fidelity over Will: An enormous distinction

                      (photo from: Google images--http://www.google.com.ph)
     The face that launched a thousand ships, the beauty that killed untold thousand of souls, the charm hailed as the center piece of Greek myths, the woman reputed as the most beautiful in the ancient world--Helen, the queen of Sparta (http://fjkluth.com/helen.html).
     Helen is a daughter to Leda and a sibling to Clytemnestra and Pollux. She was married to Menelaus before she met Paris, the prince of Troy. This prince, however, detested the unscrupulous treatment of the Spartans to women. And for this reason, he eloped with Helen and brought her to their kingdom, Troy. This elopement brought about the Trojan War, killing thousands of people and bringing Troy's entirety into fire.
     Aside from Helen, another woman made a remarkable significance in Greek literature--Penelope, the wife of Odysseus, King of Ithaca. Penelope has been a faithful wife to Odysseus, she kept her suitors at bay in the long absence of her husband (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penelope). Though she has not seen Odysseus in twenty years, and despite the pressure the suitors placed on her to remarry, Penelope never lose faith in her husband. Although her love for Odysseus was unyielding, she responds to her suitors with some decisions. Her astute delaying tactics revealed her sly and artful side. This notion have cleverly bought her time and thus, brought both of them in unity (http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/odyssey/canalysis.html).
     If you were to analyze both characters, two women with great differences, two lives with different convictions, you may have thought of emulating one and letting the other serve as a lesson. Looking into Helen's perspective, you may have pondered over the sense of Helen being an antagonist in the story. This is due to her defiance to faithfulness for she chose to run away with Paris even if it may harm thousands of lives. On the other hand, if you would look into Penelope's perspective, you may have pondered over her marital faithfulness, patience and unyielding love for her husband. In this unfathomable understanding, you may have seen two phases of a woman: a woman of fidelity and a woman of will and conviction.
     In comparison, you might enter into a deep conception that, being faithful is better than seeking freedom and fighting for happiness. For in the face of life, unending love and faithfulness have been associated with happiness and sound togetherness. On its other side,it has been a dark reality that we face, that some humans choose to pursue freedom and seek their own happiness not knowing that it would cause anxiety to may.
     Hard to admit, however it is true, that between fidelity and will, there is a great DIFFERENCE.

Unfolding a New Chapter

As we go on
We remember
All the times we
Had together
And as our lives change
From whatever
We will still be
Friends Forever

                                        (photo courtesy of: Ms. Noveras and Avie Concepcion)
    God has been so wonderful to everyone of us. He made 73 lives meet in one spectacular school, our Alma Mater, Taytay United Methodist Christian School. What a long road we have all travelled, and I cannot even imagine that in a span of one month we would be leaving the school and would be entering a new chapter of our lives.
   4 years ago, we entered the school, clueless, of what High School life would offer all of us. We were all behave then, we don't usually win competitions. For as they say, we are still beginners and there are many things yet to discover about High School.
    Time passed, and so, we became competitive, we started winning, started the race to win the prize. We have shown everyone that we can and we will, if we try. However, we weren't united. We act as if we don't know each other and we live as if we have different worlds.
   Until the time came when the school decided to unite everyone of us. Shocked and displeased, we weren't excited of what our Senior life would offer. We made things complicated with ourselves and honestly, we started a tough race.

                                                             (photo from: Ms. Noveras)
    IV-Solomon, the ever-quiet and loved section. Some teachers describe this section as the one where the intelligent and excellent students come from. Most teachers would choose staying in this section, for with them, you would find peace and tranquility.

                                                  (photo from: Bernadette Buenaflor)        IV-David, the mean ones, the naughty students. Some teachers love the way they participate in class activities. Always attentive, however, they sometimes fail to give respect to others. Always noisy, but can manage to maintain silence if there is a need to.

    Combine these two and you would come up with IV-SOLID. The batch that mattered. May not be the best but would not fail you with what you expect them to give. They would give all their best to give glory to the school and most of all with God.

   Four years we have been nurtured and molded, we thank our teachers for what we have become. And now that we are about to say goodbye. Let the memories that we have given and the words we have delivered be a source of inspiration to everyone-- teachers, graduates and schoolmates.

           WE WILL MISS TAYTAY UNITED METHODIST CHRISTIAN SCHOOL! :'(

May tomorrow,

be a perfect day,

may you find love and laughter

along life's way

may God keep you,

in His loving care

'til he brings us together again...

In Pursuit of Happiness

                                                         ( photo from:Google images)
     In this beautiful world, people always find a way to be happy. Some say gaining the wealth that you have been dreaming of is the gateway to happiness. Some say getting all the luxuries in life is the only way to experience contentment. But I say, it is the love in our hearts that we experience true joy. The love of God, the love of oneself and the love that we constantly give to others, these makes a man happy.

     But if barriers come on your way and problems arise, should a man give his love up or should he pursue what has been 'his' in the first place?

                                                           (photo from: Google images)
     This question is depicted in the series, "Helen of Troy". Helen, daughter of Tyndareus, is paradigm of a woman's beauty. One day, the gods gave Helen a birds eye view of her future husband, and when she saw it, with all her heart she had a belief that one day the two of them would meet and would someday write a beautiful love story.
    Helen was right, Paris, Prince of Troy, came into their kingdom to speak to King Menelaus, who was then Helen's husband. It was too late, however, time made these two hearts meet. Paris saw the inhumane treatment of the Spartans to women and thus, this made him take Helen into their kingdom. This "abduction" of Helen became the root of the Trojan War and was referred to in history as the "beauty that launched a thousand ships".

     The question is, if you were Paris, would you bring Helen to Troy even if it may cause so much distress in your land? Would you pursue loving Helen?


    Love has always been the source of hope and peace unto man's heart. Love has been the reason why we live and stand firm here on Earth. If I were Paris, I would still bring Helen to Troy and pursue loving her until the day I'd die. It is for the reason that, I would not let anyone treat the one I love with so much disrespect and cruelty. I would not let someone ruin such beauty given by the gods, for I have always believed that such beauty should be given much importance and love; and it is with me, that she will find comfort and get all the appreciation that she wants. For with her, I will continue to breathe, live, love and laugh.

    

On Fairness and Camaraderie

"Fairness is not an attitude. It's a professional skill that must be developed and exercised. "
Brit Hume

     It has been 26 years of unending grace, passion and ministry for the Taytay United Methodist Christian School. Its foundation has always been one of the greatest thing that happened into the lives of many students. The school never failed to meet the expectations of the church, the parents and of course, God.
     Just two weeks ago, the school celebrated its 26th Founding Anniversary. Students then, were so excited about the things that the school, in partnership with the a High School Student Council would offer them. Everything started out with a prayer for safety, divine guidance and the evidence of FAIRNESS and CAMARADERIE. Then, it was followed by the Oath of Sportsmanship and Parade. The school has also prepared a pageant for this year's Mr. and Ms. Intrams where the funny and confident girl, Carissa Jasmin Delgado and the mysterious orator Jeff Francisco were hailed as the winners.

                                                          (photo courtesy of Ej Figueroa)
     A few moments later, the field demonstration of all the year levels started. Everyone was so excited about the performances of each group and how each routine would be executed.

                                             
                                                  (photos courtesy of Mary Kate Marcelo)
     The Cheer dance Competition was dominated by the Juniors, the defending Champions. They were able to leave a remarkable performance into the eyes of the audience and to the judges.

                                               (photos courtesy of Mary Kate Marcelo)
      The Seniors never failed to meet the expectations of their CAT Commandant, officers and batch mates as they danced their hearts out and dominated the Modern Dance Competition. The Seniors had been constantly winning several Modern Dance Competitions and was even invited by AMA in their Streetdance Competition during the Foundation week.

                                              (photo courtesy of Mary Kate Marcelo)

     The prowess of the Juniors in executing their fierce and powerful routines made them dominate the Ballroom Dance Competition. They were able to execute the routines perfectly and with poise.

     The following days were used for the ball games wherein the students were able to show their physical prowess. The sun's hotness did not stop the students from fighting for their section's name and their team.
     The Juniors dominated the Volleyball and Basketball game while the Badminton games were somehow dominated by the Seniors.
     As the ball games continue, there were issues raised on scoring, illegal hitting, dirty playing and many others leaving many Senior students with eye injuries, sprain and deep wounds. What was alarming then, was the issue thrown against the Seniors on unfair scoring and cheating. They say that the Senior scorers were not honest enough in giving the opponent a score and that the Senior players were one of the contributing factors why the championship with the Juniors suddenly became a 5-set match. Imagine and analyze, why do we need to place a referee in the game and let him decide on certain things, to make fairness evident right? Why do we place a committee, to officiate on the official scores and not on the scores listed down by the Seniors right? So, any discrepancy in the scores, the Seniors should not be blamed.

     Above all, let us all acknowledge the spirit of fairness and honesty evident into our being. As stated in the latter part of my post, fairness is a professional skill, once you develop such, anyone could not steal it from you. Let this attitude be developed into the hearts of young men, so that, when you are to face the real world, the lesson imparted by the institution would be seen into your being.