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Has anyone ever told you about the two most important decisions you’ll have to make in your life? Some may not agree with this, but I was told that those two are the following: what you’ll do for the rest of your life and who you’ll spend it with.

Every day since I-don’t-know-when, I have been faced with that question. Okay, I know that sounds pretty ambiguous, but I obviously have no plans of getting married anytime soon. So I am talking about the first question. What will I do for the rest of my life?

That seems too vague, I know. But I am now in the moment where I have to take the first step in the path I will create for myself. I am a high school senior who just had her last regular day in school, and now has to really decide where to go next - which school to go to and which course to take. Yes, I am deciding for college. Therefore, I am deciding for the rest of my life. Sorry if it sounds a little exaggerated. And since we’re on the topic of exaggeration already, can I just share… I AM DYING!

Like what I said in my yearbook write-up, I was never really a goal-setter. That doesn’t sound so positive, but it seems like I always just took life one day at a time, not thinking about the future that much. I guess my ultimate game plan has always been this: work hard now, reap rewards later. All my life, I just thought that if I kept my grades up, records clean and involvements plenty, I will have many opportunities later on. And fortunately, that proved to be an effective game plan for me. I am lucky enough to have the potential for the career I want and to be qualified to enter the top schools of my choice.

If you know me, you can expect me to take a career in the field of media and liberal arts. That’s probably because I always loved creating things, performing, talking, being with people and having my own star moments. My best subjects have always been English and Filipino. Until now actually, people think that I need to be in a career that calls for my creativity and charm. (Haha, charm.)

So I guess I surprised everyone when I said I wanted to be a doctor. I can’t honestly say that I’ve always dreamed of becoming one, because like what I said, I never really thought of the future before. It’s only been 8 months since I put those challenging science courses in my college application forms, and everyday since then, I’ve been inspired by my favorite medical-related shows and my frequent trips to my pedia and derma. I have also decided that this is certainly how I want to continue living a life of service. I know I can do something about the health problems here in the country. But before I am ready to give back to others, I have to be personally stable first. And I can best do that if I am my own boss. Besides, I can already picture myself wearing a pretty dress under my white doctor coat, carrying a big designer bag on one hand and answering a call from my assistant on the other. Kidding

So now comes the deciding between the three schools I (super-duper luckily) got accepted in. When discerning, I learned that the most effective way is making a pros and cons list, and doing the process of elimination after. So here’s the deal.

Ateneo - Health Sciences

PROS:

• Impressive curriculum: a mix of sciences, management, IT and social sciences. Looks like a dream course to me!
• Beautiful campus. The fresh air seems to be inducive for learning.
• Possibility of bumping against PBB’s Robi, who’s taking up the same course! HAHA

CONS:

• I didn’t qualify for a scholarship
• Is it true that this program hasn’t been accredited by CHED yet?
• My dad, a die-hard Lasallian, is quite negative about Ateneo. (I paid for my own application form.)
• Too far from my house!

DLSU Manila - Human Biology

PROS:

• I can finish my pre-med in 2 years, and med proper in 4 years. It’s an advanced program just like UP’s Intarmed.
• Active campus and rich college life.
• Bigger, more diverse, but still feels like home to me.
• I can continue my Lasallian education.
• Accessible from our condominium in Manila

CONS:

• The scholarship they’re offering me is not for Human Bio, but for the BioChemistry program.
• The Human Bio program is most probably too fast-paced and challenging for me.
• I’m not too keen on going to DLS-HSI for my med school.

UP Manila - Nursing

PROS:

• According to my pedia, the UP Nursing program is one of a kind. It must be a real privilege to have been admitted.
• Excellent pre-med choice because you’ll learn from hands-on experiences from your duties in the hospital
• My personality is suitable for this since I am a people-person.
• My sister, who is graduating Nursing student, can definitely help me.
• Affordable education
• Also accessible from our condominium in Manila
• Going here excites me the most.
• UP is UP.

CONS:

• Not the best campus in terms of facilities and surroundings.
• Culture shock. Will I be able to adapt to the diverse environment?
• I might get lazy to pursue med if I am already a nurse.
• But I don’t want to be a nurse.
• I’m thinking of choosing Public Health upon enrollment, but my parents want me to go for Nursing.

These are the factors I considered:

• Curriculum
• Credibility of school and course
• Accessibility
• Affordability
• Interest
• Chance of getting into a good med school after
• Opinions of others (parents, teachers, my pedia, my dad’s patients, my friends from those courses, internet research)
• Gut feeling

From reading that list, you can probably already infer where I am going. It’s an honor to have lots of choices at first and to be guided by the people who matter. This is definitely the longest entry that I have written, but it’s such a relief to be able to explain the long process of discerning and ending up with a decision I made from the heart.

I now know what I want to do for the rest of my life. And to start that, come June 2009, HELLO HELLO UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES!

Shall confirm her slot before March 16,
Aura

Last summer, my mother was in a bookstore buying some of her favorite puzzle books when suddenly, she heard a mother ask the sales attendant for any magazine that they recommend for her teenage daughter. The attendant handed over a Candy mag to her. But the mother rejected it saying, “I don’t want Candy because it’s all about boys.” My mother was struck by this conversation and she immediately shared what she overheard with us.

When I was chosen to be a part of the Candy Council of Cool, I remembered this story. Being a Candy reader even before I was chosen as a Council member, I begged to differ with this mother’s opinion.

Candy is a magazine for teens. And though teenagers now are becoming more socially conscious and aware, they are also focused on the problems of their everyday lives. As a teen, I know that there are a lot of issues that teenagers face—may they be perceived or real. Teenagers deal with more than what our parents sometimes understand for, let’s face it, they handled things differently in the past.

What happens when we become teenagers? We have to deal with raging hormones—sometimes we start feeling things that we can’t even begin to understand. We become confused with who we were and who we are becoming. We try to understand what makes us unique, but at the same time, what makes us part of the pack. We try to make sense of what we feel and why we feel them… This, in addition to learning about and how to tap our potentials only add to the myriad concerns we face, and in finding out how to balance being kids with the responsibilities of being adults. No wonder a lot of teens feel overwhelmed by the challenges and pressures we face.

Because of all these concerns, and questions, teens mostly focus on the things we CAN control—the events of the present. Because we are never sure of what will happen tomorrow, we take things one day at a time, making sure that the choices we do make will somehow count and add up to the choices we will have to make in the future.

I don’t think there is anything wrong with focusing on today. I don’t think there is anything wrong with trying to somehow escape reality sometimes… When events become too much and experiences get too overwhelming for us, we need a break too. Escapism is something everyone indulges in to a certain extent and there is nothing wrong with that.

For me, Candy just serves to address all the things that we teenagers face today. It answers some of the issues that we deal with on a day to day basis. it shows us that we are not alone. No matter how confusing things seem and how overwhelming everything seems to be at times, we can handle it because we see the examples that others have handled it as well. Boys, clothes, makeup and hairstyles may seem superficial to our parents but they are things that every teen wants to know about. It helps give us a channel for our relentless energy and gives us a boost of self-confidence. As an insecure teen, anything that helps us feel good about ourselves is not really superficial to me. It is only when we gain confidence in ourselves, that we can gain confidence in our decision-making and choices and then we can gain confidence in forming who we are and who we can be. Don’t you agree?

As a Consular and Diplomatic Affairs graduate in college, I’ve been privileged to learn a lot of information about international affairs. Aside from that, I was also able to learn a foreign language, which was Spanish. Honestly, learning Spanish was quite easy compared to learning Japanese and French (because those were the only offered language courses during my batch), but if you’re going to ask me which I would prefer among the three, I’d definitely say French. Yes, not only because it’s the so-called language of diplomats, but because I fell in love with the government of France while taking up one of my major subjects, Comparative Government (COMGOVT).

I’ve learned that France has a semi-presidential parliamentary form of government. The President acts as the head of state and he appoints the head of government, the Prime Minister. Aside from that, the Parliament of France is bicameral. It consists of the National Assembly (lower house) and the Senate (upper house). It has a multiparty system and the President has the power to dissolve the National Assembly through “dissolution”, while, the National Assembly has the power to revoke the Government by voting a motion of censure. However, the term “Government” only includes the Prime Minister and the Cabinet ministers, excluding the President. In a nut shell, the President and the Senate are inviolable, if I may say, for both cannot be interfered with by any branch. But, the President can still be impeached by the Parliament, but that’s another story.

The French Parliament

Anyways, I remember the time when I first received France as one of the countries for our group report (the other one was the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland). I was very hesitant since I know that it’s one of the favorite countries of my beloved professor. Luckily, while studying for our report, I enjoyed very much learning something about France. In fact, because of my new-found interest about the French government, I tried to pattern it to the Philippines, and eventually became the topic of my term paper for another major subject, Philippine Public Administration (PHIPUBA). My term paper was quite a cliché (talk about Cha-Cha! LOL.), entitled “The Feasibility of Having a Parliamentary Form of Government in the Philippine Setting”, but I still did it anyway (and I think I did good for I was able to receive a grade of 3.0—which was okay since in the La Salle system, 4.0 is the highest and 1.0 is the lowest!) Haha!

Of course France doesn’t only have a competent government, but endowed with lots of famous landmarks as well. One of my dream destinations is the Louvre, where the Mona Lisa is displayed. I’ve been wishing all my life to be able to see this famous painting of Leonardo Da Vinci because I’m intrigued about the story behind it and the fact that it has been painted back in the Renaissance period. Also, I’d very much love to have my picture taken in front of the ever famous Eiffel Tower and Arc d’ Triomphe. And wouldn’t it be sweet to just spend some time with my special someone in the most romantic city in the world? I’m talking about Paris, the capital of France. <3

Sigh. If only I were the daughter of the “Mega Star” and all of these would’ve been a reality for me in a blink of an eye! But as the saying goes, “Life’s like that!” and we just have to accept and be thankful for the blessings God gives us in our daily lives. Like me, I would really love to learn French but I’d put all my efforts to be fluent in Spanish first. Besides, everything should be done one step at a time and for me, one step at a time means mastering Spanish but also learning something about the beautiful country of France—though not its language yet…

Gracias and au revoir!

Mika

P.S: I want to give a shout-out to my sister, Malou, for it’s her birthday today!

...and as they say in Spanish, "¡FELIZ CUMPLEAÑOS!"; or in French, "JOYEUX ANNIVERSAIRE !" Mwah. :D

“Be careful what you wish for…” said the back of the book I bought last Saturday. It’s been a long time since I read for pleasure and not for academic purposes so, feeling the joy of the long weekend, I bought two books that would sure help me relax and de-stress.

The other book was kind of a workbook for fiction writers and the other one was a purple and pink paperback with a cute cover. Both books are written by one of my favorite authors in the whole wide world, Gail Carson Levine. I chose to read the latter first.

Before I go on discussing the book I read, I’d like to narrate how I’ve come to love Levine’s works.

One thing you have to know about her is that she’s a wonderfully gifted writer of magic literature. Her imagination is just incredible! I am always surprised at her characters and plot ideas that I actually tried brainstorming stories with rather silly settings and personas just to see if I can write stories like hers. Okay, so, she is one of my literary idols. Among her charmed works are Ella Enchanted, Fairest, and The Two Princesses of Bamarre.

As a kid living in a small city that lacked bookstores, I begged my Dad to buy me books whenever he’d come home from work at the big city. I was growing tired of reading the short stories from the old English and Filipino books of my cousins over and over again. I wanted to read new stuff. He’d buy me a lot and I’d love them all but like a normal kid, I’d have a favorite book.

My favorite was The Two Princesses of Bamarre which is, obviously, a story of two princesses from the kingdom called Bamarre. On the cover was a painted picture of the two sisters, a blonde and a brunette, both looking far away with a serene and lovely look on their faces. It was a book about a magical place where, yes, fairies, elves, and wizards lived together. My imagination was jumping like an ecstatic kangaroo because of the descriptions in the book. I was in the kingdom of Bamarre. The characters were not only gorgeous people from Bamarre, they were also my friends. You may think that I was a loner who didn’t have friends back then, but no, I wasn’t. I was just one of those kids who love, love, loved reading.

So anyway, I took note of the author, Levine, and told my Dad to buy me some more of her books. I have become a fan and collector of her work.

Going back to the book I mentioned earlier, The Wish is a contemporary tale of magic set in the Big Apple, New York. Unlike Levine’s other books, The Wish did not have magical creatures except for one wish-granting old lady.

Meet Wilma Stutrz. No, she’s not the magical creature. She’s an ordinary teenager living the unfortunate life as an invisible entity in her school, the heroine of the book. Wilma just couldn’t fit in. Even her name was uncool, since, according to her, the last girl named Wilma belonged to the Stone Age and was married to Fred Flintstone.

Wilma meets the wish-granting old lady. The old lady offers her a wish. And guess what Wilma asks for? (Take note, this is not a spoiler. It was even mentioned in the synopsis at the back of the book.) Although Wilma was hesitant and extremely dubious about the old lady, she, being all tired and fed up on being the invisible, uncool, loner, wishes anyway and asks to be the most popular girl in her school.

And she becomes the most popular, most liked, most admired girl in school until…

Until what?

“Now that’s a secret I’ll never tell…

…Gossip Girl.”

Okay, just kidding. The twist is funny. It’s easy to predict but it’s amusing nonetheless.

All the characters of the book were realistic. With the exception of the wish-granting lady, of course. The images were vivid thanks to Levine’s funny and unique way of describing.

I also loved the book because it taught a lot of life lessons. I learned a lot like, “Be careful what you wish for,” “Be kind to people,” “Be friendly not only to popular people but also to loners who eat their lunch in the toilet,” “Do not judge people,” “Love thyself,” “Do not be afraid of dogs,”  that I think will help every teenager go through awkward and difficult years.

The Wish is a book of friendship, love, laughter, tears, magic, awkward years, and wishes that could change lives forever. If you’re up for a relaxing afternoon, snuggled up in your favorite couch with your favorite chocolate drink, then you must read The Wish and Levine’s other books.

Hey everyone! How are you? (:

The past few days have been absolutely amazing for me. Usually I’m pessimistic - ask the people close to me - but when I started thinking positively, suddenly the world seemed to move into its rightful place. Today especially was as fabulous as I’d wished it would be, as described in the High School Musical song ‘Fabulous’ (’All things fabulous/Bigger and better and best’), but I’ll get to that in time!

1. February 20, Friday - My Birthday!
Around this time last year I turned sixteen. So what do you think happened this year? I turned seventeen! (: Though 2008 was a good year for me (since so many of my dreams came true), my sixteenth year started inauspiciously, with myself sick after arriving home from Japan and my prom dress not ready despite the month I’d spent away. ): This time.. it was great!

Last Friday I celebrated my birthday at school (it was the last day of our intramurals). Despite my sore throat (and constant headache because of the heat I’d endured the past few days), I was thrilled because, well, the day started with a song and tons of greetings from my classmates; rose to new levels of ecstasy upon the wins of my team, the Red Samurai, in softball and volleyball (becoming champions in both competitions); and ended with a fun night out with my family!

After eating at Bubba Gump, TriNoma with Dad, Mom, and my brother S, Mom & I watched ‘The Confessions of a Shopaholic’ (and laughed and cried in turns). I totally love Isla Fisher’s portrayal of the unlucky (but adorable and sweet) Rebecca Bloomwood, and Luke Brandon (played by Hugh Dancy) was, well, charming. (Hint, hint to my future boyfriend—you’ve got a lot to live up to!) (: We totally bonded over the hilarity that ensued.. I totally recommend the movie to anyone and everyone, especially closet shopaholics (you know who you are)!

2. February 21, Saturday - Family Day, My Great-Grandfather’s Ninetieth Birthday Celebration, & my friend Tin’s Partaaaaay >)
Though I had a pretty unlucky start to my Saturday—I woke up late and ended up heading to my school for Family Day—I made it to school right on time for the procession of colors and the field demonstration. I was a flag-bearer, which seems lame to those who weren’t there, but I was extremely important (or at least I like to think so, ssshhh); after all, I carried the flag with the word JUSTICE on it! (Our seven flags were inscribed with the Seven Virtues of Bushido, or the Way of the Samurai.)

After watching the other teams—Autoblue & the Green All-Stars—I headed off to my great-grandfather’s ninetieth birthday celebration. We stayed for a short time, before heading home to relax. At around six I headed off to my friend Tin’s birthday party; she turned seventeen two days before I did!

Making a candid shot of the dinner area candid no longer

I hung out with my YFU buddies (Tin, Mariel, Marc, & Vini) over dinner and on the dance floor (since our dear birthday celebrant had a DJ, strobe lights, & all those other funky things that they have in clubs, minus the drinks!). (: It was great to see them all again, since we bonded and tried to figure out what’s been going on in each other’s lives - really, you’d be surprised by the drama. I’m glad I have such amazing friends! x)

3. February 23, Monday - KARAOKE!
What should have been a boring day at home ended up as a day full of singing, laughter, and ‘Disturbia’. My friends May, Pat, Ingrid, Reanna, and Venus joined me in TriNoma for the closest thing I’ll ever have to my very own concert—a karaoke party at Red Box, TriNoma! ;D

We rocked the room with our versions of various HSM songs like “Gotta Go My Own Way” (during which I hogged the microphone, because I felt emo), “Fabulous,” and “Start of Something New,” funky Disney songs like “A Whole New World” and “Reflection,” and pop music like Leona Lewis’s “Bleeding Love,” Rihanna’s “Disturbia,” and Katy Perry’s “Hot N Cold.”

And you know what the best part was? One of my friends ‘had diarrhea’ and had to leave the room during our first half-hour. Eventually another friend and I decided to look for her (and use the bathroom), and when we got back…

THEY THREW BALLOONS AT ME!

Suddenly everyone was singing, ‘Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you~’ while I stood at the door in shock. Pat held out a cake with a lit candle (and a kitty decoration on it), and I made a wish and blew the candle. Immediately another classmate put the cake down and sliced into it.. and after lots of hugging and squealing, I went right back to the microphone to sing again. (:

After two hours of frenzied singing (:

(Thanks to Pat for the photo! 8D)

Not many people get to spend their birthdays so happily, and I’m so glad that I had fantastic friends who were with me the entire time. (: They made me seventeenth birthday the best I’ve ever had, and I totally love them for it AND everything else they’ve ever done for me!

Thanks so much, you guys! If you see this, I HEART YOU THIIIIIS MUCH and I’ll never forget how you made my days special! Talk to you tomorrow at school (and I’ll give you some chocolate truffles to thank you, you betcha!)

Much love,

Katya <333