MC’s Candy Corner

On the month of July year 2009, there was a small change in the MC cafeteria. One day, when my friends and I were about to enter the cafeteria, there was a loud noise coming from the right side of the door. Oops, of course, that’s not something new in the cafeteria but when I followed the loud noise, I saw these bunch of people crowded on one side of the cafeteria and the only thing I remembered with that side of the cafeteria was that, that’s the place where the garbage is placed. And oh, that’s something new in the cafeteria. I couldn’t imagine. Were those people crowded in that are just to throw their own trashes? Wow! That’s really something new. So my friend and I got curious and went near the corner, and do you know what we saw?




There were a lot of colorful candies and chocolates. People were buying here and there as if it’s the first and last day of that stall in our cafeteria, and there we are craving for the yummy sweets. So I’ve got the chance to talk with the owner of that new candy stall in our cafeteria. At first I was hesitant to approach her because a friend of mine told me that she had an experience with that same person that’s not so good. She said that the owner of the candy stall was snobbish and all. But then, that doesn’t stop me from approaching her, so I tried. When I went to the candy stall, the three vendors with a face mask were entertaining me. When I saw the owner sitting behind the stall, I called her. “Miss.. hi Miss, can I interview you for a while and ask some questions regarding your business?” And then she immediately said YES. We sat on the near table and so I started my interview.


Her name is Sarah Jane Atencio. She was only 25 years old. This candy stall, according to her was actually her first time to do a business and by her own. She finished her college degree in the states. She studied in British Columbia Institute of Technology in Vancouver, Canada wherein she took up Digital Animation. She said that she also took up Graphic Designs in Ateneo de Manila University. Maybe you’re wondering why her business was not related with the course that she took up. When I asked her, she said that it’s because she’s still applying for a job and while waiting for it, she established her own business first. When I asked her why did she choose that kind of business, the only explanation I got from her was that during her childhood years, she likes to eat candies just like any child. Her business started with only the candies and then later on added the different food like nuts, chocolates, pop corn and others. The candies that they’re selling were actually from Candy Corner but they’ve got a different name for her business. The name of her little store is “It’s a Kendi World” with the letter K written inversely. Since it’s her first time to do a business, I asked her why did she choose the Miriam College cafeteria for her business. She told me that it’s because she also studied gradeschool in Miriam and her friends were the officials of the school.

I find Ms. Sarah interesting that’s why she’s the one I interviewed because her stall was newest one inside the cafeteria and even if her stall is new, many people are patronizing her products. It was also the first time that a candy stall was built in the cafeteria. In my three years of stay in Miriam, I was able to observe the new stalls being built in the cafeteria and most of them didn’t sell. They weren’t able to compete with the old stalls already there and in a few months, they are already closing there stalls. But this candy stall of Ms. Sarah is different. Until now a lot of students are still buying in her stall. I must say that her business was a click. It was very successful. Though it was just her first time in doing a business and she doesn’t even have anyone helping her out in this business, she still made it.

Hope of the Filipinos

“The Filipino is worth dying for” – a famous line that would be remembered by Benigno Aquino.

Ninoy Aquino was one of the strongest influences who fought against the Marcos Administration during their time. He was such a brave man to expose all the graft and corruption that was happening behind the curtains of politics before. He was the key that opened the eyes and minds of the Filipinos and his death made a series of revolutions against the administration that led to the EDSA Revolution of 1986. Her wife, Cory Aquino, who was the first female president of the Philippines, was best remembered as the woman in yellow who led People Power revolution that toppled dictator Ferdinand Marcos. They both have this strong passion to love and serve our country.

It’s such a big loss for us Filipinos that we loss another person like Cory Aquino. Both of her and Ninoy’s death will be forever marked in our history.
When Ninoy was assassinated August 21, 1983, the Filipinos were awakened to fight for their freedom and her wife Cory continued his fight for the Filipinos. His funeral was said to be an incredible funeral because two million people lined the streets to witness and join the march. It was incredible to see such collective sorrow drawn out to have 12 hours of mournful marching under the sun and rain from Sto. Domingo church up to the Manila Memorial Park. Now that Cory Aquino was dead, it was like the history repeated itself. Though the people were not as many as Ninoy’s, still there were 300,000 numbers of people who joined the mournful march for Cory’s death from Manila Cathedral up to the Manila Memorial Park. During the death of Ninoy, there was only one station that dared to report it from beginning to end and that was the Catholic Radio Veritas because during that time, the media are banned from covering news. The government was very strict and that only one or two were allowed to cover the news. That was the big difference in Ninoy’s death and Cory. In Cory’s death, the media have the freedom to cover the whole burial. They have the freedom to do the whole coverage of the news. When Cory died, you can see and hear news everywhere. Even the top 2 networks ABS-CBN Ch.2 and GMA 7 were able to cover the whole event.

The exclusive interview of Boy Abunda with Kris Aquino in ABS-CBN was very touching. Kris was very sincere in every word she’d say. I admire her for being so strong for her family. I must say that before, I only think of Kris as a tactless person who says everything she wanted to say and is very insensitive. But when I heard her interview with Boy, my view about her changed. That’s the moment when I got to know the real Kris Aquino. I realized that she’s a very good daughter to her mom and that she’s such a loving and caring daughter and sibling to her family.

My Sister’s Keeper

The movie started with a narration of a girl telling stories of the past and on how babies were being made accidentally or coincidentally. Then she related it on her own experience telling that she’s not just a coincidence unlike most babies do. She was born for a particular reason… and that girl was Anna Fitzgerald, the youngest daughter of Brian and Sara Fitzgerald. Way back before, Sara and Brian have already had a happy family with only two kids who were Jesse and Kate. But then later on they find out that their daughter Kate has leukemia and will no longer stay alive for long. The only way to save her life is for Brian and Sara to make a new baby again that is compatible with Kate’s blood, kidney and other organs. And so Anna was made. She was born for a particular reason…and that is to save her sister’s life. The Fitzgerald family has a very close-bonded relationship who loves each other so much. They make each and every day for Kate as light as possible to make things easy for her. When the time comes that Anna needs to donate her kidney to her sister, she talked to a lawyer to sue her parents for emancipation. She’s fighting for the reason that she has her own rights and decisions and that she doesn’t want to donate her kidney to her sister because when she donated it, she’ll suffer for the rest of her life. She will not be able to do what she wants to do. She will not be able to join the soccer team or the cheerleading. And that’s when the family started to broke the relationship because each of them takes their own side about Anna’s sudden decision. They didn’t understand why Anna did that knowing that she and her sister have a very close relationship and Anna knows that if she doesn’t give her kidney, her sister will die. Later on, they all find out that Anna’s sudden decision of not letting her parents donate her kidney was actually Kate’s decision because she doesn’t want her sister to be hurt anymore and suffer for the rest of her life just for her, same thing with the whole family. Kate had realized that her family had sacrificed so much just for her. Like for example her dad whom according to her, she took away his one and only love who is her mom because her mom’s attention is focused on taking care of her. Her mom sacrificed her marriage, her work as a lawyer and her life just for her. She also took the attention of her parents from Jesse, her brother, who needs more attention than she do and her little sister who has no choice but to give her organs to her just to save her life. Later on in the movie, Kate dies which was also her own wish because that’s what she wants thinking that she will not be able to survive anymore after the surgery if ever.
The movie was a very dramatic movie that will definitely wet your eyes. But then, just like any other movies that has the same case scenario of a person who has an illness, at the end they will die. I was a little disappointed because I was expecting another ending. What I was thinking while watching the movie was that when Anna finally decided to donate her kidney, she’s the one who’s going to die because of her operation and her sister will be saved. So that her family will realize how life was important in each and every one of them and that God can take their life away from them without knowing it. But then the good thing about the movie was that it showed how a family worked together as one even if there are so many problems coming to them. They stayed strong for each other and never gave up. It also showed the real meaning of love that was built within a family.

MC turns MC: Miriam College turns into a Mysterious College??

A third year student under the College of Arts and Sciences in Miriam College was hospitalized last Monday, July 06, 2009 after having a traumatic experience while she was inside the said school. It was said that the student went to school to have a research on their school library. The school has no classes during Mondays that's why only a few students who have something/ an activity to do/ attend went there. When we had an exclusive interview of the said student, she told us the story. "I was walking alone at the Caritas building to get something from the ADSA when I suddenly feel the need to pee. So I walk to the nearest comfort room at the Caritas." From the very beginning of her enter to that school, she said that she never uses that comfort room in that building because a lot of her friends from the higher batch were already telling scary stories and experiences about that comfort room. "That time, I have no choice since it's the nearest comfort room in that building and really feel the need to pee, so I went there alone while entertaining myself so that I won't remember anything scary about that room. When I suddenly heard something, I tried to calm myself. I convince myself that it's just my imagination. When I was finished, I went out of the cubicle. Then I saw a smoke-like something behind the shower curtain and heard a water splashing, I got curious, so I tried to pull the curtain and saw an old woman on the bathtub with blood all over her body. That's when i started to panic and went out of the comfort room." When we interviewed some of the students who were also there in school on the same day, they said that it's not the only case that happened to that school. There were also professors who experienced something mysterious. There's this one professor who shared her experiences to us. She's a Theology professor of Sophomore students. She said that during their time, her faculty room was located near the comfort room at the Caritas bldg. "Sometimes I can smell like someone is cooking or baking. And on the other room, it's like someone is taking a bath." The prof. said that before, that room beside her faculty room was the kitchen of the nuns who lived in the school and the comfort room was the same room as what the nuns used before. There was also a news before that a nun killed herself inside that comfort room which explains the traumatic experience the student had. So that makes the school a mysterious school because of it's history during the time of the nuns. As of now, the student is out of the hospital and having her regular visit at a psychologist.

NOTE: Some of the details are not true. This was just an activity we made for our Journalism class. Our professor told us to make a news about the school.:D

THE MISADVENTURES OF RIA AND KIKX

Last June 29 was the 18th birthday of one of our friend in the 6sational who is Kaiz. Since the celebration of her debut will be held in Quezon province on the 4th of July, all of the 6sational except me were not allowed by their parents to attend the party that’s why we thought of something special to do so that our friend won’t feel bad that we can’t come on her 18th party which is a very special occasion for her.
At first, we thought of making a simple surprise party for her. We decided to buy her a pizza instead of a cake because Kaiz likes pizza. Then we have a tarpaulin for her, courtesy of Ann, one of the 6sational who edit the tarp. Then we gave her a little scrapbook containing stuffs about her. We had that small and simple surprise party after our class on the 30th of June. And we’re so happy that it came out to be a successful one even if it’s just simple because we made her happy and she appreciated our effort. :)
BUT our surprise isn’t yet over… since like what I’ve mentioned before, the 6sational won’t be able to come on her party, we think of a way to be a part of her debut even if we’re not physically present there so we think of making a video presentation for her that will be shown on her debut without her knowing it. And it’s not hard to hide a secret to our friend since she’s always with us that’s why we really have to invent stories just to make her not know anything about our surprise.haha! We became scriptwriters for some time!:)) Thank God we’re CA students. We didn’t have a hard time.haha!
So I wanted to share here the scenes behind our preparation for the video presentation.


June 29 - July 03

So let me start my story last June 29. After we had our shooting for the commercial ad that we revised for our Advertising class, Gelli, Ria, Phoebe, Ann and I went to UP to shoot a part of the video presentation. First, we took pictures of ourselves for the countdown part:




Then after it, Ria, Ann and I walk around the Sunken Garden to take a video of people we didn’t know to ask them to greet for Kaiz a happy birthday.

Wednesday, July 1, Ria and I went to school early in the morning to take again a video of people, but this time, with Kaiz' close friends.

Thursday, July 2, this is the start of the so-called "misadventures" of Ria and I.:))
Our original plan was to edit the video after class but since Kaiz is always with us, we think of a way so that she'll not come with us. The idea was to tell Kaiz that we're going to Phoebe's condo first before going home to get something and let Kaiz go home first BUT we failed to do that because Kaiz still come with and wait for us.:| For one reason, she's also going to to Mcdo that time and wanted to save money from the fare of the tricycle that's why she waited for us. Since Ria and I have no choice that time, and it's getting late, we pretended that we're also going home, so we rode the tricycle with Kaiz and said to manong driver our destination. After Kaiz got out of the tricycle and went to Mcdo, we whisper to manong driver that we're going back to Burgundy Place at Phoebe's condo.

Friday, July 3, Phoebe, Ria and I met up at Mcdo 7:00 in the morning to continue our editing because this is the day we're going to give the cd to Kaiz. Since the video was too long, we weren't able to finish it that morning and so we cut classes just to finish it. When we got back and attended our last class, we bluffed Kaiz and told her that we went to Trinoma that's why we cut our class.:))

--and now Kaiz had already watched the video that we made and she was so happy and surprised when she saw it.:D We're happy that it made her happy though we weren't able to attend her party.:)

Who am I?

“Who am I?” It’s just a simple question yet hard to answer sometimes. Yes of course literally, we can answer a LOT of things about ourselves like “I am a woman/man”, “I am 18 years old”, “I am the daughter/son of my parents”, “I am a Communication Arts student”, “I am happy”, “I am dejected” and the like but do you ever think who you really are? Before you became a woman/man, a daughter/son of your parents, a student, or became who you are right now, who are you? To whom did we owe our life? Who created us? Of course it’s God our Father. He created us to become human beings. For without Him, We are nothing.
Last time, we had our discussion in our Theology class about being who we are and it’s just nice to reflect and share those things that I’ve learned. Our professor said that, “We are created in the image and likeness of God”. He created us with embodied spirits. Unlike animals, we humans have spiritual soul. I just feel so blessed and special because we have the capacity to love. I am able to love my family, friends and most especially Him. I am able to love and care for other people even if they’re not my real families. One example of it is when I had a church work in Shrine of Mary, Queen of Peace or what is also known as Edsa Shrine. In their community, they have three clusters following the three-fold function of Jesus Christ. The functions of Christ and the respective community clusters are Priestly (Worship), Kingly (Service) and Prophetic (Teaching). I am proud to say that I once became a part of their community. One of their services is the Kid’s Inn on which provides free day care service to children seven years and below while their parents attend Sunday mass. Working there is like just playing around with the kids and having fun. It’s a very nice and unforgettable experience for me. I didn’t actually think of it as a work because every time I went there, I just enjoy every minute of my stay. I love the kids so much that I feel like they are my own little brothers and sisters. It’s also good to feel that the parents of the children give their full trust on us that we will take good care of their kids. This just proves that we have the power to be God’s co-creators and most especially caretakers of everything. We also have these spiritual powers to know, love and serve God. Just like in my organization Youth for Christ, the first step is knowing God, and when you were able to know Him, you will be able to love Him. And one way of showing your love for Him is by serving Him.
“We are redeemed by the blood of Christ”. When He answered God’s call to be human, he taught the people with His words. And it’s when people started to make Him suffer and sacrifice that He even gave His own life to save those who have sinned.
“We are sanctified by the indwelling Holy spirit”. I am able to love, be patient and forgive others who have hurt me. I have a friend before, a close friend I would say that turned out to be my mortal enemy. She blamed me on something without even letting me explain first what really happened. She easily believed what she had been told by someone without hearing my side, knowing that I am her friend. From then on, she started to do things behind my back. Worst case scenarios happened everyday. She even shouted at my face in front of many people. She always shamed me. But then, despite of all the things she’d done to me, I didn’t do anything against her. I was able to forgive and understand her wholeheartedly. The reason why is that I knew that god is always there for me and God knows everything so He knows the truth which is more important than anything else.
“We are called to be children of God”. We became children of God and we call Him our Father. In order to claim that God is our father is to do loving service which is what I am doing. I serve Him. I let Him make me an instrument for other people to know Him, to show His love and to spread His words. I always do/make things with His guidance because if I let Him, I know that everything will fall into place whether it’s good or bad. One thing I’ve learned in YFC is that everything happens for a reason. Never ask God why but what and where He wanted me to lead.
“We are destined for eternal life with the Father Son and Holy Spirit”. When we experience love, we therefore are experiencing the face of eternity.

Tell me...

Are they being fair?

Last Thursday, June 18 at 3:30(i think) in the afternoon, my friend Kaiz and I went to the Library to research something about our report in our Journalism class. Then suddenly, we saw ate E of the ADSA in front of us panting. I think it's because she ran from our class room which is located on the PA building going to the library just to find us. After seeing us, she checked the papers she's holding and confirmed if we are Ma. Vina Anne Ambrocio and Kristen Cabalda. When we asked her why, ate E, still catching her breath told us "halika kayo, labas kayo. Dali labas" and we're like "huh?" "bakit po?". Actually the first thing that came into our minds is, what have we done? do we have a violation? then ate E already told us that we have to go home and return on the 27th of June. Of course our reaction was like whaaaatttt??? 10days? why is that? Then ate E told us that we have to quarantine ourselves because we had a close contact to a person who turned positive in the A(H1n1) virus. And then Kaiz remembered one of our friends who was sick since Tuesday of that week. Kaiz imeediately asked ate E if that friend of ours was the one who is positive in A(H1n1)..

ate E: ano gagawin nyo pag sinabi kong positive?
Kaiz and I: ate E naman eh, ano nga po?
ate E: oo nagpositive siya.

Kaiz and I were speechless. Of course we're worried about our friend and at the same time we don't want to miss our classes. 10days is such a long time. :|

Then while ate E accompany us going out of the school, we asked her so many questions most especially me.

Kikx: Eh ate E, ok naman po kami eh. Ako wala ako kahit na anong symptoms.
Ate E: Hindi ka padin pwede pumasok.
Kikx: Eh what if magpacheck kami sa doctor then clear naman kami tapos may med. certificate, pwede naba pumasok kahit hindi pa po tapos yung 10days?
Ate E: Hindi, hanggang 27 ang quarantine nyo.
Kikx: ate e.......:|


And now... It's been a week but I am still under self-quarantine..haay. for sure i already missed so many lessons and still going to miss more.wah! I can't take this anymore. Why can't they just suspend the class for even just a day and try to disinfect the whole campus. It's so unfair for us who are under self-quarantined because while we're here in our houses, our fellow classmates are studying in school. We are so left behind with the lessons.:| It's really NOT FAIR!!! They are not the ones who are going to have a hard time following the lessons that we missed most especially in my case now that I am already a junior. Imagine 5 out of my 7 subjects are my majors. haay!:| Maybe this will not happen if they follow the CHED to suspend the class for one week. If they only follow that, they will have more time to clean the campus and prevent the spread of virus.

Now, tell me.. is it fair? Are they being fair???