9 - Anti-Smoking Campaign

Smoking: A Slow Suicide

       Good day readers, today I would like to give a piece of my mind on the topic of smoking. First off, I would like to start by saying that I don't and had never smoked a cigarette first hand, and I have no plans of ever trying it whatsoever. But even though I said that, I can not deny the fact that I have indeed inhaled quite a bit of secondary cigarette smoke. As much as I try to avoid people who are smoking, those people never really run out and there are times when I just have to hold my breathe until they pass by or the smoke ascends. I truly dislike its smell. Because of that, I write this post to DISCOURAGE people from killing themselves slowly by way of cigarette.

       The reason why people smoke is mainly because of the addictive substance present in tobacco, which is nicotine. When a person inhales smoke from a cigarette, pipe or cigar, the nicotine present in it is quickly absorbed by the body through the blood and only after a few seconds, affects the brain. Nicotine acts as both a stimulant and a depressant to the central nervous system.

       Nicotine in itself is not entirely a bad thing. What makes the tobacco truly dangerous is that its smoke is made up of more than 7,000 chemicals, including over 70 known to cause CANCER. Some of these substances cause heart and lung diseases, too, and all of them can be deadly. You might be surprised to know that one of the chemicals found in tobacco smoke include: Cyanide.

(Source: http://www.cancer.org)

       Now let me give you a bit of statistics. Cigarette smoking is responsible for more than 480,000 deaths per year in the United States, including nearly 42,000 deaths resulting from secondhand smoke exposure. This is about one in five deaths annually, or 1,300 deaths every day. On average, smokers die 10 years earlier than nonsmokers. 

(Source: http://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/data_statistics/fact_sheets/health_effects/tobacco_related_mortality/)

       Personally, I HATE PEOPLE WHO SMOKE IN MY FACE. Seriously, who could be more rude than people who still continue to smoke when people around them are obviously uncomfortable with it? I have, on several occasions, encountered these type of people. I even sometimes voice out that I HATE THE SMELL OF SMOKE. Don't even give me the reason that you can't help it and you just can't stop. Honestly speaking, there are already alternatives by intaking nicotine without actually smoking through the use of nicotine patches and other such methods. In my own opinion, those who continue to smoke deliberately while knowing that it is bad for the body are people who neither cares about themselves nor the people around them. They lack the responsibility of taking care of themselves. They're basically murdering themselves and those in their vicinity. 

       SO PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE!!! FOR THE LIFE OF ME AND THE ENTIRE HUMAN RACE!!! STOP SMOKING!!!

THANK YOU!!!

8 - Hero

What Makes Someone a Hero?

                     So I asked google what hero meant and this is what it he showed me.

            It is said that heroes only appear in times of peril, when all hope is lost, a single person would be able to overturn everything and save the day. A hero is a person who is admired and idealized because of courage, outstanding achievements, or noble qualities. Not many throughout history are able to actually qualify as heroes, especially today, on our current era where “peace” mostly prevails.           

            Figures such as Andres Bonifacio and Gregorio Del Pilar are considered as heroes because they died for the purpose of attaining freedom. They had shown unwavering courage in the face of the terror of the oppressors.

            Emilio Aguinaldo, lead the Filipino citizens to the path of independence. Under his rule, he established the First Philippine Republic. He truly deserves to be called a hero for he had the noble qualities and outstanding achievements that a hero should have.

            Those were the heroes of antiquity who risked their lives for the great many. In contrast, the people today who are considered modern heroes are those who work for their families abroad, or a person who was able to save a single person. They say that it must have taken quite a lot of sacrifice to be able to do such things. But in my own humble opinion, what they did should only be natural and are not exactly outstanding achievements. The standards for heroes have lowered because nowadays, people only mostly think about themselves.

            Heroes! They are those who are selfless and thinks for the sake of the people instead of only themselves. They are those who prevent disaster from befalling the population. They are charismatic people, able to lead people to prosperity and happiness. It is sad to think that the spirit of true heroes may be dead now, and I am fully aware that I am not capable of becoming a hero even if I want to, but one day, I believe that a hero will emerge and smash the surreal peace we now experience to bring forth the true peace that the world deserve. Ask yourself. Could it be you?

                                    

7. SoCSIT Week

A Week of Excitement

       Tuesday of the 28th day of the month July, on the year 2015. A celebration like no other started on the spacious parking lot of Asia Pacific College. It was a hot afternoon, but the students were protected by the shade of tall and sturdy trees. It gave off an air of celebration and merriment as we donned our 90's attire, standing tall and proudly. My classmates and I exuded confidence as we held up the large banner designed by Mr. Dartegnian Velarde, walked with dignity around the venue. We also took our time to enjoy the atmosphere and satisfied our eyes with the overwhelming performance of the APC Dance Company, and of course, the dazzling beauty of the candidates for Ms. SoCSIT.

     The next day, we attended the, perhaps, the most anticipated event of the week, which is the Fame of Shame. Not only did we attend, we also performed in front of the watchful eyes of the audience. In fact, my group and I were the first to perform. It was nerve-wracking and I can feel the nervousness of my team mates. With incredible effort, we performed our practiced act. Yet after all that, we were SHAMED!!! ugh. It instantly became a terrible day for me and my team mates. But as they say, there is always a silver lining on every cloud. The so called "punishment", could not exactly be called a punishment. We were forced to drink a beverage of unknown origin and I couldn't dare to imagine the smell of such drink, much less actually do it. So I held my breath and drank the cup of its content in one go. Contrary to my expectation of a sour and bitter drink, it was actually quite sweet. In fact, it tasted like OREO! I almost spit it out because of the incoherence from my expectations, but fortunately, I was able to hold it in and actually savor the taste. Afterwards, I looked forward to the rest of the performances with a slight disappointment in my heart, but nevertheless, I enjoyed it. So no harm done. :)

       Thursday wasn't as productive as the first two days. I was actually expecting the Sushi Eating Contest that was written on the schedule, hoping to participate in it, and at the same time, satisfying my hunger. But sadly, no such event took place. My meager allowance was reduced further and ate lunch with a slightly grumbling mood. Although there weren't much event in the day, upon nightfall was a big event. A sought after competition between the greatest beauties of the SoCSIT Department. But sadly yet again, I was too tired to attend it, in addition to the dangers present when going home at night. But of course, I didn't just let the beauties be left unseen so I went to facebook the next day and saw their graceful appearances. It made me, and also my classmates, incomparably proud that our SS151 took home the bacon for Ms. SoCSIT that night, and I didn't fail to congratulate her the next instant that I saw Ms. Kayla Julian.

      But as they always say, every good thing has an end, so I will just say the Thursday was the end of the SoCSIT week for me. Although I wasn't able to participate in every event, in the very least, I was able to enjoy the week. Some days may have been quite disappointing but that just spices up my journey on my New Life. 

      Right now, as I reminisce on the events that took place last week, I can certainly say that it was a truly a merry and exciting week.

6 - Bad Habits

Procrastination

                One of the greatest enemies of all students in the world, defined as the act of postponing something to be done for a later time, is known as procrastination. A procrastinator on the other hand… is obviously a person who delays important activities to be done at a later time. One example of such a person…. Would be me. If you have observed, this is actually my fourth post for the day. Although I originally created my other posts beforehand… I procrastinated on actually publishing it… (My bad).

But my point on writing this post is to get rid of exactly that sort of bad habit. I say to you that countless of times already, procrastination has put me on dire straits. This time is one of those times. But upon sharing my thoughts on this, I hope some change will occur to me… yeah I know, wishful thinking. T-T

The following are some of the reasons, according to my own observations, why people procrastinate:

1.       You see, the problem with most people is that they trust too much on their abilities to finish things under pressure. This might even be viewed as a form of arrogance. Some people think that they could squeeze out more of their potential under time pressure. But hey! Even though I went through countless dire straits because of procrastination, I still manage to pull through somehow. Maybe that’s why I am like this in the first place.  L

2.       People get distracted easily. Whenever a person has something important to do, they would start getting curious about a bunch of useless irrelevant things. For example, you have an English exam tomorrow, but suddenly with a flash of curiosity, you started reading scientific articles! There are so much more examples of this and you don’t know how many times this has happened to already. (You also don’t want to know.)

3.       The most common, most obvious reason of them all… people are lazy. Don’t you just want to sit on your sofa the whole day, watching movies while eating chips? Some people even consider this the ideal life. One of my close friends actually said that his motto is, “If I can do it tomorrow, why do it today?” and I couldn’t stop laughing about the way he said it. XD

If you want to get rid of procrastination, the easiest way to do it is to find inspiration. Whether it is your family or your crush, your choice. As long as that person or even a thing, is something you hold important. Because for their sake, you are willing to push through the temptation of sloth. That because you can’t bear seeing them worry about you that you would work hard. So that when the time comes, on the moment that death comes knocking at your door, you would regret nothing.

5 - Passion

My Search for Passion

               Hello again everyone!!! This time, let's talk about passion.  

               What is passion? A dictionary would say that it is the object of one’s interest or enthusiasm. It is an intense and overpowering emotion that drives people to do great things. The interests of human beings are mostly cultivated during the pre-adolescent stage. It is the period of time where we can find our strengths and weaknesses, what we do best and what we do worst. That is where things get different for me.

                Ever since I was young, I was a happy go lucky type of person. I was carefree and thought only of the present and the immediate future. I thought very little of the consequences of my action and because of that, I developed a shallow way of thinking. In terms of ability, I could say I’m very blessed. Even though I look like this, you shouldn’t underestimate my memory. I could understand faster than my peers and I was one of the smartest in class. But because of my way of thinking, I never tried my hardest to be on top. I played around all throughout elementary and high school. I depended too much on the thought that with my abilities, I could do anything. I know now that I was wrong, and because of that, I never got to focus on one thing. When others started to develop their talents and skills in a single area, I was switching through many activities that I only found entertaining. But none of them made my heart stay. In that way, I never found my passion in high school. Time continued to flow and I was running out of time. Without a certain passion, It would be hard to choose a course for college.

Graduation came and everything passed by in a flash. In some way or another, I ended up in a maritime school and studied to become a seaman. At first, it was sort of interesting because I’ve never done the activities there before. We manually cut bars of metal with a hack saw. But, just like everything else, it failed to hold my interest for long and soon, it got boring. It was no longer interesting or challenging. It was only tiring. My boredom, coupled with my loneliness away from family and a series of terrible events happening, one of which is the mega storm Hayan, I started to think deeply. What have I been doing all these years? I was regretting my foolish actions. I mourned for the lost time that was gone forever. I dived deep into my consciousness thinking what I should have done and what I should be doing. After a great deal of head pain, I’ve finally decided. I realized that the computer has held my interest the longest. I was good in manipulating information and socializing. It also hit me that with technology and its evolution, I would never get bored! The best place that I could find to cultivate my talents is obviously here in APC where I am provided a lot of opportunities for development and growth.

Currently, I am trying to turn into a new leaf. I vowed to myself that I will do everything in my power to finish what I started. This is my final chance and I am not willing in the slightest to waste it. With this determination, I will succeed in life. I will never make the same big mistakes again. Because this time, I’ve found my passion, which is technology. My name is Jade Ericson Adriano, thank you for listening to my humble speech.

4 - Insights on the World

Inequality

            Hello Everybody! It's me again. This time, I want to share to you my insights about the world. do you think the world is fair? Has the world treated you good? Or at the very least treated you better than most? Each person has their own views about how this huge world of ours run. But nonetheless, there is always some truth in every perception. This time, I'd like you to listen to my own perception of the world (read rather...). No matter what, I hope you would be able to gain a little more insight after reading this... So here it goes.

            Equality! I bet none of you haven’t heard this word already. But have you ever pondered upon the deeper meaning of this word? Equality is the state of being of the same standing, especially in status, rights and opportunities. So have you ever thought of someone as your equal? Look at the person beside you. Do you consider him as your equal? On the surface, of course you will say he or she is. It would be extremely rude to say otherwise. But deep down, at the very core of your human nature, you regard that person as someone below you at some circumstances. And you, ladies and gentlemen, are most likely correct.

            All humans are born equally! Do you believe this saying? All throughout childhood we have been taught as such. But growing up offers us a lot of opportunities to learn from the world. And I tell you this: The world is the most unfair thing in existence. Or more precisely, the society that we, humans, created. Why do you think ideas such as racism and feminism came into existence? Isn’t it because some humans look down upon each other? This is enough solid proof to convince us that people are truly unequal. When you walk down the street and encounter beggars, oftenzztimes you would ignore them. Why? Because subconsciously, you don’t regard them as equals. Even the act of giving them spare change is a proof of inequality, and in fact, both of you acknowledge this.

            But having said all that, social standing is only a supporting element in life. What really matters is your natural talent and abilities! Are you smarter than your classmates? Are you physically stronger than the person next to you? Are you more cunning than the person attempting to trick you? My fellow classmates, the world does not bless everyone with exceptional talent and abilities. Be thankful that you know you have more talent in a certain area than most people. But don’t get carried away either. Talent is only useful when cultivated properly.

           I am not saying that being above another is a bad thing. What I am trying to stress out is that you should accept it. You’re birth origin is only the starting line in the race called life. Whether you choose to ride a taxi or to jog to the finish line is completely up to you. Use your talents and abilities to your full advantage. Don’t be ashamed that you stand taller than other people. Be proud! But don't be arrogant either. Cultivate your potential and know your your limits. It should be known as a fact that not everyone are equals. There is no such thing as a society of equals. There is only the oppressor and the oppressed. There is only the rich and the poor. There is only the weak and the strong. Let me end my speech with this question: “Would you rather be weak? Or strong?”

3 - Gaming Benefits

                                                              Gaming Benefits



       Hello everybody! Miss me? Ok... I guess not. But anyway, I've been away for a long time now.
Has it almost been a month already? Time sure passes by when you don't pay attention to it. And your readers also pass you by when you don't pay attention to your blogs. haha. Not that I have many readers anyway. T_T



       So my chosen topic this time is the benefits of gaming. Just to let you know, I've been into gaming since the first memory I could remember. Because of that, I've reaped much of the benefits of gaming since I was but a wee child. Don't even dare to underestimate it.

       First of all, I would like to share how I got into gaming. When I was only in kindergarten, My older brother is already in grade six. Whenever my father would come home from his seaman work, he would buy for us, toys and stuff for kids. Although, because I was the youngest, I get all the leftover stuff from my brother. Nevertheless, my brother is not the worst brother in the world, so he would occasionally let me play with his video games (poor me...). At that time, my brother owned a Gameboy Advance. Ah... the memories. I remember the games I played before: Super Mario Bros., Legend of Zelda and Pokemon. They were the golden games of the 90's.



       So ever since then, I've been interested in reading the stories of the characters in the games that I play. Aside from beating the final boss, I take pleasure in unfolding the various mysteries that covers the game. That's why I finish games a little slower than others. But I don't mind it that much. It only shows that I get to know more about a game than others.



       Anyway, I digress. So let me state some of the benefits I gained from my countless hours of gaming. One, I have a vast arsenal of words. If you have noticed, I have taken a liking on using words that may not be commonly heard on the streets. Second, I have a stronger visualization ability than people who don't do gaming. I can imagine how people look just by description. Third, my reaction time has been greatly enhanced. The coordination of the mind and the body is trained and the peripheral vision is widened. Another one is the improvement of one's logical thinking skills. This is a great survival skill, inherent to hardcore gamers who spent countless hours training their minds. such as me. :)



       So that's about it! I hope you learned even a little bit while reading this post. And with that, I'm out.