IN DEPENDENCE

Independence is a big word, most especially from a former captive that has still a lot to deal with, internally—even after its sovereignty of more than a century. Happy Philippine Independence Day!

Inspiration, Testified!

The failure in education like teachers failing to educate is not on their end. The curriculum is good, the teacher also is, but the memory of a student can only contain particular space like one in a flash drive. The tendency, the knowledge stays deep in the recessive part of the student’s mind.

The point is that the best teachers are those who can’t only teach well, but are those who can hammer the lessons in their students’ minds and lives for possibly a lifetime.

Ms Virginia Bautista, or Ma’am Virgie as we call her, is one example of those teachers who really nailed most, if not all, lessons she taught. I remember reading in her blog that a good teacher need not to be a walking dictionary, but one who teaches the lesson the easiest way a student can get it, and that’s the way she teach.

In our Communication Theory class, every time she let us do advance reading of the theory to be discussed for the next meeting, I instantly refer to my online sources but I only end up being confused about the topic. But when she explains it in her “give example first, before explaining theory” strategy the complicated becomes simple, it makes me, together with my classmates, think at the end of the class “Ah, ganoon pala yun”.

For example, she talked to our classmates Kring ang Rj to sit beside those students whom they are not well-acquainted with before the class starts. The whole class wondered why Kring didn’t sit beside Pam (her best friend and usual seatmate in the class) and the same with Rj not sitting beside Handra. After that, she revealed the lesson for that day which was Expectancy Violation Theory that explains proxemics.

In that sense, up to now, I am still knowledgeable about every theory she taught us back then and the strategies she used for us to understand the lesson better. In fact, I’ve applied the same strategies when I’m still teaching General Sociology a year ago and it was also effective in my class back then.

Ma’am Virgie is also stimulating as a teacher, she presents innovative activities where we learn, and enjoy at the same time. Also, I read in her blog that learning will always be personal, the teacher’s task is to give the students a reason to learn, it’s called motivation.

She cultivated me to be a responsible student leader when I served as the secretary of our course organization. She bravely delegates tasks to me and my co-officers which gave us the opportunity to work as a team and deliver-out the tasks on our own.

My dreams and aspirations as of the moment, to become a teacher that hammers every lesson to my future students, my urge to change lives like what she did to mine—I owe most of it to her.

SO WHAT IT'S LIKE TO BE LIKE ME?

Last year, my previous supervisor gave us a link about a cognitive examination that examines my cognitive profile. I got 3 results but I agreed the most in this one:

INFJs -
From Conversations with Foreseer Developers

The quest for more knowledge, the meaning of life, the philosophical questions-my mind is always occupied, and what's exciting is when I get to follow through with an insight and do something. I am an abstract future thinker, looking at things from different perspectives. I'm about the relationships and possibilities and enjoy anything with deeper meaning that leaves me wondering, with more questions to ask and things to untangle. Connecting for me means being able to intuitively ask questions of people to get them to go deeper into the things they are talking about.

Inspiring others, helping them find their purpose or meaning, being a different kind of leader from what's traditional-that's really gratifying. I just do that naturally. The challenge is opening up people's minds to have their own original thoughts. I'm a listener and guide.
I think I am a mystery to people. They never really understand me and part of me enjoys that. More often though, I long to be understood.

I tend to approach my day with a structured way of getting things accomplished. People see me as organized, thorough, and easy to get along with, pulling my own weight and eager to help out when called upon. But I'm not as outgoing or as critical as I may sometimes appear. I need a balance between people contact and working on creative projects and will break away from interactions when I get tired out. If I don't have some long-term goals, then what's the point?

I tend to intuitively read people very quickly, but I have to be cautious not to make assumptions. I'm an observer. I get a feeling when people are interesting, and I watch from a distance, make some assessments about the situation, and then approach them and engage in conversation. I put a little bit out and a little more and see how that goes. Do I trust and like them, are they who they say? I have a few deep friendships. A friendship comes best when it is worked to develop that investment. I quickly pick up on sincerity and withdraw if the person is superficial or obviously doesn't care. When I see people who abuse their power or won't stand behind what they say, that ticks me off. It's about integrity. I feel other people's feelings, and taking on that burden can make me too intense and serious, where I can't be spontaneous and fun loving...

Everything revolves around growth. Caring is about the ability to help others grow. What I bring is caring about people, not things. If we spent more time trying to understand each other's point of view, to communicate more effectively, we would grow. In an honest, open, sincere relationship, I can accomplish anything. My challenge is to create those kinds of relationships. I respect most the person who is willing to come forth and be an individual-to make the world a better place, or make a difference in a person's life, where we reach each other's hearts.

(source: http://www.bestfittype.com)

Now I ask, is it so?

LEARNING FROM THE MEDIA INDUSTRY

In my short stay in the Media Industry, I've learned some of these media experiences:

1. DO IT YOURSELF. As a writer and a producer in the creative team, I am tasked to write and produce different kinds of plugs. In the production proper, where I'm supposed to gather the materials for my production, I sought help from staffs of other departments. Since the nature of the business is quite busy, the help that I've asked usually gets delayed that results to a delayed project. That's why on my recent projects, I only depended on one person alone: me. There was a time that I wrote, produced, and even starred on the same plug. It's was tiring, but at least, I got to beat my deadline.

2. ACCURACY, ACCURACY, AND ACCURACY. Some of the plugs I made entailed research work that needs verification and accurate analysis. Since my projects are aired for television, there must be no room for mistakes. My sources need to be updated so that it can be more significant to the viewers. It must also be consistent, wherein cross-referencing from other equally credible sources is needed. Lastly, it should be accurate. The facts presented must be precise and correct. Not only it would be beneficial to the viewers, accuracy can also help build a credible name for the station.

3. INNOVATION AND MIND IN MOTION. “You're only good as your last project”, this is what I always keep in mind after I finish a project. When a project is about to end, another one, or sometimes, even several are already on queue. It means that I must have a dynamic mind to finish my projects with originality and distinction from one another. I must be innovative and must be updated with the latest trends so that my projects keeps on improving and can suite what the viewers would probably like.

4. EAT DEADLINES FOR SNACK. When deadlines are being fed to you everyday, your time management skills must keep up with your daily tasks to produce quality projects. There are instances that the request for a plug is given in the morning and should be aired on the afternoon. In those cases, you must think very fast and still deliver a good output at the same time.

5. LEMONS, SALT, AND TEQUILA. Media is quite demanding. If they gave you lemons, it means that you have to produce tequila and salt. Since the company is just starting, it still lacks some equipment, man power, and budget for a certain production. As a producer, I need to outsource and make deals that are only limited to my budget. Instead of paying my talents or buying my materials, most of the time, I just set a deal where my talents or materials can be paid by the company's most abundant resource: air time.

MEDIA WORLD: A SHORT STORY

I in one of my info plug shooting

Does the length really matters for a story? Is a novel better than a short story because it is longer?

As I remember a year ago, I was still at the marketing field then, that when I get bored in my routinized marketing activities, I always think of venturing in my scholarly discipline, which is the Media world. When my students (I used to teach general education subjects too) ask me, if I was not hired by my previous company, where will I go? I immediately answer them, “Bisa kung mag media(I want to be a media practitioner)”.

Months passed and my previous company I am working for, closed. I and my previous workmates have to part ways. Then that familiar question rang again in my mind. “Where will I go now?”.

I always have this Manila dream. It is having a job in the country's capital and experiencing the lifestyle in the metro. That's why I decided on applying a job there. Unfortunately, I did not met the qualification in one of my applications.

One day I sent a message over the internet to one of my friends working in a regional TV station, luckily, the station is in need of a creative writer. I applied and got the post.

THE START

Beginnings has been always infamous for me. I hate it, and I don't even like a single bit of it.

My first week was 4 out of 10 I guess. I feel like a lion in the north pole, or a polar bear in the safari. I don't feel that I belong. Everything seems so familiar, yet so strange--new faces, new tasks, everything new. The excitement I felt before turned to another thing, fear.

My start was really rough. I never thought of transferring into another career would be this emotionally burdening. It's like throwing away my 2-year experience investment as marketing personnel and going back to square one.

There are times that I felt like quitting. If securing a job is just easy these days, I probably resigned on my first two weeks.

THE EARLY END

On my first month, still in the media world, a job opportunity re-opened its door for me. The post offered was for an Events and Presentation officer. At first, I ignored it because of the low salary offer. I tried to negotiate and fortunately, they agreed upon my request.

My stay in the media world lasted for 2 months and 5 days. Honestly, it was hard for me to leave the field that I've studied and dreamed for when I was in college, plus the fact that I have adjusted to the work schedule and travel. Also, in a short span of time, I and my colleagues had the chance to bond.

A short story as I describe it, my stop over in the media world is indeed swift, but it doesn't mean that it was less-filled with fun and learning.

WE’RE ALL SUCKERS FOR IT

Are we dying live or living to die? How can we fight for something that isn’t completely there?

Life. Yes, it can stand alone. This broad concept is the reason why I’m blogging on this post.

So far, I never found a philosopher that is good enough to find the meaning of it. Maybe it is on the diversity of our individual minds and experiences that no one can really define it for general understanding.

So what is in it that we are dying for, or living at when we can’t simply define it?

It’s been exactly 2 weeks and two days since I was bailed-out by my company for its closure. I tried to look for another job, and so far, the “we’ll-call-you” cliché is what I get from my prospects.

Yeah right, I’m just being impatient. Well I say it’s easy to be patient when you still have money to spend and you’re not borrowing from your brother just to sustain your previous lifestyle. Yes, it is happening.

On my job hunting, I came out of my comfort zone: I traveled across provinces just to get a job. I rode crowded modes of public transportation, and queued on lines to get clearances to secure a living. That period in time, I started to think that “hey, I’m dying to live now”.

Where as months before, when I still got a job, I’m just working, then waiting for the pay day to pay my bills, then spend my remaining money for good time, and then repeat process. In short, back then, I’m just living to die.

Security. I don’t know if it can stand alone like its predecessor, but surely it gives a quite distinctive clue for its definition in my case.

This current event leads me into an assumption that when we are robbed with certainty, that’s the very moment that we’ll strive to wrestle for it. When we feel weary about something being taken away from us, the value of that thing increases and we’ll do anything to secure it in our possession. That’s dying to live defined in one paragraph.

On the other hand, if you’re safe and settled, you’ll find yourself doing stuffs in routine until you meet the dead end; just like living to die.

Clearly I’m dying to live now. Being with this notion, I’ve learn how to value so many things in life that I used to have that eventually lead me into valuing more the things that I still have. It taught me a lot but I don’t want to be in this moment for so long. This is an unfamiliar case for me since for a long time, I was really living to die.

Life--its real definition is about to be revealed while living in and working for it at the same time. It is something we fight for while we’re struggling to know what really it is about.

Living it or dying to achieve it, whatever our drives may be, face it, we’re all suckers for it.

Genetic Meowtation

The Attack of the Two-Headed Kitty :)