Graduation is fast approaching. For many, they felt a great relief when they saw their name in the list of graduates. At last! After years of sleepless nights and countless efforts, they will now harvest the fruit of their labor.

The graduates dedicate their milestone to their parents who really worked hard and sacrificed selflessly so they can finish college. A diploma, one precious piece of paper is enough to draw a smile in their parents’ faces. For some, a medal will be a great upgrade to their graduation milestone.

Nearly a year after my college graduation, I must say that I was able to make my dream come true. Since I was a kid, I only have this simple dream — to have a picture with my parents who are wearing the medals I worked hard for. I believe that they deserve the honor more than I am. I must say that it was a great experience making them the happiest parents during my graduation. I know they can now sleep peacefully at night because I have fulfilled their dream for me.

A year after I graduate, I started to ask myself, “How does my Magna Cum Laude title help me in the real world?”

The “Wow of the Laude”

There are three types of honor that students die for. Cum Laude (meaning ‘with honor’), Magna Cum Laude (meaning ‘with greatest honor’), and Summa Cum Laude (meaning ‘with highest honor’) Whatever you have among the three, be thankful for it.

It’s an exhilarating feeling whenever your friends and relatives congratulate you for being a Laude recipient. You become an instant star in the family, some even get instant cars, gadgets, and other rewards. Whenever your parents will introduce you to their friends, expect that your Laude is always intertwined to your first name. (Ex. Hi. Meet my daughter, *your name*, Cum Laude) Just imagine the impression and the pressure it gives you. I must say that somehow it adds up to your value but most of the time, it’s an expectation you have to meet.

Does the ‘Laude’ really matter?

There will be thousands of college graduates in a year. Same degrees, different schools, different achievements. After the graduation ceremonies, there’s one thing that makes all of you common, you are all now unemployed or better yet Job Seekers.

After graduation, some may choose to rest before looking for a job. Some are very eager to get a job right away. Bottomline, you will all prepare your Curriculum Vitae and Transcript of Records.

In the job application process, you will thank your Laude for making your CV shine from the pool of applicants. It makes your profile unique and in no time someone will call you for an initial interview. You owe your initial interview to your Laude.

Assuming that you already passed the initial interview, the HR person will now schedule you for a test (some companies require such) and this is when you need to prove your Laude title. It’s a test that’s very different from what our professors used to give us, it’s not about facts but practical application of what you’ve learned. Now, this is when you’ll know if you deserve that Laude or not.

Your Laude will add class to your CV but that doesn’t necessarily define one’s excellence in the job. I’ve met a lot of people who are not Laudes yet they are successful and it’s because they think out of the box and they have inviting interpersonal and good decision-making skills.

Don’t worry if you’re not a Laude. Life is about knowing the rules of the game and how to play well with it.

I am a Laude. How should I really feel?

Have a thankful heart for being a Laude. Thankful because you were gifted with a special skill set that made you reach that peak. Thankful because you were able to make your parents proud and you made them feel that all their efforts were worth it. Take it slow because that euphoria is just temporary.

Once you are already in the workplace and the people knew that you are a Laude, it can give you two things. One, they will entrust to you important workloads because they expect that you can do it. Second, failure to reach their expectations might break your Laude ego. (The second is more of you feeling disappointed of yourself.)

Being a Laude is a pressure on your part. Having this title, you need to prove to yourself that you deserve it by efficiently doing your job, by going the extra-mile, by reaching your own expectations. Having that stress, you need not to be so hard on yourself. Forgive yourself in every mistake and remember that you are now an apprentice in your chosen field.

In your chosen job, you will definitely perform tasks that you didn’t learn in school. You are empty again and I think it needs humility so you can excel. A humble heart to welcome corrections and an intelligent mind to understand the wisdom of your daily work life.

At the end of the day, it won’t matter whether you are a Laude or not. What matters is how you face the challenges while keeping yourself grounded on your values and principles. What matters is how you become an insTo allpiration to others.

To all the graduates, congratulations! You all deserve our applause. 😊

What your “Laude” says about you

Graduation is fast approaching. For many, they felt a great relief when they saw their name in the list of graduates. At last! After years of sleepless nights and countless efforts, they will now harvest the fruit of their labor.

The graduates dedicate their milestone to their parents who really worked hard and sacrificed selflessly so they can finish college. A diploma, one precious piece of paper is enough to draw a smile in their parents’ faces. For some, a medal will be a great upgrade to their graduation milestone.

Nearly a year after my college graduation, I must say that I was able to make my dream come true. Since I was a kid, I only have this simple dream — to have a picture with my parents who are wearing the medals I worked hard for. I believe that they deserve the honor more than I am. I must say that it was a great experience making them the happiest parents during my graduation. I know they can now sleep peacefully at night because I have fulfilled their dream for me.

A year after I graduate, I started to ask myself, “How does my Magna Cum Laude title help me in the real world?”

The “Wow of the Laude”

There are three types of honor that students die for. Cum Laude (meaning ‘with honor’), Magna Cum Laude (meaning ‘with greatest honor’), and Summa Cum Laude (meaning ‘with highest honor’) Whatever you have among the three, be thankful for it.

It’s an exhilarating feeling whenever your friends and relatives congratulate you for being a Laude recipient. You become an instant star in the family, some even get instant cars, gadgets, and other rewards. Whenever your parents will introduce you to their friends, expect that your Laude is always intertwined to your first name. (Ex. Hi. Meet my daughter, *your name*, Cum Laude) Just imagine the impression and the pressure it gives you. I must say that somehow it adds up to your value but most of the time, it’s an expectation you have to meet.

Does the ‘Laude’ really matter?

There will be thousands of college graduates in a year. Same degrees, different schools, different achievements. After the graduation ceremonies, there’s one thing that makes all of you common, you are all now unemployed or better yet Job Seekers.

After graduation, some may choose to rest before looking for a job. Some are very eager to get a job right away. Bottomline, you will all prepare your Curriculum Vitae and Transcript of Records.

In the job application process, you will thank your Laude for making your CV shine from the pool of applicants. It makes your profile unique and in no time someone will call you for an initial interview. You owe your initial interview to your Laude.

Assuming that you already passed the initial interview, the HR person will now schedule you for a test (some companies require such) and this is when you need to prove your Laude title. It’s a test that’s very different from what our professors used to give us, it’s not about facts but practical application of what you’ve learned. Now, this is when you’ll know if you deserve that Laude or not.

Your Laude will add class to your CV but that doesn’t necessarily define one’s excellence in the job. I’ve met a lot of people who are not Laudes yet they are successful and it’s because they think out of the box and they have inviting interpersonal and good decision-making skills.

Don’t worry if you’re not a Laude. Life is about knowing the rules of the game and how to play well with it.

I am a Laude. How should I really feel?

Have a thankful heart for being a Laude. Thankful because you were gifted with a special skill set that made you reach that peak. Thankful because you were able to make your parents proud and you made them feel that all their efforts were worth it. Take it slow because that euphoria is just temporary.

Once you are already in the workplace and the people knew that you are a Laude, it can give you two things. One, they will entrust to you important workloads because they expect that you can do it. Second, failure to reach their expectations might break your Laude ego. (The second is more of you feeling disappointed of yourself.)

Being a Laude is a pressure on your part. Having this title, you need to prove to yourself that you deserve it by efficiently doing your job, by going the extra-mile, by reaching your own expectations. Having that stress, you need not to be so hard on yourself. Forgive yourself in every mistake and remember that you are now an apprentice in your chosen field.

In your chosen job, you will definitely perform tasks that you didn’t learn in school. You are empty again and I think it needs humility so you can excel. A humble heart to welcome corrections and an intelligent mind to understand the wisdom of your daily work life.

At the end of the day, it won’t matter whether you are a Laude or not. What matters is how you face the challenges while keeping yourself grounded on your values and principles. What matters is how you become an insTo allpiration to others.

To all the graduates, congratulations! You all deserve our applause. 😊

The Bump Car Effect

The Bump Car Effect.

Discussion Beyond Words (English Speaking Union PHL 2014 Finals)

 

 

My Team, Team ORADEC PSC who represented FEU in the 2014 English Speaking Union PHL 2014 

held at UP Diliman College of Mass Communication last February 08, 2014.

 

Semi Finalists:

Jen Pascua (Chair)

Lara Mendoza (Dir. for Training)

Hani Abbas (member)

One Carlo Diaz (member)

 

 

 

Just want to share the piece I delivered during the competition.

 

Discussion Beyond Words

ESU Speech 2014

Jennifer Anne Pascua

 

               My parents always complain why I am always out of home. On weekdays, I am in school and on weekends, I spend my time being with my team mates going out in an adventure to different places. We do things that most  people won’t think of doing on their luxurious time. We tell stories, we teach, we adopt a buddy for a day, we paint classrooms, we invite laughter, and we forget about ourselves and care about the lives of other people. I am usually out of home because I am in the home of others. 

               I started being engaged to community immersion when I was in high school, it is the stage of my life when I wanted to explore the world and so I thought of joining a community immersion as a travel experience. My first community immersion moved my interest to continue doing charity. I enjoyed being with new people, going places, hearing stories and partaking in the food. It’s like a weekend getaway for me.

               Community immersion is my emotional therapy. I feel like there is incompleteness in me and it is only through that ‘therapy’ that I find comfort and contentment. That whenever I fail to attend a session, it makes me feel sick and lost. Whenever I’m on therapy, I am in Neverland. I am a stranger in a foreign place. I love the feeling because I get to see, learn and experience the moment unadulterated. When I’m in a community immersion, I feel like I am in place where learning is not taught by teachers but by the lives of the people I interact with.

              Whenever I’m on the field, I always spend a quiet time sitting on the corner and just observing how life unfolds. I have observed that the common problem of our communities is their isolation from the greater world that they are in. I have been to a place where children are the laborers in the charcoal factory, I have been in a home where neglected special kids are being taken of, I have been in a school where the classroom size is not enough for all chairs to fit in, I have been to a community in a mountain where our ethnic brothers and sisters need to walk for two days just to reach the nearest hospital. I don’t know who to blame but are they really that voiceless and unnoticeable for the majority not to hear and see?

                We spend time watching on TV how our senators wash their dirty linen in public. We even we follow the story of an actor who was framed up and beaten. But how come that we cannot find time knowing the lives of our fellow countrymen who are in need? Why do other people give more attention making memes and pranks about issues than thinking how they can impart genuine social action change?

                It has given me another source of inspiration and motivation knowing that there are still ordinary people like me who choose to relegate at the back of the line and walk with the people. Here in the Philippines, we have Efren Peñaflorida, 2012 CNN Hero of the Year because of his pursuit to educate the youth using his cart library. The late DILG Secretary Jesse Robredo who taught me the principle of “Tsinelas Leadership” Tsinelas in English means ‘Slippers’ and Tsinelas Leadership means that you live an ordinary life with your people, you feel their pulse and start to empower them from the grassroots. In Hong Kong, they have this organization called “We Do Global” a youth-led ASEAN organization that encourages youth participation in community immersions. They are the type of leaders who are not in the ivory tower, but goes out of the way to really understand the problem on the ground.

 

                 Ladies and gentlemen I agree that to be human is to discuss but in my experience as a student leader and in my community immersions,  discussion is beyond  the context of verbal communication, but rather it is a formation and exchange of inspiration from one soul to another. It is an exchange of inspiration between souls because it is when I get to experience living other person’s life just for a day and I get inspired on how they get by life in their own little ways, I am able to share to them rays of hope as long as we care for each other. It is an exchange between souls because it is through on the ground experience that I understand what the minority wants to shout to this seemingly callous world.

 

This kind of soul-to-soul discussion and leadership is what our world badly needs today. Each country is being challenged today and it is significant that we stand as a source of hope and inspiration for each other. Remember how many Filipinos were direly affected by Typhoon Yolanda? The children who were victims of war in Egypt and Ukraine? You wouldn’t hear them call but there will be this soft voice inside you that will move you to show empathy towards them. It only takes a mind that feels and a heart that thinks. That for me is the greatest form of discussion.

 

Thank you!

 This year’s theme of ESU is “To be Human is to Discuss”

(All is subjected to copyright protection from the author)

Choose Not To Fear

WHAT WILL YOU DO IF YOU WERE NOT AFRAID?

I have met a lot of people who have regrets in life because of not doing things they wish they did. Things that they failed to do because of fear. As I reflect on their life story’s lesson, I realized that chances in life are useless if we don’t have a courageous heart to assert it.

People might think that where they are now is already the best place for them to be. But what if they had the courage to risk further? Could they have a kind of life that they better deserve?

A year ago, I was torn between choosing what I want for myself and sacrificing it just to open myself for more possibilities in life. It was a hard decision because everything was going smoothly according with what was planned. But, I have to make a choice. I felt like my life was so predictable back then. I longed for excitement and unpredictability of events. So one day, I decided to scrap all my plans and started everything again from scratch. I flipped the other side of the coin. I made a decision that I thought I will never make. I LET GO OF THE LIFE THAT I LOVE.

I made that decision wholeheartedly as a form of personal sacrifice to further know myself – who I am and what I really want to be.

It is natural for people to feel fear on attempting to try new things. But sometimes, we have to filter those fears that are already irrational, fears that hinder us to let courage grow within ourselves.

At first, my choice’s outcome did not turn out to be pleasing, I failed and that failure is what I considered as the major turning point of my life. I admit that it struck me deeply. In the process of my recovery, I learned that victory is not always for the victorious and success is not always about winning.

There is no escape from rejections and disappointments. Once we meet them along the way, it really can rob us of our positivity and hope. The best way to fight them is to be proactive and treat them as springboards which can slowly lead us to success. Failures should not stop us from reaching our dreams. At the end of the day, we have to stand, be still and keep going in life.

The opportunity cost of our decisions should always contribute to our betterment and maturity as travellers of life. Most importantly, our story should be a living legacy and an inspiration. We are given unique potentials and we should choose to actualize it and share it to others.

Life is chaotic that sometimes it makes us want to escape.  But if we’re going to look at the bigger landscape, it is actually an amazing avenue to explore, socialize and learn from the stories of other people.

DON’T BE AFRAID.

Life gives us less excitement when we do everything according to our plan. Sometimes, try to disregard it and give other things a try and just see what happens. At certain point, we have to jump off and make our way out because that is the best way for us to explore possibilities. We have to chase every single chance. We all need to have a brave heart and initiate the first step. Playing safe and avoiding risks will not lead us to anything extra-ordinary.

Do not let fear spoil what’s really inside you and what you can really do because sometimes, the things that you did not plan to have are the things that will glorify you at the end.

Happiness in the Escape from Reality

Blanche (Sophie Marceau) and Lucas (Jacques Dutronc) both had a cruel past that is haunting them until the day they died. At first they didn’t know about a thing about each other, because they only meet at the restaurant, but they had a quick chemistry burning them up.

 

Blanche is a psychic who has a traumatizing past with his father and now, she was stuck with his husband that he doesn’t love. Lucas on the other hand has seen with his own naked eyes how his father drowned his mother in the lake. But another problem of Lucas’ is he had a condition in his brain, it’s dying. They both saw happiness with each other, and when they are with each other; they have their own world, their own escape from reality.

When Blanche foresaw what happened to Lucas in the past, she then understand what’s going through Lucas’ mind and she stayed with him. She also shared her secret from the past because she believes that she doesn’t have the right to invade someone’s privacy and since she can’t help it, she’s paying back through stripping or in Lucas’ case, she told her story about her past.

The main characters have very serious problems but the director (Andrej Zulawski) gave life to their dying characters. He puts twists and turns, and he also made it comedic to somewhat lighten up the mood. The supporting actors and actresses were very funny, the quirkiness of Blanche and the craziness of Lucas. As I see it, one of Zulawski’s messages is to live our life to the fullest. We should never waste any time, because any moment, we might die. But with Blanche and Lucas, they knew that they would find their happiness through dying with each others arms.

Forever, Blade Runner

Blade runner was a sci-fi type of movie; this film wants us to have an insight of what might happen in the future.

In the near future, have this story about clones. There was this man named Rick Deckard (Harrison Ford) which was a blade runner,

 

 

 

a blade runner is like a soldier in the present time but has a different purpose, they were trained to shoot replicants; replicants are clones formed like humans, they can only live for about 4 years. Rick were searching for replicants then he met this one replicant that made him bewildered because he noticed that she is different from the others, her system was advanced in terms of having emotions, and she can actually feel sadness her name is Rachael. He was given the task to find Roy, the older one and was said to be the leader of replicants that kill people in charge to kill them. Roy was looking for the creator of them all and in the process, he met Sebastian who kept and helped Pris (another replicant), he became a way of getting to the maker. He killed him after he stuck out his eyes. On the other side of the story, Rick and Rachael are having this messy relationship, they are not supposed to fall in love with one another, but it happened and the replicant got more confused. One night Rick was hunting for a replicant and he succeeded on killing her but right after that; he was almost killed by another replicant, but luckily, Rachael was there and put a bullet inside to another replicant. Then there came to a point when Rick and Roy were searching for each other and trying to kill one another. They were chasing each other until Rick almost died climbing up to the top of the building, but the weird thing was Roy helped him and saved his life. Roy talked to him emotionally, because it was his time to die and he explained his side of the story.

The ending was Rick and Rachael ran away and hides from the authority to live their lives happily.

            The actors were great, most especially the lead actor, Harrison Ford, he portrayed the hard life of a blade runner, which was supposed to be fierce and violent, although he was not that of a brutal type of blade runner, because he was confused, he is falling in love with a replicant which he supposed to kill. His acting skills were believable, it’s like everything is happening to him in real life although the scene of the climbing at a building was not that realistic, but it was ok, besides, that was the future the movie is portraying. His lover was so beautiful, but that is not her only strength, she was also a good actress, her conflicting emotions were easily defined. The leader of the replicants, Roy, was also a good actor, he is really terrifying. His actions were weird and scary but it was the character’s personality which he played very well. The rest of the characters were good as well, I think they really internalized and thought of their role very well.

            In my opinion, this is a good movie, although I didn’t appreciate it that much and I know that it has a deeper message for its audience, or maybe because I didn’t understand some of the conversation, it was sometimes soft and sometimes rough. For a 2005 film, I think the editing was that good, the actors were great but the audio is a pain, I was kind of deaf actually, but I can say that it is a good view in the future but bad for the ugliness it represents. There’s not much of a value and a lesson, although I understand that if you love somebody, you will do anything just to be with them, but what I don’t understand was that Rachael’s emotions were so very close as to a human, which a clone shouldn’t have, but I really appreciate the sacrifice Rick did, he sacrificed his job and time to spend with Rachael even if he knew that she will die eventually.

 

Truly a LEGEND

I am LEGEND is truly a legend in the film history, in December 14, 2007 was the first showing of the movie and it became blockbuster which lead them earning $ 585 million. It is truly a pricey film.

Yes, we are all awed with the outstanding acting by one of the best actors in history, Will Smith and luckily they had him for the role, because after the movie has ended, there were some questions raised in my head. First, why is there an alpha male in the group of the infected human? Can they communicate with each other? If yes why Robert Neville did stated that “human behavior is now entirely absent”

A butterfly means metamorphosis or growth but in this movie, butterfly symbolized answers for Dr. Neville. The butterfly was shown in the different parts o the movie, when her daughter whispered

“Daddy, look, it’s a butterfly”

when he saw the butterfly shape in the broken glass, and the butterfly tattoo Anna had. The butterfly helped him find the cure and a reason to have faith, when all doors are closing. He found Anna; she has been the reason, why Dr. Neville was known. Why he became legendary.

 

I say, this is one of the best “zombie movies” although it’s not really a zombie because they don’t eat human flesh, they just harm them. The movie has a specific reason, why the outbreak happened and a clear ending, and that’s what made it unique; it’s because of the false finding for the cure for cancer. It is also different from other “zombie movies” because somewhat they can still think, but they don’t have the capacity to understand their old lives, to understand human but they can understand that they have enemies. The ending was legendary for Dr. Neville found the cure and had to sacrifice himself afterwards, but his life was never wasted and his sacrifice will always be remembered.

RED: Retired Extremely Dangerous

Bruce Willis woke up and was synchronized with the clock is the first scene and it really created an establishing shot even if it wasn’t wide-angle shot, it had already shown that the character of Bruce Willis was disciplined, well-organized and regimented.

 

 

It was a smart choice of the talent manager to get Bruce Willis for he is perfect for the part; he was a tough-looking guy and as Victoria said “gooey in the inside” he also has a sense of humor that really pleased the audience and catch even more their attention. They also cast Morgan Freeman, Helen Mirren, Mary-Louise Parker, John Malkovich, Brian Cox, Karl Urban which also perfectly fit their role. All of their movement were MOSTLY believable there are just some scenes wherein I don’t actually believe it’s true, like the part where the pistol gun against the rocket launcher or the jumping scene of Cooper to the car where the Vice President is or the part where he got off the car while it is moving.

Those parts would be the parts wherein the director is reminding the audience that this is not real; that they should all believe that the movie is just a movie, an entertainment and nothing else, they don’t let their audience be attached to the movie.

Their roles were also to show the audience how legit they were, how they could kill someone without fear and with control, even if they have the similarities of being “Retired Extremely Dangerous”, they also have their own roles to fill in. Frank Moses as the humble agent, tough but romantic, William Cooper as the next Frank Moses, Joe Matheson as the Retiree who has lung cancer and sacrificed himself, Ivan Simonov as the Russian Intelligence who was light (easy lang) with the work, Marvin Boggs as the crazy guy but gets the job done and is almost right about everything, and of course, the one that really stand out was the only girl in the retired agents, Victoria (Helen Mirren) has the moves of the guys, she was being a Bad-Ass-Retired Girl Agent, and this actually shows the feminist theory part, wherein women having control and power.

Marvin keeps on telling them on how they should not trust the system, the system here is the government and everyone working for it, he told them that the government were killing them and he was right, they found out that the CIA were on to them.  They also included prominent people like the Vice President of the United States of America. The Vice President in the movie used to be behind all the killing of RED, although he was not the mastermind, he was still a part of the killings. This secretly tells the people that even the ones we trust with our life can and may betray us.

Postcards as a transition perfectly established the next scenes, there are parts wherein the picture comes to life, they have it animated and together with the song that is appropriate for the place they were going also made it more interesting and likable.

The book Love’s Savage Secret that was mentioned in the movie is a metaphor of what is really happening to the character’s life.

Being part of the audience, I really enjoyed the movie, not only because of its comedy-action-drama-romance type of movie, but it gave me a sense of awareness that you can no trust anybody but trust the people you know fully or your “true friends” as they say. 

It all depends on TIME

With time, every minute counts, but what if your life depends on the time itself?

This movie “In Time” written, directed and produced by Andrew Niccol was a Sci-fi type of movie which is focused on time as a medium of exchange.

What’s great about this movie is that it has a secret agenda or an underlying message to its viewers that life should be taken seriously as what Mother Theresa said…

“… Life is a game, play it…

Life is life, fight for it.”

 

In the movie, they know when they will die, aside from death from accidents, Will Salas (Justin Timberlake) knows what he will do every day and knows how to balance his time until Time took his mother. Thus it made him more cautious of time and it made him fight the authorities. But the true lesson here is, in their world, they know when they will die, yet they still die, but for us humans, we don’t know the value of life until we are threatened by other people or by accidents and some won’t even have the chance to realize it.

A metaphor was also shown here, wherein the life of Robin Hood was showcased; he stole gold coins from the rich who was very greedy while there are so many poor people needing those coins, and the same thing happened here

The only difference aside from the obvious that In Time is futuristic and Robin Hood is a cartoon, is that A woman was one of the good-bad guys in the movie, which also made a point that This may be a feminist theory wherein she was portrayed to be a strong woman fought against her father and of course in Robin Hood, he’s a male.

 

This movie was also indirectly telling the government about their greediness. That there will always be a barrier between the poor and the elite. There are so many movies having this kind of message, movies is an outlet o the artistic people who wants to fight them in a clever way. Like Rizal who became the Philippine’s National Hero. But it seems like the government never listens, that’s why, there are still movies who want s to let them realize.