Advantages of Alcohol

Many say that alcohol is bad for you. Well, everything has it's bad side but it would only be bad for you if you abuse it. Alcohol has its advantages too. I drink alcohol, I don't let it ruin my life though I have my limits and besides I'm eighteen. I have learned that too much of something isn't good. 

Alcohol could bring people together. It could be used for special events. Adults use it as entertainment and for interaction it helps bring people closer. It's okay to be intoxicated if you're with your family and it's okay to create good memories with the people you love as long as you have your control. It also decreases your chance on having heart attack. 

Getting wasted every weekend might not be the best thing for your physical or mental well-being, but moderate alcohol consumption may have some substantial health benefits. It should be noted that alcohol consumption and its benefits vary based on an individual's body makeup and type.

Results of a Dutch study showed that healthy adults who drink one to two glasses per day have a decreased chance of developing type 2 diabetes, in comparison to those who don't drink at all. "The results of the investigation show that moderate alcohol consumption can play a part in a healthy lifestyle to help reduce the risk of developing diabetes type 2," researchers said in a statement to Reuters.

So alcohol isn't that bad, enjoy life and enjoy your drink, drink moderately!

Pez Marquez Benitez

Born in 1894 in Lucena City, Quezon, Marquez - Benítez authored the first Filipino modern English-language short story, Dead Stars, published in the Philippine Herald in 1925. Born into the prominent Marquez family of Quezon province, she was among the first generation of Filipinos trained in the American education system which used English as the medium of instruction. She graduated high school in Tayabas High School (now, Quezon National High School) and college from the University of the Philippines with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1912. She was a member of the first freshman class of the University of the Philippines, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1912.

Márquez-Benítez later became a teacher at the University of the Philippines, who taught short-story writing and had become an influential figure to many Filipino writers in the English language, such as Loreto Paras-Sulit, Paz M. Latorena, Arturo Belleza Rotor, Bienvenido N. Santos and Francisco Arcellana. The annually held Paz Marquez-Benitez Lectures in the Philippines honors her memory by focusing on the contribution of Filipino women writers to Philippine Literature in the English language.

Though she only had one more published short story after “Dead Stars” entitled "A Night In The Hills", she made her mark in Philippine literature because her work is considered the first modern Philippine short story.

For Marquez-Benitez, writing was a lifelong occupation. In 1919 she founded "Woman's Home Journal", the first women's magazine in the country. Also in the same year, she and other six women who were prominent members of Manila's social elites, namely Clara Aragon, Concepcion Aragon, Francisca Tirona Benitez, Carolina Ocampo Palma, Mercedes Rivera, and Socorro Marquez Zaballero, founded the Philippine Women's College (now Philippine Women's University). "Filipino Love Stories", reportedly the first anthology of Philippine stories in English by Filipinos, was compiled in 1928 by Marquez-Benitez from the works of her students.

When her husband died in 1951, she took over as editor of the Philippine Journal of Education at UP. She held the editorial post for over two decades.

In 1995, her daughter, Virginia Benitez-Licuanan wrote her biography, "Paz Marquez-Benitez: One Woman's Life, Letters, and Writings."

Dear, Crush

You're all I want over a billion fishes in the sea

I bet out of a billion only two would want me. (Or none) 

Okay so I tried making a poem and it sucks.. 

Hi, crush. (Such a lame nickname to name my crush) We never really talked. Other than that, I still like you. (I'm so gay) okay so me blogging my feels isn't really a good idea because it's 1:12 in the morning and i just wanted to let you know what I feel at any time of the day. Although I know you will never get to read this. 

You're amazing and you're everything a girl would want. You're simple yet classy, you're just....extraordinary.

I'm bowled up with all these feelings not knowing whether to feel or not to feel but of course I can't turn them off and decide to just like a different guy and even if it could I would still choose you because you're pretty much everything I could ever need. 

Exactly my point, you're everything a girl would ever want and need because you're you. You're perfect to me although I know you aren't and so basically I am judging you in a good way but hopefully you are who I think you are not that I want you to be who I want you to be I mean i hope you're someone that isn't afraid to be himself. 

Pretty sure you did well and I just wanted to say, as a fan of yours, congratulations for still being the hottest guy ever! Oops. 

Okay so you're there freely taking pictures with girls, tweeting with girls, interacting with girls etc. wishing i was the one in their position.. Why can't we be friends?! I'm so demanding I want fate to lead us together (half kidding)

I don't know why but I've liked you for almost a year now... And I am still admiring you by far by far I meant even though you don't think about me nor are we friends I still look up to you.

That crush of yours is very lucky. She must be as perfect as you are and maybe she's a dancer too. She's so lucky and I hope she feels the same way towards you (no I don't) I'll support you both (no i won't)

My Bestriend and Lover

I wasn't into commitments ever since I went through my first break up with my first boyfriend. It was heart-wrenching as I felt so lost. It has been three years since the last time I saw him. I was just a happy go lucky girl, going to parties, fishing for boys, going for spontaneous adventures with friends and whatnot. It was all fun and games until I found my game changer.

I met this guy in a bar in Taft he was with his friends and I was with mine, typical bar games would be the most famous "beerpong". I was challenged by him and we had fun. Although we lost, he asked for my number. I was so sure that this guy wouldn't last talking to me as I already expected that guys from bars are playboys. I enjoyed texting and calling him, I felt occupied since it was summer and it felt like just another summer fling. We decided to hang out again and this time without the alcohol. I felt awkward at first since I didn't know what to talk about. When we decided to eat lunch, we finally got to click and became close. As days passed by, I was confused since there were hints and I was going with the flow. I realized that slowly, I was developing feelings for this guy. I blocked him everywhere for a day and regret it so I unblocked him. I was too scared. Then I thought of it again that maybe, he might be worth it. I stalked his twitter and saw his tweets how sad he was. I knew that we felt the same way but we both wouldn't admit it since we both weren't ready for a relationship.

He was there for me throughout my struggles, family problems and a list of other bad things that have happened over the summer. I never really expected it would go that far. I was happy 'cause after such a long time, someone finally accepted me for who I was and sticks with me through the bad times. As days go by I was confused of what to feel towards him. I found out that he never had a girlfriend. I was more nervous since I felt like something might go on after summer. I finally admitted to him that I had feelings for him and of course, he told me he felt the same way. He was courting me and I realized that he wasn't just any guy at the bar, he was more than what I thought he was. He was a boyfriend material. 

After 5 months of courting, we finally became together and we are really happy. We've been together (with labels) for two months now and I am ready to go for more adventures with him. He's made me happy since day 1 and I thank God for blessing me with an angel. I love him so much that I would do anything just to keep the relationship going. No words could fathom how lucky I am to have my boyfriend, Francis Tan.

Second family

My second family is my friends. I have confidential self problems that I only share those to the ones who I really trust. Meeting new people was never a struggle for me, getting to know them and knowing their true colors in the end is what disappoints me. Friends come and go but to those who stuck up with you throughout your struggles are real keepers. I'm so blessed to have my friends or what I call my second family because if it weren't for them believing in me, I wouldn't be where I am right now. Whenever I fight with my family, my friends would always be there for me. They'd drive to my house and get me and just chill wherever I want just to clear my mind and comfort me and try to make me laugh. Those are the times I treasure the most. You'd only know who your real friends are when you get into a bad situation. Fake friends would only be with you through your good times, but what about the bad times? I've been really careful on who to trust since I've lost and gained friends but I understand that that is part of life. I'm glad my friends who are still here for me are still in touch with me. I'm so blessed to have great friends.

Cycle of struggles

Recently, I've been disappointed on myself. Not being able to get the grades I want and feeling like I'm not good enough. I crave to pass every subject so I wouldn't disappoint my parents. I've been so caught up with things that I had less time for my studies. I'm the kind of person who gets easily distracted. Once I catch your attention, I'll drop all my things and focus on that instead. I tend to cram too. I'd always extend my time to 5 mins to 10 mins and so on and so forth until I don't get things done on time and tell myself to do it tomorrow instead. I regret procrastinating 'cause if I didn't maybe I would've gotten the scores I wanted. College has been so stressful for me as the profs give so much homework and requirements. My upper batch friends were right, college ain't no joke. I realized that it was time for me to take things seriously and compromise to the time I set for my studies so I wouldn't have to feel depressed about it. The cycle goes on and you have no one to blame but yourself. Your biggest enemy is yourself. The problem with me is, I don't take things seriously. I'm a happy-go-lucky type of girl. I'm eighteen now and I should now what to prioritize and not. I pray to God that I could change a better version of myself. Not only have I disappointed myself but also the ones who expected so much more from me. I wish I had the chance to go back in time and change the mistakes I made but those mistakes make us who we are now. It's all depending on your decision.

Anti-smoking Campaign

So what I learnt from this seminar so far, changed the way I see people who smoke. They're not really bad people. Some even say that the ones who go to church are the ones who are worse. Smoking is bad for our health, well, I wouldn't wanna state the obvious anymore but it really is. I used to be a smoker. I wasn't addicted to it because it's mind over matter. I can't seem to grasp why some people say it's addicting, well, it's not. It's your choice if you want to. Though, once you start it, it's hard to quit. You'd think that once in a while is fine but it still damages your lungs and ruins your health but as you see your peers smoking you will ALWAYS be tempted to by influence since you'd think it's okay 'cause everyone does it. Disadvantages of smoking are: lost of breath, bad breath, teeth turning yellow, lungs turning black and so on and so forth. I sometimes wonder, why is smoking even legalized if it's bad for your health? We want the world or our environment to only have fresh air but the whole world legalized smoking. Smoking could also cause cancer and lung problems. From the way I see it, it was never good for us. One of the reasons why I quit is because it has changed my appearance it had been occupying my money. Imagine if I never spent my money on smoking I could've saved up thousands of pesos. Quitting is hard but because of that seminar I attended, I have learnt that smoking is not cool and you could spend your money wisely on other things. 

Parasyte

It was an outstanding movie. From manga anime to a movie, I was impressed. I got frightened at first when there were parasytes doing that to people and killing them but realizing that the parasyte who is the nicest one I felt relieved. Everytime a parasyte kills a person I get a mini heart attack. I just don't like it when they kill the innocent ones. The editing of the video was really impressive. I like how they edited it like it's legit real. I thought what if parasytes really existed, I wouldn't be comfortable living in this world anymore. I'm glad I got to witness a good movie. It was marvelous. 

SoM week

It was really laid back. I had fun although it was tiring. I got to interact with my blockmates more and got to know them more. I was impressed with the candidates in APC with their confidence and how stunning they looked that day. I didn't get to attend the frosh night but I asked my blockmates who attended it about it they said it was fun. I felt envy after hearing that from them, I wished I attended. I didn't get to take any pictures as well during that week since we were too busy participating in our school activities. I must say, I was really impressed on how much effort APC put in just to make the students happy and get along despite how small APC is as a school. I like how everyone was really friendly and how kind they were towards us. I look forward to more school events and have fun like that week.

Ang Tatay Mong Kalbo

The play was absurd. I somewhat couldn't seem to grasp most of the things they were talking about. The tagalog words they used were too deep for some of us to understand. I tried to understand it by just observing their reactions and how they acted. Overall, it was swell. 

Turn Left, Turn Right

At first I thought it was a typical love story movie. I was clueless and still watched it anyway. Watching every scene gets more interesting and interesting. I realized that those two lovebirds who were in love with each other were destined to be together in the end. From being acquainted when they were in primary school to finally being stable with their life, they were still hopelessly in love. Everywhere they go they were just around each other but never had the chance to see or take a glance at each other. I learnt that time and love will always find a way. I remember back then when I still had a boyfriend, I would always get depressed when I won't get to see him for 3 days or more and we'd always fight about it. Realizing in the end that maybe we weren't meant for each other and we did it at the wrong time. Some people are just so lucky to have their loved ones around or just be around each other but they just take it for granted. This is one of the most inspirational movies I've watched and I'm glad to have seen it.

Cheers and Chants

SOAB week was great, I had loads of fun and got to spend time with my blockmates, I even got to know more of them throughout practicing for our cheering competition. Day 1 of our planning for cheering, we all got lazy and unmotivated since not everyone attended our block meeting for it. Our leaders got disappointed of us, some of our blockmates couldn't get along, and some of us wouldn't even listen. What made it up for it is when they apologized for it in our Facebook group. As days go by, I got tired of practicing for it but I reminded myself that it's for our grade and block. Wouldn't wanna disappoint the rest. I had tons of fun though even though I was drained. I was proud of our block despite the shortcomings and misunderstandings. We won 1st runner up for cheering. How swell it was to see that nobody was down though we wanted to be the champion but what mattered was teamwork and team-building. I loved how they were a sport about it. Every activity just makes us grow individually or as a whole. 

Heneral Luna

It's definitely one of the most outstanding filipino movies I've watched. During those days, everything was so strict. This generation has definitely changed in all the most absolute ways. You do one thing wrong and you get punished or killed. Heneral Luna was a brave and respected man. He took care of our country and fought for it for as long as he could. One of my favorite lines he said was "May mas malaki tayong kalaban sa mga Amerikano–ang ating sarili.” This is true. We filipinos are full of pride. We tend to identify or see heroes as villains. Most of them during those days were against him because we was arrogant and fierce. He didn't wanna be a hero, he wanted to lead and prove something to this country. Heneral Luna is not only a masterpiece but a gift to the nation in another crucial moments in history. He fought for our country but the one who killed him was our fellow nation. It's sad because we killed our protector when they were supposed to kill the enemy. Shameful to hear the news by the Americans as they laughed when they found out that Heneral Luna was killed by our fellow filipino men. Emilio Aguinaldo was accused of getting Heneral Luna killed when Aguinaldo didn't show up to his office, Luna was promised to build mountains but he got "betrayed". Up to now we still have no idea who killed him. They only had each other and they kill the wrong person. Life was so difficult back then but we tend to take advantage of what we have right now. 

Self-introduction

Hi, my name is Ahlyssa Alix. I am 18 years old and I live in Alabang. I just moved to APC this second term.
I am very curious of a lot of things as to why I like to explore. My dream course is Psychology but my parents wanted me to take Tourism. I don't regret anything though, might as well try stepping out of my  comfort zone. My parents wanted me to take Tourism because they told me I'm good in English and so I could ace it easily and also my weakness is Math. I have always dreamt of traveling the world and seeing new things and surroundings

I am very outgoing. I like to meet new people and make new friends. However, at often times, I'm afraid of getting judged. Most of the time I always think what I'm doing is wrong. Even the littlest things bother me. I used to not care about what other people say but I can't seem to refrain from unintentionally dropping my self-esteem. I get really insecure of a lot of people, I look down on myself a lot. I always think I'm not good enough. I don't show people how frustrated I am with my life 'cause I'd rather be happy than to just focus on the bad times. I'm kind of between being an optimist and pessimist. Despite everything, I still manage to look at the bright side.