Dedication.

I remember a time in our class back in the Philippines when we are so misbehaved that our teacher shouted and we all kept quiet for we thought that she's going to punish us or something and she continued "Do you ever guys knew the priceless gift given by your parents to you besides your life? It is a gift where no one else can give you except your parents and you should start appreciating it. And it is education."

At first I ignored this statement my teacher told us but as I mature enough to realize what life really is, I come to think that she was right, that statement is always right. I cannot imagine the hard work and sacrifices that my parents went through just for their children to have a good life which they are still giving us until now, and I appreciate it. That is why I want to repay them by using that gift in the best way I can for I know that as they gave it to us, they wanted us to have a bright future. This is also the reason on why I want to pursue civil engineering as my future career. I want to design and build them a house where we can live together and worry about nothing. I want to work hard as my Mom and Dad did so that they wouldn't have to worry about working anymore and just enjoy their life like having a long vacation. I also have learned that civil engineering have high salaries and I wanted to use that to fulfill what my parents want to do if they have a lot of money, and that is to travel different places around the world. This is the only thing I can think of to repay them. They have risked their own lives for us, time will come and I must do the same thing for them. They are the reason behind my everything after all.

<3 my mom & dad

Time to take life seriously.

As I grew up, I never thought that life would get tougher and tougher each day. When I was still a child, I can still remember how easy life was because children are supposed to play and enjoy their life as a small kid am I right? I think of this as a fact for playing is the only thing I did because there are still no more than important things to worry about like money except schooling. But studying is not why I came to school every morning I wake up when I'm still a kid because I have no other way of playing with my friends rather than meeting up in school for our places are a bit far to each other. We used to play every Filipino street games as long as we know the rules and how to play them. Some of these games are:

Patintero

the following link is the instructions on how to play the game

http://www.seasite.niu.edu/Tagalog/Filipino_Games/patintero.htm

Tumbang Preso

http://www.scribd.com/doc/7141664/Tumbang-Preso

My very own favorite

Taguan or hide and seek

In playing these games, age is not an exception.

Being a kid is not bad once in a while, it is just a matter of time. Life is not design to be that way. We also need to struggle for us to pursue and learn. That is what I'm trying to do right now. Nowadays, I've been struggling about so many things. Grades, money, family problems, conflict between friends, and I could also include the weather here in Calgary which is winter. But my grades is my priority right now for I am hoping to graduate from high school in the next coming months. Right now, my grade is sitting so close to equilibrium in my ELA class for English here is quite different from what I experienced in the Philippines. Here in Calgary, this subject focuses more on grammar and reading comprehensions where they are only a small part on which our English subject focuses back in the Philippines. Back there, we study about the different components of the English language,how to figure them out in a statement and how to use them such as nouns, pronouns, verbs, adverbs, conjunctions, prepositions, figures of speech and so on. That is the main difference which gave me struggles to adopt the English language here in Calgary which I will do my very best to win this game.

Holidays

One thing I like about holidays here in Canada is that, THERE ARE A LOT! :)) and for me,
holiday = no classes. So more holidays = more days of no classes. How cool was that for a student like me!

But there are two things that I really miss being here in Canada. First is the 'carolling' where we always do before Christmas because every time we carol, we earn money to buy chocolates! Here in Canada, it is like impossible to do it for who can stand outside and sing a Christmas song on a -25 degrees up weather? But some Filipinos still carol. They sing inside the house which we experienced last year.

The second thing is fireworks every New Year. I don't know why fireworks are prohibited here in Canada but it is kind of sad. Fireworks can be really dangerous for those people who recklessly used them. In the Philippines, we celebrate New Year with an excessive amount of energy and happiness and greet the new year with smile. We use all kinds of materials just to produce loud sounds such as trumpet, cans, and drums, its a new year after all. How I wish I could experience that feeling here in Canada.

Opportunities

  

Living in the Philippines for 17 years and a year here in Canada, I can already see a big difference between these two countries. I can sum it all up just by saying 'people in Canada are lucky'.

I can start with currency. A dollar here is equivalent to more than forty pesos in Philippines. That is the main reason why more and more Filipinos are migrating here in Canada because life back there is a tough one. 300 pesos a day would already be a big value of money for those unfortunate ones whose goal is to eat a minimum of two meals a day and three meals if got lucky enough. This is a sad but true story. More and more unfortunate people are suffering due to the 'corruption' that has happened to our country and I am not yet sure if it is still happening now. I just hope its not anymore. Jobs are very rare for those who haven't graduated from high school or college and salaries are also cheap.

Life here in Canada is so much better than back there. Our government is seriously concerned to its people. Our government is so concerned that living in this country gives you so many benefits such as health benefits and etc. Also, I have noticed that people here are so concerned about life and so disciplined which I sometimes wish that it is the same way in the Philippines. When crossing a street, the cars were like automatically stopping and waiting for you to cross the other side of the street while in the Philippines, before you could cross a street, you should make sure that there is no more car in sight or else you'll get hit. Money here in Canada is easy to earn for there are so many opportunities and with a young age of fourteen, one can already work and can earn for like 50 bucks per two weeks or higher.

Nowadays, money is almost everything.

Everything you can imagine is real.

WORLD'S

BEST

This building right here is the Burj Dubai(Khalifa) in Dubai which stands 829.84 meters high and the current tallest skyscraper in the universe. This building is not only a product of knowledge and hardship but above anything else, this is a dream came true for those people who dreamed big and not afraid to fail. Things what engineers could create are just simply amazing.

A tower that leans 18 degrees

We are all aware of the Italian tourist attraction which is the Tower of Pisa for its angled architectural structure. It has the record of the furthest-leaning man-made tower leaning 4 degrees just until a rival has occured in the year 2010 claiming its title.

Plenty of skyscrapers dominates the horizon of Middle East including the tallest building presented above, and finally, the term 'leaning tower' has been recognized again and was put into action. The Capital Gate in Abu Dhabi which stands 160 meters high now holds the title of the furthest-leaning man-made tower in the world which leans more than four times than the Tower of Pisa. This 35-storey building leans 18 degrees from the 12th storey up.



Now you wanna see some cool stuffs?

1. Click the link below.

2. Be amazed.

http://gawno.com/2009/06/55-strange-buildings-of-the-world/

My future

"What do you want your future to look like?" or "What do you want when you grow up?". A 5 year old child will answer, "A princess!" or "I wanna be like Superman!". When this question was asked again now to a few 10 year old kids, result would be becoming a pilot, teacher, or a doctor. Now you wanna know how teenagers respond to this question? Well, the famous answer will probably be "Who cares?". That is the same thing I've been thinking until our ELA-20 teacher gave us this project. Being in my situation, you would probably hate your teacher making your brain work in the midst of relaxation. But thanks to this project, I would never realize that in my 18 years of surviving in this planet, I have no idea what to do in my life.

MARRIAGE

"Marriage is not like a hot food that you can spit right away when it is hot." For me, marriage is a one in a lifetime opportunity. I would like to marry the person whom I could share my love and myself for as long as a rock would remain hard. But this marriage thing sure can wait. I'll make sure I can support myself alone first before thinking of doing so to my future better half and kids.

LIFESTYLE

Everybody wants to be rich, and so am I. Imagine things if you could just burn money here and there without even worrying if it was going to run out. I wanna live the American dream, which is impossible for a lazy boy like me. Well I think that is why they called it a "dream" for who ever dreams of it needs to wake up and face the reality. But there are things that are more valuable than money, and these are: your family who loves you more than anything else and the ones who brought you to this world, your true friends whom you can trust, and your loved ones who never let you feel alone. Sitting here on my bed thinking of what to type next made me realize that I'm lucky. What could be more heart-lifting than being squeezed between a mother's body and arms to an orphan? How would you like sharing your most embarrassing secret without doubt? How would you feel when there are people who will wholeheartedly accept you even in your darkest side? I knew those feelings because I've experienced it and still experiencing it until now. I guess it is what I really want -- a simple life.

"Ohana means family, and family means nobody gets left behind, or forgotten."
-from Lilo & Stitch movie

JOB

Some of you may already know about this but do you know why many children/students hate schooling? Well basically it's a job you don't get paid for. All successful person have gone trough this job and there is no escape to it. That being said, could you imagine now that in an early age of two, you already got yourself a job? How cool was that!

In terms of my future job, becoming an engineer is what I desire. I want to feel the feeling of being a part of something big. Something that would remind everyone of the hard work and sacrifices we did. Something that I can be proud of. Something where I could say, "We did it". But first I must fulfill the last step in completing my very own first job,schooling, which is graduating. That is the first final step I would take to have a lead on my next journey.

"Never stop trying. Mistakes are where we learn from."
"Always remember what FAIL means,
F-irst
A-ttempt
I-n
L-earning"