My Literature...........THE SAILING BOAT

       

                                            A LIFE SAILING IN CHRIST IS A LIFE TO REAL HAPPINESS.

             Once upon a time,in the little town of Banay-banay Davao Oriental there lived a couple whose named Elpedio Sambayon and Benilda Quimpan. In the midst of the coconut farm a fine and well-made nipa hut was built. They have no child at all but with an answered prayer God grant them  on December 30, 1985 a strong,cute,charming and beautiful baby girl.The child was named by her father Richel. I am that baby girl.

             I am the first daughter and the first granddaughter of Juan Sambayon and Benita Julom. I was the apple of the eyes of all the people surrounds me. All the attention, love and care are given.

            As I grew, my parents did not lack in any things to me in terms of basic needs and  wants as well. I became a spoiled brat because my grandparents always tolerate me.At the age of 1 year old, I stayed in my grandparents until at the age of six.

            While I am  in the premised of my grandparents, I became more spoiled. I get everything what I want. I don't know neither how to make the household chores because my "lola" always there to make it for me. My "lolo" too loves me so much that sometimes we went to the market to have a snacks and buy anything what I ask.

             Because of these things, my parents decided to get me back and went to Banay-banay Davao Oriental. There I continued my studies in Day Care Center of Banay-banay. As the school year ends,gladly to say that I was the valedictorian of the class. It was an unforgettable event of my life whereas my grandparents attended my graduation.

             As I started my elementary, we are again transferred to New Corella, Davao del Norte. From grade 1 to grade 6, I received an honor in New Corella Central Elementary School in the year of 1998.

           After graduating from the elementary, I continued my studies which is the second level, the secondary. I was afraid and a little confused of what a life would be that I could have in studying high school. My father enrolled me in  Maryknoll High School of New Corella, a private one and runned by our principal Mr. Oscar B. Bonghanoy. As the classes begin, I saw my old classmate in elementary and my nervousness began to vanish.

          High school life is a life to be treasured and to be remembered. It was full of fun, enjoyment and adventure. Fun because we are all teamed as one, enjoyment in a sense of having a Junior & Senior Prom, Foundation Day, Intramurals and Recollection as well as Retreat. Adventure because we are always bond together to go in other places where our classmates house located. We have our mountain hiking, swimming in the beach and falls, getting coconut or what we called "buko" and most of all having a solicitation to every "barrio" in our place. As year ends, all of us were having a great emotional togetherness because we knew that we will have our separate lives to travel and a different journey to walk on.

       March 26, 2002 was the remarkable day of my life. It was the day that I finished my high school even though I did not get the highest honor that a parent could be proud of. I just have an award which is "The Computer Proficiency Award". It was just a simple award but I knew that it gives pride to my parents.

             After our graduation, it was the time that I need to decide my future to be where I should pursue it. After a day,week and month of reflection, I decided to enter  in the convent. That time, the Mother Superior of the congregation of Oblate Sisters of St. Francis Xavier took their vocation campaign in our place. Our neighbor who happened to be one of the postulants of the said congregation talked to me. I was inspired with what she said  that made me decide to join with them.

             May 22, 2002 our departure date. It was the dramatic day because of the tears poured out in me and to my parents. It was not easy for both of us because it was my first time to be far from them. As the jeep took its way going to Tagum, I really can't afford to cry. I felt that I can't see my parents anymore. At around 4:30 we arrived at the Sasa Port where we waited to hop in the ship. At exactly 6 o'clock, we are in our respected bed in the ship and that time I began to cry and cry. I really missed them though it's just an hour that we are apart.

             During our trip I never felt excitement and enjoy the journey because all I can remember is that I cry and cry for the whole trip. I have in mind to return home and forgot the craziness of becoming a nun. But I can't tell it to my companion because it was not a force and pull decision but it was me who made the decision heartily. I really regret why I decided to enter in the convent because all I felt was loneliness.

             Inside the convent, I started to adjust myself. I try not to commit mistakes and hurt others feelings. I have a companion who came from Indonesia, General Santos City, Iloilo, Bohol, Cebu Manila and our congregation was runned by the Italian Sisters. We sometimes have a conflict especially with the Indonesian because they think that they are being look down by the Filipinos because this is our country. But with God's grace, we became friends.

            My life and schedule inside the convent was really in order because of the rules and regulations that I have to follow.

      SCHEDULE IN THE CONVENT

       MONDAY:  4:30 a.m -take a bath and prepare for a mass

                           6:00 a.m -Mass

                           7:30 a.m -Breakfast

                           8:30 a.m -Meditation/ Morning Prayer

                           9:30 a.m - Household Chores

                         10:30 a.m - Snacks

                         10:45 a.m - Work Time (doing embroidery on any cloth for our benefactor)

                                         - or Study time

                         11:30 a.m -Adoration

                         12:30 - Lunchtime

                           1:00 p.m - Washing of dishes (it depends who were assigned) all the household chores will be changed every week.

                                       - going to school in Pastoral institute on Vocation Ministry, Parañaque City.(during my first year and second year).

                           5:00 p.m - end of class

                           6:00 p.m - Rosary Prayer/ Evening Prayer

                           7:30 p.m - Dinner

                           9:00 p.m - Night Prayer

                           9:30 p.m - Preparation to sleep

TUESDAY:

         Our mass will be in the evening at 7o'clock and the same schedule.

WEDNESDAY:

          The same in monday' schedule but in the afternoon at 2:30 to 5:00 will be our Guitar class.

THURSDAY:

           Whole day class at Don Bosco Center of studies in Parañaque City.(during my 3rd and 4th year)

FRIDAY:

           The same as tuesday.

SATURDAY:

           6:00 - Mass

           7:00 - Breakfast

           8:00 - Meditation

           9:00 - I was assigned by our Mother Superior to help in the Parish for the Medical Mission.

          12:00 - going home and eat lunch.

            1:30 - I was also assigned to have a catechetical class in the squatters area of Parañaque  City.

            5:30 - going home

SUNDAY:

           FREETIME...NO WORK...ALL FUN AND LEISURE

            Those are the life I'm always doing inside the convent. it was so bored because I encountered so many people. The longingness that I felt to my family was being lessen by the hectic activities that I have. But during at night when I'm lying in my bed I cannot afford myself not to cry. I don't know why is it that I always remember them. Maybe because I can't detached myself from them. This is my burden in pursuing the chosen vocation that I want. We have to really detached ourselves from the world in order to follow the footsteps of Christ.

           During my fourth year in the convent, we are asked to make an application letter to our Mo. General for a NOVITIATE. It was the sink in decision. I have to think not only twice,thrice but a million,million times so that in the end I will not regret what I've decided.

           It was the beginning of October when  our Mo. Superior talked to us by pair in every respected place and told us about a vocation campaign that we have to do during semestral break. She told us to go home so that when we came back, we will be accepted as NOVICE, and we can't take anymore any vacation for about 2 years.

         But before the talked with our Mo. Superior, we are already about to finish our HABIT (white dress of a Nun) and our white veil that we will be going to wear during the acceptance and for the whole period of novitiate. Our veil will become black when we profess another vow, to be a junior Sister.

        During that time, I was in a deep confusion because some thought in my mind was that " Am I going to continue what I started?, Am I willing to devout myself entirely to God alone?, and Am I ready for a LIFETIME COMMITMENT that I have decided?. Those are the question that still bothering me. I asked God for enlightenment and for a guidance that whatever would be my decision, it would always be his will.

        So many nights that I can't sleep well because the days is too fast approaching and I need a quicker and immediate decision so that I could start to write a letter to our Mo. General. I asked one Italian Sister for an advice about not to enter into a novitiate stage and to extend my stay as a postulant. She told me that I am overstaying in the postulancy stage and I am matured enough to take another steps in a religious life. By that time, I really don't know what to do because I am thinking that I am irresponsible still to take another responsible and matured task and I can't handle it seriously. I prayed in the church to give me a sign if I really need to pursue on a novitiate stage. A sign is that if our Mo. superior will let us have our vacation, then I will not come back anymore. This sign was already asked before the time that our Mo. Superior informed us to have a vocation campaign in our place. Because of that talked, I have decided that I will not come back anymore in the convent and take a life in the outside world.

         Last week of October that we have our voyage going home. When we arrived there, my family was so surprised for the unexpected arrival. But the doubts had been vanished when I told them that we are just having our vacation for at least two weeks for the vocation campaign. I told to my parents that I was still in doubt to pursue into a novitiate stage. Gladly, they understand my situation. I knew that I disappoint them for having a SISTER or NUN daughter. But, they still have a big heart to understand me. 

        We started our mission to have a vocation campaign in all schools of New Corella and then fortunately we did it successfully. It was about to end our vacation, and I decided not to come back anymore. I told to my parents and they gave their blessings to what I've decided. after that, I called up to our Mo. Superior for the decision I made. She told me to write a letter of request to our Mo. General for the permission to stay outside. And that very day, I wrote a letter with a tears on my face because I felt I was being a foolished child

for having a decision of quitting into a religious life.

        November 14,2005 my companion return to Manila and I was left sad and a little confused. By that time on, I seek a job so that I will not become lonely. I worked in the Refreshment of our place with a salary of 1200 per month for about 2 months. It was that time that I got a boyfriend who's named was Leonardo Limsan Jr. After that my aunt, offer me another work which is to be a saleslady in a store in Nabunturan Comval Province and at the same time I also studied in the Assumption College of Nabunturan during the second semester. I finished my second semester there and stop working because I have to transfer in  University of Southeastern Philippines. I enrolled on that school with the course of Bachelor of Secondary Education major in English. Together with me studying there was my second sister named Genevieve. 

         When we finished our first year, my father got sick. they told us that they cannot longer afford to let us study both. One of us should sacrifice to stop schooling. So, as an older sister I was the one who volunteered to stop. Because of that my cousin who was a working student of St. Mary's College told me if I want to take a try and take an exam. Gladly to say that I passed. After the exam, we have to take a training of 10 days. Even though its hard, I still tried my all best to continue the training. With God's help the training was successfully finished. 

         Unfortunately, I was not chosen to be one of the MIWS (Mother Ignacia Working Student) because of my requirements. I was not able to submit my transcript of record. They told me to wait for the call if I am accepted. Because of that I went to Davao in my aunt house. I applied in Victoria Plaza and worked there for about 3 months, I was laid off. Then, I applied in Gaisano South but I was not able to finish it because I went home. The reason why is that I was fall in love with a wrong person named Marvin. He is not a married man if that's what you think of but theres a deeper reason behind it.

         It was a first love that made me cry always. I really can't accept the reality that we can't be together though we love each other so much. I was the one who give up for that wrong relationship even it tore me to pieces. Though I was a broken hearted, it was being replaced by the birth of my youngest sister, named Mary Gabrielle.

        Life must go on, I went  to Manila to work and to study with the help of my neighbor but I still cannot take away my emotions that I always feel lonely there. I want to be with my sister Gabri and that's the reason why I went home. Marvin and I had still a communication but later on, we  seldom have the communication because we are too far and he don't have a cellphone anymore. I was in Manila for about 6 months and then, I went home. Marvin was totally lost.

        After a months, I and Jojo Ford Robles had an affair through texting. We didn't see each other because I was still in Manila and he was working in Tagum Trade School, for he was a teacher.

        When I went home, my mother was not staying in new Corella anymore because she have to find another way to make our living well and comfortable in Banay- banay Davao Oriental. We plow the fields there and in New Corella so that we can have an additional income. 

        By staying there for about 4 months, I met Najie Lucaberte, a muslim one. I entertained him even though I know that I still have a relationship to Jojo.We seldom saw each other. It was then that I felt no love anymore to Jojo and i decided to break him up. I and Najie known as Arab became lovers. It was a happy one from the start but it doesn't still end up with a good and happy ever after. I still have the doubt to say yes for a long life commitment because of the reason that he is a Muslim.

         June 2010, I was called by Roland Sumagang that I was accepted as a MIWS. I was happy but theres a doubt that I  can't fulfill my duties and obligation as a working and as a student. As of now, I'm still studying here in St. Mary's College, 2nd year with the course of Bachelor of Secondary Education major in  English. 

        Living with the grace of God, I am happy of what I have now. I have already a niece and my youngest sister that makes me completely happy together with the laughter of my family, troubles and fears washed away.

         Sailing the boat, sometimes it sinks and sometimes it floats does not make me worry too much because God is with me who protects and guide.

Reaction of the movie entitled "THE GREAT DEBATER"

Setting

          In Texas in 1935, Wiley College put together a debate team lead by Melvin Tolson. Tolson was a respected professor, but he had Communist political leanings which scared a lot of people. And this being the South in the early part of the 20th century, racism was still rampant. Tolson was determined to put together a terrific debate team; one that could barnstorm the country, including white Universities and showcase the black talent. After finding a foursome to lead the charge, Tolson has to lead them not only to victory in debate, but to victory over the abject racism that surrounds them. Each of the kids has to grow up much faster than they should have and it is only through a strong moral compass, and friendship, that they can survive and go on to lead fruitful lives.

Characters in the movie “The Great Debater”

• Denzel Washington as Melvin B. Tolson
• Forest Whitaker as James L. Farmer, Sr.
• Denzel Whitaker as James L. Farmer, Jr.
• Nate Parker as Henry Lowe
• Jurnee Smollett as Samantha Booke
• Jermaine Williams as Hamilton Burgess
• Gina Ravera as Ruth Tolson
• John Heard as Sheriff Dozier
• Kimberly Elise as Pearl Farmer
• Jackson Walker as Pig farmer
• Justice Leak as Harland Osbourne
• Robert X. Golphin as Dunbar Reed

Plot

There are four people in the college team including, Samantha Booke, the first female in the college debate team and James Farmer, a precocious 14 year-old boy. The team, trained well by Tolson, defeats most of the other debate teams from different colleges and enters into the first debate between U.S students from white colleges and black colleges and the winner is Wiley. Having gained a lot of victories, the team is eventually invited to face Harvard University champions. This final debate is another victory for the Wiley College debate team.

The film beautifully portrays the Jim Crow south of America during the 1930s when the blacks were suffering so much from racism and lynch mobs. There are some moving scenes in the movie like the humiliation of a black doctor, James's father, in front of his family over a dead pig or the scene where a black is lynched by a white mob who set his body afire. Although some people may think that these scenes take the focus off of the debating at times, I think they are essential to the film since they help us understand the characters better and the feelings that go into their debate arguments. Black life is all about segregation and discrimination and the audience have to see that black achievement and victory are not easily obtained.

The Great Debaters shows how the black realized that education was the key to their success. Mr. Farmer, James's father, is the first African-American who manages to get a doctorate degree in Texas. He very much wants his son to follow his path and urges him to study hard. Also this emphasis on education and knowledge is seen in the scenes where Mr. Tolson is giving instructions to the debate team. He tells them that the whites have tried to keep their body, and kill their mind. They want to keep them psychologically dependent so that they can never improve and Tolson tells them that his is "trying to help save their righteous mind."

The issues selected for debating are interesting. Long scenes are allotted to the young debaters expounding on school integration, civil disobedience and other big Issues. Although the speeches are prepared by Tolson, at the end we see the success of the team when they are left on their own to prepare themselves for the debate with Harvard.

Tolson's being endangered by working as a covert labor organizer for local farmers and the team being threatened by lynch mobs remind the audience of the volatile politics of the time, when a black man could be attacked for simply owning a suit and a car. This gives the movie a nice political undertone. The climactic debate at the end of the movie is between the Wiley College and Harvard University. However, based on the real story it should be between Wiley and the University of Southern California. This is done deliberately in order to highlight the great achievement of Wiley debate team.

           Based on a true story, the plot revolves around the efforts of debate coach Melvin B. Tolson at historically black Wiley College to place his team on equal footing with whites in the American South during the 1930s, when Jim Crow laws were common and lynch mobs were a pervasive fear for blacks. In the movie, the Wiley team eventually succeeds to the point where they are able to debate Harvard University.

          The movie also explores the social constructs in Texas during the Great Depression including not only the day-to-day insults and slights African Americans endured, but also a lynching. Also depicted is James L. Farmer, Jr., who, at 14 years old, was on Wiley's debate team after completing high school (and who later went on to co-found C.O.R.E., the Congress of Racial Equality). Another character depicted on the team, Samantha Booke, is based on the real individual Henrietta Bell Wells, the only female member of the 1930 debate team from Wiley College who participated in the first collegiate interracial debate in the United States. Wells also happened to be a major African American poet whose papers are housed at the Library of Congress.

          The key line of dialogue, used several times, is a famous paraphrase of Augustine of Hippo: "An unjust law is no law at all."

          Another major line, repeated in slightly different versions according to context, concerns doing what you "have to do" in order that we "can do" what we "want to do." In all instances, these vital lines are spoken by the James L. Farmer Sr. and James L. Farmer, Jr. characters.

          The film depicts the Wiley Debate team beating Harvard College in the 1930s. This meeting actually never occurred. The debate most likely similar to the one depicted by the movie was the match up between Wiley and the University of Southern California, who at the time were the reigning debating champions. Wiley College did indeed win this match up. According to Robert Eisele: "In that era, there was much at stake when a black college debated any white school, particularly one with the stature of Harvard. We used Harvard to demonstrate the heights they achieved."

         

^Theme

          I think the main theme of the movie is racism between black and white  that is the root of the movie and the power of being heard and the great debate between the blacks and the whites if you read at the end of the movie how all of them went on to become something great i think the main objective is being heard on a different level.

Point of View

           Having the opportunity to see the love and loss, fear and shame, recklessness and determination, brought the characters to life, and in turn gave the film a spirit that transcended time and allowed me to feel like a part of the movie after all.

            In the movie, I can say that it is really educational because you can highly get a moral lesson in it. It is not just for leisure time as you watch it but it has full of insights and you can really poured out all what is in your deepest and inner self.

            I actually don’t understand fully the movie from the very beginning of it but as I keep on watching it, that’s the time that I have a little idea. Though some of their words are not familiar but still it captures my heart.

            The most striking part of the movie for me is when James Farmer Jr. spoke about how the Negro people discriminated by the white one. As he said that “What was this Negro's crime that he should be hung, without trial, in a dark forest filled with fog? Was he a thief? Was he a killer? Or just a Negro? Was he a sharecropper? A preacher? Were his children waiting up for him? And who were we to just lie there and do nothing? No matter what he did, the mob was the criminal. But the law did nothing -- just left us wondering why. My opponent says, "Nothing that erodes the rule of law can be moral." But there is no rule of law in the Jim Crow South, not when Negroes are denied housing, turned away from schools, hospitals -- and not when we are lynched Saint Augustine said, "An unjust law is no law at all," which means I have a right, even a duty, to resist -- with violence or civil disobedience. You should pray I choose the latter.

          That speech of James made me cry though I’m not a Negro because I feel what he feels. He really try to fight for his right that Negro and White American are equal in right, intellect, determination and passion.

            The movie is not really about how this team defeats the national champions. It is more about how its members, its coach, its school and community believe that an education is their best way out of the morass of racism and discrimination. They would find it unthinkable that decades in the future, serious black students would be criticized by jealous contemporaries for "acting white." They are black, proud, single-minded, focused, and they express all this most dramatically in their debating.

            In that movie it is recommendable to watch not only for the adult as well as the younger one because it has really a moral lesson.

      

Reaction on the story entitled "KARMA"

Karma

                                                  Khushwant Singh

                                    "Be yourself and be who you are."

         In the story entitled "Karma", I found it hard to understand it because of some words that is being used which is unfamiliar to me. As what I have understood about it,it's all about the man named Sir Mohan Lai. Sir Mohan Lai is not a person we cannot relate to, because his attitude is very common and really existing to us,especially those person who went abroad. I'm not generalizing it but it is what really happened nowadays.

         Some Filipino people anglicizing English, it seems that they don't understand "Tagalog" or their vernacular language anymore. They pretended that they are good in speaking English language and that they uttered it like a true English man. They become unpatriotic to their own country because they are proud to be called "foreigner".

       As Filipino citizen, we should not forget where we came from because as what our national hero Dr. Jose P. Rizal said that "He who doesn't looked back where he came from will never be successful where he is going to".It is good to know not only our native land and native language because it is our foundation of what we become in the future.

       When I heard the word "Karma" the only thing that came up into my mind is that the bad things that happened to you because of the unpleasant deeds that you did. For me, it is somewhat have a negative impact because it is just like a punishment. If you did good things, you will not received punishment instead a reward. But if you've done any mistakes or failures then, that the time that you will be punished or some would say it "it's your karma".

        It is much better to plant or invest good attitudes and behavior in order for us to gain or reap in the end a good karma. What we did before will reflect of what we become tomorrow. We should not let temptation be a sin. It is better to show goodness to others because at  the end we are still the one who will profit it which we   called it GOOD KARMA.