Artist : Emmy Rossum
Album :
Title : Slow me down
Rushing and racing
and running in circles
Moving so fast, I'm forgetting my purpose
Blur of the traffic is sending me spinning
Getting nowhere
My head and my heart are colliding, chaotic
Pace of the world
I just wish I could stop it
Try to appear like I've got it together
I'm falling apart
Save me
Somebody take my hand, and lead me
Slow me down
Don't let love pass me by
Just show me how
'Cause I'm ready to fall
Slow me down
Don't let me live a lie
Before my life flys by
I need you to slow me down
Sometimes I fear that I might dissapear
In the blur of fast forward I faulter again
Forgetting to breathe, I need to sleep
I'm getting nowhere
All that I've missed I see in the reflection
Passed me while I wasn't paying attention
Tired of rushing, racing and running
I'm falling apart
Tell me
Oh won't you take my hand and lead me
Slow me down
Don't let love pass me by
Just show me how
'Cause I'm ready to fall
Slow me down
Don't let me live a lie
Before my life flys by
I need you to slow me down
Just show me
Monday, July 28, 2008
UPCAT!!!
12 reminders to UPCAT takers
On Aug. 2-3, around 70,000 students will take the University of the Philippines College Admission Test (UPCAT).
Of the country’s premier universities that include Ateneo de Manila University and De La Salle University, the UP is reputedly the most difficult to get into because of the large number of students taking the UPCAT.
Here are some tips to students that may help them pass the UPCAT:
1. Prepare not only mentally but physically and psychologically. Always think that you can do it.
2. Go to the restroom before the test starts so you do not waste time during the test.
3. Check your seat as soon as you arrive. If you are left-handed, ask for a chair fit for a left-handed person. Ask for a change of seats if water is dripping on your head, the air-con is directly facing you, the sun is in your eyes or whatever else makes you uncomfortable.
4. Scratch paper will be provided. If you write extra big letters, you may need more scratch papers. Ask the proctor for more immediately.
5. Read the directions carefully.
6. Look over the exam and plan your strategy for answering it. Budget your time. For example, if a sub-test has 60 items and you are given 70 minutes to finish it, allot 60 minutes for answering and 10 minutes for checking and reviewing. See to it that you are answering one item per minute. If you are too fast, like three items per minute, you may be answering incorrectly.
7. All items have equal points even if others are harder to answer. Answer first the questions you think you know very well. Mark on your answer sheet the items you did not answer, but be sure to get back to them and erase the mark after you have answered.
8. Make intelligent guesses for questions you really do not know. Eliminate ridiculous choices.
9. If in the middle of the test you feel tired or sleepy, stand up and stretch.
10. Tests are not perfect. Do not waste your time pointing out to the proctor items you think have some kind of error.
11. Many proctors make unnecessary noises. Try to ignore them as much as possible.
12. Do not leave until the proctor says you can, even if half the group has already left. Use the extra time to review your answers. Rossana Llenado, Contributor
UPCAT Q & A
• Who may take the University of the Philippines College Admission Test (UPCAT)?
All applicants for admission to UP who are high school seniors expecting to graduate at the end of school year 2008-2009 or are high school graduates who have not enrolled or are not currently enrolled in any school and have not taken the UPCAT before.
• Can students who did not graduate from regular high school but have passed the Philippine Educational Placement Test (PEPT) for college admission take the UPCAT?
Yes, graduates of DepEd-accredited schools and those who have been declared eligible for college admission after passing the PEPT are eligible to take the UPCAT as long as they have gone through the application process.
• How much does it cost to take the UPCAT?
The UPCAT application fee, which is nonrefundable by the way, is P450 for Filipinos with annual gross family income of more than P100,000 and resident foreign applicants studying in the Philippines.
• Are there exemptions to this fee?
Yes, you don’t have to pay it if your family’s annual gross income is P100,000 or less (present 2007 ITRs of earning members of the family or BIR Certification of Exemption). If you’re among the top 10 graduates of your high school or among the top 10 students graduating at the end of SY 2007-2008, you also don’t have to pay the fee. Ask your high school principal to certify this.
• What should my high school grade be to qualify to take the UPCAT?
There is NO minimum high school grade requirement in taking the UPCAT.
• How long is the UPCAT?
It is a five-hour test, so bring something to eat and drink.
• Is the UPCAT in English?
It uses both English and Filipino.
• What is the UPCAT designed to measure?
The UPCAT is supposed to measure English proficiency and reading comprehension through the Verbal Test (VT) and knowledge in mathematics and science through the Quantitative Test (QT).
• When is the UPCAT this year?
You either take it on Saturday, Aug. 2, or Sunday, Aug. 3, at the UP campus designated in your permit.
• If I fail the UPCAT, can I take it again?
Sorry, the UPCAT is a make-or-break test. It can be taken only once.
Ito, pabasa ninyo sa nanay at tatay ninyo:
The UPCAT: 15 ways parents can help
Every year for the past 13 years, I have been speaking to parents to help them understand what their children go through in preparation for the UPCAT and other entrance exams, giving them advice on what they can do to help kids perform well.
The college entrance exam may be the most important test a person will take. The bar or board exams may be taken again if one fails, but UPCAT or the entrance tests of the other top universities can only be taken once.
Some parents think that a child who studied in a top school from pre-school to high school will automatically be admitted to its college. Wrong. Sometimes, only 60 percent of a school’s graduating class get into the college.
Top schools accept only the best in the whole country regardless of which high school they come from. The selection is based in large part on the entrance exam.
Parents who prioritize education provide ample guidance to their children in preparing for the entrance exams. The results of these exams will more or less determine the road their children will take.
Family support is very important. Show your child that the exam is important to the entire family so it will become important to him/her as well.
What can parents do?
The power of prayer is truly amazing so lead the family in a prayer for patience, concentration, and determination.
Prioritize college entrance tests over other activities. The college entrance exam can only be taken once.
Visit the venue with your child before the exam. Determine the best route to the building, but find alternate routes as well. Locate the comfort room nearest your child’s exam room.
On the eve of the exam:
• Make sure your child is well-rested and gets eight hours of sleep. Avoid activities that will tire him/her. Do not let the child sleep too early or too late. Lack of sleep ruins concentration while too much sleep can make him/her groggy.
• Let the child prepare his/her things—shoes, clothes, bag—for the next day. Girls with long hair should tie their hair during the exam. Long, flowing sleeves may get in the way. Dangling earrings, bulky bracelets and long nails may pose a problem during the test.
• Do not let the child study some more at least 24 hours before the exam. It is a mistake to push children to study until the very last minute before the exam.
• Watch out for weather bulletins, especially typhoon announcements; floods, transport strikes, political unrest and other unforeseen events. The UPCAT will not be cancelled even for storm signal No. 3, so you must have a back-up plan for getting the child to the exam venue.
• Make your child eat and drink wisely before and on the day of the exam. Do not give anything that might cause allergy or indigestion.
On the day of the exam:
• A quick shower will refresh your child’s mind and make him/her feel energized.
• Make sure the child has a good breakfast.
• Make sure he/she has at least six pencils with erasers, a small ruler, the test permit, ID, jacket, fan, snacks and drinks (if allowed), and an analog wristwatch.
The extra pencils are to make sure he/she has a spare when one breaks or when his/her best friend needs one.
The ruler will ensure that the child is answering the correct number. Halfway into the exam, his/her eyes may be too tired that he/she may overlook some questions.
Without the test permit and ID the child will not be able to take the exam.
The jacket will come in handy if the room is too cold. Make sure the jacket opens at the front so it can easily be taken on and off as needed. The fan may be useful if the room is hot.
Snacks and drinks must be easy to handle—nothing sticky, wet, big or noisy. Heavy stuff is also not advisable. Sandwich and juice may be sufficient though water and gum should be best.
Make sure the child wears an analog wristwatch to keep track of time. A digital watch may have a calculator function and will not be allowed.
• Advise your child to wear his/her most comfortable outfit. New clothes or shoes that have not been “broken in” should be avoided. The child may not be able to move freely in new clothes or shoes, thus affecting his/her test-taking.
• Make sure the child is at the venue 30 minutes before the exam. Being too early might cause anxiety while less time might make him/her panicky.
• Psyche the child up! Tell him/her to do the best that he/she can. But assure him/her that you will always support and love him/her no matter what the results of the exams are.
• Try to be with your child on the day of the exam. Many parents will be there waiting. It may affect your child psychologically if he/she thinks he/she is the only one whose parents are not there.
(The author is a recipient of the Working Mom Award and other honors from local and international organizations. She was recently named one of the Philippines’ 75 most admired persons. These tips are part of the three-to four-hour seminar Ahead Tutorial & Review conducts for parents.)
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Heto mula sa http://oyiejavelosa.multiply.com/journal/item/11:
Napakalapit na po ng UPCAT, mga kapwa 4th year. Isang linggo nalang po ang naliliban bago natin kunin ang most important test of our pre-college lives. Para dun sa mga mag-eexam nga next week, i'm posting some tips and notes about the UPCAT that we should all be aware of.
*note: nakita ko ang tips na ito sa superhelios (http://superhelios.com).*
1. Kung hindi niyo alam ang sagot, LEAVE THE ITEM BLANK. Please lang, huwag kayong tumulad sa akin na kahit 50-50 pa rin ang pakiramdam sa tanong eh pinipilitan sagutan. Basta if you are 70% or up sure, go! Effective ito, dahil yung friend ko kalahati lang ng Reading Comprehension ang nasagutan pero 90% ang grade niya dito.
2. Kung feel manghula, B or C lang ang isagot. Huwag letter A kasi bihira talaga ang A na sagot. PERE please, huwag na lang kayo manghula. :) Hehe, mas nababawasan yung chances niyo pumasa kapag nanghuhula.
3. Kung UP Los Baños na ang second choice niyo, huwag na mangamba pa. You’re 50% in sa UP, especially kung Avo-Darwin ang section. Malaki ang chances lalo na kung nag-rarange sa 89 pataas ang GWA niyo from 1st year to 3rd year. Promise!
4. Kapag minani niyo yungang dalawang subtest, lalo na ang Math and English… 50% in ka na rin sa UP.
5. Magdala ng chocolate. Food for the brain yan. :)
6. Magdala ng water. Pero wag masyado uminom. Baka mag-CR ka niyan ng madalas. Sayang yun sa oras.
7. Bring at least 4 pencils. One for each subtest. Siguradong pudpod ang pencil mo after one subtest.
8. Magdala ng eraser. Huwag humiram sa katabi. Maabala siya. Hehe.ü
9. Believe! Ikaw lang ang makaka-assure sa sarili mo na magagawa mo at kaya mong lagpasan ang UPCAT.
10. Pray. Do your best and He will do the rest.ü
Other tips I found were these...
- Gumamit ng No.2 Mongol for kids pencil. Mas mabilis kayong makakapagsagot kasi ubod ng laki ung pencil.
- Be at the designated testing area an hour before the test para hindi kayo masyado ma-stress pag nakita nyo na yung test mismo.
Eto naman yung iba pang mga bagay-bagay na kailangan natin malaman..
*note: galing din po ito sa superhelios (http://superhelios.com) kaso comment lang sya ng isang nagngangalang "Ziella"...Ate, kung sino ka man, maraming salamat po!*
- English:
-walang vocab
-sentence completion
-chronological arrangement
-identifying errors
-comic strip
-grammar - Math:
-Algebra (marami ito!)
-Trigo (konti lang ‘yan!) - Science:
-Chem (lalo na yung mga inaral niyo nung third yr!)
-Physics (5-6 questions lang yan. super dali lang for you. newton’s law lang!)
-NatSci (basic lang ito pramis!)
-EarthSci (more one landforms, rocks, tectonic plates, earthquakes)
-Bio (systems ng katawan) - Reading Comprehension:
-magbasa lang kayo ng books mga two weeks before exam para mahasa kayo magbasa ng mabilis!ü wag na kayo mag-review kapag malapit na exam. orasan niyo sarili niyo. dapat mga 2-3 pages mga 5 minutes niyo lang babasahin.
And there you have it! Sana po may mga natutunan kayo! Kung meron pa po kayong ibang nalalaman na importanteng mga bagay-bagay, paki comment nalang po sa post na ito.
Let's pray din po para sa ating mga kaibigan and of course ating mga sarili na ibigay sa ating ng Diyos ang ating munting pangarap na makapasok sa Unibersidad ng Pilipinas.
[added 16 June 2007]
Ok so nakapasa ako. Sa kasalukuyan ako'y freshie ng UP under the BA Political Science program. I'd like to add a few things:
- I took 5 college entrance exams last year dahil sa takot na hindi pumasa sa U.P.. I suggest mag take kayo ng 3-5 exams din just to broaden your choices. 3 would be ideal, 5 would be overkill [one i just did! haha! :D].
- Of the 5 exams i took, the UPCAT ranked 3rd na pinakamahirap [hardest to easiest: DLSUCET, ACET, UPCAT, UA&P CET, USTET]. Feeling nyo lang mahirap kasi may tremendous stress and anxiety itong kadikit. Di ganun kahirap ang UPCAT, pero kamon, 60000++ kayong kukuha nyan! Pagalingan talaga!
- Read the comments below, madami akong sinagot na tanong dyan.
- Bring a light, waterproof jacket or windbreaker. Nung nagUPCAT ako umuulan e. Chances are uulan din during UPCAT season kaya magdala kayo ng jacket na pwede nyo ding itago pag hindi kelangan. Posible ding mapunta kayo sa isang airconditioned room [thats what happened to me], kaya it's good to be ready dahil sobrang lamig dun [i wasn't ready..ehehehe].
- Basahing maigi ang accompanying papers ng UPCAT form. Malaking problema pag may namiss kayong deadline or something. A couple of my friends did kaya di sila nakapagUPCAT.
- Magpass ng Form ng maaga. Siksikan yan sa deadline.
- Makipagdaldalan sa katabi bago magsimula ang exam. nakakareduce ito ng stress.
- Ipaaccomplish kaagad sa school registrar yung isa pang form. Sa dami ng applicants , ilang araw bago mo yun makuha kaya ipafillup kagad.
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
Poem Reversioning... It struck me in a different light
We are not Two People
(Inspired by Muriel Rukeyser's Effort at Speech between Two People)
by Myself
He will not speak to you. Your hand in midair
Hanging still. Purple-cold as blood grew tired
To flow. While he drools over the death of
A rabbit.
Laugh at the girl who went under a chair.
Unbelievably, she is turning three.
He is very happy.
Did you ever think of those white sails, sister?
Count the years back, until the day before
You walked the Earth, they were there, sky high.
No embracing arms, but your own woman.
He lives there, happy. His own man.
He will not speak to you. Your purple-cold
Hand chips off away. He stamped his feet
Went off and left: what should have happened when
You were nine. No auditory nerves on
A black painted sound producing woodwork.
Every hour, minute second clicks away.
They call it time. It does not stop for tears.
Love lamps in evening corners, they are light
Amidst fear in the lives of all. Like his.
Keep closed, reserved. Saves power to shine more:
A quiet poem, but speaks. You are the lamp.
Hello. This is me. Grow to know me.
I would be watching the sunset then if
I happened to be by the window, even;
I am not alert: I wanted to watch
That vision. Through your eyes, through your soul.
I will be unhappy, if upon leaping
The clouds, the light, the redness of the horizon
Grey, black, dark, under the ground
I would scramble to my feet:
Grow to know me!
I loved. I wanted you to know me.
Sister, what are you now?
Searching for him in the crowded street?
He was surfing by the waves, like a child
Frolicking in the sands.
I was there, no ignition.
So everyone, silent, moving…
I took your purple-cold fingers from the ground.
I followed you. Here, take it.
I am here, in the mirror.
Speak to me.
Rainier Maria Rilke on Nothingness
Orpheus, Eurydice, Hermes
Rainier Maria Rilke
That was the strange mine of souls.
As secret ores of silver they passed
like veins through its darkness. Between the roots
blood welled, flowing onwards to Mankind,
and it looked as hard as Porphyry in the darkness.
Otherwise nothing was red.
There were cliffs
and straggling woods. Bridges over voids,
and that great grey blind lake,
that hung above its distant floor
like a rain-filled sky above a landscape.
And between meadows, soft and full of patience,
one path, a pale strip, appeared,
passing by like a long bleached thing.
And down this path they came.
In front the slim man in the blue mantle,
mute and impatient, gazing before him.
His steps ate up the path in huge bites
without chewing: his hands hung,
clumsy and tight, from the falling folds,
and no longer aware of the weightless lyre,
grown into his left side,
like a rose-graft on an olive branch.
And his senses were as if divided:
while his sight ran ahead like a dog,
turned back, came and went again and again,
and waited at the next turn, positioned there –
his hearing was left behind like a scent.
Sometimes it seemed to him as if it reached
as far as the going of those other two,
who ought to be following this complete ascent.
Then once more it was only the repeated sound of his climb
and the breeze in his mantle behind him.
But he told himself that they were still coming:
said it aloud and heard it die away.
They were still coming, but they were two
fearfully light in their passage. If only he might
turn once more ( if looking back
were not the ruin of all his work,
that first had to be accomplished), then he must see them,
the quiet pair, mutely following him:
the god of errands and far messages,
the travelling-hood above his shining eyes,
the slender wand held out before his body,
the beating wings at his ankle joints;
and on his left hand, as entrusted: her.
The so-beloved, that out of one lyre
more grief came than from all grieving women:
so that a world of grief arose, in which
all things were there once more: forest and valley,
and road and village, field and stream and creature:
and that around this grief-world, just as
around the other earth, a sun
and a silent star-filled heaven turned,
a grief-heaven with distorted stars –
she was so-loved.
But she went at that god’s left hand,
her steps confined by the long grave-cloths,
uncertain, gentle, and without impatience.
She was in herself, like a woman near term,
and did not think of the man, going on ahead,
or the path, climbing upwards towards life.
She was in herself. And her being-dead
filled her with abundance.
As a fruit with sweetness and darkness,
so she was full with her vast death,
that was so new, she comprehended nothing.
She was in a new virginity
and untouchable: her sex was closed
like a young flower at twilight,
and her hands had been weaned so far
from marriage that even the slight god’s
endlessly gentle touch, as he led,
hurt her like too great an intimacy.
She was no longer that blonde woman,
sometimes touched on in the poet’s songs,
no longer the wide bed’s scent and island,
and that man’s possession no longer.
She was already loosened like long hair,
given out like fallen rain,
shared out like a hundredfold supply.
She was already root.
And when suddenly
the god stopped her and, with anguish in his cry,
uttered the words: ‘He has turned round’ –
she comprehended nothing and said softly: ‘Who?’
But far off, darkly before the bright exit,
stood someone or other, whose features
were unrecognisable. Who stood and saw
how on the strip of path between meadows,
with mournful look, the god of messages
turned, silently, to follow the figure
already walking back by that same path,
her steps confined by the long grave-cloths,
uncertain, gentle, and without impatience.
(I cant find a copy of a better translation.)
blank
Not wanting to talk to anyone; not finding a connection with anybody; not seeing anyone who can understand how you really feel.
Lahat ng bagay corny. Lahat ng tao ayaw mo makita.
All faces I can recognize, but I believe them to be still unfamiliar.
I am alone. So getting used to be alone, I ve grown to actually disdain any attempt to intrusion.
Enjoying the dryness of the room, and the indifference of his eyes, I urge myself to look away and force my mind to be blank.
Feeling the loss of a will to live.
Nothingness: my new way of life.
(Saw him today.)
Sunday, July 6, 2008
St Scho Faculty retreat and St Scho West Grove Visit
2-4 June 2008
St. Scholastica's Center for Spirituality, Tagaytay
One Lesson learned: give time to meditate and let your thoughts flourish...
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