Final Destination: My English Experience

English, one of my favorite subjects, so broad and never ending. It has been one of the best English experiences I've ever had. Always doing something and learning so many things. 

I like the fact that we never seem to lack activities. It makes us more hands on and more eager to learn. Our English teachers as well are not just pretty women but also efficient teachers. They have done their job well and also made some of my classmates more confident in speaking English.

English has always been a passion of mine and I think this school year I found another because of it, Blogging. I found that writing, no matter if no one or everyone is reading, is a passion of mine. This experience made me see another part of myself that I can share to the world. Thanks for that.

Not only that but through English, I feel like I got to know more of my classmates. Their way of writing stories, their ideas, and the weird things that go through their minds. It has been an honor to be with them throughout this English Experience. 

Every English time was filled with laughter and jokes, sometimes anger because of some people, but it has never been dull at all. A lot of considerations were made and I thank you for that. There are two more things left to do for our English class and that is post to post this and have our last speech for the class. 

It's not the end at all, there's still next year, but don't ever forget what you've learned this year because it would help a lot next year. Start speaking in English to practice yourselves for the LCCI exams, yes, there are more exams. 

Thank you to our teachers who were patient enough to teach this weird batch and I'm thankful to have been part of this experience. 

And this is a moment that I will cherish forever.

3rd Destination: Antigone by Sophocles

This story is the last of the Oedipus series by Sophocles. The series starts with Oedipus the King or as we know it in class "Oedipus Rex". There we find out about the prophecy that Oedipus will marry his mother and kill his father, and the prophecy came true. Next in the series is Oedipus at Colonus. Colonus is a place in Athens where he lived when he was banished from Thebes by his son, Polyneices, because of his sins. Anyway, the story ends in him bringing his daughters, Antigone and Ismene, away from Thebes. And now we start the story of Antigone.

Antigone found out about a prophecy that her brothers will kill each other. Naturally, Antigone and her sister wanted to stop the prophecy from happening, so they set off to a journey back to Thebes. But they were too late. As they arrived, they found out that their brothers have already perished. She found out that Eteocles, her brother, got a proper burial and Polyneices, also her brother, wasn't allowed to be buried because he was considered a traitor.

Creon, her uncle, has declared that anyone who even attempts to bury Polyneices will be stoned to death. Antigone, however, felt she needed to bury her brother and so she tried, at least attempted to. Creon found out about her plan and he was furious. He declared death to Antigone and Ismene.

Haemon, Antigone's betrothed and Creon's son, convinced his father otherwise. And so, Creon released Ismene from her supposed-to-be uncanny death and he threw Antigone to a tomb or as we call it, "prison cell", to starve to death. The blind prophet, Tiresias, warned Creon that the gods disapproved of him leaving Polyneices unburied and that he will be punished with the death of his own son. Creon reconsiders and decides to bury Polyneices and free Antigone.

But he was far too late. Antigone has hanged herself and Haemon hearing the news of her death, killed himself. And upon hearing the news of her son's death, Eurydice, the queen, kills herself cursing her husband, Creon.

Creon feeling alone and at fault for all that happened prayed for a quick death. The End.


And that is the tragic story of Antigone and her messed up family.

2nd Destination: Highlights of year 2015

Hello 2016, Goodbye 2015. Since I'm starting a new chapter, I want to share my most favorite parts in the last one.

I'm pretty much a very boring person, some of the highlights of my year isn't about going to beautiful places or eating exotic food. It's pretty much all the little things that happen at home. The highlights of my year are the compilations of little things that happened.

Dressing up in pretty dresses to having my first dance during Prom last year. It was one of the most memorable days because we all cried 'cause we thought Kyla was migrating to Canada. It was horrible. Imagine girls wearing makeup and crying- yes, a big mess. I also danced with my longtime crush *blush blush* but 2015 was also the year I moved on from him, but it happened like months after. One of the highlights of that night was dancing with my cousin, it was purely awesome. We ended that night with pictures and of course, wearing pretty clothes, we felt like we were high class models.

Next, our moving up day. I cried that day, 'cause my grades dropped drastically. I realized how much a distraction my friends were, and ever since then I never let my friends go before my grades. Grades are like Gucci to me, you have to really work hard for it 'cause it's so expensive. But after all that was my sister's graduation. We had trouble finding the perfect dress but in the end all the trouble was worth it, she looked pretty okay. Seeing her go up the stage and get her diploma was something I never expected, just kidding, I mean she is my sister.

Then summer came, nothing really happened. After those long boring months, I had to make a decision. To stay or to change schools, that is the question. Well, I guess you know what I chose. I don't regret my decision at all. I'm pretty sure by now that this is going to be a really long post.

School time! I met the most amazing people ever. Guess who? Since I already know most of my classmates and there are only two new students, basically it's M&M. My Justice League buddies, The guys I hang out with when Danielle is too busy for me. Basically she's the social butterfly, I'm the one who gets dragged in her social ways. But I love her and I don't know why. Well pretty much I will never forget the day I was crowned queen in my class, in other words I'm the president. I became a director for our play, Gulliver's Travel, which wasn't easy I really wanted to not do it but in the end it was worth it. It wasn't perfect but it was still pretty awesome. Being separated from my other best friend is hard but distance only made us realize that our friendship is stronger than we thought.

One of the best things was that my baby sister started mumbling, not full on words but it was still a moment to be proud of. Now, she's singing the ABC and still not speaking 'real' words but she'll get to that somehow. 2015 is basically the year where I started to come out of my shell and it's thanks to the people who surrounded me and helped me. So far so great I'd like to say. I just wonder what amazing things will happen this year. Thank you 2015, 2016 don't disappoint me. :)

*I just realized how much of a life I don't have*

Side Track: Plot Techniques

Plot Twist - This device refers to an unexpected turn of events in a story. An example would be Psycho.

Psycho is an american psychological thriller-horror based on the 1959 novel of the same name by Robert Bloch. Basically, there's a mother and son running a motel,  Bates Motel. Things were going normal until a phoenix secretary Marion Crane, on the lam after stealing $40,000 from her employer, stops for the night at the ramshackle Bates Motel and meets the polite but highly strung proprietor Norman Bates. After Norman fixes her a light dinner, Marion goes back to her room for a shower... THEN a female figure comes out of nowhere while she was in the shower and stabs her to death with a butcher knife. Norman appears after the attacker fled and cleaned up the mess. After that Marion's sister found out about the place and set out an investigation. The detective went to the place and as he reached the top of the stairs, a figure suddenly appears and kills him.

PLOT TWIST - When they didn't hear from the detective, they went to the house and found that Norman's mother has been dead for 10 years. They figured out the it was Norman Bates dressed as his mother that killed Marion.

Red Herring- This device refers to details that mislead the audience such that they follow the wrong track. An example would be the Da Vinci Code.

The character "Bishop Aringarosa" in Dan Brown's novel Da Vinci Code serves as an example. The character is presented in a way that the audience would think he is the mastermind of the whole conspiracy in the church. Later in the novel it was revealed that he was innocent. Interestingly, the Italian surname of the bishop "Aringarosa" translates in English as "red herring".

First Destination: The Luck of the Roaring Camp

Reality strikes.

      In the Roaring Camp in California, there was a woman who was giving birth, Cherokee Sal. Being the only woman in the camp, the men had no idea what to do. The men let Stumpy help Sal because "he's had experience in them things" . After awhile, all the men heard a cry and everyone went silent. Anyway to cut the story short, Stumpy took care of the baby. Kentuck who was not one to be soft started to grow a soft spot for the baby and Oakhurst named him, Tommy Luck. They believed that Tommy was giving them luck as things were improving in the camp. But even their camp was prone to disasters. A flash flood strikes the camp. They found Stumpy dead with no signs of the baby. They found Kentuck barely breathing with Luck who has died. It ends with Kentuck saying, "he's a taking me with him,- tell the boys I've got Luck with me now".

Bret Harte, the author of the story, was an american author and a poet. He writes stories with him having some experience in the situation as it happens in "The Luck of the Roaring Camp". As he moved to California, he has taken up a lotof jobs; a miner, teacher, messenger and journalist. The story somehow reflects on his life. No one would expect a miner would become an author, right?

It seems he added a lot of realism to this story. Starting from Cherokee Sal, who was the only woman in the camp and how she was described as a "coarse, and, it is to be feared, a very sinful woman". Also the fact that the men had no idea on what to do when she was giving birth. Generally, men don't know things about birth or babies. As the baby was born, they made Luck the reason for their refinement. In this part, I think Harte wanted us to realize that even men, who doesn't really have any knowledge on those kind of things, can change to be more suitable for a baby's environment. The end left me with an odd thought. Why did they die?

I think what Harte wanted us to realize is stereotypes aren't always stereotypes. As miners being rough and tough, you would never imagine them to grow and become better for a single child. They are just human and they have much respect for a child who can continue their legacy but unfortunately he died. The last part where Kentuck said "I've got Luck with me now", is what stuck with me. It's like he is saying "I've done my job" or "I'm now at peace". Luck showed Kentuck what he was missing because even rough and tough men need something as fragile as a child to teach them that their life wasn't complete until he came along.

That is the reality that most of us don't realize. We think too much of how a person looks we forget that they are just like us. Stumpy showed us that even men can raise children. Kentuck showed us that no matter how rough and tough he is, he would do anything such as cleaning himself up to hold Luck or try to save Luck, he is still human. Luck showed us that even as a baby, a child, his life changed others. In Harte's case, people expected he do this and that and they loved him for it but when he strayed away from this and that, he didn't get what he deserved.

Well, this is just how I see it. I neither love it nor hate it. It's very interesting in a way that you wouldn't get it in the first read. But it does show a lot of realism that connects to the reality we are all in now. 

“People reject what they do not understand because it makes them feel small. They would rather believe in some other reality, even if it is only an illusion, so long as it makes them feel bigger.” 
― Suzy Kassem, Rise Up and Salute the Sun: The Writings of Suzy Kassem