Reflective Essay

     When our class adviser, Mrs. Boniao told us that we are going to do blogging for the Fourth and Last Grading, it was kind of mixed emotions because I totally have no idea what blogging is, I just heard of it but I never tried making one. I think its part of social networking so I think I’m going to do well about this because I really like social networking and I often spend most of my time exploring the Web.

    During encoding our written outputs, I was like checking every single word and phrases because I don’t want any mistakes and I wanted to make my blog nice and clear.  As I was touring Blogger, it was really cool having a look on its features, layouts and etc. You can design your blog according to your style and whatever you like. So after that, I was so excited making blog because I just read on the web that using a blog helps learners improve their writing competencies, it also captures changes in thinking, and it encourages people to continuously try things out. I can also be able to express myself through my writings and I’m ready to let the world see my own abilities.

     Having done my blog was a total relief because all the effort, the hard work that I’ve gone through and all the late nights that I spent making the blog was worth it. Wew! Exhaustion has even worth doing because I’m finally done.  Even though my blog was just simple, but still I’m happy with my work and I hope that everyone would like it.

     I was really grateful because Mrs. Boniao let us make this wonderful publishing service that would make the world hear our voices and all thanks to her for helping us in everything.

~ A blog is in many ways a continuing conversation ~

Andrew Sullivan

What Christmas Means To Me

     Christmas Day is fast approaching; we all can already feel the essence of Christmas in the beginning of the month of December. I guess most of us love Christmas most among all the celebrations of every year. I celebrate Christmas with my family and relatives but what really is Christmas? What does it mean for us individually? 

     I really love Christmas time, I always wish that everyday would be Christmas and the month of December is my favorite month because for me, it's the most joyful month of the year. We always go hang around together with my family. Gifts, foods, and parties are the stars of Christmas. For others, without those, Christmas wouldn't be complete. I always think it's not always having foods and partying for Christmas, as long as we are with our dearly family and we are guided by God, Christmas would never be happier. The true essence of Christmas is on how we could share God's blessings, it is by giving and loving each other, we can show to others peace and show them that we care. It is not just for us but for everyone to achieve. Helping hand is an important thing for us, especially now that we're having trouble about the economy and problems of nature. Loving our own self is being selfish because we all need to love each other even though we all don't have the same standards on this world, we're in different country, different nationality and different beliefs but we're all created by God. We'll always have to remember that God loves us and He'll do anything for us because He cares for us and He loves us so much.  

Leading Change Step by Step

     There are probably a lot of things that most individual want to change. Some of us need it, some just want it for the better and some don’t want to change anything. There are some aspects in this world that change, that’s why people also change. But, does either of us need change? Or do we forcedly change things to make a difference?

      I, as well as most of the people, am great to have things that I already have. But we are still not contented. So, change comes into our minds and we find ways to change the inappropriate things that we think it’s not good for ourselves. Specially, I want to change my bad traits. My bad traits and attitude are the things that block me for my achievements and I want changes because I want to be a better person so I can live and enjoy life to the fullest.

   One person can make a difference in someone else’s life. There are many people that made a huge difference in my life. If someone changes your entire life of how you look on it, you can definitely prove the power of one. I think someone that can be involved in one person’s life is as important as someone who can change the lives of millions.

     Change is never been easy but always worthwhile. Yet, things change and people change. One person may not be able to do all the work that can change the nation, but one person has the power to inspire others to help each other change the nation. One can set an example to other people; it may affect other situations or other’s life. It can bring peace and unity to all the people and have a better life they could ever have.

     Have you ever want change in this world? I do. We all need to change the world to be better and now’s the right time to start change. Change is not always easy, but with patience, we can find good in change. We just need to make the right choices and the right changes. There are too much problems in the world today. This affects us people. We’re the beginning of some of these problems. We can solve it together. Hand in hand we can change the world to be a better place.

     It’s funny how fast things seem to change. We changed the way we look at things and the things we looked at change. Time and experience allow change to eventually correct everything from the way it originally was. Change eventually start from ourselves, to those around us, to the way in which we notice the world changes everything.

                            

Thank You M'am

                                              

     The story entitled “Thank You Ma’am” is truly an interesting and affecting story. It deals with some situations that can influence people. It expresses different emotions and moral lessons in every case. It gives us a glimpse of Langston Hughes’ short story about what happens when a youth named Roger tries to steal a large woman’s purse named Mrs. Luella Bates Washington Jones. The story indicates that the woman catches the boy, and then she takes him home, cleanses him up, gives him some advice, and sets him in the right direction, having a lasting effect on the boy. The theme of the story may be about some children that are in poor homes and are miserable, they feel being ignored, neglected and only needs someone who cares for them. The story tells about Roger who looks very dirty, he comes from a poor family and needs to steal to get what he wants. I learn that there is no one home who can take care of him. Then there is Mrs. Luella Bates Washington Jones who takes Roger home and makes sure he is clean, fed and has money to buy the shoes he really want, but can't afford. This shows that Mrs. Jones is generous and kind-hearted even though she’s poor, she still gave the boy money to buy a blue suede shoes. Instead of turning him in to the police, she takes him home and gives him some care and attention. I believe the story is about admiring the strong woman because she cares for anyone and everyone. Her aim probably is to teach the boy a thing about life and how to behave. She does everything good just to get the boy on the right track and leaves the rest to him. We never really get to know what the characters are thinking. Only the narrator knows where the story is going. There is a time when Mrs. Luella Bates Washington Jones walks behind a screen and leaves Roger alone with her purse. “But the boy took care to sit on the far side of the room, away from the purse, where he thought she could easily see him out of the corner of her if she wanted to. He did not trust the woman not to trust him. And he did not want to be mistrusted now.” Here we learn his thoughts, but not the emotions behind them. So even though we know what he is thinking, we don't know how he feels. 
     One of the obvious ones is the shoes Roger wants. They are blue suede shoes; they certainly aren't in fashion today. Also the language is somewhat old fashioned. The way the characters speak is a clue too, not just to the time, but also the place. Mrs. Luella Bates Washington Jones says “You a lie!” to Roger and means that he's a liar. If the story was from today or sometime close to today she wouldn't speak like that, neither would she speak like that if she was wealthy. As I've said before I think Mrs. Luella Bates Washington Jones is a symbol of strong women, and that the story is a thank you to all of them. A thank you ma'am to every woman who gives their time to care for others. I think that is what the story is, a big thank you to women like Mrs. Luella Bates Washington Jones. 
     I think that it’s still a good choice for me to read this story because some situations are relevant to our present-day and inspires me but some cases are not into reality. Despite all the fancy situations, I still like and admire the story that Langston Hughes’ wrote. All I know is that the story talks about trust and the lesson is: A person who trusts no one can't be trusted.

                                

My Teacher, My Hero

     Heroes are not like real superheroes, people who could fly, who could hold a car using their forefinger, not even fighting villains for saving the world. Then… what is a hero? When talking about heroes, they’re the one who strengthen you, the one who are at your side whenever you’re down because they are there to lift you up.

    

     Your hero can be your mom, dad, brother, sister, friend or it can be your teacher. Well, a teacher for me is most likely a hero because they do lots of things just to do their works. A teacher is similar to a hero for some reasons. The quality that I like most about my teacher is that she still keeps on smiling at the end of the day even if she’s very tired. She did it just to remind us that she’s strong and she just laugh on her problems and never gives up to God’s challenges. My teacher affects my life and inspires me a lot. I learned many great words. I do not remember what they all were; but I do know that mother, father, brother, teacher were among them—words that were to make the world blossom for me.

     The qualities of a teacher as a hero are; a teacher must be responsible in doing all things. She needs to do what’s right and she must be God fearing. My teacher is my hero because she’s not perfect but she tries to do the best for everyone and I owe her one. She’s one of the reasons why I keep holding my dreams and that I’ll keep wanting to get the excellence.

Our Values Today

     When we talk about values, it explains about important beliefs or ideals shared by the members of a culture and family about what is good or desirable and what is not.

  

     It seems like our values today has disappeared and all are gone. We didn't keep all the values from the past and develop it to improve ourselves. These values exert much influences on the behavior of an individual and serves as guide in all situations. As I see, there are still values in the past that are still being practiced today which are the values of our parents and grandparents time. Well, I guess not all have these values maybe because they lack guidance from their guardians and are influenced from their bad friends and going into the wrong way or being carried in the wrong track.

   The values that I observed now are courteousness, hospitability, care, hard work and being religious. To develop more these values, we must help others and ourselves, share good values to others and pass it on to the next generations. In sharing these values, we must first develop our own good characteristics to be more like a model to our society so that they will follow us to be in God's side and in a good way. May God grant us that the true family values will return to the families in our society.