A Better Tomorrow

"Opportunity only knocks once," they say, as it seems that you are only given one chance to experience one of the best things in life—and thankfully I didn't pass up mine. My story with Camp Calye began around late March, when a friend of mine asked me to attend this summer camp. Since I had a less-than-modest budget at the time, I originally wanted to decline; however, there was something in me that made me want to say yes to this thing. In the end, I eventually had to gather enough money for the trip and I had to gather my supplies (as well as some food) for the trip.

Fast forward to the first day of camp—April 28, 2016. I had packed everything I could and might ever need the night before and it's already 2 a.m., time to leave the house. I have to say, the commute to the Valle Verde Country Club (VVCC, the place where the buses are to the campsite) was heart-pounding. There I was, with my uncle on a bus with no people at all and it's already 2:48 a.m. I thought for sure that the bus headed towards Shaw MRT Crossing would take hours before it left the station, but luckily the driver fired its engines and we were off towards the VVCC.

After a short hiccup with the directions, I was finally there, in the company of my soon-to-be fellow campers. The excitement was almost palpable as soon as in VVCC. A tall man with a deep voice wearing a black shirt soon called the members of team violet. He tells me to hold a sign and shout the team name in case a fellow team member of mine comes along. Once we were all complete, we were ready to enter the bus—and, oddly enough, we were the first team to do so. Once I got in, the first thing I have to say was the fact that the bus was chilly and the seats looked of a high quality. At the back of my mind, I said, "Daamnnn, I hope this bus trip takes long." The back seats were designated to us, and you know me, I had to pick the window seat. A major rule I have is that, whenever I'm in an air-conditioned bus on a long trip, taking the window seat is a MUST.

Once all the other teams got seated in and everyone was seated, the wheels on the bus went round and round, round and round, round and round, the wheels on the bus went round and round. Like many Christian activities, we began the trip with a prayer, and, after that, the host was talking and he cracked a few jokes. I didn't actually listen to the host and I mostly tuned out to listen to some songs and look at the beautiful scenery. I didn't see anything interesting, but the feeling of watching over a grassy (and "pineapply") field while Taeyeon's "I" was playing in the background was breathtaking. I don't know why, but I immediately felt a sense of relief and euphoria, honestly. Who knew seeing fields of pineapples and grass pass you by could be so exhilarating.

The bus was so fun and the view outside was so cool, so I managed to take a quick nap. Man, I almost had frostbite in the bus from the cold, and there were two air conditioning vents pointed toward me (not by accident, of course). Unfortunately, our bus trip ended and we got off the bus once we reached Kampo Trexo, our campsite. It was a little hot outside the bus, and I felt more heat because I was wearing a jacket (a white one, mind you). My team and I were the last ones to get off the bus and we proceeded to the registration booth. During the whole time walking there, the weight of my big "mountaineer" bag was starting to take its toll on me. It was heavy, and I mean really heavy. I've carried heavy stuff before, but this one was different—it felt like I was carrying a full fridge.

From left to right: My teammates Rhea, Marvis, Yza (or, in this case, Yza's face), me, Gelo (the guy with the blond hair), Phileen, and Kaye.

We all got registered and we then headed off to the place where we would cook and eat for the next few days—Super Kaland. After I plopped my 1 ton bag onto the floor and the earthquake that followed, I sat down to talk with some of my teammates. Still, I wasn't able to talk much because, as you know, I'm a fairly shy person. A few minutes pass and, for no apparent reason, American Authors' "Best Day of My Life" began playing. As soon as the song started playing, some of the groups immediately ran to some place and I could see some guys calling the other teams. Our team was called and we were ordered by one of the camp facilitators, Ate Charie, to form a single line, hold the waist of the person in front of us, and make a chugging sound. So, there we were, saying "Chug, chug, chug, choo, choo" in a single file while on our way to the place where all the teams gathered, Rialtok.

"Super Kaland-ian," as one of my groupmates said.

After we got seated in, the hosts gave us a short introduction of the camp, its rules, the do's and don'ts, the punishments (which is a deduction of your team's time for bathing), and all the necessary stuff. We played a short game thereafter where we would meet the other camp members and then all the teams were given a pole, a piece of tarpaulin, and 3 dyes: red, blue, and yellow. The hosts told us to make our team flag, name, and cheer—with the cheer being recited every time our team's name was called. (Since we didn't have any brushes with us, we had to use our fingers to paint our flag.) We first made the flag and then my other teammates came up with the name. Since we had a carousel as one of the defining elements of our flag, my other teammates came up with the portmanteau word "Carolet"—a blend of the words "carousel" and "violet." We came up with a team cheer (which I forgot) and, while we were putting the finishing touches to our masterpiece known as our team's flag, the song "Best Day of My Life" began playing and we were in a rush because late teams would get a deduction in their team's "shower time." We brought the dyes with us and we finished coloring once we got to Rialtok.

Rhea putting the finishing touches to our team's flag.

The hosts called each group onto the stage to explain the reason behind the design of their flag and team name, and we got to say our cheer after that. Once all of the teams were done presenting, the hosts gave us the instructions for the next set of activities—a game where all of the teams would go through all of the "minigames" set around different parts of the camp. With our team facilitator to guide us, we then headed off to the minigames.

In this game, we were given various items to eat, and I got to eat a raw egg. #SalmonellaLife

The minigames were so fun, to summarize. We got to run with plastic around our waists, we had to perform a "trust fall" on some of my team members, we got to eat weird food and drank this weird concoction, but most of all, we had our first "squaddle" session. At first, I didn't know what it was, but our group facilitator told us that a squaddle session is where the group would sit down, let each member of our group talk and let out their problems/feelings, and then we would perform a single clap after each member is done speaking.

I don't remember much after the minigames, all I know is that we cooked our dinner and we were all gathered at Rialtok to hear people share their life stories, and say how much God or Jesus helped them in life, and that was it—the end of our first day. We took a 5-minute bath (originally a 7-minute bath, but we got a deduction because I left my damn Gatorade bottle, see above, at Rialtok earlier). After that, we headed off to our designated tent and, just like that, our first day at Camp Calye was over.

I will be uploading the continuation of my 4-part series on Camp Calye 2016 overmorrow, so keep your eyes peeled!

I still can't believe that it's been a year since I graduated from high school, a year from my usual beige-colored school, a year from riding the school service. What's most shocking is that I've gone through a year full of 6-day classes, commutes, hard take-home lessons, online quizzes, cafeteria "turon" breaks, Titan-filled lunch breaks, Mall of Asia lunch breaks, religious gatherings, public speaking trainings, printed assignments, yellow pad seatworks, and 2 to 4-hour classes. Ah yes, seeing that I've managed to have gone through a lot is really quite an achievement for someone going all-in on his own. Though I have to admit that there were times when I just wanted the year to end due to stress, it ultimately didn't stop me from continuing to study and enjoy my days as a freshman at Asia Pacific College (APC). Since my first academic year at Asia Pacific College has (finally) come to a close, I believe it's fitting for me to make a post about my experiences during my first year. This will be a lengthy post, and I hope that you can all bear with me until the end.

Like most high school graduates, I was excited (ecstatic, even) by the fact that I would be studying at a nearby college. I had prepared everything that I would need to start off my school year with a shebang—and boy it sure began with a shebang. My first term in college was my all-English term, a term filled with mostly English subjects and activities. It was filled with the most fun classes like EGRAMCM (English Grammar and Communication), PUBSPE 1 and 2 (Public Speaking), ETECWRT (Technical Writing), EEXWRIT (Expository Writing), and another class that was, for some odd reason, about blogging. Now, I don't mean to brag, but I can pretty much say that I excelled on my English classes, and I'm more than proud to say that I've gotten a grade of 3.5 and above (with 4 being the highest) on these classes. Academics aside, I was pretty enthusiastic about my new classmates ("blockmates," as they're called) and, since I didn't know any of them, I was so eager to get to know them all. It's sad to say, but I was still fairly shy during my first term because I was having trouble adjusting to this new environment, and, in the end, I suppose it hampered my ability to get to know my blockmates more. Thankfully, I was able to make up for the lost time on the terms that followed.

A lot of events and a lot of changes took place during this term. I joined a public speaking and debate organization—APC Speaks; I joined many activities and competitions such as the Inter-class Public Speaking Competition, the Speech Choir, and a few more; I also had my first love interest in college; I learned many alternate routes on my commute; I went to Manila with my blockmates (Intramuros, specifically); I ate at a mall with my blockmates; I felt the effects and the frustration of heavy traffic for the first time; I had my first mock job interview; I was among the top students in my class; and so much more! It was hard to take it all in at once; however, as the days passed by, I soon realized that college is a genuinely fun and enjoyable experience—AT TIMES. With fun and merriment, stress is usually around the corner. There were times when I had to forgo my spare time to watch YouTube videos in favor of studying on further lessons, learning about programming, and finishing my assignments. Still, my seemingly small sacrifices were big enough to propel me at the forefront of my class in certain subjects.

Our trip to Intramuros during my first term was unlike any other.

The term ended and I soon found out that most, around 80% or so, of my teachers for the all-English term would either retire or stop teaching at APC. The most notable of which was Miss Mina as she was the one professor who influenced me the most. I still see some of my professors, albeit not often, and the ones that retired or left are the ones I miss the most. Nevertheless, my life had to go on, and my second term was just around the corner.

My second term proved to be more of a challenge compared to my all-English term, but I'm sure that the longer I stay in APC, the harder my subjects will get—and my second term was no exception. It was chock-full of extremely tedious and almost unbearable lessons, assignments, and quizzes. If my first term was a breeze, my second term was like doing a "belly dive" from a 90-foot drop onto a shallow pool of boiling water. The academics during this term was like hell. My academic experience during this term was like going through a battlefield, and, like in a battlefield, I wasn't able to get through without a casualty. Academics aside, my social life was pretty good and it seemed to have drastically improved during this term. I made a lot of new friends and befriended most of the members in APC Speaks. The improvement of my social life didn't stop at school, as I became closer to +Elaine (and we made a blog), I made a new best friend through Twitter, and I got closer to my highschool friends. My love life (or lack thereof) seemed to have been kickstarted this term; however, as with all of my previous attempts into romance, it ultimately failed.

Oh Elaine ❤️

This term (finally) ended and I posted all of my experiences in this blog post. Oddly enough, not a lot of happened during this term and this term was the "odd child" of my first three terms as I can't really recall much from this term. While I do remember making a Windows Store developer account through Microsoft Dreamspark and finalizing this blog for general release during this term, I don't really remember a lot of the things that took place during this term—which is probably the reason why this term seemed so bland and uneventful.

Huzzah, I'm officially a developer :)

After my seemingly-uneventful second term ended, a small break followed and I tried to prepare and regain my lost composure after the beating I took during the second term. Then, without hesitation, my third term finally began.

This term was unlike the other terms as I mostly focused on non-academic activities and events. A lot of the noteworthy events that took place during my third term aren't related to my academics as I seemed to have gone astray from the "academics first" path. Though I have to admit that I mainly focused on enjoying myself this term, it came at the cost of my academics as they all seemed to have plummeted down. It's also worth noting that this was the term when I seemed to have distanced myself from my blockmates. Most of the time, I was commuting with my highschool friends, playing at Titan (the computer shop nearby), or spending time with members of the APC Campus Ministry.

I'm in the middle wearing a black polo and a Microsoft lanyard

Yes, this was the term when I joined the APC Campus Ministry and this was the term when I started to become religious. This is also the term when I seriously started to try and court someone, C. Now, trying to court C is an entirely different story—one that requires a series on its own—but, for the sake of storytelling, I tried to court C with all my might. I tried to look good every Thursday just to impress her, I helped her in some of her seatworks, I made her go to this event with me, I tried to ask her out, and all of those stuff. While it's depressing to say, I tried my best, but I guess I wasn't good enough for her. So, as I've said before, as with all of my previous attempts into romance, it ultimately failed.

Romance and heartbreak aside, my third term wasn't as eventful as the first one. In hindsight, this term will probably be one of my worst terms in APC. Despite wanting to, I didn't really focus that hard on my studies this term, and I seemed to have focused more on goofing off with my friends, and following what others tell me to do. Still, in the process of doing so, I grew closer to my friends and some new ones.

Despite starting the year off with a shebang, I ended the year with a weary cry from all of the stress and pain that was starting to pile on top of me. Still, I'm glad to say that, after all of the stress, pain, and horrible moments, I was able to see the light shine through the clouds and see the true beauty of college. It didn't really make much sense to me in highschool, but I do have to agree that college is really a "rollercoaster ride" with extreme highs and lows—and it sure did leave a lasting memory.


I'm still quite new to life at college and I have a long way to go in terms of my professional skills, but I'm more than glad to have such an amazing and, most of all, memorable first year at Asia Pacific College. I do hope that the years that will follow will leave an even more lasting memory, whether it's good or bad (though, I don't mind a bad memory, as long as it's not that bad). At the end of the day, the only thing that matters is that I've gone through it all, managed to whether the storm, and see the light of a new day—and the light of the new academic year awaits.

With one year down, three more are to follow.

Now that it's finally the start of my (long-awaited) summer vacation, I think it's high time to start focusing on myself—with a great amount of that focus on the topic of improving the mistakes and errors within my (so-called) system. It's actually great to say that my real summer vacation has started and I can now focus on improving myself and fixing the errors that other people find annoying. This post won't actually put up all of the annoyances in my system in great detail; rather, I will just highlight some of the key problems—bugs, if you will—that need to be addressed/fixed as soon as possible. Let's begin with the elephant in the room—the reason why this whole self-repair thing began—the actions I make towards any girl I have a crush on.

1. Actions I make towards any girl I am infatuated with
Right off the bat, I just really, really want to state that my current state of "actions" toward someone I like may/may not be changeable, and, even if I did try to, it would require weeks—if not, MONTHS—of hard work, self-discipline, and human interaction lessons from professionals in the respective field of human interaction. The blatant fact that it would cost a lot of money just to have someone teach me basic human interaction is actually quite pathetic as, in my opinion, I don't have a good enough skillset to do it myself.

So, with that out of the way, I have come up with a simple and easy-to-implement compromise for this: don't tell others about it. In my previous foray into romance, the main problem wasn't that I didn't have a plan in case things went wrong; rather, it's the fault of me telling it to everyone. Basically everyone who knew me in college (with the exception of my blockmates) knew the girl I had a crush on. In the long run, it ended up ruining my name further in front of the girl, my best friends, and the people who knew me. It was my WORST foray into romance yet. Nevertheless, I have a saying that goes along the lines of, "Bad decisions make good lessons," and it is the saying I will apply here.

After days of coming up with a solution, I have finally came up with the best solution (compromise) to this problem—to not tell anyone (except really, really close friends) who my current romantic interest is. I'm afraid to say it, but I won't be telling any member of APC Speaks about it, nor will I tell my two close friends, JR and Capacia about it. The time of hiding away some parts of me to everyone else has finally come.

Just like how "encapsulation" works in programming, I'll start to hide "unnecessary" parts of my life from others and only let others see the parts of my life that they might be interested in. You might be wondering who will I tell my current romantic interest to, and, for the time being, I will not disclose the identities of those whom I'll be telling my romantic secrets to. Let's just say that they're really supportive individuals who'll really teach me the proper way or courtship, and I'm sure they won't prod me on to do this or that.

The saying, "Ignorance is a bliss," highly applies here, as well as, "If you don't hear about it, it probably doesn't concern you," or something like that.

To conclude, telling any part of my romantic endeavors to certain people is a no-no and should be kept as a closely guarded secret.


2. Making peculiar actions toward any girl I am infatuated with
As with above, the compromise applies here as well. Furthermore, since I will be keeping the identity of my current romantic interest a secret, any and all actions I make out of love (or what have you call it) will also be kept as a secret.

So, for the next few months or so, you will never notice that I have a crush on someone else, nor will you hear anything about it. I am going to do everything in my power just to keep that information, and my actions regarding the topic of romance, as a secret—one that I will only tell to selected people.

That's basically it, you won't hear anything about me having a crush on someone else nor will you see me acting all strange over some girl, and that's the singular truth.

(Oh, and in the case where you hear that I have a crush. I will most obviously, under all circumstances, KEEP IT A SECRET. You might hear a few details, but not the full name, or any revealing info for that matter. After what happened, no, not again.)


3. Disrespect towards others
I highly believe that this problem only concerns the members of APC Speaks as I do have to admit that I don't treat the elders there with the respect they deserve—and they have the right to call me out for it. Regardless, based on my observations when I'm interacting with other people who are older than me, I have to admit that I do treat them with necessary respect.

The only people who might bring up this problem to me are my elders at APC Speaks and (quite possibly) the members of the APC Campus Ministry (excluding Ms. Pam, of course, as I always make sure that I treat her with respect). The root of this problem is the set of actions I make towards my elders in Facebook group chats and, possibly, in person. I have a feeling that this is all caused by me feeling too comfortable with the elders, thinking that they're my usual friends—ones I can say stupid stuff around.

After days of thinking, I have found that the best way to remedy this is to drift away and keep a distance—a line, if you will—between me and my elders, and it's a line I shouldn't even dare cross. With that, I will also start to treat my elders in APC Speaks and in the Campus Ministry with proper respect, and the same goes (of course) to all of my elders—especially towards Miss Mina because I am thinking of forming a friendship with her. For those who don't know, I have a plan whose goal is to befriend the best mentors I had and learn from them and their life experiences. I can't state all of the names of my past teachers/professors who I'll be befriending, but I can state two of them: Sir Jep and Miss Mina.

With that out of the way, I would like to state, once again my propose solution for this: keeping distance from elders while treating them with necessary respect. For those who still don't know yet, I often make rash, stupid, and childish actions when I'm with people I'm close to; additionally, that side of me only shows when I'm people I deem close to me.

I believe that distancing myself from elders will prevent me from showing that childish and happy-go-lucky side of me. While I can't fully confirm if this solution works, I see that I don't act childish towards people I'm not close to, and this is "good enough" evidence for me to conclude that keeping the necessary distance between my elders is a good thing.


4. Not having maturity and responsibility
These two don't often come hand in hand with one another, but they are, in a way, linked. The problem with me not looking mature enough also comes from how I act towards any of my close friends and blockmates. Sometimes, I say things that are out of hand, and sometimes I say things that are downright childish, while (as I see) most of the things I say is just me having fun.

Personally, I don't know how to properly remedy this because I don't know where the line between "having fun" and acting immature is located. Which begs the question, "If I make jokes and show my fun (yet goofy) side, does that make me immature?" Furthermore, if I make jokes about/at people, does that make me immature? Lastly, if I try to act serious and not show my goofy, fun-loving side, is that a good thing?

Still, as I've read on the wonderful world wide web, maturity is having the necessary decision-making skills to act in an appropriate manner in a certain environment. And, with that in mind, my time at APC Speaks is fun, sure, but it's mostly about preparing me for serious things in the future with regards to various public speaking activities. Since it's a training ground for me to improve my abilities, I believe that I should take it seriously and to act as serious as possible when it comes to activities.

To wrap up the maturity part, I guess the proper course of action to take is to just stay serious and lessen the fun and goofs when I'm with my elders—while heeding to the solution of distance I said a while back.

I guess it'll be a long time before I crack a joke when I'm with any of my elders. So, yeah, killing the fun side it is and showing its mangled and yelling-to-be-fixed self to certain people in my life.

As for my problem with responsibility, the only solution I could ponder up is to just handle the tasks I've been given with care and to just do them as best I can, that's all.


With the major problems and solutions above, I believe that most of you might be getting the general tone of my solutions—keeping distance from others. While it's not really the main tone of all my solutions, it is the general tone of them. You see, the image I plan to output for the years to come is who I want to be professionally, with special emphasis on my abilities.

I'm trying my best to not focus on romance for the coming months or so, but, if the right one will enter my life, then I should pay attention to romance as well. However, for the time being, I believe I should put it on hold; rather, to just cut all romantic connections completely and keep a blank slate for the time being.

Even though this is the first time I will be making repairs based on feedback from others, I will make sure that I will do everything I can to find and rectify these problems as soon as possible. Hopefully, by the time that my sophomore year has begun, I have already fixed most of the necessary problems within my system.

So, wish me luck as I try to initialize repair upon myself and start to make necessary changes and install updates. Let's hope that, the next time you see me, I'll be a completely different person compared to who I am now—in a better way, that is. With that said, let's begin the repair.