Cory and the Democracy

My half-awake status was halted by a mother’s (and a child’s) cry this afternoon, which sounded very familiar to me. She was Kris Aquino. Captivated, I finally decided to get up.

My first sight that moment was also a familiar one–my mother. She handed down some bottles of Coke to a buying neighbor. For the most part of her day, she was doing the household chores while watching the queue of people with Cory.

It then reminded me of the first news I heard on the first day of August. The woman who bravely fought against tyranny and authoritarian rule, the so-called Mother of Democracy, was overpowered by her internal physiological struggle. The yellowish rays of the sun has finally set for Cory Aquino.

Because of her contribution to the restoration of democracy and the role she assumed in Philippine history, Aquino’s legacy will always stay in every Filipino heart, for she once embodied what the people long for–change. In response to this, various documentaries were shown discussing the life Cory had gone through, which might have been too redundant.

We must admit that people gain so much from what the media gives us. People see them as a neutral entity responsible for information dissemination, providing transparency which has not fully shown by the government. But sometimes, skepticism comes into me. There were times that media amplify issues too much, thus delineating the dichotomy existing between people-oriented information dissemination and over-sharing as a form of propaganda.

Which makes me ponder. As stated by various programs recently, is Cory the Mother of Democracy?

More Cognitive Work

I just finished my reaction paper for my Political Science 152 (Philippine Legislative System) about the anti-Charter Change (or better yet, anti-ConAss) rally two Mondays ago. To be honest, writing this entry is just random, for I can’t really think of what to write as of the moment.

The past few days have been hectic.

Backlogs have been a problem. Completing them is quite a pressure. Although manageable, a conflict always comes with my current subjects and the backlogs. If I won’t accomplish it before the semester ends, extending a semester comes next. That should not happen though. And I won’t let it come.

But what makes the pressure even more disturbing is my thesis proposal for Political Science 199.1 (Qualitative Research in Political Science) in preparation for Political Science 198 (Special Problems in Political Science) next semester. Termed as “seminar paper”, we have to accomplish a relevant research that will surely eat up most of my time a few months from now. In short, a seminar paper is thesis-like but not thesis at all. How can that be so fcukingly euphemistic? LOL.

Everything boils down to a fact: I have a lot of topics scrambling in my mind, but I don’t have any thesis topic to work on!

I’ve thought of these things even before, but I kept on rejecting some fields. Analysis of previous legislation sounds boring. Comparative Politics is a bit tedious. Political Culture is interesting but roots out to studying a bit of Sociology. Political Dynamics also interests me but requires a much broader study. I always want to ensure that the thesis problem is not at par with the usual research paper, but I don’t want it to be too tedious and difficult.

I just want it to be a reputable undergraduate thesis and nothing else. Something that I’ll be proud of and can be pursued as I deepen my study of politics.

My professor’s voice in 199.1 suddenly echoed.

Most of your research questions are unacceptable. More cognitive work, more cognitive work.

My first research question was rejected. I’m waiting for the revision to be rejected, too.

Over-spontaneity No More

Finally, I’m on vacation!

Our one-month-long practicum has just ended. I must say that it was a very tiring experience for me and, maybe for the rest of my classmates. But it surfaced on me big time only a few days ago, as I try to railroad my research paper about the so-called “presidentiables” and my journals during the practicum. LOL.

Many people noticed that I gained weight.Well, yes, it’s true. From around 53 kilograms (116 pounds) a few months ago, I now weigh around 140 pounds, my heaviest in years! It was pretty hilarious for me. I never thought I could really, really do that! After that instance, I got so inspired on gaining more weight and, eventually, toning my body into a fitter-slash-hotter figure. Starting June (or July), the gym might become my new haven.

Any tips for a first-timer? Haha. I’m excited yet anxious about this.

Aside from working out, I’m excited for an upcoming job for me. I won’t tell what exactly my job is to avoid jynx but, basically, I really need this to help out in minimizing household expenses and to maintain extra cash for other important expenditures. Although I think I lack the specific experience, I firmly believe I can do the nitpicking when accepted for the job. Anyway, all of us start in blank slates.

Just in case you have other part-time jobs to offer, don’t think twice to message me or to reply on this note. It will be very helpful.

But if you think I’m going to decrease my academic load in the coming semesters, that would be a very big no-no. 2010 is my only graduation year. Haha.

As a new phase is about to start, I think it calls for me to lessen my over-spontaneity. I am a person afraid to miss anything I think of as important (or so I think but they might not be that important). Shyness comes into me when I feel that I don’t click that much with my friends or when the news I’m hearing was already outdated.

Thus, with the additional activities added to my calendar, this must urge me to strictly follow what was scheduled at hand and to avoid entertaining unplanned activities (unless it’s too important AND urgent). Still, I’m open to handle various organizational responsibilities, but to a lesser extent now.

Even Dreams Bite

I started writing this entry at ten in the evening, with the desire to express how bugged I am the past few days.

This year’s summer has been one of the busiest days of my life, as my graduation is coming close. As a Political Science student, we have to take Political Science 190 as a course requirement. Described as Practicum in Political Science, this is a way to gauge the extent of learning a student acquired from his course through application and employment of various political theories in our everyday living. From our centralized, not-so-regular class meetings in UP Diliman (which served as our campus this summer), we ventured out of our comfort zones upon integrating with the indigenous people in Ifugao, urban poor families in Quezon City and the bureaucrats in the House of Representatives.

Our practicum/on-the-job training will only last for a month, thus resulting to a heavier academic load and a stressful life. If there’s one thing (aside from playing Tekken 5 through my PSP) that would relieve the fatigue I feel, that’s when I sleep.

But the images I see during my sleep even added to my worries now.

Things Statistics Taught Me

Although I am such a loser in Mathematics, I always find it interesting even if many problems seem too difficult for me. In my entire college life, I’ve gone through five Mathematics courses: Math 1 (Fundamentals of Mathematics), Math 11 (College Algebra), Math 14 (Plane Trigonometry) and Math 100 (Introduction to Calculus) and, now, Political Science 199 (Quantitative Research in Political Science). I enjoyed them amid the headache brought about by solving. Except PolSci 199. As a spontaneous individual, subscribing to a stiff, patterned process (like those of Statistics) make me crazy.

I would just like to clear that I didn’t enjoy PolSci 199 only because of the nature of the subject. Other factors do not affect my feeling towards it.

Last Thursday, I retrieved a take home exam in PolSci 199, which I commonly refer to as PolSci Stat. We were asked to draft a research proposal regarding the perception of UP students to the Arroyo administration. Here, we are just required to explain the employment of statistical methods in research, and how do we intend to approach the topic qualitatively. Due to the lack of skill and my subjective feeling towards Statistics, there’s no chance to ace this exam unless I’ll seek help.

That same night, I messaged my girl to help me out. Yes, she’s brilliant in Math. At exactly ten in the evening, we stayed in Coffee Bean. It was a teacher-and-student type of relation, for I look like a student conducting a consulation with my professor. Due to the patience of the “professor”, understanding the concepts was a bit easy for me.

On that very same night, I find myself understanding not only Statistics.