What happens if your only support system breaks?

Growing up in a broken family can be more than what we expect. It can cause extreme amounts of pain and confusion. You wonder what it will be like if you were to be in that situation, you wonder why your parents separate and you wonder if they will ever get back together again. All these questions you grow up trying to find the answers, but when you realize it usually it’s too late and you will always have a broken family, whether you like it or not.

Despite all of this you have to let it go, you have to continue with your life. No matter the pain, the images and the emotions that get out of control, there is no choice but to put it at the back of your mind and continue with your life. But yes it is hard every student going through this has their own coping mechanisms. Some choose to rebel, some become introverts and some just pretend like nothing ever happened.

So what is it like to go through this? What is it like to wake up with your parents arguing and fighting? How does it feel to come home to one less parent?

You sit in class while the professor does his job explaining in detail the lesson, suddenly you are called out and all that flashes through your mind is the thoughts and images of your parents and everything comes crashing down. Family is what holds us together it is what we have left at the end of the day. No matter what family is what holds our back at the end of the day and there is nothing stronger than our blood bonded to each other. But having parents separates just tears down the walls of our hope to love.

All of this is a distraction not only will the student not understand what is going on but in general they will find it hard to study and to do any type of work when it comes to school because their minds will be distracted. They will constantly have family problems in their mind and will find it hard to cope with school.

Its times when we see families sitting together laughing and bonding while you have a part missing from you that you eventually realize you will never get back. Family holds us together but when it’s gone, we have nothing else to hold onto but ourselves, we have to piece everything together and focus on what’s important, and that’s the sad truth.

Students have to know their priorities and no matter what happens in their lives have to leave it all behind or maybe even bury it just so that they can focus on their future. Many students lose their direction and paths in life because they don’t have that guidance, they don’t have that support from their parent and even if they live with one parent, one parent cannot do two jobs perfectly.

A job of a father is different to a mother, for me it is necessary to have both parents there for their children guiding and helping them. Based from experience without the time of both their parents they seek elsewhere for guidance and become more curious, without proper guidance they tend to go the wrong way in life. They seek to figure things out on their own.

For example students will try things and experiment such as alcohol, drugs and sex and will keep on doing it, until it is all too late. Your parents hold you and show the way but without this they turn out to be different to other students, where their family background gets in the way of their studies.

This can be one of the biggest distractions that a student faces, not only does it get in the way of their studies but it can also effect and change the way they see things and act such as when it comes to being in a relationship of their own or socializing with people. They will lose hope in falling in love and will not value being in a relationship as much as others. Socializing with others can be another issue it can affect them the most when their parents break up at an early age when their minds are still developing and they still do not understand what is going on. They become confused and see a horrible side to being in a relationship. 

#family #love #essay #opinion

Philippines: Lessons Learned

Its been three years and I've finally learned how to commute, I've finally taken the jeep, tricycle and FX all on my own. I am so proud of myself at the same time I can finally go out whenever and wherever I want. Next up I have to try taking a bus, LRT and MRT.

Trying new things and going to new places really makes me fall even more in love with the Philippines. I love the feeling of doing something out of my comfort zone, it makes me learn more about myself. Trying new things makes me realize I am actually capable of doing more things than I think I can, just like the quote "you're stronger than you think you are." I think this definitely applies to me.

I feel like my life is so much better here, I have become so comfortable and I have an attachment now to the Philippines where I can't let go. I can't let go of all the memories I've made, of all the experiences I've had and the things that I have done.

I have learned so much I don't think I could ever leave. Everything I learned here in the Philippines has changed my outlook on life, it has opened my mind and made me realize so many things. I don't think this is a stepping stone, I can't describe what the Philippines has done to me, but I can definitely say that it's given my whole life shock and woken me up to all the possibilities in my life.

Not only has the Philippines taught me so much so has people, I have been deeply influenced by the people, I have lost friends, gained the most amazing friends and met so many different characters who each play a different role in my life. As I've told my friend before, I have learned how to keep and let go of friends, I know how to appreciate and treasure friends. My friends here in the Philippines have really helped me with everything that I've been through and am still going through. Some still teaching me, some are just there by my side the whole time and until now.

I guess all I can say is that everything may not to be perfect and yes I have a few scars and regrets but I chose to keep on going and looking at the brighter side of life. I refuse to let anything bring me down or even hurt me again. I have learned to be careful and to slow down, to think first and make sure what I'm doing is hopefully the right thing. Though I am still taking risks, I want to make sure I am enjoying and getting the thrill that I seek in life.


#life #risks #20s #philippines

2015??

For 2014 I made a wish, I prayed and I prayed for something that I really wanted. I didn't think I would get it and I gave up. Then suddenly I received something unexpected and I got hurt. I wanted something happier, I got my taste of happiness but more pain and loss.

Last year I became a different version of myself, something I am not proud of. I shocked myself with the person I became doing things I never thought I was capable of doing.

Now I am lost, I don't know who I am anymore or what I want. I am too scared to wish for anything because I know it will not wbe what I expected but there is one thing I still have and will always have and that is hope. I will not give up. I will accept everything open handly and try to deal with things as best as I can. I will concentrate on myself this 2015. I will become a better version of myself and I will make things right again. I promise myself I will apply everything I learned last year in this year ahead.

EDM Takes Over Filipino Music

Go Hardwell Go Home

Excitement overflowed your body as you let the beat control you, it ran through your body as you moved your body to the beat. As the bass drums moved through you, your body and your heart was pumping, your blood rushed through you. You allowed your body to capture that moment where tomorrow doesn’t matter. Your hands in the air fist-pumped while your head nodded to the music, this was your night. This was the night of your life. As you danced all night long you let the music take over your body, you let it control you and let it take your mind away and just live that night.

Your bare legs and arms are collided with the sweat-drenching Electronic Dance Music lovers around you getting closer and closer to the stage as the audience reached for the skies with their arms raised and heads faced to the ground as the sound of the disc jockey dragged your body along with their tunes. Body to body you all moved along, side to side, jumping up and down letting your arms let loose. Here goes the passion for EDM as that one night was all it took to let your whole body loose. “You’ll never live if you’re just too scared to die,” (quoted from Hardwell’s Never Say Goodbye) so why not let the music take control and don’t stop moving to the beat and forget about tomorrow. Let the beat take charge and leave it to the dj, leave it to Hardwell.

Hardwell took to the stage on October 1 with his first concert in Manila. He gave the audience a chance to experience his work live on stage at SM Mall of Asia Arena. Brought by Big Fish for EDM lovers in the Philippines Hardwell performed live in MOA.

Hardwell hit the stage in Manila, being known for a world class performer having performed at Ultra Music Festival, Tomorrowland and the Electric Daisy Carnival. He gave Filipinos the chance to move their bodies along to his music. Even the heat in the Philippines did not stop Filipinos from drenching in sweat as they piled along to the arena and danced all night long.

Filipinos have become familiar with these djs who perform live at clubs and have held concerts purely of djs playing all night long. Neverland manila took to the SM MOA Concert grounds recently on October 3, with performances from Afrojack, Apster, BassJackers, D-Wayne, Ferry Corsten, Knife Party, Shermanology, Stadium X and Axell /\ Ingrosso.

Philippines shows a history of being influenced and being mixed with various types of music where today it is called Original Piilipino Music. The Philippines have their own original music consisting of bands. The Philippine music today changed and evolved, its music industry today has a mix of different types of music being played all around the Philippines. It started off with “The Indigenous Traditions” from the mountains of the Philippines, where music was played using different kinds of instruments such as bamboos and drums. This music was more cultural where songs where for farming, festivals, marriage, courting songs, games songs etc. “The Spanish-European” came with secular music, mostly songs to do with religion, being influenced by the Westerners.  The Americans greatly influenced Philippine music as it became part of the curriculum of the Filipino students. The Americans lifestyle and culture influenced the Philippines introducing various types of music and combining it with Philippine music. Philippine music now has mix of “folk songs, dance tunes, ballads, Broadway type songs, rock’ n’ toll, disco, jazz and rap.”

One popular genre of music today is EDM which can also include “disco music, techno music, house music and trance music.” It came to life in the 1970’s and hit the clubs around the 1980s in America. This type of music is played by djs where they add their own style to the music. Now there are more and more music festivals taking place here in Manila such as Sonic Carnival, Exception Music Festival and Close Up Forever Summer, 71017 International Music Festival; The majority of them playing EDM. Not only are musical festivals and bars are popular today but clubbing is also well known by many Filipinos, there is even a list of best clubs to go in Manila such as Prive, 71 Gramercy, Hyve, Republiq, Haze, Palladium, Time and Black Market /Finders Keepers.

 The taste of music has drastically changed with the Filipinos today, not just listening to Original Pinoy Music (OPM) but now to EDM, it has definitely taken a turn.Where music was cultural and simple Philippines took in and adapted to the influences of the Westerners especially with the American lifestyle, not only do the Philippines play OPM but they play songs by international artists.

Here goes to the development of the Philippine music industry as they continue to introduce more and more different types of music today.

http://www.ncca.gov.ph/about-culture-and-arts/articles-on-c-n-a/article.php?igm=1&i=154

http://www.ranker.com/list/original-pilipino-music-bands-and-artists/reference

http://lifestyle.inquirer.net/169884/go-hardwell-or-go-home

http://manilaclubbing.com/best-clubs-in-manila/

http://edmmusicjunkies.com/?page_id=31

Traffic: Philippines Vs England

When I went home to England during the summer there was one thing that stood out for me, that was the traffic in Manila. I hadn’t been back for two years and I forgot how there was hardly any traffic there compared to what I have experienced so far in the Philippines.

It was so easy to go around, we would be able to drive straight without stopping, it wasn’t like here in the Philippines where you would be staring at something for at least 20mins while waiting for the traffic to lessen. The traffic is so bad here foreigners become familiar with it, for example we are compared to India who also has heavy traffic. You can be stuck in one place for at least 20mins or longer. Taking public transport makes it even worse, you’re stuck in traffic while being squashed and not being able to feel your legs and bum after the journey.

The traffic here can mean that a 30minute journey from Paranaque to Manila can sometimes take up to 2 hours, how bad is that? I have experienced taking public transport to and fro but I feel sorry for those who use public transport every day, I do not know how they do it. I feel sorry for those who do but I know that some have no choice and that is the way things are here, however things can change. The traffic has become part of the Philippines but it shouldn’t be, it may not be one the most important issue but people have to suffer every day and it is a great pain to many. The heat makes it even worse and to top it off people are made to fill up every inch of the jeep even if your bum is halfway off of the seat the jeepney drivers make sure their vehicle is packed and they are making enough money. I don’t think this is right at all, I mean should it be?

The government recently started their project on the new skyway which will connect the North Luzon Expressway with the South Luzon Expressway. I am currently living in Paranaque, when I first heard this news I immediately thought to myself, “More traffic!” This would create even more traffic and who knows how long it will take to build, especially with all the floods Manila gets it may take years.

           

            Traffic can irritate those who take public transport daily but to top it off, do people not know how heavily pollution is dangerous for us? Every time I would come back to the Philippines the one smell that I used to love here as soon as I stepped out of the airport was the pollution. For some reason when I was still in England the smell of pollution would remind me of the Philippines, it was such a refreshing smell, until I grew up. I finally realized that the smell of pollution was coming from all the cars because of the heavy traffic, this is not healthy. The air is full of carbon dioxide and can damage our earth, but no one seems to care. It is hot enough here to ride a bike, so why don’t most people do it? It can mean you get to places faster and it is healthier but then again with all the street children and robbers it is not always a great idea to ride your own bike.

            

           There are many ways that traffic can be dealt with one of them is to properly educate the drivers. Drivers overtake and cut lanes without indicating; then you have jeeps and fx’s stop in the middle of the road making drivers furious. Drivers should be taught how to use their indicators and drive within the lines of the road and not on the middle of it, three lanes can made into four and people use the second lane to turn right on big roads. Drivers should be taught the rules properly and not only taught but the government should be stricter when it comes to violating the rules. The penalties should be bigger or heavier punishments should be implemented for drivers to become scared. In England penalties are bigger and not only that points are taken off of their licence, they start off with 10 points and every violation a point is deducted, when there are no more points left their licence is taken away. Drivers in England become extra cautious and the majority of them follow the rules on the road. If the police were maybe more stricter drivers would listen, though it will take a while they will be forced to obey them and the roads will be more orderly. One of the reasons that there is so much traffic is because of how disorganized the roads are and how the drivers here just drive the way they wish to.

Love Vs Education

Love Vs Education 

His arms wrapped around your waist while you feel his torso pressed against your body, you are connected in every way; your arms wrapped around his neck and your head buried into his warm comfy shoulder. Have you ever been in that kind of situation where forever seems so possible, where you don’t want to let go and you just want to close your eyes and not have to worry about tomorrow.

Love is all around us, it doesn’t have to be love between a boyfriend/girlfriend but it can be with family, friends or even yourself. It is something we all experience and go through in our lives, it can be the best thing we’ve ever experienced or it can be something that tears are apart. It can wound us to the point where we become afraid to love again or we get traumatized and avoid the situation.

There are many reasons why we all wish to experience the love between a special someone, we want to feel the love; we want to have those sweet romantic moments. Movies show us happy endings, they show us that love can be the happiest moments in our lives. Where you go on cute romantic dates in the park, or where you kiss in the rain, or where you just lie down with that particular person and your whole world stops and all you have are each other.

What does this have to do with college? What does it have to do with students?

Having a relationship is part of growing up. In college some have already experienced being in a relationship or some have carried on from high or some have never experienced it before. But as we grow up relationships start to have a different meaning, it starts to become more serious, it becomes different in a way that high school and college is a whole new jump and adapting to college can already be a challenge, what more if you are in a relationship.

Back in High School usually relationships would be referred to as puppy love, Urban Dictionary describes it as “The love between a young couple within a few weeks of getting together. Not really true love, more blind affection - immature, young love.”

High school is the stage of puberty where you start to develop feelings for someone; you try to impress the other gender in different ways. You start to go on dates and maybe even have your first kiss. But what is it like now? What is the difference?

Four students were interviewed sharing their relationship stories that they are currently in. They were asked what their best and worse experiences are, if it gets in their way of their studies and to compare their relationships encountered in high school and now in college.

An eighteen-year-old student told us that “high school is a smaller world than college” and that “in high school you can focus on the relationships more.” She tells us that the best part of being in a relationship is that when they both accept and support each other. However the downside to her relationship is that they fight and get angry over unnecessarily things. Another student also said the same thing, she complained that she would get distracted whenever she would have an argument with her boyfriend and to top it off she would have restrictions ordered by her boyfriend, which makes it her worse part of being in a relationship. But the best part for her is that she feels secure and she always has someone there for her.

Another two students compared their relationships with high school and college based from their experience. A twenty-year-old student said that “being in college involves having bigger responsibilities and priorities. In high school it was like playing but in college you have to be serious, and when you’re in a relationship while in college you have to get serious.”

The other student told us that “it is way different to [having] a relationship in college than in high school. When you were in high school you think of petty things you just want to have fun or you would tend to cling too much. But once you enter college you envision things in a more mature way, of course you are preparing yourself for the future.”

An issue that was discussed with these students is if it got in the way of their studies, two answered no and the other two were indefinite answers. One mentioned that it was only sometimes it would get in the way as long as they knew their priorities and could separate their love life and school then it wouldn’t always get in the way. The two that said no said that she would text her boyfriend whenever she would have time while the other one said that “if the person loves you and you love him you’ll learn how to balance your time with him and school. He wouldn’t’ demand so much from you that it comes to a point where it harms your studies.” The last student interviewed told us that she would schedule dates during her free time and that she would finish her school works before meeting up with her boyfriend.

For these students who are in a relationship it can add flavor but at the same time add commotion to 

their lives. What about those who have never been in a relationship or who chose not be in one?

Three students were interviewed all who have never experienced being in a relationship before, all who do not wish to be in a relationship either. One enjoys her freedom and does not wish to be controlled, she refuses to have someone restrict her from the things she wants to do and she would rather focus on her career, being in her 5^th year of accountancy she is about to graduate and she mentions how she has no time to have a boyfriend.

Another student says how it is nice to have a companionship however it is not that importance and for her she would rather not rush it saying that the “strongest relationship is from friends because you have something to build on.” She too would also like to focus on her studies.

An eighteen-year-old student was raised in a conservative family and did not discuss with family; she had a culture shock coming from high school to college where many students had a boyfriend or a girlfriend and she suddenly became curious. Although she did have a “crush” she would say to her self that she doesn’t like people being with her all the time and that she would get tired of people easily. She experienced having a crush but she never ended up with him, it has affected the way that she sees relationships especially as she doesn’t really imagine being with anyone at the moment. She mentions how people have different perspectives about each other and that people will look at things differently as they mature because of experiences. Another thing that she mentions was that she says it might be hard for her to get into a relationship now as she has never experienced one and she feels like she would need instructions to be in.

There are different views of being in a relationship while still being a student, some don’t wish to experience it some are finding ways to balance their time with their partners. Everyone has different ways in dealing with this particular stage in their lives. The main thing here is what students want the most, whether or not they just want to focus on their careers and studies or whether they want to experience love and sparks while studying, maybe for a bit of inspiration. It is up to them how they wish to spend their college life,some can balance their time others cannot. Going through this struggle is just another step in a students’ life where they experience struggles and hardships, but as they enter the stage of adulthood they grow and mature. Students learn from their mistakes or become emotionally stronger whenever any difficulties face them, they realize that this is a part of life and that college is just another stepping stone and it is never easy but it helps to shape everyone as a person.

What happens if your only support system breaks?

Family Separation 

Growing up in a broken family can be more than what we expect. It can cause extreme amounts of pain and confusion. You wonder what it will be like if you were to be in that situation, you wonder why your parents separate and you wonder if they will ever get back together again. All these questions you grow up trying to find the answers, but when you realize it usually it’s too late and you will always have a broken family, whether you like it or not.

Despite all of this you have to let it go, you have to continue with your life. No matter the pain, the images and the emotions that get out of control, there is no choice but to put it at the back of your mind and continue with your life. But yes it is hard every student going through this has their own coping mechanisms. Some choose to rebel, some become introverts and some just pretend like nothing ever happened.

So what is it like to go through this? What is it like to wake up with your parents arguing and fighting? How does it feel to come home to one less parent?

You sit in class while the professor does his job explaining in detail the lesson, suddenly you are called out and all that flashes through your mind is the thoughts and images of your parents and everything comes crashing down. Family is what holds us together it is what we have left at the end of the day. No matter what family is what holds our back at the end of the day and there is nothing stronger than our blood bonded to each other. But having parents separates just tears down the walls of our hope to love.

All of this is a distraction not only will the student not understand what is going on but in general they will find it hard to study and to do any type of work when it comes to school because their minds will be distracted. They will constantly have family problems in their mind and will find it hard to cope with school.

Its times when we see families sitting together laughing and bonding while you have a part missing from you that you eventually realize you will never get back. Family holds us together but when it’s gone, we have nothing else to hold onto but ourselves, we have to piece everything together and focus on what’s important, and that’s the sad truth.

Students have to know their priorities and no matter what happens in their lives have to leave it all behind or maybe even bury it just so that they can focus on their future. Many students lose their direction and paths in life because they don’t have that guidance, they don’t have that support from their parent and even if they live with one parent, one parent cannot do two jobs perfectly.

A job of a father is different to a mother, for me it is necessary to have both parents there for their children guiding and helping them. Based from experience without the time of both their parents they seek elsewhere for guidance and become more curious, without proper guidance they tend to go the wrong way in life. They seek to figure things out on their own.

For example students will try things and experiment such as alcohol, drugs and sex and will keep on doing it, until it is all too late. Your parents hold you and show the way but without this they turn out to be different to other students, where their family background gets in the way of their studies.

This can be one of the biggest distractions that a student faces, not only does it get in the way of their studies but it can also effect and change the way they see things and act such as when it comes to being in a relationship of their own or socializing with people. They will lose hope in falling in love and will not value being in a relationship as much as others. Socializing with others can be another issue it can affect them the most when their parents break up at an early age when their minds are still developing and they still do not understand what is going on. They become confused and see a horrible side to being in a relationship.