A Project from the Future

Miranda, Marilyn Shields G.                                                                                     March 7, 2020

JO419-JO9CProf. Susana Domingo

Book Review 

 

                    The first batch of AB Journalism in University of the East had produced several brilliant and courageous students who have left a legacy in different industries by the year 2008. This account has been proved by Dr. Alex Maaliw, founder of the LYNX Research Group, and professor of the said pioneer batch. In his studies, that actually became a book entitled “My Eleven Beloved Apprentices,” he found out that most of his students in journalism class in University of the East have made a successful runs as of 2018, ten (10) years after he had handled the batch. It contains details about his student’s traits and characters in class during the past years and what they’ve come up in the future. 

According to the book, there are eleven students who have been so close to Dr. Maaliw and they are; Joba, Khem, Farrah, Rizza, Kath, Emelyn, Beb, Jocel, Aloha, Lem and Eli.

Joba Botana is the athlete and at the same time the scholar of the class. She is a jolly and a clever student who loves to laugh out things a lot. A very strong and empowering lady who critic things that any debater can never defeat her. No wonder where she got her strength and ability to be so energetic and alive as she is, but one thing’s for sure she loves coffee a lot. And so she made business out of her desire, she owns the top producer of coffee beans in the country called ABOJ manufacturer.

There are two heavy weights of the class, they are Khem and Kath.

The emotional and deep thinker of the class, who can come up a solutions in an instant whether under pressure. Kathleen Velasco is the big princess of the class, very sensitive and soft, but ones she’s in a mood for jokes everyone of the class laugh. She loves to cherish things that are very sentimental, most of them are pictures, gifts, letters and even test papers. She left the country and went to Canada. She pursue her career as a journalist but not as a writer of a newspaper but as a writer of a greeting cards. She designs and compose messages in a top selling and widely produce greeting cards which is the Hallmark.

The friendly and funny girl of the class, Khem An Ycong, is one of the students of the class who made the lectures enjoyable. If theres a big princess, theres a big mama. She acts as the big mother of the “girlies” of the class for she knows everyones stories. She relates with others and interact with them easily. She became a good employee of Philippine National Bank after she graduated from the university.

The soft voiced but strong accented, practical and simple Farrah Brooke is a student who cared for love so much. She have this long term boyfriend “Ronald” whom she saves all her affection on him. Farrah is a hardworking student, she submits class requirements on time and passed the subjects with high grades. Right after the graduation, a few years she ended up as a housewife and has a beautiful daughter. She married Ronald who became successful engineer of a top construction group of the country.

A quiet starter of the class but eventually became a vocal student, Rizza Valencia, is a student who relates with current events and latest issue. She loves the course AB Journalism, which she’d never regretted in the long run. She became a writer of a science magazine “National Geographic” and traveled across the world.

Emelyn, a dedicated student who is studying by day and works by night as a call center agent. She can handle responsibilities in a same time while she is studying. She performs great at the school as much as she performs in her work in Advance Contact Solution. But a few years after her graduation she decided to explore other field of job, and make use of her degree. She worked as a news-writer of a long time news program, TV Patrol. And in a few a years after she became a segment producer of that show.

Bebylene Sulam is a one strong girl. She is practical as well as Farrah but a lot creative. She combined religion and music all in a same time while worshiping, she stands for faith and she sings in a band. She became a famous preacher of a christian program and not so long she worked with Gary Valenciano and produced liturgical cds that explicit her literary and good voice.

A comic student and a business oriented – Jocel Lopez. In the class, Jocel sells AVON products to her classmates and even to Dr. Maaliw to support her needs. She bring as well her boyfriend “Robel” to the class to boost class participation. She cares for money a lot and cherish its importance. And so, she put up a money loaning business right after she saved a capital for her business from a few years of working in a call center.

Malaya “Aloha” Gavanzo whose sensitive to the class and very quiet, has her eagerness also to finish the course. She seldom, or not given a right opportunity to prove her abilities, to class participation. She refined herself from her classmates for some personal reason. But she excelled in creating advertising plans, and so she took it as an advantage to stand out and so she decided to work for an advertising company.

Lemuel Angeles, the class scrutinizer and influenced DotA gamer by Eli, is a critical thinker who can think and formulate persuasive opinions. He’s an active student who enjoys multiple scholarships; provided tuition by the DAWN and priviledge scholar by his father working in a same university. He kept on challenging Eli, whose a mind genius when it comes to DotA, but never outweighed him. Much known for a computer lover, he put up a computer shop all over university belt and established a society of gamers, that can compete around the world in computer gaming.

Eli, the happy go lucky student of the class. He sometimes gives effort for class participation but often has a low out put. He has a loud voice and always making jokes to the class. He became a lawyer but despaired from his success. He came across with a high influencial senator and which he  discovered its schemes of corruption. He exposed the news to Joba, and the scandal wraps up. Unluckily, the senator turned down Eli and killed him in his office in bulacan.

                    The book “My Eleven Apprentices,” that created by Dr. Alex Maaliw was intended to inform the public about the front liners of the media, who are risking their lives only to serve public awareness and truthfulness. And also to commemorate their beloved colleague, ELeazar B. Ultado.

Remorsed the Worst

Last night before I sleep, I was scanning my notebook and looked for some lectures from my advertising class. Unfortunately I found nothing. I felt sad that again in my life I am going to take an exam and I haven’t reviewed any. Guess I’ll be depending again on my stored knowledge, which hopefully may be useful for tomorrow’s exam. And again I’ll be giving my 70 percent and not a hundred. I realized how irresponsible student I was; I mourned and cried a few 2 or 3 tears in my eyes. I lighted a cigarette and recalled my past experiences, some are bad and some were worst. Then I remembered I have to do my new article for my weblog. I stood up and said to myself, “let this worst things be my best!!!”

And so heres are my worst experiences in college.

Statistics, a branch of mathematics that all students are required to bring their own calculator. I was about to take our final exam with Mr. Ang and I’m very much confident for I’d memorized all the formulas and solutions. But when Mr. Ang asks us to put out our calculators, I was surprised when I’ve noticed that my calculator was not in my bag. One students of the class asked if it is ok if they don’t have calculator; Mr. Ang replied, “No calculator, no exam.” I was in a dilemma. Good thing one kind lady seating beside me offered to share calculator with her. I knew it was wrong but I didn’t want to waste my preparation and the opportunity of that lady’s offering. And so, we’ve been passing the calculator secretly below the rest of our seats. Then suddenly, Mr. Ang noticed our deeds. Mr. Ang immediately took our test papers and graded us a failing mark “singko” (5). I confronted Mr. Ang and begged him to put all the punishment to me instead the both of us, but Mr. Ang was very mad. I kept on talking to Mr. Ang until the both of us began to argue. I kept on insisting to put all the blame to me because it’s very unfair for the lady to get her involved (well in fact it was her offer though, but it was shameful for us to punish). I tried all my best to convince my professor but Mr. Ang began shouting and sent me out of the classroom. During that time I was very mad as well and dignified of what I am insisting. In the end, I go out of the room but due to my anger; I shouted “BAKLA!!!” along the corridor.

            It was the craziest thing I’ve done in the university. The rudest, misconduct and disrespectful I’ve ever done to a professor. I regretted the ones misbehavior act and so I’d pay the price; I was marked lack of final requirements (LFR) for that subject. Ever since, I promised to myself to obey and respect to my professors.

“And if ever someone who’d I’ve been offended; my deepest apologies to you. Please forgive me to the persons that I have been disappointed. Your considerations will make me relieved, so that at night I can go to sleep”.

70% of 100

Graduation, I’m excited that my hardship and dedication will finally meet its end. That for years of attending classes that never been late nor absent. The reviewing of lectures that seems no ending. Being bombarded with lots and lots of homeworks and nothing to do but to comply with them. Submitting of projects as if there’s no more tomorrow. And passing the exams that my regrets would be committing mistakes. Finally, all of these will now have its rest. The completion of my tasks and responsibilities at the university has paid it all at last. Now my hopes and dreams have finally achieved…

          Well, to be honest, that’s for the students who have given all their efforts or what they called their “hundred percent.” But for me?..naahhh…I’ve been through all of those tasks and responsibilities and I can never be rated as a hundred percent-er. But at least, somehow I try to survive it.

Few months from now and I’ll be graduating Bachelor of Arts in Journalism. I may forgot the details of every lectures that I have been, but I will never forget the lessons that I’ve been taught by my professors, classmates and my own experiences. And talking about the experience during college, here some of my unforgettable experience.

          On-the-job training, it is were students perform or apply the practices and knowledge of what they have learned from their professors. But in my case, not all of them. In my experience when I was doing my internship in a newspaper company I have learned and applied somehow skills from some of my chosen evaluators; like proofreading, editing, lay-outing and newspaper styles and formats.

          That was when I was in the editorial department. But the bad thing is when I was transferred to the other department. I’ve felt what Juan Tamad’s daily routine and I found it painful and boring. I’d experienced sitting in a chair no one to talk to and doing nothing at all for several hours. It was when my evaluator left and she didn’t even gave me something to do for that day. I felt so weak back then, I couldn’t ask someone for me to do something or even ask for a break. My butt was almost the same as what Sponge-bob has. I’d always wanted to stand-up and walk but there’s no way, the HR warned us not to walk around if theres no necessary purposes. I know I’m a bad person but I’m obedient too.

Gloomy Sunday: a suicide anthem

Gloomy Sunday(English version)Gloomy Sunday with a hundred white flowers
I was waiting for you my dearest with a prayer
A Sunday morning, chasing after my dreams
The carriage of my sorrow returned to me without you
It is since then that my Sundays have been forever sad
Tears my only drink, the sorrow my bread…

Gloomy Sunday

This last Sunday, my darling please come to me
There’ll be a priest, a coffin, a catafalque and a winding-sheet
There’ll be flowers for you, flowers and a coffin
Under the blossoming trees it will be my last journey
My eyes will be open, so that I could see you for a last time
Don’t be afraid of my eyes, I’m blessing you even in my death…

The last Sunday

            The melody of the song is breathtaking, strangely but it’s sound gripping, the melancholic and hopeless song tends anyone to depress, as if it was an invitation to death. No wonder the Hungarian classic song Gloomy Sunday was called “suicide anthem.”

 

            December 1932, a pianist in France, Reszo Seress, is trying to become a famous international songwriter. He tried writing songs for a living in Paris, but he failed. All of his compositions didn’t impress the music publishers. Forcing him to get another job by his girlfriend, he is still determined to become a famous songwriter. Seress and his girlfriend constantly argued regarding to his ambition, that until one afternoon, his girlfriend decided to split-up with him. One day after the fight, the failure songwriter was in his apartment. It was Sunday and the sky is dark, the stormy clouds gathered and then the rain poured down. A gloomy Sunday it is. Lonely, Seress played his piano, and suddenly created a melancholic melody. By the sadness of his emotion and the misery weather, the melody accorded to each other. He wrote the notes in an old postcard. And in thirty minutes he finished the two stanzas song. Seress sent his composition to music publishers. At first it was rejected, but in his second attempt they accepted it. Few months after the “Gloomy Sunday” was printed, a spate of strange occurrences allegedly sparked off by the new song.

 

            A young man in Berlin requested the band to play “Gloomy Sunday” but after the performance, he went home and blasted his head with a revolver after complaining to his relatives that he felt so depress listening to the song. A young female shop assistant in the same city found hanging from the rope a week after the incident. Police investigates the suicide of the shop assistant and found a copy of the sheet-music on the floor next to her feet.

 

            Two days after, a young secretary in New York killed herself, and in her suicide note she requested to play the song “Gloomy Sunday” at her funeral. Weeks after, another New Yorker jumped off to his seventh-story apartment after playing the “suicide song” on his piano.

 

            One newspaper in North London covered the case of a woman who had been playing the recorded song “Gloomy Sunday” in full volume, annoying and frightening her neighbors. By the number of the fatalities connected to the “deadly song” which they read in the newspapers, her neighbors hammered the door of the house but no one answers. They forced to open the door only to find the woman on her chair overdose of barbiturates.

           

            As the death rate rises, the BBC decided to suppress “Gloomy Sunday” to be played on the airwaves.

 

            Reszo Seress, the creator of the horrible deadly song had also experienced its unexplainable effect. Back in France, Seress wrote a letter to his ex-fiancé for reconciliation. But several days after, Seress found out that his ex-fiancé had poisoned herself. Police investigations found a sheet-music of “Gloomy Sunday” by her side.

 

            And in 1969, with sixty-nine years of age, Reszo Seress had nothing more to expect from his miserable life. He jumped out from his window of his fourth-floor apartment in Budapest.

 

           With the number of different deaths occurred related to the “suicide anthem,” there’s no point of doubting this history. That for others it is just another urban legend. But for the ones who would like to try to listen to “Gloomy Sunday,” please try to calm your emotions for this deadly song can really intensify your depression.