So, what have you been doing this summer? Have you been staring at the T.V. each day? Have you been shopping til your feet hurt badly? Have you been partying all summer long?

Know what I've been doing all summer? Well, I've made a checklist.Hmmm...Let's see...

Okay, I've written about 16 songs for the whole summer. That's almost enough to make a whole album! The problem is I haven't put in lyrics for all of them. Anyway,at least I practiced writing.

Speaking of writing, I wrote a few entries for my Triond account.[by the way, you gotta check it out.Click Me to go there!] I made a lot of money just by putting stuff in my Triond account. So, I earned moolah while at home chillaxing.

I also learned a lot of stuff this summer. I studied french in Livemocha, learned a bit of CSS in W3schools and some photography in DPS.

Oh yeah,I almost forgot. It seems like I didn't have any fun this summer because of all those things I did.

Well,think again!

I went malling with my friends and I also partied this summer.And yes, since it was summer, I did go to the beach!
Phew!Well, summer's almost over and school's almost here. There's always next summer for a whole lot more fun!

Okay, so you might react on my title.. Well, actually, I wasn't kidding about that..

Recently, I've been writing songs. I usually write them when I feel like I want to express myself. All of my songs are about what I feel and they are pieces of me.

When you feel like you just wanna scream all your thoughts, but you just can't, I do suggest songwriting. It's actually a fun thing to do - being able to express your feelings without saying it directly. No one really knows what the song is all about unless they get really into it. If you like it that way, only very few will understand your songs but, on the bright side, you get to know people who really understand you. If you say what you feel directly, you miss the poetic feel but you do get the attention of the listeners.

Whatever you plan on writing in your song, make sure it comes from the heart..

Okay, so you're so packed up with homeworks, projects, exams, and other school activities. Aside from that, you've got training during weekend mornings and  you need to do your Saturday grocery with your parents. Oh, and don't forget your exercise and to study your notes everyday.  Gee, seems like you're gonna crumble, huh? Yup, by the sound of your oh-so-complicated week you could say you'll end up in the hospital the next day.

Treat that like dinner- eat the main course bit by bit and then proceed with your dessert. Your main course would be the most important things you have to do - like your homework! Then you can have your dessert- the things you don't really need to do but just want to do (yes, like playing video games or chatting on IM).

Most students do their work backwards. Sure, they have fun at first. You would've too if you played, slept and ate to your heart's content. But, when they know the deadline is so near, they cram up their jobs and panic to the max. Well, that's what you get if you follow their style. Keep in mind too, that haste makes waste.

Heed my advice and you will get your reward. Know that when you've finished all your prioritized tasks , you will be able to play and chat and-oh do, you know, stuff we kids love to do. Best of all, you get to CHILLAX!

Ordinary students get stressed out from living normal lives.  And they’re ordinary students.  So, what if you’re a scholar?  Double that stress. 

Mild stress is good for studying.  When stressed, the body releases the fight or flight enzymes and the presence of just a little of these substances make you more alert and analytical. Naturally, you become better at answering both oral and written examinations for instance.

However, with moderate and severe stress, your body responds with conditions such as elevated blood pressure, increased heart rate, and faster to cope.  These conditions when experienced frequently could cause your body to compensate and thus becomes prone to diseases of the heart or the kidneys etc.  These all come from the  simple stress.  Here are ways for students to lessen stress:

1. Keep yourself happy.  Refrain from associating with people who you do not feel good with.
2. Find time to laugh.  When you laugh, you introduce oxygen to your brain which is therapeutic for it.  Laugh during an exam because it helps you remember things too which lessens your anxiety.
3. Eat the right kind of food.  Junk food will only lessen the oxygen that goes to your brain. 
4. Do not forget to take a leisure time.  Recreation temporarily keeps your mind off what you have to do and eventually gives you more energy to do your tasks.
5. Sleep right.  When you don’t have enough sleep, your body is not able to rest and repair itself.  Thus, when you wake up, you feel nasty.
6. Divide a big task into small, workable portions and keep track of your achievements.  When you do this, you feel that you have actually achieved something each time you finish a portion. 
7. Give yourself a reward for accomplishing things.  If you’re able to finish your project on your expected time, you may give yourself more time to sleep or maybe buy a piece of chocolate, etc…
8. When studying, find a place and time which will allow you to study without distractions.  When you do this, you spend less time studying and more time resting.
9. Do some exercise regularly.  It will relieve tension.
10. Study your notes.  There is nothing more stressful than actually hearing you had a low grade as a result of not studying.  And of course, you get jittery when your science teacher comes into the room because you’re unprepared for a surprise quiz (which was probably announced the day before anyway.  Hah!).

These things are not fool proof.  But with the right attitude, enough rest, proper diet and loads of prayers you’ll find that being a scholar is really great.

 Have you ever been asked to not answer during a discussion?

I have.

Everytime we have a discusion in class, my classmates and sometimes even my teacher, ask me not to answer during discussion. I know it sounds pretty weird but, it really does happen to me a lot. I usually get asked not to answer because I love rasing my hand a lot to answer, even when I'm not sure of my idea. I also love to ask a lot of questions. I ask questions so I can be sure of my answer and I can also earn points just by doing that.

So, my advice is "Always raise your hand even if you don't know if you're sure with your answer or just to ask.". Because, you'll never know when you'll get extra points.

                  Phew! My summer vacation was so awesome! I've done a lot of things and now I'm  getting ready for school.(it starts tomorrow)But first, let's recap my fantabulous experiences.

                   My summer started last April 5. I attended the birthday celebration of my coach that day. We left for Macau on the same day,too. When we arrived at Macau, we immediately took  ferry to Hong Kong. My family and I spent 3 days there. We checked out the malls and museums of the city. They were all so cool! On our third day, we left for Zhuhai,China. We only spent a night there. But, the place was so beautiful. It wasn't so modernized yet so nature still beautifies it. And even if the people don't understand us, they are so nice! So anyway, after spending a night at Zhuhai, we went to Macau. Macau was cold when we got there. And yes, there were so many casinos. I've been to some. The interiors of some looked like they were so big! Cool huh? Sadly, after 5 days in China, we went back to the Philippines without a lot of souvenirs. But, we did have fun!

                     So, the next week, it was back to swim training for me. lt was fun until I learned I would be joining the MILO 2008 swim meet! I was so surprised that I would be competing for the first time ever with people i didn't know. Training was quite hard for a few weeks because we wanted to get the best out of us during the competition. Competition came and I won 2 bronze medals. I know they're not gold but at least i didn't get disqualified.

                       This summer, we also went to Anawangin, Zambales. It was a beautiful beach with pine trees. We had camp there for one night. The place was not as primitive as we thought it'd be but it was hard to clean up after swimming or eating. But despite that, I had fun.

                       Well, that's what i did this summer. I hope your summer was cool too. And one more thing, goodbye summer and hello sophomore year!

            Last May 31,2008, Saturday was a really big day for our team. That was the day of the Milo Swim Meet 2008 at ULTRA . We all arrived very early so that we could do our stretching before the competition started. It was the first competition we've joined so we felt thrilled and anxious.

            We all agreed that before our event number was called, we all felt like we were going to hurl from excitement or something. It was a feeling that no one would forget. When one of us would be called for, the rest of us would go near the pool to cheer until we've lost air. (we knew we weren't really allowed, but the other teams did so, we did too.)

            At the end of the day, we felt so tired after a whole day's competition.(who wouldn't?). Too bad those who won weren't given their medals. But, our prizes couldn't be compared to the way we've cheered for each other and how we've felt after being in a once-in-a-lifetime competition.

I never knew that being in a team would be like this.

       It all started when I joined this Learn-To-Swim program near our house. I was asked by my teacher if I would like to join their team in Ultra. Knowing by my looks that I didn't know what to answer, he just told me to try it out. So, that Saturday, I attended my first training ever. I'm a really shy person, but that time I decided to braven up and make a new friend. One of the older guys on the team was laughing at me because of the way I talked to the other kids. He's like the oldest brother of the family. When I got to know the other kids, I learned that our age gap isn't as big as I thought it'd be.

        So, as time passed by, I realized a lot of things. Like how important teamwork is. I learned that when we did our 20 meter sprints. If someone didn't do what coach told us to do, we'd all be punished - yes, even the innocent ones.I also learned that patience really is a virtue(which at that time I didn't have). If someone cried, usually we'd have harder training. But, you know what? All of us just overlook the hard training and laugh about it. We also comfort the team members who are not in a good mood. After training we'd usually eat together and talk about a lot of things like school, experiences and other stuff.

      Our group's really more than a team - it's a pretty big family for me. We all learn a lot of things from each other and I'm really proud and happy to be in it.