Flavor of the Month
This year I am privileged of getting to know and being stuck with a new flavor of amazing juniors. As I practiced over the course of my career, I normally observed and eventually discovered somebody that I think is totally different from all others. And this would qualify my own version of "My Flavor of the Month".
When I first met her, I could not tell that there was something special about her. We talk less and she could never look straight into my eyes. Maybe because she was intimidated by my size thinking that I could carry and drop her from the third floor to the ground floor or maybe because when I ask questions she was hesitant to respond.
Still, she was invisible in my eyes until one Friday morning, I came across the word "good item" uttered by her (as I write now I could still hear her loud, ear-dropping voice) and it stuck with me. She sent a friend request to one of my socmed accounts but did not mind accepting her. But when I hear in a soft voice "i accept pod ko ma'am" I directly hold my phone and accepted her.
As she progressed through my class, I have seen the spark in her eyes and the warmth in her smile that drew me to her. In short, we developed a close rapport. I see how she puts extra effort into her task at the expense of using my free time on weekends and even in the night but it does not bother me anyway. But more than that, she has a heart of gold.
Over time, she and I developed a friendship that extended beyond the classroom. We randomly sneak out from our friends to take a sip of coffee or go out for lunch. We shared many laughs, thoughts, and moments of growth together. Through it all, I came to admire her innocence, her resilience, and her sweetness.
Of course, no one is perfect, and she had her moments of imperfection like anyone else. Her imperfection made me think to detach from her to protect myself from all negativities. It affected me for a short while but have to keep my composure. But one incident put her in hot water (special person) which allowed me to say my piece and put my peace back.
As I reflect on my time with her, I admire her boldness in who she is and what she can do but she has to be sensitive to the feelings of others, conscious of her limitations, and be grounded always. She has taught me so much about being decisive which I do not possess and I wanted to tell her that we have something in common.
The reason why I am writing this is because it is her birthday and this is my gift to her.
Happy birthday to you my dearest. Let's spread more fun with our "other friend." Let no grades affect us.
My Flavor of the Month
This year I am privileged of getting to know and being stuck with a new flavor of amazing juniors. As I practiced over the course of my career, I normally observed and eventually discovered somebody that I think is totally different from all others. And this would qualify my own version of "My Flavor of the Month".
When I first met her, I could not tell that there was something special about her. We talk less and she could never look straight into my eyes. Maybe because she was intimidated by my size thinking that I could carry and drop her from the third floor to the ground floor or maybe because when I ask questions she was hesitant to respond.
Still, she was invisible in my eyes until one Friday morning, I came across the word "good item" uttered by her (as I write now I could still hear her loud, ear-dropping voice) and it stuck with me. She sent a friend request to one of my socmed accounts but did not mind accepting her. But when I hear in a soft voice "i accept pod ko ma'am" I directly hold my phone and accepted her.
As she progressed through my class, I have seen the spark in her eyes and the warmth in her smile that drew me to her. In short, we developed a close rapport. I see how she puts extra effort into her task at the expense of using my free time on weekends and even in the night but it does not bother me anyway. But more than that, she has a heart of gold.
Over time, she and I developed a friendship that extended beyond the classroom. We randomly sneak out from our friends to take a sip of coffee or go out for lunch. We shared many laughs, thoughts, and moments of growth together. Through it all, I came to admire her innocence, her resilience, and her sweetness.
Of course, no one is perfect, and she had her moments of imperfection like anyone else. Her imperfection made me think to detach from her to protect myself from all negativities. It affected me for a short while but have to keep my composure. But one incident put her in hot water (special person) which allowed me to say my piece and put my peace back.
As I reflect on my time with her, I admire her boldness in who she is and what she can do but she has to be sensitive to the feelings of others, conscious of her limitations, and be grounded always. She has taught me so much about being decisive which I do not possess and I wanted to tell her that we have something in common.
The reason why I am writing this is because it is her birthday and this is my gift to her.
Happy birthday to you my dearest. Let's spread more fun with our "other friend." Let no grades affect us.
Night Owl
According to Andrea Dykstra, In order to love who you are, you cannot hate the experiences that shaped you. That is why I always make a point to evaluate where I am weak and vulnerable.
By the way, I am Stella, a graduate from the University of the Philippines and currently taking up my doctorate degree in one of the colleges here in our locality. My pursuit of education feeds my hungry soul towards knowledge and innovation.
I am a person who takes charge of the researches of my young people. I give my hundred percent to them just to make sure that they learn to conduct and love writing researches. I may not love doing it, but I am passionate about helping my young and creative people.
Aside from that, I value the existence of living organisms. This feeling allows me to raise organisms that contribute to the beauty of nature thus continuing biodiversity. My dogs in particular allow me to experience unconditional love.
I am most productive at the night. It may just be an excuse but it is true. I finished most of the tasks when darkness covers us since I can focus and give my all to my work.
Writing on this platform allows me to express what is in me. I hardly open my thoughts to people especially when it is too personal. My views are mine and it is never my liking to share.
My gratitude to this platform for giving me this opportunity to air what is in me.
Know the Condition of your People
I just learned from my professor the seven (7) principles of leadership as mentioned in the book titled " The Way of the Shepherd. The moment she discussed this, I search for the book and it really sounds good.
The 7 principles may guide us on how to become a good leader. For today, I would give my inputs toward Principle 1.
***Principle 1: Know the condition of your flock***
The first principle, Know the Condition of Your Flock, points out the importance of a leader understanding the condition of their people and their work. The value of taking a personal interest and getting to know all your workers as individuals and showing concern for their wellbeing.
As leaders in our own field, we are entrusted to lead people of different IQ and EQ levels, diverse cultures, and colorful personalities. Aside from that, leaders are expected to perform tasks every day with utmost dedication and excellence. The mountainous workload keep them busy that sometimes the most important resources in the organization – its people, are forgotten and worst of all taken for granted.
Leaders are respected by their people but when they treat people as worthy individuals they are respected and loved. To be loved, leaders should know their people by name and by heart. It is significant for leaders to engage regularly with their people to understand the challenges and difficulties that their people are facing and appreciate whatever good is happening to them. When leaders make themselves available it helps to motivate people to perform at their best. Know your people on another level, not just the role that they have at work but to get to know the person themselves.
Thus, becoming a good leader would mean building personal and working relationships with the members. This relationship would allow the leader to know the condition of his people.
Education in the New Normal
As the COVID-19 Pandemic runs its course, everything momentarily stood still as governments ponder what measures to undertake so that life can move on amidst the pandemic. As we experience, many governments implemented measures that limit the number of people congregating in public places. Senior citizens, children aged 15 years old and below, pregnant women, and immunocompromised individuals were deprived of going outside their homes. People living outside the city are prohibited from coming in without the required papers for entry. Such measures have disrupted the normal functioning of society especially the schools and universities.
Education was one sector adversely affected as the class opening was scheduled and rescheduled while working on minimizing the threat of the virus if the traditional face-to-face will still be employed. Limited face-to-face in school ensures social distancing and decreases the volume of people outside their homes at any given time. The President and the Education Secretary seemed to have a face-off on the issue of opening classes yet Academic Year 2020 – 2021 was officially started last 5 October 2020 employing blended learning attuned to the demands of time. Students are taught using various means in this blended learning, including online, television, radio, and self-learning modules. As the President promised the traditional face-to-face will resume only until a vaccine becomes available.
In most places in the Philippines, Online Distance Learning through the use of the SLM is the modality widely used. Teachers were busy making, printing, sorting, packing, distributing, and checking modules. These activities are considered "new normal" to teachers. As the school year is about to end, may these efforts be granted with appreciation and love by our learners.
In a crisis situation, poor communication which comes in the form of panicky communication case intensifies the crisis situation. The calm and yet quick way to prevent the intensification of the crisis can be obtained by communicating the pre-planned evacuation structures that are elective beforehand as newly structures for the evacuation activity.
Online Gaming Detox
Hello everyone! This is @stella2020 and I am back after 2 weeks of hiatus. My job keeps me busy that I cannot attend to this platform. Hope you can find time to read and subscribe my account.
The past few months, my 12 year old nephew stayed with us. He had the liberty to connect to our internet for him to play online games. Most of his time was spent with his cellphone instead of going out with us and helping the chores.
Then we asked him, what is his usual routine in their home. He then replied, "after washing the dishes, I run to my cell phone and play. We also play every night with my brother until wee hours." That answer was very alarming on our part. He is still very young but as we see it he is addicted to this online game.
To make his stay more meaningful, I asked him to minimize the use of his phone, 1 hour in the morning, 1 hour in the afternoon and 2 hours before going to sleep. I also gave him academic tasks like memorizing the multiplication table and some English lesson. He was assigned also to some of the household chores. Good thing that the young boy was responsive and willing to learn but still also looking forward for his free time to be reunited with his cell phone.
That time, we realized that, it is not easy to balance things for the young ones. Especially that those things that we deprive them to do are the things that could make them happy. We just wanted him to feel that they do not need those distractions to make them happy. Also, we have to do more and help them find things that can make them productive.
Online games are intended to entertain and give diversion from the souring work that we have. But for now, online games are distracting and corrupting our childrens' minds.
Let us all practice online gaming detox.
I am back! Was not able to post my piece here. Been busy with work
Writing Misconceptions
Hello everyone! I feel like writing again and I hope we are all in good shape today.
Today, i spent half of my day listening to my classmates presentation about writing a message. I would love to share to you some of the things I've learned.
Writing skill can be develop through time only when you invest time and effort. Practice can make us better writers.
Many of us find writing stressful. May be because we do not know how to write correctly in terms of grammar, spelling, sentence construction and vocabulary. And worst if we are not corrected with our misconceptions.
Common Misconceptions
**MYTH 1. Correct writing guarantees effective writing.**
The correct use of words, grammar, punctuation marks and spelling is not the only element of an effective writing. It is also important that the message conveys ideas that are fruitful and sensible.
**MYTH 2. The more words written, the better the document.**
The length of the message is not a measure of a good document. It must be brief without sacrificing the content or the point of the message.
**MYTH 3. Creative writing is the same with Business writing.**
Creative writers focused on the plot, theme and character whereas Business writers focused on the information that can help in the business.
The misconceptions presented can make us ineffective writers. Let us be aware of this.
Thanks for reading. If the article is informative to you, you may LIKE, COMMENT and SUBSCRIBE.
Have a nice day ahead.
Wait for the time
"If it is not meant for you, its not for you. "
I've been quite for 2 days not because I lost track but due to the assigned task given to me in my department.
I would like to share what I have learned from my previous endeavor.
Before the school year ends, I submitted my self for ranking and promotion together with my 6 other colleagues. We were all qualified but I hoped for a favorable result on my part as I consider myself an asset due to my passion towards work.
To cut the story short, I only rank second. Initially, I did not concede to the rank 1 thinking that the panel would recognize the quality and quantity of work I spent in the department. Buy later on, I came to accept my defeat.
In that event, I appreciated right timing in everything that we do. It may not be my luck on that day, but l know my luck will come someday.
It wasn't mine yet. Its not meant for me.
That Young Man
Twenty years ago, a fresh graduate young man decided to tie a knot to his girlfriend to take his responsibility as a father to his daughter. Since he is the eldest of the 5 children, it was difficult for him that he may not be able to share responsibility of sending his siblings to college especially that his mother is the only breadwinner in the family.
His betterhalf is a supportive wife and a loving mother. But his married life was not a bed of roses. He lived in the same roof with his in-laws. He worked night and day to provide his family and give the best of everything to his children. Fortunately, his in-laws are very supportive especially in taking good care of the children as his parents are living from a far.
The couple has dreamt of having their own house, luxurious car, farmlands with fruit trees and farm animals, and a happy family. Because of their hard work accompanied with the prayer and faith in God, they were able to reach there dreams. Both of them works in the government with good salary.
Today, we celebrated their 20th wedding anniversary with much love and pride. As I look back, the memories of our childhood with that young man is still vivid - our late night talks, laughters, and basketball games in the sala.
May this young man turned fine man be bless more with love, peace and happiness.
Every morning is a manifestation of new beginnings. Let us thank the person Above for giving us another day. Do what we can do for today for we are not assured for another tomorrow. Inspire others with our good deeds and never let others ruin our day.
Great morning everyone!
Rest
Listen to me closely
As I come to you eagerly
My heart beats faster
As I saw you nearer.
Bleed till you leave
Say what you plead
Reach for your hand
Until I am down.
Rest is what I need
Sleep that is so deep
Skip from dreams
So you wont be lame.
My Sunday
Wake up! It's Sunday already.
Today is supposed to be our Departments get away to a beautiful island. The boat was booked and everyone was ready with their outfits.
The island trip is more or less 1 hour from our place riding in a boat. The boat can accommodate 60 persons but due to covid only 30 individuals are allowed. It is supposed to be a memorable bonding with our colleagues. Unfortunately, we postponed it due to bad weather condition.
What are the things that we consider that we decided to put it on hold ?
The Quarantine Protocol.
Weather Condition
Our Safety
As much as we want to go, we come to realized that we have to be mindful of what is going on. It is important to act right than feel right.
Hope you get something from this post
Life Lessons
Good day everyone. It's me again @stella2020. Hope everyone gets to wake up with full of energy.
The month of July has just ended. I begin August, the 8th month of the year, with 8 life lessons learned throughout my existence.
People who value you will always have their time allotted for you no matter how hectic the schedule is.
The 100% goodness that you have shown to people is totally forgotten when you have done 1% wrong.
Most people get in touch with you when they need something.
Money is important but It will not make you happy all the time. Build relationship with love as money can destroy it.
Family time is the best time. Invest time and love for family.
Do not rely all your expenses on your salary; instead look for ways and means to earn more.
When in doubt, listen to your inner self. Consult your conscience if your action is right and does not violate your rules.
Be always happy. As much as possible, forget all the aches in life.
Happy August everyone!
Thank you for all your support. Thanks to @Pallab and Jim for sponsoring me.
Please find time to read my post, like and subscribe.
End ...
When days are gloomy
And nights are lonely
Not glad to say
That I don't see the day.
Tears here and everywhere
Swollen like an acher
Wipe it to hide
From people inside.
Now I may be lost
Around this crazy host
Trying to bend
But I know its the end.
Pictures of Dragon Fruit
Good day everyone.
Today I am going to share some of my photographs of my dragon fruit planted in our backyard. We waited for 6 years to see this amazing creation of God. Don't forget to subscribe if you haven't and comment after you've read it.
Hope you will enjoy.
The Flower. This is the flower of a dragon fruit plant. It blooms over night. The following morning you will see that it starts to wither.
The Fruit. This fruits starts to chamge its color from green to red. This is an indication that the fruit is about to be harvested.
The Harvest. The fruit is ready to eat. It is sweet and very palatable.
Like the dragon fruit plant that took 6 years to bear nutritious fruit, our life needs to be polished for many years to produce amiable character .
Highland Trip
"Unplanned trips are the best because planned trips never happened."
Yes our trip was unplanned. It was organized two days prior to our departure. Though our planned trips were cancelled due to the present situation it was substituted with this out of town trip. As said, unplanned is one of the best.
It took us less than 2 hours to arrived to our destination. The weather was good, sky and road was clear but very sloppy and crisscross. We reached to a very high altitude place where you could feel that heaven is about to be reach.
As soon as we embarked, cold air welcome us that makes us tremble for a moment. The nature surrounding us was so heavenly that you could thank the Creator. Mountains are green and bushy.
Aside from that green scenery, the beauty of animals like parrot, ostrich, lama, and goats are breath taking. Plantation of bell pepper and lettuce are also booming.
The coldness of the air is warmth by the friendly and accommodating staffs that ready to welcome us. Though no food is served they allowed guest to use their picnic amenities and kitchen utensils. Overnight is also allowed with an affordable and elegantly laid rooms.
Before we said goodbye to this beautiful place, we were showered with rain. Thankfully again we feel the beauty of nature as raindrops falls unto us.
Indeed this place is wonderful place to unwind and relax.
***Feel free to comment about my post and subscribe. Thanks.***
Vball in me
***"And we have a new champion that beats the team with a twice to beat advantage. Undeniably, crush the defending champion. Congratulations!!!"***
Volleyball is not my cup of tea. I haven't played nor watch a game until that championship game. I do not know the rules of the game, not even familiar with volleyball players whom later I learned they are stars.
After that championship game, I reviewed previous games to understand how it is played And I came to realized that playing volleyball is like doing our everyday task.
Volleyball is a team sport.
Volleyball involves players inside the court. Each player have to perform their specialty to the best that they can. Like in doing our task, we need help from others. We need their opinion and suggestions.
Volleyball needs connection.
The setter must have build a strong connection between the other players. Otherwise, errors exceed than attack. Like in doing our task, our connection to the people around us is important. Otherwise, work is not relevant.
Volleyball means mental toughness.
Unlike basketball that each quarter has a specific time, volleyball doesn't. As it says, one point at a time. Players that are not mentally strong easily give up a point. Being panic in a game does not help. In relation to our work, we have to do things patiently. We need to finish our work one at a time depending on its priority.
In reality life is a game. Life is like playing volleyball. And volleyball is part of me.
THANKS!
Real Happiness
My friend and I decided to take spent some quality time since we are about to become busy. As we traverse from one restaurant to another, we discussed several issues of different fields until we came across to this question, **what makes us happy.**
Let me share some of our thoughts about happiness.
Happiness is equated to joy, laughter and love. When there is joy in the things that we do and we feel satisfied we become happy. The laughter that burst from our mouth and windowed in our eyes is a manifestation that we are happy. The love that transcends from our family, friends and special someone in a form of care and annoyance gives us a smile in our heart.
Also, money makes us happy. It allows us to buy things that we want like gadgets, clothes, luxurious cars and many more. We can eat the foods that we crave in. And much more, we can invite our friends to our house or even treat them somewhere.
But, we came to realized that there are things that money cannot buy to make us happy. Let me share something here.
**Money can buy fun but not joy.**
Rich kids are brought to amusement parks, theme parks like Disneyland, Enchanted Kingdom , buy expensive toys in the mall or avail services of clown, magicians during their birthday party but this is nit an assurance that the kid feels the joy in his heart at the end of the event.
**Money can buy bed but not sleep.**
Famous celebrities are sleeping in a cozy bed but some of them are experiencing depression, anxiety not giving them quality sleep.
**Money can buy a house but not a home.**
A big house with many amenities is a dream of many. But there are mansions that is not a home because the family members doesn't have time for each other.
**Money can buy a servant but not faithfulness**
Household helpers are important. It makes our life easier. They do the burden of fixing things, cooking and cleaning. We can even hire many of them and pay them but we can never buy their loyalty. They still leave us despite increasing salary and giving them benefits.
**Money can buy memorial park but not heaven.**
Lastly, practical people buy memorial park in preparation of their death. Millionaires do build museum before they died in the park to make sure that they have the most comfortable place. Sadly, nobody can buy eternal happiness.
Let us reflect on this. and ask ourselves what makes us happy?
***Money can make us happy but not at all times. That is why we have to find happiness where money cannot buy.***
The Struggle is Real
Good day! I would like to share this as I would like to take a deep breath .
When deadlines are move most of the time it favors us, but if move earlier than schedule its a different story.
This week I am to submit 3 important things: 2 is for my work and 1 is for my personal development. That work related items are supposed to be submitted at the end of this month. Unfortunately, minds are changing and this is now the start of my struggle.
And I come to realize that wasting time is not cool. Cramming is no good too.
Still, i have to chase these deadlines whether I like it or not.
Do we share same sentiments?
Nature and Memories
Sharing to everyone this photo that I captured when I stepped again to my mother's hometown.
What makes this relevant to me?
It is where we bond with my cousins in our younger years.
The beauty of this place has changed over time but the laughters are still there.
The water brings memory of my childhood fantasy.
I hope you can appreciate the beauty of nature.
One Afternoon Drive
Community quarantine glued me from going to places in our city with friends.
Until this day I decided to step on the car with my friend and found a place that made us realized three things:
The place that we were in is a best place for relaxation.
The flavored beer that we used to drink has changed its face.
One bottle is not enough.
And I may say "Best moment happen when they are unplanned".
Planting Craze
Most of the people in our place are going crazy over gardening and plants like succulents , caladium, etc. And this is evident in the socmed as it traverse in our timelines.
In this liking to have one, we spend alot of time in planting. Aside from that we also go through the process of finding the right pot in terms of size, shape, color, price and eventually where to find one since there is a scarcity of the supply. We also consider the exact plant that goes with our pot. Some may buy from local garden or even wait for somebody to post in the facebook for barter.
Nevertheless, the kind of soil is also considered as it is important for the growth of the plant as it gives nourishment. And after all of these, the search as to where it must be placed.
Happy planting everyone!
Coffee Break
The mind of the writer is preoccupied at the moment since she is enrolled in an online summer class and about to present her assigned topic in the next couple of days. To rest her mind, she is now having her coffee break and decided to write for the first time in this platform.
Good day! Attending an online class for the first time is challenging. My inner self was ignited pouring so much energy but then I felt I was shivering for a moment . My internet connection was not stable. It flactuates from time to time. I also became concious in front of the camera everytime I talk.
Nevertheless, that experience is just a new phase of adopting to the new normal.
My coffee break is done, I have to go back to work.
@stella2020
