The Weekend Pages

I  recently felt nostalgic and somewhat melancholic when I came across a video of a valedictorian from the University of the Philippines on TikTok. It was their graduation, and as is customary, the valedictorian delivered a speech.  Jethro Sia Modequillo, who graduated with a degree in Computer Science from the University of the Philippines - Diliman, delivered his valedictory speech early this month. He spoke with such eloquence and articulated his thoughts well. I admire his rational approach to success, failure, and the pressure of expectations. I have to admit that I only saw a couple clips of his speech from TikTok because that's the only thing my deteriorating attention span can handle. However, I understood the main points, and I agree with Jethro. Some people thrive when enough expectations push them to excel in either academics or work. Some people, however, breaks down when confronted with such pressure and tough love from mentors, professors, and bosses. I understan...

It irks me whenever a 30+ something woman tries to lecture me on FaceBook about having babies as early as now. No, thanks. Not for now please. Do I want to be a mother in the future? Yes. But not now, because I know I’m going to be a bad mother. Bad mother in a sense that I’m afraid I’m not going to fulfill my motherly duties because I still have a lot of healing work to do.  How you treat your child since day one affects their entire personality and how they view the world. I’ve learned in Developmental Psychology that there are four types of parenting categories: authoritarian, authoritative, permissive, and uninvolved. Let me summarize the categories for you:  (1) Authoritarian; the strict parents. (2) Authoritative; nurturing, with rules to obey, and asserts reward-and- punishments. (3) Permissive; you know Lorelai and Rory, right? Yeah. This is Lorelai’s parenting style. They impose limited rules on their children. (4) Uninvolved; best examples are my parents. So whatever...

June ended with me being out in the sun. The trip was organized by Moi Richkid on Facebook. We went to Mindamora Falls, also known as Limunsudan or Bayug Falls, a two-tiered waterfall with a height of 870 feet situated between Talakag, Bukidnon, and Sitio Limunsudan, Rogongon, Iligan City. Tourism is made possible and was pushed through by the Lumad and the people of Talakag, but geographically, this wonder is within the boundaries of Iligan City.  At the view deck The trail was hard for anyone who’s not a seasoned hiker. Guides were assigned to every group, and I got Ma’am Lovelyn to take care of me for the day. At first, I underestimated Mindamora Falls. Its trails were unpredictable and difficult. I had to exert more energy when we were on what they call the Monkey Trail.  I met and made friends with the other people who joined the hike. We laughed and talked about the places we'd visited. The whole trip made me remember the 19-year-old me who was adventurous and carefree. ...