Junior Life: New Challenges

                Junior life is an exciting one. This is like the second half of your memorable high school life. For me, the start of this new journey is a hard one because I have to socialize again with different people with different attitudes. Honestly, I am so disappointed when I knew that I am in III-Fluorine. Not because of thinking it was the last section, but, most of my friends since first year are not my classmates anymore. So instead of being sad, I accepted the fact that I should meet new friends. I know to myself that at first, it was so hard for me to adjust but, as time passes by, I realized that this section is the best. I never expected to be so happy after I knew all of them.

             It was boring the first time I went to our classroom. I have no one to talk to and I am at the front row because the seating arrangement is alphabetically arranged. The faces were different, and I feel that I am just a transferred student. Our section had many issues that faced. But these problems became the reason of our stronger bond nowadays. Everyday was sort of funny, sarcastic, helpless, boring, and dramatic. I always end up smiling and laughing. I never thought of having this school year so much fun. I am so thankful now that I am included in the crazy section of mine. I met new friends who changed me and made me a stronger person. Whenever I'm alone, they're always there to join me and broke my solitary mood. But, as my mom said, you can't please everyone. So, there are few who I don't like to be with. I am suffocated whenever I am with those person. So, I will just put a smile on my face whenever I meet them and I will just let them to feel angry while I'm just having fun.

             As time passes by, Junior life gets more exciting especially during the English Time. I really enjoy every speech activity that we had done. Even though it was a bit stressful, I really enjoy it. I admit that I am always nervous during those times. Thank God that I have my classmates who are ready to listen in every suggestion that each of us have. I am so lucky to have them. It was difficult to socialize with them at first but after some time, I realized they were nothing compared to others. I have now more confident to lead a class whenever we have speech activities because they already trusted me now after we got the 1st rank of "The Bells" by Edgar Allan Poe, which I lead just last few weeks. I am so happy that they now always listen to what I suggest for the section. I am so confident now that we can all do things together. We are one. I hope that we can also surpass and be successful in other activities that we will do in the last few months of our Junior life. I am also hoping to have more speech activities in English because I want to have more bonding time with my classmates while gaining information from each other.

Apology Letter for a Friend

                                                                                                               February 8, 2014

                                                                                                               Bucal 4 - A

                                                                                                               Maragondon, Cavite

Dear Jacob,

          Where should I begin? That question popped up on my mind when I heard that we need to write an apology letter. Perhaps the letter isn't the best way to go about this. I know that I don't deserve anything from you, but I can only hope that you'll read these words, knowing that I mean every one of them. For me, a good apology has three parts. The first part is saying I’m sorry. So I suppose, saying “I’m sorry” is a start. As I look back in our past conversations, I am now in guilt. I am very sorry for what I did to you. I am very sorry if I am so sensitive at times that can lead us into a fight. Now, I realize (and should have realized then) how much pain that I caused you. If I could change the past and take back what I did, I would. I promise that I would never hurt you like this anymore. I was supposed to be the one who would protect you from this sort of pain; I never intended to be the cause.

            The second part of a good apology is admitting that it was my entire fault. Yes, it was my fault. I didn’t think that I would hurt your feelings because I am so selfish that time. I only think for my own sake. It was a “rebound”. You’re the one that I used to forget my feelings about him because I know that you will never fall in love with me because I know that you are deeply in love with my best friend. But then, I was wrong. And I am very sorry for that. That time, I can’t imagine someone having a crush on me. I am so focused that time with him, not even bothered what are you going to feel. And now that I see how much my actions have hurt you, I know that I can’t bear to see you unhappy. I can promise you that I won’t ever recklessly use a person just for me to forget things. It was wrong, stupid, and immature of me to do what I did.                                        

            The last part of a good apology is knowing how can I make it right. Based on my experience, I know that forgiving someone is easy but forgetting of the mistake done by that someone is definitely hard. But, I hope you can forgive me for what I did and put this matter behind us. I treasure our friendship and all the things we've done and been through. And hopefully, what transpired can become one of those incidents that make our bond stronger than ever. I hate that there's a chance that you will never want to be a part of my life again, so I hope you know that I will do whatever it takes to prove to you that I can do better if you just give me a second chance. I can’t promise to fix all of your problems, but I can promise you won’t have to face them alone. I know that one day; someone is going to hug you so tight. That all of your broken pieces will stick back together.

                        If one day you want to run away, don’t be afraid to call me. I don’t promise to ask you to stop, but I can run away with you. If one day you don’t want to listen to anyone, call me. I promise to be there for you and I promise to be very quiet. If one day you feel like crying and you saw me happy, don’t have a second thought to call me because I am ready to leave all of the happiness in this world just for you. But if one day you call, and there is no answer. Come fast to see me. Perhaps I need you. (Perhaps I’m not around anymore).

Love lots,

Jochelle

I am Me

             "Just be yourself because there is no one better." I always tell that line to myself whenever I start to compare myself to someone else.  I am Jochelle Ranela Manzo Almanzor. The only child of Jocelyn and Ranel Almanzor.  I am fond of doing things like singing, playing the guitar and the piano. My hobbies are surfing the internet and staying connected with my friends, listening to music, travelling to different places with my mommy, biking with my mommy and playing basketball and badminton with my cousins. Yes, some other people have their characteristics in mutual. But, also of us I know has distinct characteristics that we can show those people who are so fond of comparing and so judgmental.

             Yes, I believe that I am special in my own little way. For me, I am special whenever I sing and I can make everyone quiet. I feel that they love my voice that they will keep quiet just to hear my voice. I believe that my voice is beautiful because that's what my relatives and friends say. I inherit my talent from both of my parents. And I am so thankful to God that I have this kind of voice. I promise to use this talent in good deeds like I will try my best to join a choir in the nearest church in our home. And, I WILL SING NOT TO IMPRESS, BUT TO EXPRESS.


                Because I have my strong points, of course, I also have my weaknesses and flaws but I promise to myself that I will always conquer them and don't let those negative things block my way to success. I know that I don't do these things perfectly, but I always assure all of you that all of those hardships are with my heart. My mother said that I have to be an optimistic person. So, I always make sure to look at the positive side of everything I do and to love the things that I will do. I know that someday, I will be a successful one because of that attitude.

             I know that I am not as good as other singers but I know to myself that I am unique. Just like in music, there are so many types of it. Or in style of voices, all of us can have different voice quality than that of the others that can make you unique. I am Jochelle Ranela Manzo Almanzor saying I am me.

Thank God I Have Them

Dear God,

           I wrote this letter to You because I know to myself that I am not that expressive about my feelings for my parents. And because of that, my parents always think that I don't appreciate the things that they had given me and the things that they had done and sacrificed for me. So I am thinking that through this letter, I can express it.


          Most and foremost, I would like to thank You in every blessing You gave to me and to my parents. I am very grateful to You because you gave me such wonderful parents now. Without them, I will not be who I am today. Parents that are always been there for me through thick and thin, who lights my candle when I need guidance and enlightenment, who inspires me to do the things I wanted and needed to do, who understands my flaws and the lack of time for them, and who are making nights into days just to work for my sake. I truly understand why they are sometimes mad at me, and that's because, they just wanted me to take the right path in my life. I am very sorry because I raised my voice on them sometimes, and I know that's very painful to them. I know that I am not a perfect daughter. I sometimes become so disrespectful to them and I am so lazy to do some chores in our house that is supposed to be done by me. And because of that, I am very disappointed to myself because I can't even help them through it. I also feel bad when they are not appreciating my grades, but, I am wrong. They really appreciate it. I hate it when they compare me to others. But now, i realized that after that comparing, I am struggling now to be better than the person they are comparing me.


        I know I had done many bad things to them. But, I hope that they will see the other side, or the positive things I did to them. Now that I am all grown up, I realized that my parents are the most important people in my life and no one or nothing could replace them. They are the ones who given me my beautiful name and voice. God, please bless my parents and make them healthy always. Please give them a longer patience to discipline me. Give them strength and courage in facing everyday's challenges. I hope that they will forgive in all of the sins I made to them. Continue guiding our family to the right path. Thank You God that I have them.


                                                                                                                                       Your daughter,
                                                                                                                                        Jochelle

Sweet Agony

                  Honestly, I don't have any regrets in my life now because whatever happened in the past, I enjoyed and learned something new from it. Hmmm. Oh Lord of Regrets! Please give me an idea to start with this blog.... At last! Maybe, just a little, I regret that I fell in love so easily. Yeah. Falling in love is easy as taking a sip of coffee but moving on is as hard as pushing a wall.  The more effort you exert, the more force will act upon you. Falling in love is like jumping off a building: Your brain tells you, "It's not a good idea" while your heart tells you, "you can fly!" Love is food. Once you get hooked with it's taste, it's hard to stop. It's good to share the food but it is so painful that the person you shared with didn't liked it or didn't even gave thanks to you as a response. But, you have to be ready in those situations when you decided to share that food.


                Yes, I admit it. I am so in love with Superman. He is as funny as a barrel of monkeys. When I first saw him, it was like, "Boom!, Lab---dab---lab---lab." My heart always skips a beat especially when he starts talking to me. I am easy on the eyes. Hard on the heart. My love for him is as deep as the ocean. When I started loving him, I didn't realize that it was my last chance to escape from this sweet agony, and this last chance was walking out of my door. He's like a candle. When you are stuck in the darkness, he seems to be the candle that gives me the light I need into the darkness. And I felt comfortable whenever he's with you. My explanation why I loved him is as clear as mud.

              Now, I realize that loving him is an opportunity in my life that knocked only once at my door. Love can give us heartaches that no one could ever heal. But, as what Eleanor Roosevelt once said, "It is better to light a candle than curse the darkness." For me, this saying is interpreting that I should not go back to the dark past but instead, I should look forward to see the brighter future. The past can make us realize things that we didn't intend to learn. I know that I will treasure these bitter sweet memories of us. Even though I know that I should be friends again with him, this SWEET AGONY of mine would never be erased from me, forever.