Academe’s Land of Elites

This blog is a spinoff from another blog entitled Social Etiquette ≠ Feel Good. To get an idea what this blog is all about, check the previous blog here.

Two decades ago, during those times I was experiencing one of my worst personal struggles in the Land of Masses of the academe world (not first or star section) in terms of socialization and peer pressure wise, I knew that I am above average in terms of my intelligence compared with my peers on that land and also studious too. However, those things weren't enough to help me belong to the academy's Land of Elites (first or star section).

Then I started to probably reflect on the time when it was a bizarre transition for me starting my 6th grade where my constant friend and classmate and I went into different groups, but still under the land of masses albeit divided into two or three sections (depending on the student population that school year). While I was in my own section, I was able to befriend a newcomer from another kingdom (another school) that joined our group. Fast forward when we had to transition to high school, this new friend I made was smart, intelligent and studious enough that she now belonged to the Academe’s Land of Elites while I still remained at Land of the Masses.

Now back to my Freshmen high school where the administrators and head did not made me and my then constant classmate and friend together in one section at Land of the Masses once again (unless you both decided to excel so you could be together at Land of Elites), and two of my friends who are already now at the Land of Elites (the new student and another friend of ours since first grade). Fortunately, one of my friends who came back from another kingdom was my classmate in the Land of Masses. However, I’m not sure if her presence was enough to combat the constant chaos our peers were attacking towards me and two other peers of mine in that group.

At that point on and also looking at the first quarterly rankings on who would most likely belong to which land for the succeeding year, I realized although my scores are technically not qualified enough to belong to the Land of Elites, but since the school have to make sure that the students have to be equally distributed among sections, the top students who aren’t qualified scoring wise, would have a chance to belong to the Land of Elites. The tiny problem, I am almost there, but it wasn’t enough to qualify for the Land of Elites yet. Since a quarter means you have 4 attempts at trying to get better, that means I have to push myself harder - and for the first time, I had this motivation… Motivation not only to escape from the Land of Masses, but to experience how it feels like to belong to the Land of Elites. I remember I said by then, that the only way to escape the constant torture your peers were giving to you socially was to excel more academically because those people who made fun of me were way far to chase me there should I end up going there the following year. So my motivation - probably my only motivation in my whole high school life or entire academic life - was to go to the Land of Elites (the star section) the following year.

After three quarters and the constant taunting and teasing of my peers that affect your mental health, I finally made it to the Land of Elites the following year!!!

Academe’s Land of Elites…

A place where the best of the best were recognized yearly. A place where the perks and the privileges were given only to them… but only if they made sure that they can maintain their academics at a high level despite the looming threats of the borderline students that can penetrate the sacred land.

I admit being there was very foreign despite knowing that you are a citizen of the kingdom (school), but it’s just that you now belong to a new land… foreign land. I remember I was even shy to enter the hallways of my new world… Shy enough that I even asked one of my old friends who still remained in the Land of Elites to join me in entering the hallways of the said land…

It was fun for a while, as your constant friend in your younger years also belonged in the Land of Elites. How amazing was that?

However, the longer you stay in the new land, you realize that you don’t know anything about the own-made sacred rules of the Land of Elites. Because you are new in their world, you literally have zero idea of what is going on or what are the unspoken rules of the said land. You thought that what you were doing in the land of the masses can be duplicated in the land of the elites…

Until you realized that being in the Land of Elites would put your sanity into a bigger test. This world is a different animal compared to the Land of Masses as some of the lower tier elite people would say. You can aim to become top in the Land of the Masses group and people there would not care… but when you bring that same mentality to the Land of Elites… THEY NOTICE. You may not be perceived as a threat to attack the very top intellectually (honor students), (hey! I am not insane to go against them too. 😂) but if you are trying to penetrate that part of the land where it would give you an opportunity to stand out in front of the council (school administrator and teachers) despite underperforming intellectually based on the Land’s standards such as gunning for the leadership positions over the kingdom (aka being an organization president), these intellectually gifted people (honor students), together with their lower-tiered minions (who also aims to get leadership positions) would gang up and try to pull you down, wreck your character until you chose to give up which would mean lesser competition for them to deal with.

Now I know why some bottom tiered peers of mine and the friends I formed in the Land of Masses but are now also in this new found kingdom kept on telling me to know my role… Know my role in the sense that I shouldn’t attempt to get or obtain something that was reserved to the friends of the intellectually gifted people. That you should learn to be content in having the privilege to belong in the said land despite only getting scraps from the top ones. I am aware in the sense that I am not going to take something away from the intellectually gifted citizens of the land - I knew my place. However, saying that I shouldn’t also attempt to gun for the kingdom’s other leadership positions that are said to be reserved for the friends of the intellectually gifted citizens is crazier. The council never said that the said positions are only allowed to occupy by specific people, anybody can take the position whoever the council sees fit - following the land’s unspoken rules is insane.

Looking back, I thought I could escape the taunts I had received from the Land of Masses, turns out we (me and my two other peers who are victims of taunting) may be able to cut off the head of the snake by forcing the council to exile him out of the kingdom, but the rumors about us were able to penetrate the walls of the elitist land and this big snake was able to spread smaller snakes across the Land of Elites that are far more lethal and poisonous as these snakes will act as your ally in front, but they are going to invisibly kill you unknowingly if you are not alert.

Despite all these, there are two things for sure that my peers of both lands should know about me before our time is up on serving the kingdom as we are now all forced to find another kingdom to serve and live in and let the younger generation take over…

A. I was able to leave a mark - a positive mark that the council would remember and so does the younger generation of the kingdom all because I chose to be brave enough in going against the best of the best on taking one of the spots of the leadership positions in the kingdom even if your trusted friends didn’t believe you could do so.

B. I was able to get the same privilege as some of the intellectually gifted citizens of the elitist land because I took a chance to aim for one of the leadership positions and I was eventually trusted by the citizens to hold one of the leadership positions in one of the cities of the kingdom. This is to serve as a reminder that as long as the council didn’t say bottom dwellers of land of elites are not allowed to aspire to get the leadership positions, go ahead and aim for them. The intellectually gifted and their lower-tiered minions cannot stop you from achieving it, only you can - but if you allowed them to do so.

Social Etiquette ≠ Feel Good

On April 30, 2023 around 6pm ET, we saw the last game for the first round in the 2023 NBA Playoffs. The Golden State Warriors was the last team to book their slot in the Conference Semifinals by beating the Sacramento Kings in Game 7 with a score of 120-100.

As this series goes along, we see the drama keeps on unfolding and all types of emotions are present in the moment. Some people know how to act professional whether in victory or in defeat. However, some players may have a hard time dealing with the defeat and if you are not watching the series closely, you would create a narrative of the said player.

The player in question? Domantas Sabonis. I would admit he is my favorite player in the series regardless of what the talking heads say. Yes there are Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson or at least De’Aaron Fox to root for, but I still want to root for the Lithuanian Forward/Center from the Sacramento Kings even if Kevon Looney made him look like a fraud in this series for boxing out rebounds despite Sabonis leading the league in rebounds during the regular season.

I admit I was wondering why wouldn’t Sabonis shake any of their hands when they lost? Is he really like that whenever his team loses a game? I honestly shrugged it off until I saw on Twitter that Draymond Green said something on his own podcast where he called out Sabonis for not giving respect to the Warriors by not shaking their hands while praising Sabonis’ teammate De’Aaron Fox for being a professional as he shook their hands even if their team lost.

Various opinions came spewing after Draymond Green’s remarks of Sabonis not shaking any of the Warriors’ hands as a sign of professionalism or respect. For those who did not follow the series, it would look like Sabonis is not a good sport. However, people who watched the whole series and do not have rose-colored glasses knew that it was more than that. Like what he did was understandable if he does not like to shake any of the opposing players’ hands.

That series, Sabonis was not only the victim of Draymond Green’s inadvertent stomp on his chest that led to Green’s ejection and an eventual suspension for the next game (Haters may have said Domantas Sabonis held Green’s foot that led to the stomp - which by the way referees gave Sabonis a technical for that hold on Green’s foot.), but the whole Warriors organization claimed that Sabonis is using the ball as a weapon to push opponents. Imagine being accused of using the ball as a weapon to hurt opposing players? So you get stomped on, accused of unproven claims and these people expect you to shake their hands because they beat you fair and square?

Which made me remember that one incident I had when I was in first and second year high school. During my first year in high school, there was a male classmate who is a new student yet also the one who probably put my self worth at an all-time low and sort of became a laughingstock on our whole batch because of what he did by calling us and other two classmates of mine having a mental disorder because they all felt we act very weirdly to school society standards plus probably our inability to handle those teasing and their taunting with only our class adviser defending us. To cut the story short (probably in another blog), all three of us moved up to 2nd year with the two of us going to the star section that year while he ended up repeating that year after he repeated that made him end up the same batch as ours (but do not have any idea which year did he repeated from his previous school as he was a transfer student).

Then fast forward to my second year and his first year of high school still at the same school, he still called me that same name that haunted my freshmen year when I passed by him once. Then a few months after my sister passed away and when we crossed paths in the corridor, he said condolence to my sister’s death and extended his hand to shake and I accepted it.

You may be wondering what has this something to do with Sabonis? Well both of us were bullied while I may have succeeded and Sabonis lost, the difference was Sabonis admitted he doesn’t know how to respond after Draymond called him out for not shaking his hand but we should also know that Sabonis may know his boundaries and does not want to be disrespected further. So if approaching and congratulating them after his team lost to the Warriors may mean he is professional in the eyes of the public, but deep inside he might feel uneasy, disrespected and insulted. Meanwhile I on the other hand realized after you called me names, you are just going to shake my hand to send condolences as if nothing happened? Yes the bullying stopped, but I realized I was in a state of surprise and probably on autopilot that you should accept the condolence and handshake.

I realized, do I have to lose someone I truly love for this person to stop bullying me and make it look like he has a heart of compassion? Perhaps deep inside he knew that it might be technically useless to continue the insults he was spewing as the whole school knew about my sister’s incident on the day of the whole high school’s field trip and if he continued… people would further question his character. Also maybe… just maybe he might be secretly happy that I lost a part of me that he no longer needed to add more insult as losing her was far more painful than the insults he and some other batchmates of mine did against me. After all, nobody is expected to gracefully handle the loss of your sister, a friend and de-facto maid-of-honor on your wedding when you lost her on the eve of your 14th birthday right? So internal damage that they are secretly enjoying perhaps?

Well at least the consoling thing I did was I am not friends with him on Facebook no matter how many times he pops out of Facebook’s suggested list of friends.

To conclude, I think as much as professionalism is very very emphasized, we have to still prioritize our emotional state. Yes it may look like you are immature and cannot handle the situation properly, but at least you were able to express what needed to be expressed so that you would be able to move forward immediately. After all, why would we want to carry the burden that other people consider it lightly right?

What If He was Meant to Win the Elections?

In a few hours, we would have our new president of the Republic of the Philippines. I know for certain that this does not sit well to millions of Filipinos who did not vote for Bong Bong Marcos and are scared that possibility of another dictatorship, further economic downfall and the trauma the victims of the Martial Law would once again resurface.

Some people might have scratched their head and said that why would the Filipino people allow such thing to happen to them. The advocates of Anti-Martial Law would have been thinking that isn't teaching and making the eyes of the younger generation or even the ones who are alive during the said era realize the harsh reality the Marcos Regime imposed on the nation. Are the people too brainwashed to the fact that they cannot see the reality that the Marcos Presidency Era killed and tortured millions of Filipinos? There are a lot of victims who already spoke against the said regime during their time yet they'll think why isn't it able to sink into the minds of the people. Why are people still unaware of the fact that they voted a monster who would do the same evil things as what his father had done to the nation?

However, 31 million votes for Bong Bong Marcos was too much. Even if all the voters who did not vote for him voted for Leni Robredo, it wasn't enough to dethrone him on getting the highest vote. Are the 31 million voters seeing something that we don't?

I then realized something days going towards election, what if he was supposed to win? Some might think, of course he would win because he gave grease money to the class C, D and E voters or they manipulated the election. I don't know if the claims are true or not but it is what it is - the results showed that he won.

Now back to the headline of my blog, why did I ask that "What if He Was Meant to Win?". As a trying to be more devout Catholic, I usually read the Bible Diaries 2022 (given to my dad, but my dad gave it to me) where the contents consisted of the 1st reading, Gospel and a short reflection. If I was busy or wanted to multi-task (although it's not proper as we have to focus solely in spending time with God), I just listen to Catholic Daily Reflections by John Paul Thomas on Spotify where only the Gospel mixed with reflection and a short prayer was the content. It happened a few days before election that I happened to be more devoted enough to read the Bible Diaries and I came across parts of Acts Chapter 8 and Chapter 9 which tells the story how Saul was trying to destroy the church until his conversion to be a follower of Jesus and spread the good news of the Lord.

You might say why the heck would you incorporate Bible to a son of dictator who might do the same things his father have done to the nation? Well, we know that Saul was a known persecutor of Church and anybody who believes in Jesus would be jailed until...

On his journey, as he was nearing Damascus, a light from the sky suddenly flashed around him. He fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? He said, “Who are you, sir?” The reply came, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. Now get up and go into the city and you will be told what you must do. The men who were traveling with him stood speechless, for they heard the voice but could see no one. Saul got up from the ground, but when he opened his eyes he could see nothing; so they led him by the hand and brought him to Damascus. For three days he was unable to see, and he neither ate nor drank. (Acts 9:3-9) ^[1]

And then we continue to Acts 9:10-19 where Ananias, a disciple in Damascus, was told by the Lord to look for Saul to place his hands upon him so Saul could restore his sight. When Ananias showed his doubt by informing the Lord of the things Saul had done to His saints, what did the Lord say? 

"Go! This man is my chosen instrument to bring my name to the pagan nations and their kings, and the people of Israel as well. I myself will show him how much he will have to suffer for my name." (Acts 9: 15-16) ^[1]

Upon reading this, it made me wonder, why would God choose Saul then? Like of all people why would he choose a persecutor of church? Then I came across an article explaining why the Lord has chosen Saul. In the article of Matthews (1987), ^[2] I will quote what he stated below: 

"A person was needed who could bear the name of the Lord Jesus Christ to the gentiles in non-Jewish lands, who could withstand the criticism of his own countrymen (even in the Church), and who had the knowledge and training to teach both Jews and gentiles of all social levels throughout the Roman empire what the gospel of Jesus Christ really is and what man’s responsibility is concerning it. There were many who could do some of these, but Paul could do them all magnificently well.

Paul was born of Jewish Pharisee parents in Tarsus, a gentile city. His parents sent him to Jerusalem as a youth to become a rabbi. He was well acquainted with Jewish and gentile customs and beliefs. His father was a citizen of the Roman empire; how he acquired this is not known, but Paul inherited this citizenship from his father, which was a great aid to preaching in Roman areas. (See Acts 16:37–39; Acts 22:25–30.)

Paul spoke and wrote in Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek, which gave him an indispensable cultural advantage living and teaching in the Mediterranean areas. He knew the Old Testament thoroughly, having learned it not only as a child at home and in the synagogue school at Tarsus, but also at the feet of Gamaliel in Jerusalem as a rabbinical trainee."

I know you'll say that Bong Bong Marcos was not even a college graduate. Why in the world would I compare Saul (then named Paul) to him? Simple, because although the non-college graduate may be true, some people still think that he is smart and has the capability to lead the country. After all it's been 36 years since the first Edsa Revolution, and people would ask how come there is still not progress if any family member of the Marcoses was not the President or Vice President during those 36 years?

Also this. Let's say you were alive during the times Saul persecute the church and you never heard that Saul could not see for days and heard that Ananias was able to restore his sight. It's just plain Saul spreading the good news of the Lord, would you believe him during the time that he already changed for good and he too is a believer of Jesus like you?

The reason I'm saying this because it is similar in the sense. If we go along with the narrative regarding what the Marcos regime did to the victims of Martial Law and Bong Bong Marcos, the son of the dictator who also won this year's elections would spread hope for our country to rise once again, would you also believe? I'm sure most of us would not. Perhaps some would even become hesitant like Ananias and other fellow believers.

So here is the thing, the only thing we could do now is to hope the impossible that Bong Bong Marcos would be true to himself that he would redeem the country without the need for the people to become haunted once again by what Martial Law, economic turmoil, unending gas price hike, etc. Perhaps, this is the time where we actually have to pray harder to God by entrusting Him that there is something good in store for us in this upcoming administration. Lastly, maybe we have to pray and hope differently. Because instead of hoping and praying that the incoming president be impeached or that we let our fears and anxiety get in our way, we probably should pray that he would do what is right for the country so that people would finally be given the justice and peace that they deserve.

Sources:

^[1] https://bible.usccb.org/bible/acts/9

^[2] https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/ensign/1987/09/saul-of-tarsus-chosen-for-a-special-need?lang=eng

I am at Peace (in relation to Philippines' 2022 Elections)

As the voting for the May 2022 election already closed, stakeholders involved in the election would start to count and confirm the ballots as we await for the results of who will our next president be.

Different emotions are felt at this moment, some are praying that the one they voted would make it to be the change that they desired to be after the perceived hardships they've experienced in the current administration. Others are afraid that the son of a former president would rise once again and the trauma that the people experienced during the Martial Law would once again surface.

Personally, I was in mixed emotions from the time that candidates starts declaring their intention to run. There is fear, confusion, uncertainty that pertains to various candidates. Add to the fact that I'm making my own conspiracy theories because of the feelings that I'm experiencing. It also doesn't help when majority of people think this is a two-horse race while there are 10 candidates who are running for the same position. Add to the fact that when you told someone that you wouldn't vote for Candidate A, they assume you're voting for Candidate B that they truly despise or vise versa (e.g. you don't like Candidate B, so they think you are for Candidate A). For some out-of-place candidates, they are there either to try to make a change in their little ways or to give some masses a chance to vote for somebody else who were not considered part of the so-called "two-horse race".

For my part, I didn't vote for any of the top two candidates in the survey. I'm glad we're not following the system of the United States where there's only two viable candidates to choose from, because I might end up choosing my own poison (for some it might looked stupid - but that's my personal reasons that people in general may not understand).

For the candidate that I voted, some people may have said "you're just wasting your vote on somebody who's not going to win anyway, might as well cast your vote on a candidate that has a high chance of winning." or there are controversies surrounding this said candidate. You can even throw the idea of the campaign manager of this candidate is the one who's causing headaches - especially to the business sector. Lastly, people would be wondering, why don't you vote for the model candidate where this candidate has a good track record, really did something to make the country a better place, the person who businessmen loves having as a president so the economy would keep growing like what the previous president did?

And I think I got my answer on the last week leading to today's election... It all came from one tweet of a verified source with the candidate saying this will be the last time this candidate will run for a government office. In my weak intuition, I already know who's going to win - and yes, it's not the candidate I voted. Wasting my vote? Maybe not voting for this candidate might even be a bigger regret for me because this is the same candidate I wanted to vote for 2004 elections then except I was a minor back then.

That's why no matter what the results of this election would be, I know that I'll be in peace. I'll be in peace knowing that despite of a slim chance this candidate might win, I know that I wouldn't regret this vote. I am at peace knowing that my decision was not swayed by outside forces - no matter how credible or factual they are. Yes, other voters who vouch for other candidates might have to find ways to change your mind through their own convincing powers. I am at peace knowing that I did not bash other people nor prohibit their freedom of speech in choosing their favorite candidate while I did not sway them away from their preferred candidate. I am at peace knowing that I allowed them to give their own reason on why I should not choose their preferred candidate without them being afraid of whatever I would give rebuttal against the said candidate or not. I may had looked like a people pleaser whoever a very vocal person might be vouching for, but in the heated moment of huge political differences, that's the only way to get through a conversation without losing your own stand of being affected by other people's ridiculousness or guilt tripping.

Again, based on how the current situation unfolds, my mind knows who is going to win - it was not the candidate I voted for, but I know I can sleep at peace like the same people who voted for the candidate that I know that's going to win. I'm not going to regret this - not at all.

Nota Bene: Blog has been posted from another blogsite that I also owned last May 9, 2022.

Different Kinds of Groupmates

During first day of every class, the professor would ask the class to either group yourselves into smaller groups or by count off to determine your group. Regardless of the outcome of the groupings, the same question usually arise. How are you going to contribute to your group? If you were grouped according to your own free will, chances are you already know how each of you work in a group. However, there are also those so-called uncertain territory where despite the free will to choose, you still do not have any idea how your group members will operate.

During my stay in the MBA program, I think that there are at least three kinds of roles students perform upon when it comes to dealing with group works or reports. Initiator, Finisher, Follower and Loafers. Having these kinds of roles have its own advantages and disadvantages, and sometimes there are cases where you would be classifying yourself in any of them, but not more than one type at the same time and on the same subject.


A. The Initiator

The initiator is usually considered as an alpha group mate among his/her group mates. These types of people are most likely not a huge fan of procrastination as they would most likely not work well in a pressure-cooker situation or doing things at the deadliest deadline. An initiator can be classified into two types: Active and Passive.

Active Initiators are the ones who are very vocal and assertive in the sense they know how to direct their group. There may not be a consensus assigned leader, but the way they speak or direct the group, you know that you already have a leader without the need to protest against them. 

Passive Initiators on the other hand are the ones who will silently do their part especially when there is no consensus leader among their group. They will be the first ones to start doing the project until the other types of group mates will notice the progress.

Initiators can be considered "risk-takers" in the sense that they are not afraid to make mistakes. They may or may not be forced to be certain with what they are doing just so that they could at least somehow see progress in their group work.

B. The Finisher

The finishers are the opposite of Initiators. If initiators work well when time is on their side, finishers work well when time is against their side. These people usually classified as someone who can only be productive when time is against them. Also, they are also considered perfectionist in some form since there is a tendency that they will correct their group mate's input in the group in order to make the output better. Because they may have perfectionist tendencies, they will most likely not make the first move in contributing their ideas unless they see somebody else make the move. By observing that someone within their group already contributed, they can now use the ideas of their group mates, who placed their input first, as their basis on how to effectively place their input to their group and see if there is something they can improve upon based on the available information or data.

C. The Follower

They are usually cooperative for as long as instructions are given by the so-called leader in the group. If in case there is no clear leader in the group that gives or assigns tasks, they will not do anything unless they see somebody else takes the first step. However, whenever somebody took the first step in completing their group work, they will eventually do their part.

Since they are followers, the pacing depends on either the majority of his or her group mates or whether there is an alpha classmate who will take charge. If the pacing of the group is fast or if somebody already started contributing, there is a high probability that they will immediately do their part. Same goes if the pacing of the group is slow or if the group decides to procrastinate. People who chose this option could never dictate their group's pace unless they decided to take charge to become an initiator or finishers. 

D. The Loafer

Loafers are the type of people who either intentionally or unintentionally categorized themselves into depending on the situation. 

Unintentional Loafers are the ones who really have the intention to do their part before the deadline, but because of the mismatch of pacing from the initiator and other work-related stuffs that caused them to delay doing their part, they ended up being loafers. These type of people are usually genuinely remorseful that they did not do their part and would try to exhaust all possible ways to still help even if they already deemed a minor one. Such examples are volunteering to print the output or create a PowerPoint presentation to ease the burden of those who contributed a lot.

Intentional Loafers are obviously the ones who are really making excuses that looked like an unintentional loafer, but when you come to think of it they intentionally loaf. These types of people you technically do not want to be with since you are expected to exert more effort for the sake of submitting your group's output. Also, if these types of people know who they are dealing with (e.g. they are aware that they have a group mate who is grade or obligation-conscious), they can immediately make excuses of failing to contribute or making excuses such as work-related or the other subject they took is taking a toll on their time in doing their part for the group.

Knowing these kinds of groups, which one are you?

Lessons of Procrastination from an Inexperienced Procrastinator

Have you ever felt the feeling of doing everything in the last minute just to comply with the necessary requirements or just to beat the deadline? For a certified procrastinator or perfectionist, that would be nothing new for them. But how about those people who are forced into the situation due to fortuitous event or encountered a mishap along the process?

This was what I had encountered when I was about to graduate from my Master's Degree. As soon as I passed my thesis defense, I applied for graduation the following day (which is also the last day of the said application). I know that it is not typical of me to do those in last minute, but the reason I applied the day after my defense was because when I learned that the date of my defense is one day ahead of the last day of the application to graduate, I opt to apply on the last day of application instead. I just do not want to put my expectations high that time so there is that.

However, things did not go as planned and unfortunately it became a domino effect:

• First, I learned that my application to graduate did not push through for the reasons that I don't know. This would mean that should I really want to graduate, I have to wait for the reopening of the application period to apply, but this time subject to penalty and fines.
• Second, my classmates with same thesis adviser are informed that we have to figure out a way for our thesis adviser to sign our approval sheet since she was a part-time professor; and because of the late submission, we have to write a letter indicating the reason for the late submission. This is the time where we picked up some lessons from our previous classmates who already encountered that situation and actually applied it (e.g. let our mentor sign documents that required her signature); and yet, we still lagged behind the said deadline.
• Third, after we successfully let our mentor sign our approval sheet, I learned that the thesis title I placed in the approval sheet is inconsistent with the thesis title my mentor approves. This made me choose between addressing the issue immediately versus placing two different thesis title for the sake of not tampering an official document (which is the approval sheet), which of course rejected by the school as there should be consistency of the thesis title.
• Lastly, despite the chance of having another reopening of application to graduate, I end up having one last mishap which is I placed the the thesis title my mentor approved and few hours after the said application, I've been told that the school rejected the submission of my thesis due to title inconsistencies.

My peers, who also finished defending their paper during this term, were just waiting for the graduation practice and other graduation-related activities, while I on the other hand have to address these compounding issues. A part of me know that I can just give up and wait for the next graduation (which is February 2019 vs supposed October 2018) since all I need to do is to fix the necessary mishaps and just wait for the application for February 2019 graduation. By going through that route, I can dodge from necessary fines and I'm technically not in a hurry to graduate. Besides, it did not seem to be a life or death matter for me to immediately graduate and nothing is technically at stake. However, multiple opportunities from the school to extend necessary deadlines and encouragements from some of my peers graduating on October 2018 made me realize that I have to try to comply even if nothing is at stake. - and I did! So Hello October 2018 Graduation!

I, for one, admit that I am not an expert in procrastination or what some people call the pressure cooker situation. Whenever my groupmates, classmates or classmates with the same mentor are panicking at my progress while they are lagging behind, I kept on telling them that is because I am not expert in procrastinating and I am not effective whenever I am in the last minute situation. This is to inform them that they can relax and do their part where they are most productive. This also meant that whenever a deadline looms and I have not done my part yet, I start to panic and as we know, whenever someone is in panic mode, you cannot think properly and you end up having irrational decisions that you might later regret.

By going through my personal pressure cooker situation (even if nothing is technically at stake), I learned a lot of things and hopefully I would be able to apply it when I it matters.

1. Optimism - This is the one trait I think most procrastinators have. They know that they can finish things on time even if they looked exhausted with what they have been through in the last minute. They know that stressing themselves from the beginning would be useless if they might end up stressing themselves in the end too.
   
2. Never give up - This goes hand-in-hand with optimism as these people have a strong inner will to make sure that they will finish what had been asked of them to do no matter what. By never giving up, they knew that they should keep on fighting - we can say that these people can have a strong fighting spirit.
   
3. Motivation - I can say that this the primary reason why people were able to beat the deadline. One can be optimistic, but if one does not have the drive to actually think and act upon it, succeeding a task through procrastination would become useless. This does not only apply only in procrastination, but across all aspects of life, studies, etc.
   
   Like what I have mentioned, I was not motivated enough to comply because I thought that there is no way that the school would allow me to extend their imposed deadline for the submission. However, when I realized what could be the impact between marching this school year (at least I knew some of my peers despite not being close enough with them) compared with marching next school year (where there is no guarantee that my closest friends in the MBA would finally defend and pass their thesis), I decided that I should do something about it and fight through it.
   
4. Adjust your pace - There are times where it is actually okay to relax when a particular deadline is approaching as either you really have plenty of time despite the allowances you made, and  even if you rush things, you might end up giving yourself unnecessary stress.
   
5. Pause, think then act - An inexperienced procrastinator would make a lot of irrational decisions (like me) when they are in a pressure cooker situation. Meanwhile, an experience procrastinator would not do such things. They would pause for a while and think of their possible options, how to find an optimal solution to their problem, and then act on it. Most of the time, it works for them and you can see that some people are having exceptionally good results compared to their peers who finished their requirements ahead of them.
   
   In my case, since I learned that I would need to ask for the respective personnel to again sign whichever document I would choose to have as an official thesis title, I decided to pause, then think of my options where I can only disturb the least number of stakeholders involved. In this case it was a matter of asking my mentor to sign versus five personnel (mentor, three panel, and dean) where of course I chose the route of asking my mentor to re-sign the said documents and not disturb the other stakeholders. By doing this route, I was able to comply the said requirements based on their imposed deadline.
   
6. It is rewarding - Lastly, I think people who had successfully accomplished something through procrastination would feel a sense of euphoria. Whenever my peers would post something on social media about their academic life with the caption in relation with exerting their efforts by increasing caffeine intake, sleepless nights, etc. just to finish a final paper or to the extent - thesis, I think I now realized that majority of the people who said those lines are probably been through the pressure cooker situation. As the saying goes, it would not be rewarding if you did not actually worked hard for it. In their case, even if they opt to not do things ahead (as they think they are not productive), their huge sacrifices are what made them truly satisfying.
   
   I am not saying that those who are doing things ahead of time are not making an effort on it. Early doers may sacrifice time and socialization just to finish ahead of time, but it is those who undergone pressure cooker situation would be the ones that are making bigger sacrifices compared with those who do things ahead. This would not become surprising

I know that during my pressure cooking phase, it was a mixture of anxiety, nervousness and everything in between especially that I know that I don't perform well during these phase. With all these experiences, I would still want to make sure to do things early and if ever I there are abrupt situations that need immediate action, I already know how to deal with it.

For now... I will savor my upcoming graduation this month!

The Beauty of Technology in School

In every group work, there will be cases, reports or assignment that needed to be done on a weekly basis. The emergence of technology such as social media like Facebook, online messaging like Viber and most especially the Google Applications such as Drive, Sheets, etc. allowed the students to have a much easier time to communicate with each other and delegate tasks through these channels without actually physically meeting up. In a world wherein mid and night shifts are emerging coupled with a workload that demands their attention, it would really make sense to communicate via technology and work on your output via technology too.

When I entered MBA in 2015, I still know the feeling of studying again after two years of working. Also, things would be different because now I would have to re-acquaint myself again with having male classmates inside the classroom as I had been studying in St. Scholastica's College for six years. I did have some male classmates on some of our subjects (Music or Fine Arts Students), but most of the time there are no guys inside the class. Aside from this, I would also have to deal with how the students use technology now. When I was about to graduate college around 2013, smartphones were on the rise and some students would actually use the device to store documents such as PowerPoint presentations and study from there instead of the traditional printing of the slides to study.

During our Quantitative Methods in Business Class, I was fortunate enough that my professor placed me in a group where my classmates had at least one term studying in the MBA program. When the professor mentioned that we must do group work and submit it online. I struggled in two things: one is having multiple versions in a single file name, and the other is the online learning. I guess that is the drawback of not having an idea what are you entering into your first term in school. Unfortunately, I ended up choosing subjects that are both considered as a "hybrid subject" which meant that half of the time your class would be taught online and the other half would be a face-to-face session. Those are two out of three hybrid subjects that I took before I proceed with my thesis writing.

Doing a hybrid class has its pros and cons, of course depending on who you ask. One of the advantages of having this hybrid class is that even if you are so busy at work, you do not need to be physically present in the classroom to learn or submit the necessary requirements. Also, because mid and night shifts are already on the rise in the country, this would become more preferable to part-time students who would like to learn and hoping for a chance to go up in the corporate ladder. However, for me, this does not bode well since I want the traditional school set up rather than the modern set-up. But then, a hybrid class is not being offered to all subjects, and it should be noted that introducing this mode of learning indicates that we also need to address the needs of those people who would like to learn, but their existing circumstance prohibited them from doing so.

During my experience in graduate school, the one that I appreciate the most is the various Google applications. Google Docs allowed you to construct your file together without the need of having multiple versions of a single filename. This would mean that each one of you can work together so that you can finish the paper without the hassle of appointing someone to combine all the various versions together. Having this application work wonders as the positives outweigh the negatives. Aside from having the liberty to work on your pace without being the cause of bottleneck to your group (in case you are not productive enough to do your part), it also allowed you to communicate with them without even leaving the comforts of your home or work. You could brainstorm the things you need to discuss via other modes of online communication such as Viber or Facebook then translate the said output via Google Applications without even filing for leave or set a meeting just for you and your group to discuss some matters.

Overall, I really like what technology can do in school and also in other aspects of our lives. It made our lives simpler, but then, we have to make sure that we can still communicate with our peers face-to-face to ensure that we still have contact with reality - which means real people, not just seeing them through chat or messages. Such example was whenever I would inform my classmate pertaining to a particular student who also attended the same hybrid class as ours, my classmates does not have any idea about the person. She would tell me that she does not know anyone during our hybrid class except her close MBA friends. Even if there was an interaction among various class groupings during the hybrid session, you were just having a dialogue with them virtually without actually mingling with them personally.

Again, despite the benefits of the technology, one must ensure that there should be a balance between them. We still need to have personal touch with other people.