Freedom of the Heart

       A letter was once written. A letter manifesting love, trust, openness, acceptance and the sense of life. This letter was written by Michael, for his mother. In this letter, he confesses about his sexuality which is homosexual. He expressed his thankfulness of being gay. He talked about the hardships he faced and the lessons he received along the way.

        I feel deeply happy for and proud of Michael. I'm proud, not just because he was able to build up the courage to confess to her mother but also of the things he learned alone in his journey. I am proud that he has achieved self-discovery, self-love and self-acceptance on his own. Most of all, I'm glad and proud that he is free, that he does not need to hide and keep his sexuality on his own and that he has confessed about it to the person who matters to him which is his mother.

      For people who aren't straight or are simply confused of their sexuality, surely, it must be hard and possible scary especially at first when they're still young. Some might be ashamed or might not accept it because of the discrimination and rejection they may experience. As I read Michael's letter, I slowly start to his confidence. He stated that he hoped, although no one ever taught him that sexuality can't and shouldn't define anyone, that it does not make someone sick, evil or less worthy. He had to find and learn it all on his own. I thought, his life must've been difficult when he was younger, he was just starting to know himself more.

        People in the LGBT community face numerous issues and I think one of those is rejection or not receiving social acceptance. When a person is born, people would usually only expect this person to either be a boy or a girl. Which is why confessing about not being heterosexual or straight is mostly unforeseen unless one is being obvious and fearless about it. Most of the time, people like Michael are not completely sure if they'll receive acceptance when they tell other people about who they really are and I think that's an issue we have to solve.

        As I've talked about, people in the LGBT community face many issues including discrimination and rejection. I think the best way to help these people is to not contribute on aggravating these issues. Telling them that their sexuality doesn't make them any less than others will help encourage them to open up and be confident. I think we must all treat each other equally, whatever race, sexuality and status because at the end of the day, it's us who can benefit from it.  

ACT Family Day 2020

         

         

          It is not everyday that we get to experience the fun of spending an entire day with both friends and family. I'm thankful that I got to do this once in every school year in the past years of my life because of our school's Family Day. Each year of celebrating "Family Day" at school is special. I get to experience different levels of excitement and joy with the people that I love. 

          This year's Family Day is extra special to me because it is the last one I'll celebrate with my batch mates and my teachers and in this school before we go separate ways for Senior High School. I was able to dance again with my class and batch mates. Honestly, I didn't want to join our dance competition because i knew that joining would mean getting home late and tired but now, I'm thankful, my teachers were able to convince me to. The hardwork and efforts we invested totally paid off because of the memories we made during our practices and our achievement in winning the competition. What made this Family Day even more memorable is simply because I was able to spend and enjoy it with the people who matter to me.

          This year's Family Day is very meaningful to me purely because it's the last one I'll be spending in ACT. It is, like most other events we had this year, a reminder that we must choose to enjoy and spend as much time with each other because these will give us memories to cherish forever.

ACT CAT Survival Camp 2020

Papasimula palang ang camping

     Sa  ika-11 ng Enero ngayong taon, nagkaroon kami ng Survival Camp na kabilang na sa mga aktibidad ng CAT. Sa mga nakaraang linggo, bago naganap ito, nagdadalawang-isip pa ako kung ako ba ay sasali. Unang-una, hindi ako mahilig at sanay sa mga ganitong aktibidad. Pangalawa, Natatakot akong lumabas sa aking comfort zone at alam ko na sa camping naming ito, kinakailangan kong gawin 'yon. Ngunit, dahil alam ko rin na marami akong matutunan at mararanasan at na ito ang una at huling pagkakataon na makakasama ko ang mga kaklase at kaibigan ko sa camping, sumali ako. Nang matapos ang camping, nagpasalamat ako sa'king sarili na pinili kong sumali dahil natanto ko kung gaano ka saya at mahirap limutan ang camping na 'yon.

ang pinakamahirap limutang laro

     Hanggang ngayon, hindi ko makalimutan ang aking naramdam noong ako'y dumating sa paaralan namin sa unang araw ng aming camping. Ako ay kinakabahan at medyo natutuwa rin. Hindi ko mapigilang isipin ang mga posibleng mangyari. Naalala ko rin na sa bawat laro o challenge bago man ito magsimula, ako ay palaging nangangamba ngunit sa tuwing natatapos ito, ako ay puno ng tuwa. Dahil sa mga hamon na sinubok namin, natutunan ko ang kahalagahan ng pagkakaroon ng tiwala sa sarili at ng pagsubok ng mga bagong bagay sa buhay. Sa araw na iyon, marami rin kaming nagawang mga ala - ala na sigurado akong papahalagahan at babalikan naming lahat. Kung may magtatanong sa'kin kung ano ang pinaka masayang nangyari sa araw na 'yon, mahihirapan ako sa pagsagot nito dahil para sa'kin, ang buong araw ay masaya. Kahit man kami ay pagod, gutom at basa sa ulan habang naglalaro, para sa'kin ito ay masaya parin dahil hindi ko ito ginawa mag-isa kundi kasama ang mga kaibigan at kaklase ko. Dahil sa mga masasayang ala-ala na binuo namin, napagtanto ko na hindi ko sana mararanasan lahat ng ito kung hindi ako nagkaroon ng lakas ng loob na sumali.

Best Team!!! <3

     Ang dalawang araw ng aming Survival Camp ay dalawa sa mga pinakamasayang araw ng aking buhay (as corny as it sounds!). Mas nadagdagan pa ang aking tuwa sa ikalawang araw dahil sa aming Awarding, nakatanggap ako ng award bilang Most Disciplined habang ang aming grupo ay nagkaroon ng award bilang Best Team ng CAT Survival Camp 2020. Hindi ko inasahan ang mga awards na ito ngunit ako ay masaya na nabayaran ng ganito ang aming mga nagawa at napagtagumpayan sa camp.

     

Taking Care of the Reproductive System

     The reproductive system is a system of sex organs within an organism which work together for the purpose of sexual reproduction. According to Kim Ann Zimmermann from Live Science, due to the system's vital role in the survival of species, many scientists argue that the system is among the most important systems in the entire body therefore, it is important for us to keep it healthy like the rest of the systems in the body. Taking care of the reproductive system means avoiding reproductive health issues, having safe pregnancies, experiencing safe sex and so much more. This system is what's making reproduction possible which is one of the basic functions of human beings. This tells us that it is crucial for all of us to take good care of it. 

        Currently, there are many issues regarding our reproductive system and health. One that I found was the lack of  access to sexual and reproductive health services, putting them at higher risk of unplanned pregnancy, abortion, sexually transmitted infections and HIV, and other health and development problems. This issue should be solved as soon as possible because it does not only affect those who are medically concerned but also those who don't have enough knowledge about sexual and reproductive health. With this issue solved, more people will be aware of the importance of taking care of the reproductive system and having safe sex and pregnancy, there will be less teen pregnancies and less people diagnosed or having reproductive illnesses. 

        To help solve this issue and reinforce the people's access to sexual and reproductive health services, one can use social media as an instrument to share their knowledge to as many people as possible. This will help, most especially teenagers whom are a lot more involved in social media these days. One can also choose to show their support in solving this issue like by simply talking about the importance of it and the changes that it will make in the society. The big help here is talking about it and helping as much people as possible.