Happy Birthday Ruksii Baby! :)

Wow Cubao!

Spent some time in Cubao going around SM Cubao, Gateway Mall and Ali Mall with Ruksii and Pareng MJ. After more or less six (6) hours, we ended up with the items pictured above. That's what we call Shopping Galore! Hahaha. Excited to do that again soon! :)))

#2013RegisteredSocialWorkers

Some of the newly registered social workers from Bicol University College of Social Sciences and Philosophy!

MnT, RSWs

Reaching a life achievement is waaaaaaaayyyy merrier with friends who happen to be true friends! I'll miss my MnT friends! :)

#OneProudBueñoHere

The Placers from Bicol University College of Social Sciences and Philosophy together with Professor Tania Lana, Professor Annelyn Mendoza and Board for Social Workers Member Mr. Jesus Far.

Ang aking kalokalike. Bow.

A former classmate who is fond of calling me JL which is short for John Lloyd made this and she uploaded and shared it in facebook with my permission. HAHA. She calls me JL because during our sophomore years, i would always claim that I look like John Lloyd. Ayun, nasanay na ata siya kaya yun na ang tawag niya sakin. hoho.

Hmm. Regarding the pic, nag-expect pa naman ako dahil sabi niya sa text katulad daw ng picture ko. Yun pala, kakulay ng damit ko. hohoho. anyway, sayang lang at lamang pa rin sakin ng kalahating paligo ang totoong JL. I was that close pero ang layo pa rin! HAHAHAHA. Salamat nalang kay Argelyn na nag-abala. :)

Sir Jori says...

After posting my 'catharsis' in facebook regarding my failed attempt to land a spot in the Top 10 of the Social Work Licensure Examination, a former professor of mine, sent me a private message and pretty much reminded me of the things that i should have given more attention to. I just thank God for giving me a teacher like Sir Jori! Though we're not close, i guess the fact that he sent a private message indicates his care to his former student. Kudos to Sir Jori and may his kind multiply a thousand folds. :)))

Operation Initiate

During my whole stint in college, i always wonder when will the alumni (as a group) visit or even give something in return to the department. Of course, since my mother was a alumna herself, i know of some reasons why that's why i understand why in the world would they not want to return especially that i also experience perhaps some of the experiences that brought them to that decision.

But i guess whatever reasons we have, there is still something that binds the generation of graduates that the department produced in its 34 years of existence - it's the department itself, the profession and the memories that we develop as we traverse the sometimes bumpy road of social work education. So, i decided to create a facebook community page dedicated into grouping the graduates of the department. A page which will serve as an online venue for the alumni to share something like their experiences or perhaps adventures and misadventures related to the profession and to their lives. A page which will serve as a virtual world for us to rekindle bonds and build new relationships as products of the department.

So eto na yun:

Pero gusto ko din (kung ako lang ang masusunod) na tawagin yun as:

given that the department's domicile is named as Agoho Building. Kaso i think i am right in saying that it was just recently ng napadpad ang department sa Agoho kaya baka hindi rin makarelate ang prior batches. But regardless of the name, i just hope that my initiative will work and eventually, alumni from different batches will be a member of the said page. I have my fingers crossed. :)))

Cheers! :)

I dreamed of reaching the top and i failed. Not only did i dreamed but i also gave my best shot but my efforts were somehow futile. I was disappointed with myself and i have no one and nothing to blame except myself. I was scared about what other people might say. About their expectations that i failed to meet and about what they will be saying. That was my initial reaction.

But now, i'm over it. I accepted things as they were and as they are. Perhaps there's something greater that is waiting to be realized. The horizon is wide and far ranging and instead of flooding myself with disappointment, fear and ill-feelings, there are countless reasons why i need to celebrate what had happened like the fact that BUCSSP remains as the Top Performing School of Social Work in the Philippines and of course, the fact that almost all of my friends (of course including me) passed. 

So sa lahat ng nagturo, gumabay, umagapay, dumamay, tumulong, nagmahal, nagpasaya, nagpangiti, nagbigay ng inspirasyon, naghatid ng motibasyon, umasa, nagdasal, nagpamisa, nagpakain, nagtweet, nagmessage, bumati, nakiramay, nakibahagi at nagpugay sa akin -- SALAMAT at SALAMAT ng marami!

With love na may halong pagmamahal,

Russ Daniel Oliva Baldoza, RSW

#mntXMAS

we conducted our group's Christmas party last December 16 and it was a blast! reminiscing the parties we had since first year, i decided to 'combine' it and presto, the Mababangis Christmas Celebration through the years! MERRY CHRISTMAS MNT!

my 2011 Christmas Wishlist

Christmas is fast approaching. it's actually just less than a month before the celebration of the birth of Jesus. personally, isa ang pasko sa mga bagay na pinakahihintay ko. masaya, makulay, kumukutikutitap ang mga ilaw, people on a Christmas rush, Christmas songs, priceless smiles and happiness of the people around, cold air at napakarami pang mga bagay na kahit anong liit ay sapat ng rason para maging maligaya.

at dahil pasko, i deem it timely to produce my 2011 Christmas Wishlist. baka may makabasa at magdecide na i-fulfill kahit isa lang. i'll be presenting it in no particular order or preference basta nasa lista gusto ko! haha. walang kokontra. gawa ka din ng wishlist mo besides hindi masama magwish. also, this includes some unrealistic things pero yun na yun. haha. let's start!

NUMBER ONE: BAG or BACK PACK preferrably

matagal-tagal na rin akong hindi nakaka-experience ng back pack of my own. gusto ko lang matry ulit pero wag lang yung masyadong malaki pero wag din namang masyadong maliit. mas maganda kung kasya ang laptop. haha.

NUMBER TWO: CELLPHONE

my current cellphone which happens to be a china phone is now three years old. way beyond the normal "life expectancy" of a china phone which is one year. mama said she will buy me a new cellphone and i am excited over that fact. however, perhaps it is still unrealistic for the moment given our current financial situation. anyway, gusto ko pa rin. i don't care kung anong brand pero mas feel ko ang nokia or samsung wag lang china phone. :)

NUMBER THREE: HANKY LOTS OF HANKIES

i am a person who is uncomfortable without having a handkerchief with me. i guess my explanation is enough. haha.

NUMBER FOUR: TUMBLER

para mas makatipid na ako ng pera dahil hindi ko na kelangan bumili ng mineral water everday. instead, hihingi na lang ako sa department. haha. :)

NUMBER FIVE: UNDERWEARS

i'm not being scandalous here and i think there is nothing wrong having underwear in my wishlist. eh may mga pangyayaring hindi inaasahan and besides magtotour kami this summer for 11 days at walang labahan. share lang. :)

NUMBER SIX: MALETA

isang maletang kasing laki ng picture on the right would do. haha. pang-adik lang. pero pwede rin naman ang maleta in anticipation for our summer tour as part of the curriculum and for my future travels as well

NUMBER SEVEN: TEEs

gusto ko din ng bagong t-shirts or anything that i could wear. size: medium or large depending on the brand. :)

NUMBER EIGHT: TEAM MANILA WALLET or

ANY KIND OF WALLET


i'm dedicating this item for lekks. haha. anyway, i will also appreciate wallet (not necessarily that of team manila. kay alekks lang yun). pero mas appreciated kung may laman. :p

NUMBER NINE: SAPATOS (vans, toms or kahit rubber shoes)


sapatos, eto ata ang isang bagay na mahirap hanapin para sa akin. marami akong gustong bilihing sapatos noon pa. ang problema, walang kasya sa paa ko. gusto ko ito! sapatos! sapatos! sapatos!

NUMBER TEN: DSLR CAMERA


isa sa mga pangarap ko at isa din sa mga unrealistic things that i included here. haha. share lang. :)

LASTLY,

ANYTHING FROM THE HEART ♥

personally, kino-consider ko ang sarili ko bilang isang taong hindi maarte pagdating sa mga regalo. i mean, anything na magagamit basta binuhusan ng effort, oras at panahon, at anything na galing sa puso ng nagbigay ay maaappreciate ko. hindi ko man maipakita ang appreciation towards sa taong yun dahil hindi ko alam kung paano magrereact eh appreciated ko. Christmas is the time of sharing and gift-giving and i believe it's not the time to demand things from other people. i created this list not to demand from people who is considering giving a gift to me but to give them a clue as to what i prefer. but let me reiterate it again, i appreciate anything from anyone basta galing sa puso. :p

PuregoldAtKaligayahan

wednesday is a mass day for MnT and after such a long time of not attending mass on the said days for the previous months, i am happy that we were able to attend our first wednesday mass for the semester. after attending mass with friends, mean, ja'de and i decided to eat at Wah Foo Chan. yumyum. salap! haha. and since it was also the opening of Puregold Embarcadero we went there for the sake of pakikiusyuso. what happened next? almost hundreds of photos were taken which is equal to another dose of happiness with friends. :)

mntSPECIAL

kami ulit ang MnT. haha. usual intro? wala lang. naalala ko lang ang dalawa sa 'special' events ng grupo na hindi ko pa nashshare kaya para madali, puruphoto essay na lang. haha. :)

nagswimming para mag-unwind pagkatapos ng nakakapagod at nakakastress na first semester. walang camera kaya sa laptop lang. walang pera kaya 50 pesos per head lang ang contribution na ibinili ng de lata, pancit canton, ambag na bigas lang na ako ang nagsaing, dalang isang bilao ng pansit ni yanie at doc, konting softdrinks at konting junkfoods. kami-kami lang at masaya kami. haha. :D 

pagkatapos ng semestral break ay nagkaroon naman kami ng welcome back dinner sa Red Labuyo para sa second semester. anyway, kwentuhan, picturan at tawanan. yan ang nangyari. haha. :)

#JaRuMaRoKa

11/19/10 - 11/19/11

isang samahan kami na nabuo dahil sa simpleng rason na kami lang ang

MnT members na nasa isang block at karamihan ay nasa kabila. sa isa pang

simpleng rason na naisipan lang namin na pangalanan ang grupo matapos

mabore sa paghihintay ng mahigit isang oras habang naglalaro ng Mystery PI.

ngayon, one year na kami. kaming jarumaroka. and i guess we're getting

stronger. haha. salamat sa napakaraming bagay ja'de, mean, ruksii and triinabeyb!

sa marami pang susunod na taon! :)

u-turn slot

after thinking for sometime, i think i announce my retraction of the statements i made about "maturity" and MnT after a short talk with Kuya Bjorn. moreover, i stand by what i said in the entirety of the statements i had made. come to to think of it, masarap din naman sa feeling ang mag-burst out at some point in time. :)

kasuhan na!

i think i must sue melvin for breach of privacy for posting a link of my previous blogpost in the mababangis.wrar group page in facebook without consent. however, i think i will lost the case because my blog is public. tsktsk. my point is, while it is okay to promote my blog and encourage others to read my posts, i will very much appreciate if my consent will be first asked. bow. haha. nonetheless, ayos na ako dun. haha. :)

my RANT

kami ang MnT. We're friends since first year college up to now and this is what i am proud and happy of. our growing and strengthening friendship despite our differences is something to be celebrated. well, everything's fine within the group i suppose. there are no internal problems because we value smooth interpersonal relationship which honestly becomes bad at some point. however, we have proved that we can stood with whatever stands in our way. so far, so good!

however, when we talk about external matters, there's a different atmosphere and it's a different subject matter which for me is complicated-but-not-complicated. it's not because a problem with classmates or batchmates but it's more of a problem with how some people with authority bestowed upon them misunderstood and prejudged not only some individual members of the group but the group in general. judgement that unfortunately do not only affect the group but the whole batch as well. anyway, this blogpost is abouy my rant and my rant only. this is me speaking as me and not as a student of social work but as the normal and ordinary me who want to speak my mind. matagal ko na rin gustong magsalita but i choose to keep silent and instead just write a blogpost. buti na lang i am always reminded with the principle na "intindihin mo na lang dahil ikaw ang nakakaintindi" though sometimes i wonder how long shall we understand. 

just last tuesday (if i can remember), two MnT friends have a conversation with a person with authority due to some business in between them. after their conversation, they were asked to share or were given the approval to share whatever she have said during the conversation full of lashing and unfounded generalization and judgement in my own opinion.

"Birds of the same feathers, flock together," "pare-parehas kayong immature," "hindi talaga maganda tumulong lagi" and "kaya nagbago ang blocking para mapaghiwa-hiwalay kayo (referring to the group)" are among the other things that she said. i found it judgmental on her part. maganda din naman na ang pagkakamali ng isa ay kasalanan ng lahat but to label all including those who don't do immature acts is very judgmental on her part. i found it ironic that the people who should be the epitome of professionalism are the ones who are not keen in observing what they have been telling their learners since the start. worse, her message on how helping can be bad is way out of proportions. nakakainis!

sabi niya we're immature, because every time she sees us, we're smiling and laughing our lungs out despite the stressors around which includes mountain high requirements? because where being childish and we're guilty of it but that's our coping mechanism? because we're happy and not in vain or misery? we're branded as immature albeit we can live up to the expectations given to us; albeit we perform extra-jobs or carriages that not all students dare to carry; albeit our active extra-curricular life which somehow can be justified by the positions that MnT members hold, to wit: (includes posts being hold on a concurrent status with other posts)

• 5 are presidents of either the class, college based organization or creative circle
• 2 are vice-presidents of either the class, college based organization or creative circle
• 2 are secretaries of a college based organization
• 3 are treasurers of either a university based organization, college based organization or class
• 1 is an auditor of a university based organization
• 3 are members of the editorial staff of the ally
• 1 is a muse and title-holder
• 5 are facilitators of college based organization

yeah. i know maturity cannot be measured by the number of position one may hold but i think it has a bearing. perhaps the good question is that, what is the maturity that she wanted? ewan. i don't know if i am making a point here. naisip ko pa, it's just the start of the second semester and ganito na. shall we be expecting a hell-semester? anyway, sa pagkakakilala ko sa grupo, hindi kami nagapapapekto ng sobra sa mga ganitong bagay pero we also know how to burst-out just like everybody else. i know that someday, somehow, we'll prove those persons who judged us wrong. sigurado ako!

blogmates

:)

i'm just happy that my friends started blogging here in blogger. haha. latest was laisa who was inactive for almost a year, then melvz and sime who were just starting plus kuya bjorn who blogs occasionally these days because of his hectic working schedule as well as mean and roxanne who have their blogs but are inactive because of the lack of motivation. haha. to my new blogmates and old friends, WAY TO GO! may you be motivated to stay here and express yourself!

realization 5

One time I got angry with a very dear friend of mine because I thought she hurt me with her actions and that she broke her promise to me. However, I realized that she did not do something wrong because in the first place, there’s no promise to fulfill except that she failed to inform me on her whereabouts one night when she was supposedly homebound. I realized that my sky high expectation which she seldom meet sparked my anger. Marasapang expectation ko to! Bottomline, I should start lowering my expectations to prevent situations like this from happening again.

second semester worries

the second semester for this academic year is dawning. new set of classmates, new professor, new and harder course or subjects to attend to, same old notebooks, new schedule that i personally don't like so far and i guess a different me. i don't know but i guess i should step up my game in academics thinking that mama personally said that she wants me to graduate with a laude honors. sabi ko, ayos lang yan ma miski mayo basta maggraduate but she insisted. i said i am worrying because i think my grades for the first semester are low and thus, i will not be eligible for academic scholarship. worse, if i have a grade below 2.4, my and my mother's laude dreams will be forever gone. personally, i told myself that whatever happens, it's okay with me. pero ibang kaso kasi kung nagsabi na ang magulang mo na sa graduation day mo ay may laude honors ka. this is the first time my parents demanded such things. noon wala naman, saan at anong kaya namin, okay na sila. things change nga naman talaga. rock on! pero ang sa akin, i'll do my best that's to achieve a laude honor. pero ngayon pa lang ay tanggap ko na kung wala. pero habang may pag-asa pa, the flame of optimism still burns inside me.

moreover, with the advent of the second semester, i'm preparing myself for lonesome times. i mean, having breakfast and lunch alone which though i personally dislike, the new schedule and the situation will compel me to do so. inaasahan ko na ang mga oras ng kalungkutan lalo na at hindi ko kaklase ang mga kaibigan kong madalas kong kasama. pero classmate ko ngayon sina angelo and melvz. we were supposedly the los lakwatchero brothers because of what we did last summer (if my memory serves me right) which was to have movie marathon, and lakwatcha of course! pero things changed. hindi man nila alam or hindi man nila napapansin, i feel aloof when i'm with them. ni hindi ako minsan nakakasakay sa kanila dahil may mga bagay na alam nilang dalawa na hindi ko alam. tipong, magkasama nga kami pero parang hindi rin. perhaps, masyado lang silang nagcclick at napag-iwanan ako. haha. actually, i would have wanted to ask angelo kung bakit hindi na kami ganun ka-close ngayon kumpara nung dati pero i don't have the guts and i can't find the right timing. aaminin ko, nalungkot ako at first pero natanggap ko na. ewan. wala na akong masabi. yun lang naman ang naisip ko ngayon. ACCEPTANCE and good thing that hindi ako yung taong sinisiksik ang sarili. haha.

moving on, what i am actually worried about this new semester is the prospect of me having many lonesome times. yun lang naman. pero still just like what i had mentioned a while ago, i am still optimistic that there are ways to reduce that lonesome times of mine. tingnan natin. maaga pa para magsalita ng tapos. GOOD LUCK FOR ME THIS SECOND SEMESTER! >.<