2nd

It's our 2nd month. Happy 2nd month baby! I'm pretty optimistic that more months will come! haha. Love you! :)

Giving :)

Something inspiring for me and maybe for you as well! Hope we'll never grew tired of giving whatever we can to others! :)

CC goes Coca-Cola

The Creative Circle or CC never fails to amaze me. From a small group of talented social work students of BUCSSP, CC is continuously evolving into something else and into something better. I believe it also continues to break expectations and go beyond the perception of other people. I guess pushing for the formal creation of this group is one of the best things that I did when I was the president of the Human Welfare Advocates way back 2011.

Just today, they qualified for the Grand Finals of the Coca-Cola Regional Dance Showdown (not really sure though of the name of the competition) and is in fact the official representative of Bicol University (and of Albay as well). I believe that they need to step up their dancing skills and push themselves to the limit in order for them to win. I know they can and I know they will try because that's what they have been doing eversince - improving and becoming better.

But I hope that the university and some Albaypeeps will also give them the support they deserve especially moral and physical support on the day of the competition (September 18, 2013 at JMR Coliseum) considering that if the criteria for judging will not be changed, audience impact amounts to a very big 20%. Kaya sana talaga sumuporta ang mga tao.

Of course, my support to them will not be change. 100% pa rin at dadagdagan ko pa ng dasal para sana mas maging effective!

Go CC! Go CC! Go CC! Kaya Yan! Laban Lang! :)

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!

Russ, RSW

 Am now a truly Registered Social Worker! Hooray! :)

FIELD INSTRUCTION 2 DIARIES: 2

A day after (January 16, 2013) I wrote my first entry in my FI 2 Diaries, I wrote the second and the last entry and here is it:

All the while, I thought things will eventually fall in it's proper places. Something like a bad start with a happy ending. But i was wrong. Expectations have been broken. Positivity is winding down and every passing day becomes a struggle to hold on and survive. I thought this journey is something exciting, something genuine, something worth while and something worth remembering. But reality tells me otherwise. I don't and I won't stop the fight but will you blame me if I say that the only reasons why I hold on to this ill-fated journey of mine are my peers, friends, family and my need to get my diploma?

:'(

Flowers

These are some of nature's gift to humanity and such a good view to start the day! All photos taken at our house! :)))

One and Only Mayon

Superb Scenery. Mayon never fails to amaze me and all the people who come to see her unique beauty. This time, her silhouette gives a dramatic touch to the colors of the sunset. :) 

Unemployment Series

Unemployed like me? I found available jobs at Molino! Hahahaha. Ang masasabi ko lang, mahirap talaga ang buhay umemployed. :))))

This series is inspired by Alekkss' Unemployment Series.

A Fresh Start

After hours of searching, selecting, editing, finalizing and many other processes, I now have my new and enhanced blogsite. By the way, i decided to transform this blog as a photoblog. Soon posts will be posted. :))))

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

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

#mmk

i wasn't able to watch the mmk episode today but i was able to see it's ending. timely with the agency visit we had at Holy Face Rehabilitation Center for Mental Health in Tabiguian, Tabaco City, the episode was about a girl suffering from mental illness specifically with schizophrenia and was being accused by the people as being the 'aswang.' i took the courage of posting a simple and similar message both in facebook and in twitter. the one i posted in fb is below and i was amazed by the 24 likes it received after two hours.

i displayed the same message in twitter and after two hours, my tweet was retwitted by resaabigail who happens to be a producer of the show. anyway, natuwa lang ako. haha.

anyway, i hope that those people who had retwitted and liked the post will do their own little way of promoting the stoppage of stigmatizing persons who are mentally ill because they also have their worth and dignity and that they are also persons. no more, no less.

siyanasiBUDOY

haha. madali akong kausap. :)

experience

11/19/11
been to the beautiful town of Casiguran in Sorsogon province to facilitate a personality development training for children and youth beneficiaries of the Green Valley Development Program and World Vision Development Foundation, Inc. the experience was exhausting and the hardest sa lahat ng training na nagfacilitate ako. but the tiredness is all worth it seeing from the children's faces that they learned something. plus, mas masaya dahil kasama ko ang mga kaibigan and i have received my first token as a facilitator. haha. :)

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!