Best English Class Ever

Throughout my school years, English lessons have always been repetitive. At first, I thought that ENSP2 would just be like any other English program, boring. Boring discussions, unfunny jokes and lots of homework are what came into my mind when I first entered the room. But I was wrong. Who knew this class would be the best. Who knew this class would turn out to be one of the most memorable ever.

                I’ve never had so much laughs in a class during the past semesters. The first few meetings of ENSP1 were quite normal. Not really doing anything but discussions and seatwork. As the class progressed, things started to spice up. Everyone was laughing almost every minute of the class. No one was getting sleepy anymore. Even my blockmate who likes to skip and cut class attended almost every meeting. Every class meeting is a whole new experience.

Mr. Tagyamon's activities are always fun. Almost everyone participates. I never get bored of them. It helps me build my relationship with my team members and fellow blockmates. Last week, we had a job interview as our final project. I was never good at communicating and socializing. Therefore it was really nerve-racking to me. Fortunately, I got hired which means I got a perfect score for our project. 

Below are the pictures of the Day 2 interviewees.

Recently, we had a job conference for our final exam, the TechnoFest. We were tasked to act as if we were professionals planning and organizing an event. Planning with the cooperation with my groupmates was fun and productive.

Power Selfie

Working with the Pixar family has been my dream job since I was a little kid. Pixar is an outstanding animation company. They create amazing story lines, producing exceptional films. The graphics they make are superb and look almost real. They have broken lots of records with their great movies. To work for the company would probably be my best working experience that I would cherish dearly.

Universal Studios is one of Hollywood’s ‘Big Six’ film studios. Their company is one of the best studios which makes realistic effects. To be able to work with talented and inspiring co-workers would really be a great help in enhancing and improving my skills. To be in a fun working environment would hardly feel like I’m working. I would like to work as a graphic designer and/or a special effects supervisor.

Nintendo is a video game company that I want to work for. I have always been interested in their games. They created every child’s favorite, Mario. I would love to be part of their game creation and development. It would be an honor to work for a company that has been a part of my childhood.

The Freedom Writers

Students

Eva Benitez

            Eva is a young 14 year old Mexican-American with a cocky Latin-American accent.  She witnessed the death of her friend and the imprisonment of her father; became a victim of bullying and years later joined in a gang. I believe these have strong influence on the way she speaks.

Marcus

            His friend who was sitting next to him on a bench in a park accidentally shot himself.  Since no one alive was there but him, a black guy at that, Marcus was blamed for it and was taken into a juvenile hall. He was traumatized from his bad experiences and trusts nobody. He despises white people because of the discrimination he had experienced in the past. These affect how he speaks. He has the ghetto accent.

Ben Daniels

            Ben is a white quiet American student with an American accent seated at the front in the beginning of the film.

Teachers

The teachers used their authority and spoke proudly, but Ms. Gruwell was different. She talked to her students in a much more approachable way.

Ms. Erin Gruwell

Ms. Gruwell was very excited for her first day of teaching in Woodrow Wilson High School. Although it wasn't the best experience, she never gave up on her students. She was persistent and always came up with ideas on how she could make her class as enjoyable for them as possible and how to gain their trust and respect. She tried a different approach. One example is the line game in which she asks a question, and when the question applies to them, they are to step on either side of the line. This was a successful activity as she effectively got her students to participate. She even went out of her way to buy journals for them to write whatever they want. She worked two additional jobs to finance the journals. Together with her dad, they fetched her students and drove to a museum dedicated for the Holocaust. This is the turning point where the characters had begun to develop their personal selves.

The place was a gang infested community, so naturally students were brutal and used violence to boost their power. An example is when Eva let her gang members inside the school premises and caused chaos between her gang and fellow schoolmates. No one found out it was her who caused trouble, and even if someone finds out, he/she wouldn’t dare tell because of fear of getting caught and killed.

Modal Verbs

I committed a mistake on the 10th question on the second quiz.

 The question goes like this, "The rock band _________play very well last year. Now they are much better. "

          I got confused between options 'couldn't' and 'can.' I was thinking, since there's the phrase 'much better,' they must have played good the previous year.

I also answered the third question of quiz three wrong. I didn't finish reading the whole sentence, and so I didn't know the significance of 'must.'

Modal verbs are quite confusing, but with practice, we'll be able to use them with ease. We use different kinds of modal verbs depending on the intensity of the situation or how we want to express ourselves. We use modal verbs to talk about our in/abilities, to tell if things are possible or not, to offer, to ask permissions and to make requests.

Mutant

I’ve been dreaming of having hidden superpowers since I was young. Thinking about how I could use them in many different ways thrills me. If only I had superpowers, I would’ve done anything and everything I want and need with no hesitation. I want to have the power of absolute word. With that, I’d only have to state what I desire to have it.

 I did a lot of play fights with my brother back when I was still a kid. We acted as if we knew mixed martial arts, as if we had superhuman strength, as if we were mutants. Being a girl and a year younger than him meant I was weaker. I would often find myself wishing I were more clever, stronger and braver.  Had I possessed such power, I would’ve beat off people I hate and criminals and put them to jail.

I want to be able to use not just one, but all five elements of nature.  Just like Aang from the cartoon series ‘Avatar,’ but with an addition of the element space, I want to master water, earth, fire and air bending. That way, I could do air bending, fly up to the sky and lie down and relax in the fluffy clouds as I watch the sunset or the beautiful night sky. I could also do some water bending and surround myself with water in blazing hot weather. When camping or just when I feel like it, I could setup bonfires and roast marshmallows.

 If I were to choose between having telekinesis and telepathy abilities, I’d choose both. There’s no in-between. I want what I want. I love animals and with telepathy, I could converse with them normally through mind link. How awesome would that be? I could also listen to what people think in their minds and discover their secrets effortlessly but only whenever I want to. I could wander around in people’s dreams and interfere with them. With the power of telekinesis, I could be able to levitate and move things without needing to stand up and reach for them. I’m just too lazy to get up and physically touch stuffs I need to. I could also use the ability to protect myself. All I had to do was use anything near me as a weapon. Heck, telekinesis itself is a weapon. Oh! I almost forgot, I could pass or even perfect my tests with telepathy! 

The combo of teleportation, invisibility and time travel is superb! Imagine having to travel in the past where there were only flowers, grass, trees and small houses from afar. That would be wonderful!I could go back to old moments and make even more memories. With invisibility, I could explore the past without people seeing me, thinking how different I am from them. I could take breath-taking pictures of the land, the sky and the water. I could take home souvenirs from the past or from the future. I could own and access all the high-tech gadgets and inventions from the future while people are stuck on their Iphones and Androids. Just my imagination of the place where I want to be is all that I would need for teleportation and time travelling. No need to save up for money. No need to worry about costly expenses. I just have to dream and think of all the best things in life to achieve them.

Having an x-ray vision and the ability to phase walk are also on my list. I could peek at both girls and guys without them knowing. I could just pass through tangible objects without needing to walk the lefts and rights of the path. I could own an invisible space car and drive to school or wherever I want in straight routes without the maddening crowd and traffic. I wouldn’t have to worry about stoplights and running over people, well, Filipinos, who are born jaywalkers. 

Lastly, my list of  hidden powers cannot be completed without the power of self-cloning or self-multiplication. Being the lazy person I am, I could just replicate myself and send my own clone to school while I savor my 15 hour beauty sleep. And when my replica arrives home, she'd do my schoolwork and homework for me. After she's done with everything, we would play and hangout and shop together like normal people. We'd go to arcades, have food-trips and lots of fun as though we were twins, something I know I will never experience.  

I could so much stuffs done in no time. I could study the courses I love the best, Biology and Astronomy. I could paint all I want and make a name for myself. I could play with animals and take care of them, travel the world, establish charities for the poor and give them necessities like homes, foods, clothing etc. 

If killing weren’t a sin, maybe more than hundreds of people would be dead already. I know it's hypocritical of me to say I want to be prevent crimes, but let's be honest, who wouldn't want to torture and execute someone who has raped or killed children or worse, a relative of yours. To be honest, I find it hard to believe there are people who stay innocent. 

I would be careful If I were to acquire such power of absolute word.

Feline

Cats are truly majestic creatures. If I were an animal, I'd be a cat. Sadly, I cannot become one, so I promised myself that I take care of at least three; be it big or small, domesticated or wild.

They remind me of Raichu from Pokemon.

Cats help me ease my stress. I once had a cat which I took care of since he was a kitten. I used to feed him with a baby bottle. He was so cute that everytime I was in a not-so-good mood, I'd always pet and play with him until my anger subsides. He helps me calm down and makes me feel not lonely whenever I'm home-alone. 

There was this time when it rained hard and he cannot be seen anywhere. He was a house-cat, and so we were all worried. The next morning I insisted that my brother and I look for him.  He didn’t come with me though. I searched for my pet for about thirty minutes but had to stop because mom demanded I stay inside the house. The following night, I heard the sound of cats fighting. I took off my flipflop and threw it at them. They scampered off, and at the center where they were once at was my pet. Since then, he acted like a street cat. He passed away on the 31^st of August 2 years ago.

I want to be a cat to gain balance and flexibility. I love running, and being a cheetah meant being the fastest animal on land. I'd also like to be a lion. I'd hunt for my own preys while others watch me dominate my territory, not the other way around. If I were any kind of cat I'd be independent, strong and fierce.

My Silly Childhood

I was a rascal as a child. I had always looked up to my brother who's a year older than me. We did reckless things together, always getting ourselves in trouble. We had been best friends until 4^th grade.

I recall when we were messing with my mum's makeup when she arrived home. We were laughing because we looked like zombies or monkeys as she kept on scolding us. We loved playing with Barbie dolls. We used to rip their heads off and throw them wherever we want. We would detach their body parts and hide it somewhere, anywhere. We were drawing nipples and navels on them when my grandmother walked in. She gave us an hour long “sermon”. Since I didn’t own a Ken doll, I used my Spiderman toy figure and my brother used his Superman toy whenever we played house. Of course, Spiderman and Superman always saved the day by defeating the evil villain, Barbie. I had an old bedroom which I shared with my sister. I was meddling with her things until I found a Hentai cd under her pillow. I was curious, so I kept it and told my brother that we had something to kill time with later. We had watched it before demonstrating what we saw with my Barbie and his Superman.

I regret wanting to grow up. I miss the old times when I could just do whatever I wanted without a care in the world. I wish I could be a kid all over again. Growing up sucks, but it isn’t so bad either.