Erratum

Okay, you would not BELIEVE this. Barely a breath after publishing my previous post about French and Sir Yu, I got a message from my friend Lizle saying she switched FLCs from Spanish to Japanese.

Earlier this morning, I thought free for all was for the late registration-students. Now I realize that makes no sense, otherwise they wouldn't have called it 'free for all.' And so with aching hope, I clicked on the Enlist/Delist button of my 1FR and saw, to my amazement, a slot opened up for Bautista, Carmina (the professor I originally wanted for French). And I say 'a slot' because it was literally 1 slot in that class.

I faced another dilemma. Calling my trusty best friend, Paolo--he replied with "Ugh, whaaaat?" and we had connection issues before he boldly told me to go and take Carmina Bautista! The sudden support for my decision was enough for me to click 'Enlist' and confirm that I am giving up my Sir Yu slot!

After minutes of brain-daze and such, I went back to my computer screen to check my messages. Lizle was looking for reviews for her new Japanese professor, and since I was given nothing but a single 'she's good' review about Bautista, I gave it a shot and asked her to search for me.

She very kindly gave me the most meaningful con:

- It may be a bit difficult to properly hear the dialogues that she plays from the disc included in the book. - Will often have quizzes about the previous topic at the next meeting. - Long tests are hard, but in turn makes the midterms and finals VERY EASY.

As you can see, the cons include pros, and these aren't even things I worry about in professors! I worry about them being mean, or unfair. I don't care if I can't hear discs--I could always tell her that! And I care much less about how hard her tests are! This is great!

Lizle gave me the pro:

- Is very passionate about her subject. Makes it a whole lot easier to understand the lesson. - Emphasizes the importance of understanding French culture in order to effectively understand the language itself. - Inspirational stories about her experiences in France during study tours can really inspire you to do well in her subject, to love the language, and to even pursue a minor in French studies. - Easy to be exempted from the finals, provided that you recite often, and do well in her LTs. - Provides a lot of opportunities to raise your grade (bonus papers, frequent oral recitation).

The first six words already blow me away: "is very passionate about her subject" is THE greatest thing a professor of mine could be! I have great respect for teachers who are passionate about their subject (e.g. Sir Roque, Sir Lumboy, Dr. Garces, etc.)

"Makes it a whole lot easier to understand the lesson" -- is there anything better than a teacher who tries to see through the eyes of a student?!

"Emphasizes the importance..." -- this is EXACTLY what any student taking FLC needs! To know the importance of a subject brings about the desire to learn, which improves performance!

"Inspirational stories about her experiences in France..." -- we all need a little inspiration every now and then, especially with a course that demands much of my time-- "...to even pursue a minor in French studies." -- Nah. No, thanks, haha.

"Easy to be exempted form the finals," BOO-YA! "--provided that you recite often, and do well in her LTs." - yeeeeaah, I don't recite often but if it were for her, I would!

"Lots of opportunities to raise your grade (bonus papers, freq. oral recitation)." -- great! More time to practice my French!



So, in the end, everything turned out okay. I sacrificed starting the week at 1:30 everyday, but what's 2 hours? My new week starts at 11:30, and my Tuesdays-Thursdays are down to 9:00 AM and I have nothing to worry about on TTH except Accounting and Math, and afterward, I get to unwind with Volleyball. Sophomore Year, 1st Sem is turning out to be pretty good. Please don't let this be a sign that I'm out by the end of it hahaha.

Cheers!

 

Hey, It's Been a While. Enlistment!

I'm not quite sure whether the way in which I capitalize the letters in my title is correct, but let's leave it at that.

It is that time of the month when I realize I haven't been posting anything on my college blog. Usually that time of the month comes after something AISIS-related happens. In this case, enlistment.

For the second time, and probably not the last, I'm at the last batch. My first enlistment (1st year, 1st sem) I was random number 774 or something like that. It wasn't a problem because I only had to pick out my NatSci and PE. I was lucky on both accounts because I got a pretty decent line-up. For the 2nd semester I moved up to 3rd batch. Again, it was easy enough, Biotech and ES were just staring at me in the face while lawn tennis opened up a whole new world of fun. And well, whaddaya know, my first shot at 1st batch came during my Sophomore Summer term. The summer I decide to take only ONE subject.

Out of that waste of a 1st batch I got to meet the Wonderful William haha. I guess it's no use denying it since I will never see him again. YES! I had a crush on my ITM professor, who shall go by the alias 'Wonderful William' hahaha mainly to avoid this post being picked up by a Google search. And by 'crush' I will ask MacAvoy (my laptop's name, if you recall) to show my the definition:

crush (noun) [informal] a brief but intense infatuation for someone, esp. someone unattainable or inappropriate

This is a fitting definition, I must say, especially on the part that says "for someone, esp. someone unattainable or inappropriate" haha. However, the "intense" part doesn't fit my definition of crush since it had not, in any way, affected my performance in ITM. I am rather good at compartmentalizing (scarily so, in fact).

And it was brief. I force myself to believe that because it is also the inevitable. "Out of sight, out of mind," they say, and "absence makes the heart grow fonder" implies that we will meet again--which we won't. Sadly.

But moving on. Today's enlistment was crazy! In hindsight, it was actually pretty good, but what does hindsight know?! I'm not the only one who experienced AISIS crashing like a wave during a storm, so I'm not being irrational here! I came into this enlistment fully prepared--I planned out my pre-enlisted schedule so that I would know which time I would be free, I checked Class Schedules dozens of times to map out all possible sections I could enlist in.

But when enlistment came, the server came crashing down, and I lost the last 2 slots for French with Bautistaaaaa! So instead I had to get my high school French teacher, Sir Robert Yu. I had the option to take an Easy-A German class but, to quote Paolo, "the opportunity cost is very close to [my] 'heart'."

I'm pretty sure he thought of the 'opportunity cost' part because he's an incoming AB Eco-H student, fresh from UP Manila. But the future economist is right. French is the most important FLC for me to take, at this point in my life haha. I am turning 18 this Septe--wait, no, that has nothing to do with why I so badly want/need to take French.

You see, I am a Canadian citizen jus soli. One of the only things I remember about Law on Persons back in 3rd year haha. Jus soli is Latin for 'right of the soil' (Wikipedia) and basically it means I am a citizen of Canada because I was born on their soil. I am not, however, an 'anchor baby' or a child born in another country to facilitate the immigration of relatives as evidenced by the fact that neither I nor my family is in Canada right now. I think it just so happened that my dad was working there when I just so happened to be born.

Though I have, and feel, no real connection to Canada, it occurred to me a few years ago to be more nationalistic. In a lot of ways Canada and I are alike haha. We do not discriminate (I try my best not to), we are big with some uninhabited areas (I don't get the connection there but if you do, great), and we are often mocked for being too naive or too good (that's how I want people to mock me haha).

Anyway, about French. Canada is officially bilingual, and in order for me to be nationalistic, I believe I must learn at least the minimum amount of acceptable French. It is not required, but I want to be able to approach any Canadian since some of them are strictly (and rudely, I head) French.

On to a new topic: French with Sir Yu. I wish that had a better ring to it but it doesn't so... 

Aside from the need to learn French more (and the fact that I had no choice), I believe having Sir Yu again would be a rewarding experience. I can't seem to trace the origin of Sir Yu's infamy. It's all hearsay, and we can't always believe in hearsay. Like what my hero, Dr. Garces, told us before haha. You shouldn't judge a professor based on the fact that they are 'terror profs' and I'm sure you've heard enough of this from me already, but I'll just say it one more time for effect. They're never as bad as they seem. If Sir Yu is strict, then fine, I'll do my work on time. If he's unfair, then I'll give him a reason not to be unfair. My fellow AIESECer, introvert, and all-around good person, Panda said something like, if we aren't challenged then we aren't growing (it's something like that, I don't remember all the words haha).

Well, there you have it. The whole French problem I had today. Here's to looking forward to meeting Sir Yu again!

There's nothing else I feel like saying right now. I got the load off my chest with the French thing so... bye!