The adventures of Zed

bigot-against-himself: i don’t really know why they hate me.

person: huh? so, you mean they hate you for nothing? they are so cruel and bad!

bigot-against-himself: actually, zed is the only person who hates me for no reason. he is manipulative, cruel, bad, disrespectful and discriminative. i mean how could zed hate me? i did so many things for him like letting him reach the mpdc finals, vmdc semi’s and i basically gave him his name in debate. wala syang utang na loob. during his term as PM in the circle we experienced so many hardships because he is big headed. he thinks that he is very good. he suffers from superiority complex i even threatened to replace him as PM. i never trusted his policies and decisions too. binababoy niya ang mga try-outs. he has done nothing good! it’s all for himself alone. that is why i even told people not to trust him because he is big headed, he leaves you hanging when you need him the most.

person: ahhh….(i can’t believe that’s how you look at zed, that’s probably why he hates you a lot…i thought you just don’t know…kawawa naman si zed, akala niya friend ka niya NOON…)

zed: i love it!

The Holy Month of Ramadhan is here. This is the month where all Muslims around the world are Fasting. So many people are asking and wondering why we fast. The first answer to this is the meaning of ISLAM “the complete and absolute submission to the will of ALLAH”. The Qur’aan told us Muslims to fast.

The Qur’aan says:

“O you who believe! Observing fasting is prescribed for you as it was prescribed for those before you, that you may become pious.”

“The month of Ramadan in which was revealed the Qur’ân, a guidance for mankind and clear proofs for the guidance and the Criterion (between right and wrong). So, whoever of you sights (the crescent on the first night of) the month (of Ramadan), he must observe fasts that month, and whoever is ill or on a journey, the same number [of days which one did not observe (fasts) must be made up] from other days…”

But fasting uncovers a lot of reasons why God wanted us to fast. Some of the reasons and values we learn during the Ramadhan are:

1. We feel the equality of men regardless of race, wealth and social status. We all feel hungry during the day time. We understand how poor people feel when they don’t have food for the whole day.

2. It tests the strength of our Faith to Allah. It makes us become great believers or Muslims. We sacrifice all worldly desires in submission to the will of ALLAH.

3. Muslims realize the importance of Food and Water and everything that ALLAH provides for Us.

4. We learn how to be forgiving, kind, compassionate, merciful, and be pious.

Happy Ramadhan Everyone!!

Curiosity.

The first time I’ve heard the name Cory Aquino was during my 1st Grade days. It was during our “Sibika and Kultura” class when our teacher told us about Cory Aquino and why she is an important person in the history of Filipino people. I didn’t really understand why we have to know her or why she is important but i felt “I have to admire her and that she is someone I should look up to”. Later on in my Elementary and High School days, I knew who she was and how great she is. Cory Aquino has been an inspiration.

A Filipino-Moro.

I grew up in Marawi City. The only Islamic City in the Philippines and the only City with Muslims as the majority of its population. If you are a non-muslim, you would expect that my childhood days and the education we get from our schools are different from the typical. Some would probably assume that we are brought up to believe that we are Moros and not really Filipinos and that we should support the ideology that we should be separated from the Philippines. But this wasn’t really the case. When I was in school, I am taught why I am a Filipino and why I should be proud of it. I remembered our lessons about the values that Filipinos have like hospitality, kind and hardworking. Those lessons have convinced me to believe that I am a Filipino and I should be proud of it. There was even a point where I thought, Filipinos are better than the other races because my perception of other races where monstrous. I used to hate Japan, U.S. and Spain so much for killing most of our heroes. There was never a moment where I thought I’m a different one. I’ve always known that I am a Filipino and that I am a Muslim. I never really thought that my religion can negatively affect my being a Filipino. I am a proud Filipino-Moro.

Politics.

Cory Aquino has always been one of my favorite Presidents. My love for poltics made me know Cory Aquino well. This is propably the reason why I have always been proud of being a Filipino and also the reason why I loved moderate-to-conservative leaders. I have been so amazed how a housewife can become the President of a divided and dying nation and managed to revive and unite it. My mom would always tell me how important she is. She would explain that it was Cory who created the ARMM and appointed muslim senators in the Philippine Senate and her great respect to our religion and how she tries to understand our differences. I have always admired her and even told myself that if in any way i’ll be in an elective position, I will be like Cory.

Today an in the coming days, my family will commemorate the death anniversary of our Daddy. It is through day that we learned how to be independent, how to move on together as a family and made us love one another. Alhamdulillah.

I hope and pray that somehow I was able to make my Dad proud.

this afternoon, my mom and i are talking. she asked me if i saw the girl and what was the first impression i got. i told her i haven’t.

growing up is an exciting stage in our lives. discovering things and playing with them. BUT growing old is different. you tend to chase time. you pray that time is slow. you always act as if there is no tomorrow. it is sad but that’s life. and life is about moving on.

………………………..

enrollment. finally, i am enrolled. i am a second year law student. the first year was tough and broke my mind and heart but i guess i am starting to become unbreakable. i am more than excited to face the new school year. i hope and i pray that i’m not half broken again in the end.

family blues. all throughout the summer, i have been staying in my family in marawi city. this is my first summer vacation to ever stay this long in my family. i thought it was wonderful. i got closer to my brothers and sisters. every afternoon, i play basketball with my brothers and brother-in-laws. it was quite a bonding that when i realized that the summer is coming to end i felt sad. i’m gonna miss these people. my mom’s been herself whole summer. she tries to find a bride for me all summer. i know it’s hillarious but that’s how maranao families are. she wants me to marry now. i just hope she finds the best bride there is.

blessings. that’s it. though there is some disappointing finish in my studies last school year, my family and myself has been showered with enough blessings. our private school is thriving. it has registered a record number of enrollees. the family is more than happy. also, the building of our family-owned community medical center is finished. my two doctor-sisters can now practice in marawi with their very own hospital. all of this, i thank ALLAH.

tennis and basketball. die kobe and laker haters. yes!! they are in the 2009 nba finals. and as of now, they lead with 2-0 against the magic. i believe that lakers will when the title via game 5. kobe will be finals MVP. phil jackson will make history–10 nba titles. the french open was boring…and i don’t want to expound on it more.

i haven’t blogged for a long, loooong time.

i was lazy. and oh well, very uninspired to blog anything…

this year has been an explosion. i had my highest highs and lowest lows.

for the first time in my debate career, i was able to break in a national debate tournament. the memorable pidc 2009. i was with my debate partners and life long friends–rene and gian. we were so, so, so, great together. not in debates alone but as a group. we laugh our sinceriest laughs when we are together. we broke tenth in the top 16 break of pidc..im so proud we made it.

thought. by the end of the semester, on my mind, i will be spending my entire summer…uhmm, attending debate tournaments like the pidc, audc and some iv’s but it didn’t happen. i attended pidc but not the audc. it seems like gian and i fell short of gathering resources for our dhaka trip. and oh well, i also felt that going to bangladesh isn’t of a big deal.

yearbook. so, instead of going to dhaka and spend probably 13 days of my summer there, i stayed in marawi (my hometown) all summer long. as usual, i was the editor-in-chief of my family’s private school’s yearbook. editor-inchief means i had to do the layouting, the encoding, pictures, interviews and the logistics. i have some people to assist me but im not used to just tell them to work…i usually just work without them. i can control only one person–myself. so after a tiring 2 weeks and 4 days, it was done and my mom loved it. so happy she loved my product.

about law school. all throughout the summer, i tried not to think of my grades. i mean, for almost 10 months, i’ve been worrying about my grades, recitations, tests, exams and everything about school…so i thought summer is about being free from school. i know this is wrong but i never really read my books or even reviewed my notes all summer. i know im gonna pay for it very bad.

lookout. this coming semster i am thinking of trying to look for a job. a part-time job that would…uhmm, atleast give me an income. about 7k a month. just to fill out my food reqirements (i eat a lot). my mom isn’t open about this because i must concentrate on my studies…but i think i have to loosen up and be cool this semester. not so serious but focused. no casualty.

dangerously watching. okay, i have been watching sports these days. from the champions league to the french open. my manchester united got beaten hard by barcelona in the champions league finals held in rome. man U is the best football club of the planet but they were beaten. so sad! another sport i’ve been following is the NBA playoffs. as you can see, i’ve been a lakers worshiper, i mean, fan. i follow and support this team since 1999. they have been having great distractions in trying to be in the finals this year. im hoping, praying and believing that they will win the title this year! it’s about time for KOBE and GASOL to be champs!! lastly, im following the french open. oh!! it will be nadal’s 5th title if he wins! and he should win. federer is old and should retire instead. it will be dinara’s first grandslam but im more leaning towards sharapova.

well, i guess, i’ve said a lot. till next time.

Even the most passive person also thinks of achievements and perhaps victory in things he thought he is good at. But life isn’t that easy. Infact, life is horribly difficult.

I struggled my way to finish college. After several shocks of foreseeable and unpredictable failures, I have managed to finish college. There are no flying colors during my graduation but I felt fulfilled. Despite my endless smiles that day, no one realized how hard my road to finishing a degree in college was. There were days when I thought my life is but nothing, a life with no sense, a life with no single victory to tell. But whatever that was…I have managed to have a humble victory to tell.

After each achievements, we always think that there is a better life beyond that.

I chose to go beyond that and unconciously threw my past victory and proclaimed to everyone that I am better than that. Just as we say that life is a cycle, so is my life. I am starting over again thinking of a victory that my life will somehow humbly tell. But the road is rough, hidden, dangerous and dark. I have had failures in the past and managed to overcome them but in my quest for the better…challenges and failures also adjust, they are harder and more difficult. You may overcome one great challenge today but no one knows if you can deal the same with the next one.

Life is indeed not easy. Should I stay on tract or shame my life by retreating?

Don’t mind the title.

one thing that debaters say that they never honor is saying “i’m retiring from debate. it’s over, this is my last debate.”. debaters can’t seem to honor those words. i myself said that i quit debating. but i just couldn’t.

the 19th MPDC was held here in Xavier University. this is the first MPDC that i am not debating, i am adjing.. to be exact, i am one of the DCA’s. at first, i was a bit nervous on wether or not i should DCA but when my debate friends said that i am “a fair and a good adj” i believed them.

the tournament was great. i think, it is also common to debaters to say that the last debate tournament they joined was the best one…it just keeps on getting better. i say, the 19th MPDC is the best MPDC for me.

first Round.

i adjed ADDU A v. LSU A — i gave the win to ADDU A. it was clear.

Second Round.

i adjed ADZU D v. ADDU B — i gave the win to ADDU B. it was a close win and a very high round. these teams became my favorite teams in the tournament. i even told them that the least that they can reach is quarters or semis. i was right… addu b reached quarters and adzu d reached semis.

third round.

i adjed MSU-IIT A v. ADDU HS B — i gave the win to IIT A. it was an average round. this round i got a my lowest feedback score and ironically it came from a winning team with a mean comment. i guess some debaters can become so arrogant and annoying before they can even earn their reputation.

fourth round.

i adjed ADDU C v. MSU-M A — i gave the win to MSU-M A. it was an above average round.

the breaks.

the break was kinda surprising. two teams imerged as undefeated with 4-0 win. ADDU A and IIT A. it was surprising because for the first time, a team, not a member of the four founding schools, was undefeated and broke second. i am congratulating MSU-IIT for it’s debate progress. you trully deserve to be complimented. IIT has become a contender in the mindanao cup. BUT good reputation is better than winning the cup alone.

break rounds.

octos

i adjed ADZU B v. IIT C — we gave the win to ADZU B. it was a close win.

quarters

ADZU D v. IITB — we gave the win to ADZU D. it was a close round. this is the second time that i adjed ADZU D. the newbies in debate…i love this “underdog” team.

semi’s

ADZU D v. MSU-M A — via split decision MSU-M A wins. i dissented in this round.

Finals.

MSU-M A v. ADDU A — via 6-3 vote. the win goes to ADDU A. it was a very close round. conratulations to ADDU. you guys are great!

i made this blog for reasons of makin my tournament withdrawal syndrome gone fast. the feeling of wanting the tournament to have not ended so fast.

i am thanking Miko and Steph of ADMU for coming to XU and be the CA and DCA of 19th MPDC. we credit you the success of the tourney. your patience are priceless..hehe. and yeah, we had fun being the adj core.

henry, my friend, thank you for being an understanding friend. you don’t know how i look up to you. you can be the best adj and debater. thank you for the friendship. and yeah, keep holding on your faith when you are with me. i have evil jokes but whether you believe it or not…i love christians specially catholics because of you.

gian, it’s not the end. and freedom won’t end it.

i have started this year with full optimism. it’s the year of the OX–my year! but i’ve been feeling very unproductive these past weeks. last year, i never spend a night without reading my books or notes. i summarize, write, and digest my topics but i think im losing it.

i just had a long weekend and instead of reading my books, i just glued myself on the internet downloading music, playing games and reading news and blogs. very unlikely for me to do.

im overhauling my study habit. from now on, i’ll go back to my 12hour study marathon.

and yeah, last week, Australian Open was the main function of my brain. i mean, all i could think of is “i want nadal to win” and i never thought of “did i ever had a good recitation in my classes?” thank God, i was able to answer recitations except for criminal law. well, nadal won and federer cried. haha

back to studying.

Yes!! after four years of waiting, the most awaited finals of all time and the greatest dream of every tennis fan has come true. the battle of Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer in a championship match not in a clay or grass court BUT in a hard court.

I have never imagined that Nadal could overcome his semi final matched but i have always hoped that somehow he reaches the finals. this time, he made it into the finals.

i will be glued on the TV tonight watching the match. If federer wins, he will be tied with samprass with the most number of grand slam wins in tennis history while if nadal wins, it will be his first hard court grand slam win! either way will be historical but since im a fan of nadal, im rooting for him! i hope he wins.

these is my forecast; nadal will win in 4 sets.

they are the greatest tennis rivals in the history of tennis. Federer and Nadal.

i hope the match will be like the wimbledon!