For A Friend Named JULZ

“Life is a constant change. And nothing stays the same.”

Sometimes we have to bear the uncertainties of life. Hard it may seem but life must go on.

People come and go in our lives. We make friends. Sometimes we lose them. We meet the love of our life. Sometimes we let go of them. We welcome a colleague. Sometimes we bid goodbye to them. Life is nothing but a constant reminder that nothing in this world stays forever. It’s a roller coaster ride. And that makes life; I guess more interesting, because you’ll never know when you’ll get surprises.

Moving on is a phrasal epitome of easier-said-than-done. Sometimes, the memories left behind are just so poignant that disregarding it is such a shattering task. You can’t help it; it will just evoke a melodramatic feeling. Hypocritical it is to say that “I have moved on right there and then”. There is change and that change will have to gain equilibrium for quite some time. Moving on is a process.

One year is long enough; long enough to know a friend, to gain a friend, to establish rapport with people, to love work, to learn a new dialect, to know new directions and places, to savour new cuisine, and to be loved by everyone. Indeed one year has passed that a colleague has been with us. A year loaded of jovial memories. A year of keen friendship. A year of laughter and little misunderstandings. A year to get to know a good person without thoughts of leaving and sad endings.

Julz, you deserve a space in my mundane albeit precious blog. This is a memento of your fleeting yet fruitful stay with us in the department. On the book that we both read “Man’s Search for Meaning”, there is meaning and purpose to all of these, though you may have not realized that at the moment.

Thank you for the time that you have shared your life to us. For allowing us to get to know you. For bringing joy and laughter to the people in your midst. For sharing your fresh ideas and ideals. For lighting up our mood when we are in despair. For appreciating what we have done. For singing along with us. For understanding our inequity. For challenging us to do better. For listening to us. For caring when we least expect it. For being you that we all love and we will all miss.

Endings are also beginnings. Julz, wherever life takes you, always remember that once in your life’s journey, you have made an inalienable and lasting mark of friendship in the people of San Miguel Bacolod Brewery. You have etch your name in our hearts that forever we will cherish that once in the crossroads of life, we know a person as remarkable as Julienne Eve Algabre. Farewell.

Area 33 Speeh Contest

Cheers to the Riverside Toastmasters Club in the Area 33 Speech contest held at Kauswagan Hall, Hawaiian Philippine Company, Silay City.

Champion - Impromptu Speaking Constest - CTM Jam Grandea

2nd Place - Prepared International Speech - CC Jay Cris Famoso

Congratulations to all the winners and see you in the Division Speech Contest on April 25! Smiles!

LIVING IN SOLITUDE

This is a previous post that i developed for the prepared international speech contest.

“It is only when we silent the blaring sounds of our daily existence that we can finally hear the whispers of truth that life reveals to us, as it stands knocking on the doorsteps of our hearts”.

“Language... has created the word "loneliness" to express the pain of being alone. And it has created the word "solitude" to express the glory of being alone”.

I may be living alone but certainly not lonely.

I asked recently a colleague if there’s a term in psychology that refers to a person who enjoys in solitude most of the time. She seemed preoccupied with her analysis that she just earnestly smiled as an answer to my query.

"Why do you live alone in your rented house?"

That question has been asked to me innumerably that in fact I have gotten used to it. And this is how it usually started.

Commencing a conversation with a stranger, (Let me first qualify the word “stranger”. It could be a friend of my friend, an auditor from another brewery, or a new colleague) one of the informations that will be asked is the location of your house. Guilty? Then the trail of questions will follow. Take for example my case. Once they know that I am renting my own place. The follow-up question to that would be, "How many are you in the house?" I’d say "I live alone". As a follow-up to the follow-up question, would be "Why do you live alone?" If I may deduce the question, they wanted to know if it is a personal choice or a pure circumstance. So I would say it’s a choice. My answer will always elicit a conspicuous, pensive gaze shown in their eyes riveted on my face. "Are you a loner", they would ask. "I am not", I would answer.

My growing up years is not extraordinary. I am just like any other child.

When it rains, I play mud, trying to make artistic forms and shapes of anything conceivable. I am an addict of playing hide and seek under the rain, when running is made difficult by the slippery ground. And then we choke in laughter when we see someone slide over and fall.

When the sun shines at its brightest, the fields and the outdoors are the best place on Earth. I swim with friends from sun dawn to sun dusk on weekends On some days when we become lazy to walk the long distance going to the beach, we would busy ourselves creating the most gaudy and gigantic kites. And then we compete whose kite soared the highest.

Dissecting my childhood memories, I am certainly not a loner. I take pleasure in the company of friends.

More so when I was in school. You will rarely see me singly in the campus. I practiced badminton with co-varsity players. I interviewed campus personalities for my feature story in our publication. I camped with fellow classmates during science week celebrations. I led as an officer in student organizations and clubs. Long before I know that it is fun to be with other people.

After I painstakingly finished all my academic requirements, it marked the time to bid goodbye to the comforts of my home. It signalled the moment to embrace living separately with my parents and live to a place I can consider my home.

Economics tells me that life is difficult. Therefore, people who are perplexed why I live independently in a house is incomprehensible. They may be correct and sound to do that gesture for practicality reasons but I chose to stick to the wisdom of living independently.

Living independently made me a different person.

I decide on where and what food to eat to satisfy my own craving. I manage to wake up without other people pulling off my hands. I plan my activities for the rest of the day without the consent or approval of someone else. I clean my place which makes me conscious of my own litter. I brush the tiles and bowl in my CR. I take time in taking a bath without having to worry for the next users. I read books free from distractions of human sounds. I sing my heart out anytime I want. I trip off or put on the fluorescent lamp any time of the day. \

This is the picture of living in solitude. And that is not to detach myself from other people.

I am in full control of my life. I am a mature, young professional who has found his niche outside the portals of the academe. I am now a person who stands on my feet gripping fully on my cognitive capacity to decide on my own.

I am a person who chose to live in sheer solitude. I, who knows the wisdom of living independently.

JAY CRIS FAMOSO, CC, ALB

Speech Number	Speech Title	Date Delivered	Evaluator
1	Leaps and Bounds	June 23, 2007	DTM Greg Vallejera
2	Brain Drain:An Inconvenient Truth	July 09, 2007	ATM – S Juliana Tan
3	Life’s Instructions From a Marathon Race	Sept 01, 2007	DTM Greg Vallejera
4	Outside the Portals of College	Nov 27, 2007	TM Mhelliton Sillador
5	Frustrations	March 01, 2008	ATM Maricel Locsin
6	Coffee Break	March 08, 2008	DTM Ro Leonora
7	Melamine in Focus	Oct 04, 2008	ATM – S Juliana Tan
8	Ascending to Greatness	Nov 29, 2008	CTM Ester Solidad
9	A Toast and A Smile	Dec 05, 2008	DTM Greg Vallejera
10	Dare to Fail	Feb 27, 2009	DTM Ro Leonora

Highlights:

1. It took me 1 year and 8 months to finish the Competent Communicator Norm.
2. My longest hiatus in delivering a speech is 7 months, that is from speech number 6 to 7.
3. The shortest is one week, Speech number 5 to 6. The reason to hurry is that I wanted to qualify in my first contest in toastmasters. It indeed bore fruit. I was Area 33 Champion in the Speech to Evaluate contest among 8 toastmasters.
4. Among my 10 Evaluators, only one came from my club. One was from First Farmers. Eight were from Barangay TMC. That says a lot. Hehehe.



5. DTM Greg Vallejera held the highest number of evaluations. Three times and that says a lot too.