Current school woes

The problem with an internet connection that sucks is that I'm unaware that I've already posted and it ends up duplicating entries...

Anyway, while I have a lot of ideas to post here, I have little free time now. It's my last semester and we're required 500 hours in our library practicum. I was assigned first in Cataloging, and the job requires me to read and scan books to determine the subject when assigning Dewey Decimal numbers for classification. I like it, though of course I find it much easier to catalog fiction than thick textbooks. So next week I hope I get more diverse material than books. We're gonna be working in the library system of our school, then for 2 weeks at SEAFDEC Library in Tigbauan.

2 subjects left, though. There's still PE, Swimming, and I'm grateful that the teacher is kind and knows how to build up people like me who don't know how to swim. There's still Spanish 2, which I could've finished in my last school. It's required in my course too, I just hope I've retained things from before. Final obstacles to overcome before graduating on March 2014.

That's all. Odd when I only realized how much free time I've been wasting when most of the day's hours are spent on working.

One thing I also realized that choosing this course was a right decision. The teachers and librarians are the most supportive I know, I love learning new things here, and I like working in places with lots of books. Really, the first time I heard of LIS was from a librarian's blog who said she had her dream job of cataloging anime and manga in her university. I thought, "Well, I could do that!" While there's no manga in Henry Luce III Library, the books there are great, especially the Filipiniana section with a wide selection of all kinds of Filipino books. I'm also thinking that if I ever enroll in a Master's degree it would still be in CPU so I can still borrow stuff from Henry Luce!

(Most of my fave books ever, I borrowed from libraries.)

Another library tour around Iloilo

The tour yesterday (Sept. 27) was supposed to be for the second-years only, but included all BLIS students so each of us can pay lesser for the trip. Not that exciting but tiring, and except for 2 places (stops 2 & 4) I’ve been in most of them. The other schools were cancelled due to heavy rains. We went to UP Miag-ao, Makinaugalingon Press, San Agustin, Provincial Libray, and Museo Iloilo.

Stop 1: UPV Miag-ao Library
Been here, studied here, have borrowed memorable books here. I realized that as a previous library user only, it’s difficult to see the everyday nitty-gritty details of library work (hence the “librarians have it easy” misconception). University librarians are a busy lot: accreditation, buying books, budgeting, processing books, reader’s services, updating databases...

When I go to other university libraries I can’t help but compare it to how much Henry Luce III Library of our school lags behind when it comes to technology. Sure, we have a good security system and extensive collections, but the library database isn’t fully utilized and experienced programmers are lacking. I’d like quick check-in, automatic book return, and automated log-in I see in other schools, where students don’t have to write their names but only scan their IDs.

UP Libraries I will always see as the best example to follow when it comes to IT. They have a very good database developed by themselves (iLib). CPU is using Destiny, and there is an expensive subscription to pay for that. Most students complain about the library fee and don’t realize what they’re paying for (that’s why they are told where it goes during orientations, but with the thousands of students in CPU I guess only a handful of freshmen attend).

The best software I found UPV librarians use is their modified version of CDS-ISIS. It is for academic texts such as theses, papers, and journal articles and is useful for those doing research. Abstracts are important, it’s what researchers will first read in order to determine if the whole study or text will be useful for them, and students have the option to print it for their use. ISIS is actually an old software from the 90s but they updated it. CPU had it but it’s gone. As someone writing a thesis now, it was difficult to sort through too many physical hard-bound theses because the library didn’t have an adequate database.

Actually, theses can also be accessed by the OPAC, but I find CDS-ISIS more convenient because it is specialized for research works. On the OPAC, there is still the mess of other library resources included and sorting through that is a hassle.

(Which reminds me that if I eventually have a career as a librarian, I’d have to study more about computers. The curriculum of BLIS in CPU is now revised for more IT subjects, and we’re in the old curriculum.)

Stop 2: Makinaugalingon Printing Press
Toured through the details of a printing business. They have two creative departments for designing: one for school yearbooks, another for the rest. We went up a dark room where they print the image plate to use for actual reproduction, then to the many printing machines smelling of ink. Last stop was the binding area where there were large, odd machines for cutting, folding, sewing, binding, and covering books.

Stop 3: University of San Agustin Library & Archives
For me, this library has the best design of all libraries in the city I’ve been in, with large wooden desks and old chairs that look like they’re from another era but are comfortable. There are classic-looking pillars within the reading area, supporting a high ceiling, and the walls are lined with paintings of important friars, national heroes, and famous writers... giving both an inspiring and intimidating effect. The collection and electronic databases are used and promoted effectively. The library is almost full and one can see many students using the library.

Stop 4: Iloilo Provincial Library
The Iloilo Library has been transferred so many times that we were not sure where it was. Can you guess where it is? Pass? It’s under the bleachers of the Iloilo Sports Complex! It was transferred only recently, and the place is temporary. Who knows where it will be next. The librarian herself is irritated, but well, you know the government.

It was good, actually. They have a book mobile program that travels to areas which don’t have access to books. Inside, there are separate sections for: Children’s, Periodicals, Government documents, General Collection, and Archives. The only problem I can see is lack of promotion or marketing to the citizens. After all, most who know about it are government employees too (but even then, I wonder if they know where it is).

Stop 5: Museo Iloilo
The artifacts are the same since I was a kid who took art workshops here. But they have repainted the place, rearranged the old saints, put up nicer-looking infographics. The new thing I liked is the floor to ceiling hanging cloth paintings of an ancient Philippine map, a Pintados, and a man in colonial clothing. The best thing to see is the gallery, they have new exhibits from Ilonggo artists every few months.

So u wanna be a librarian? Thoughts from librarians in the city.

I was typing the results of our survey for Research, on career personality types and job satisfaction among librarians in Iloilo City. Actually, there are only around 60 professional, licensed librarians in the city and most are working in universities. It is not a popular course, and few people are aware it exists except those already working in libraries. Thanks to the librarians who have taken the time to answer, and most of their answers are eloquent and well-written. It is good to know that the majority enjoy their jobs, it makes me think I made the right choice. Here are my top 5 favorite answers:

1. This was the longest. I liked it, the respondent even typed and printed it! Such a generous and nice answer. (Also, I can relate, I shifted from another course and this person shifted to another career.)

"YES, I am very satisfied with my current job and I am pretty sure that I made the right career choice. Shifting from Research Assistant in the field of Fisheries to a College Librarian of a prestigious university was one of the major decisions I made in my life. Before jumping in the field of Librarianship, I was in a great dilemma on whether to disregard all the time, effort, and energy I spent in building a career in the field of fisheries and start again from scratch with a new career. However, after a few years of working in the field of fisheries, I have learned and realized that the career was not really meant for me. I was no longer happy with what I’m doing and I could not imagine myself working outdoor my whole life, so I decided to look for something that would suit my personality and lifestyle. Timely enough, I was hired by UPV Library to organize their fisheries materials that came from Diliman Library. This opportunity helped me finally decide to change my career path.
          What I like most about being a Librarian is the nature of the work itself. Unlike fisheries where I have to spend most of my time working outdoor, in library science I have to work mostly indoor. I am able to interact with different kinds of clients – from students, faculty, administrators, and researchers both outside and inside the university campus. I could act as a teacher to them or a friend that could help them in their information needs, but at the same time making this opportunity in enhancing my skills in librarianship.
          For every questions answered or needs addressed, a different sense of fulfilment is felt. Self satisfaction is achieved every time I see the smiling faces and hear the gratefulness of the clients I served. This also serves as a measure of my work performance and an assurance to me that I’m doing my work well and that I’m on the right track on becoming an effective and efficient librarian of the organization where I belong." (UPV)

2. Librarianship can be a health hazard...
"Yes, I enjoy my work. However, my health has been affected because of the environment and stress in the technical section. We have been provided with a small air conditioned working area where books are being processed, including re-cataloging of our DDC to LC classification. So dust is accumulated and circulating in the office. I acquired allergy, asthma, and pneumonia." (USA)

3. It is fun!
"Yes! Absolutely satisfied. Being a librarian means I have the freedom to be interested in anything and everything. For me, being a librarian is never boring. It’s a social profession. I realized that the work of a librarian is a very interesting one, but every now and then I have to remind myself that librarianship is a noble profession and a lot of fun." (JBLU)

4. Everyday is a learning experience when we deal with knowledge and information
"I may have accidentally discovered librarianship as a profession, for it has not reached popularity the time I studied it. But at this point, in my more than ten years in the profession, I can say that I am satisfied with my current job and choice of career. This profession/career may not bring you a flowing material wealth, but as a librarian/information specialist, who wouldn't grow professionally and intellectually when you constantly deal with knowledge, information, research, etc.?" (USA)

5. Challenging!
"Yes, I am happy with my career choice. There are many challenges but if you face these challenges and look at it positively, you will be able to handle them and eventually give the best solutions. I experienced difficulties especially when we are under-staffed, but because I love my profession and enjoyed serving my students, the faculty, etc., you don’t count the extra hours. What is important is at the end of the day, you are happy and contented because you have made your customers happy, too. It is also one way of encouraging them to visit the library more often and use the resources independently." (USA)

That's it! I enjoyed working on this. For the first time, I look forward to writing the rest of the paper.

News, school issues, & others

When the semester started, huge billboard-like tarpaulins were posted in every entrance of the university. It contained pictures of clothing not allowed by the school according to the dress code. Then, the dress code issue exploded in the school's Facebook pages with everyone giving their opinions. Fashionistas complained about their freedom of expression, most said it was exaggerated. Most agreed in one thing, though: the way it was presented in the tarp was just bad and tasteless. I agree. Just look at it (picture from the Facebook page of CPU's Central Echo: In the Dumps):

The "underwear not allowed" is just a joke photoshopped in there.

I don't have anything against the dress code itself, but when I see the tarp I always laugh. I mean, who would wear fish-slippers? Or this ugly shoe?

It still makes me giggle.  It's scary, like a shoe made by a serial killer from severed feet.

Good news that the admin have cleared things up and the ugly billboards will be gone by August.
------
Other news:
Our teacher in IT in Libraries was recognized as the country's most Outstanding Librarian by the PLAI. Sir Alayon is one of my role models and a favorite teacher, not only because he's funny but also because he always bought pizza for the whole class during our weekend classes. Well-deserved, I say!
-----
Link to an article: 20 heroic librarians who save the world. Those are about fictional characters, but I read it if I don't feel like studying and I feel motivated again.

Author Spotlight [2]: William Zinsser (with postscript on current school life)

Writing organizes and clarifies our thoughts. Writing is how we think into a subject and make it our own. Writing enables us to find out what we know – and what we don’t know – about whatever we’re trying to learn. Putting an idea into written words is like defrosting a windshield: The idea, so vague out there in the murk, slowly begins to gather itself into a sensible shape. Whatever we write – a memo, a letter, a note to the baby-sitter – all of us know this moment of finding out what we really want to say by trying in writing to say it.
(from Writing to Learn by William Zinsser)

Last post was about free writing. I find writing practice to be useful in all kinds of writing I am doing, be it essays, papers, or stories. It’s good to just keep the hand moving for awhile, and even if I felt like I had nothing to write at first I had put down words that might be useful, and sometimes I surprise myself that I actually had something to say. My mind was doing its own thinking while I was writing. Then, I can revise.

Zinsser taught a different type of writing: non-fiction and technical writing. He values simplicity, clarity, and brevity. As a frustrated student who had a hard time with dense ‘nose-bleed’ inducing academic texts, his style is refreshing. I read Writing to Learn during a time I wasn’t in school, and it helped me a lot when I got back and it made me realize things I couldn’t have realized in school. In the book, he showed excellent examples of clear writing in all subjects. Clear thinking leads to clear writing, and any topic can be made simple or interesting with it.

Here’s an example from Zinsser’s book of a bad sentence:
“The ongoing reconfiguration positions Barbara offsite to hopefully identify growth and profitability potentials beyond what is currently being realized.”
At first reading, I can’t understand it at all. Translated by Zinsser in simple English, it just says:
“Barbara will try to find out why we ain’t doing better.”

Why all the long words? But that kind of sentence in the first example is found everywhere. I admit I’ve fallen victim to it, too, thinking that it sounds smarter if one writes such complex sentences. Students often think that ‘the longer the better’ when it comes to class essays or papers, inserting unneeded words which actually distort the message than clarify it. In reading and writing prose, I now prefer the short yet clear than the long but wordy.

---

I’m starting my last year at university! I’m having a bad case of senioritis:
I have six subjects for this sem: Research (thesis), Rizal (the teacher is so boring), Principles of Teaching, Geography, Afro-Asian Literature, and Education in LIS. Good luck to me.

Etc.

Other stuff first...
- Despite a violent-sounding post earlier, I don't recommend face-punching as a method to end arguments. I only imagine it, that doesn't hurt anyone. In the news, an angry dude killed his coach by punching him in the face. Don't try it! But if I could, I would, because it could be useful...
- Backpfeifengesicht is a German word meaning "A face badly in need of a fist" or "a face begging to be introduced to fist".
- The best read I found to beat procrastination: Reasons why you should do Thing ヽ(*・ω・)ﾉ

---

 -Ways of Learning-

From a short pamphlet by Peter Drucker, Managing Oneself:

Schools are organized on the assumption that there is only one right way to learn and that it is the same for everybody. But to be forced to learn the way a school teaches is sheer hell for students who learn differently.

I had a difficult time as a student before, because I didn't learn how to learn. It was only in second year college that I began to have better grades because I discovered a simple technique in studying for exams: read, reread then highlight, summarize the main points on a piece of scratch paper, and review. It takes little time (than when I was still struggling) and I like getting over exams and outputs quickly so I finish them as soon as possible. I try to avoid classmates who create contests about who didn't start yet.

Peter Drucker said in Managing Oneself that people learn differently. Some learn by writing (that's me), others by doing, and others by talking or listening. Another important question to ask oneself is: am I a reader or a listener? Some process the written word better than the spoken word.

To sum it up, learn how your mind works... then knowing/retaining things become easier.

---

Here is a giant 'long arm' squid live:
It looks like an alien with a pretty hat.

A Game of Squares

(The actual puzzles are only one color.)

In one Management class, we were given a lot of personality tests. The teacher taught that before you can manage or be managed, self-management comes first. In knowing your personality type and tendencies, you now have clues on your strengths and weaknesses and how you can use them to your advantage. This is valuable when working in a team with various people with different skills.

As an exercise on teamwork, the class (we were only 10 students) was divided into two groups, each member assigned given a puzzle to work on. The game works this way:
1. Use only 3 pieces to form a square. Each person has 3 random puzzle pieces. Yours must not exceed 3 at a time.
2. Try to form a perfect square by rotating the pieces: if a piece doesn't fit, you can pass it around.
3. No talking or coaching by gestures.

In no time, my group got it right, all of us had perfect squares in front of us. The pieces moved around in an intuitive way, and I quite liked the 'no talking' aspect. We focused on each other's puzzles than each other's faces.

The other group didn't make it on time. In her rush to get a square right, one of them didn't notice that she was already keeping more than 3 pieces while the others looked on and hoped she'd let go of the other pieces. I guess they panicked because when the game hasn't started yet, they were already complaining about the 'no talking' rule. They were already thinking it would be difficult, so they found it difficult.

I'm not saying our group won or was better. No matter how the game was played, there's a lesson to be learned once we analyzed and talked about each group's process. In the example of the other group, it shows that sometimes we can be unaware of the needs of others when we focus on our own square, when the goal of the game is complete all the squares of everyone in the team. Once we think of both our squares and those of others, then it will go smoothly.
- - -
Easier said than done. I still have some sort of personality clash with a classmate and we had a long mutual irritation but we're okay now. We still get on each other's nerves sometimes, though.

Trivial life updates

I find this funny, though I don't recommend drugs for academic excellence...

• Newsfeeds filled with graduation pictures and updates! I am glad for you all. Really.
• Out of some mysterious luck, a relative gave me a Kindle Touch. I've always been curious about e-readers, but owning one looked improbable. It was from other distant relatives in the US and passed around to people who don't want it, and it ended up with me. Now I use it more than my netbook. The downside, however, is I wasted time downloading all free ebooks I could (I get them from bookOS.org) and aside from those I still have a pile of unread physical books... but I really like it. One charge can make it last up to 2 months (if you don't connect to wifi), you can highlight text, take notes, surf the net, even listen to music.
• They're getting cheaper, though. I heard some people already sell Kindles here for around 5,000 pesos. Calibre is a useful free software for converting various formats.
• I'm preparing myself for the coming fires of Hell Week. That's all. Then the next week after that I turn 20. Not that it matters much. 

On Education yet again (Tumblr reblog)

“Everyday, millions of innocent children are unwillingly part of a terrible dictatorship. The government takes them away from their families and brings them to cramped, crowded buildings where they are treated as slaves in terrible conditions. For seven hours a day, they are indoctrinated to love their current conditions and support their government and society. As if this was not enough, they are often held for another two hours to exert themselves almost to the point of physical exhaustion, and sometimes injury. Then, when at home, during the short few hours which they are permitted to see their families they are forced to do additional mind-numbing work which they finish and return the following day.

This isn’t some repressive government in some far-off country. It’s happening right here: we call it school."

—	When he was in the ninth grade, open-access champion Aaron Swartz, who took his life last month, stood up in front of his school assembly and read this, affirming the need to change educational paradigms away from the factory model of schooling.  (via explore-blog)

I have a love-hate feeling towards school. This is the kind of problems that made me stop for awhile, and though I like some aspects of it, what I like most will be getting out of it. A year left.

Earthquakes

Lately, I had a couple of dreams where there's earthquakes. I wake with a jolt, sitting up from bed too quickly as the dream-earthquake must be Intensity 10 and my mind still racked by pseudo-aftershocks. The first dream, I was at the highest floor of a tall building. The ground shaking, everything toppling down as I ran down the fire exit stairs, it felt so real. I wake, walking with dizzy balance as another day starts. I wake up inexplicably tired. 
***
I remember two earthquakes last 2012, in February and November. I was in the school both times. From the wide green field, one can see everyone rushing out of buildings. There's an odd silence combined with the low voices of people simultaneously talking about where they were those few seconds when it happened. Everyone's standing in open space, waiting for aftershocks. A water puddle beside where I stand is still rippling. Moments ago, the liquid was spinning and splashing around as if in a storm. 
***
My classmate had an interesting observation. "Ever noticed that after a quake, the weather turns like this?" she asks. The sky is grey-white and entirely covered in clouds, like its still deciding whether to let it rain or not.Often, it doesn't. The air is somewhere between cold and humid. I reply, "Now that you've mentioned it, I don't recall a sunny earthquake."
***
I almost memorized everything about earthquakes from an Earth Science textbook. The teacher is carefree and talkative, one who loves to gossip instead of talking about the lessons. He was likable at first-- until you see the exams and his strictness on laboratory reports. Each meeting was a laugh trip, but soon he's enumerating details about his sex life, things I don't care about-- I was so bored and irritated that I tried to block out his babbling by actually reading the textbook in class. See how irritated I was?

I only recall unconnected terms and details. There are three kinds of waves with varying effects on different kinds of matter. To find out the exact epicenter, there must be three seismic stations to calculate the distance in a method known as triangulation. These are easily-forgotten facts and empty names to fill blanks in an exam paper. 
***
I read about rocks, oceans, volcanic activity, earthquakes, the various things moving and heating up within the earth to change the surface. Mountains flatten, volcanoes erode, continents break, islands grow out of sea, plates collide and mountains arise from the impact. It takes hundreds to billions of years. In our lifetime, the changes are too slow to see. How brief human life is compared to eons in geologic time, the textbook says. I'm not sure how I feel about that-- somewhere between disappointment and relief. Life's too long, but too short all the same.

The Philippine Islands [summary]: Volume 6 (1 of 5)

Maybe its bad form to post school assignments in personal blogs, but as a supporter of Open Access, I'd post 5 of these essays here. Someone might need it. If you're into Philippine history, this might be slightly interesting. These are brief summaries of volumes 6-10 of the 55-issue The Philippine Islands (1909) by Blair & Robertson, focusing on the Spanish occupation. The Philippine Islands is a major source of English translations of important historical documents and letters from 1493-1898 (spanning 300 years!). I did this for the subject LIS 318 (Filipiniana Resources Mgt) last semester.

The full title/bibliographic description:
The Philippine Islands, 1493-1898: explorations by early navigators, descriptions of the islands and their peoples, their history and records of the Catholic missions, as related in contemporaneous books and manuscripts, showing the political, economic, commercial and religious conditions of those islands from their earliest relations with European nations to the close of the nineteenth century (1903-1909) / translated from the originals; edited and annotated by Emma Blair and James Alexander Robertson; with historical introduction and additional notes by Edward Gaylord Bourne. Cleveland, Ohio: A.H. Clark, Co. 55v.: ill, facsimiles, maps, portraits.

Volume VI: 1583-1588 (There was always conflict between Church and government, this contains things about Chinese settlers)
Volumes: | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 |

Something I forgot to mention.

A while back, I posted something long and corny about my college history. I forgot to mention something crucial to my change of mind. I used to hate school, then I got used to it and I even like it now. There's a reason.

[Unrelated: CPU is where I attend university, but now there's a widespread joke that its CKU: Central Korean University, due to the Korean population explosion in the campus and even the university football team is all Korean guys. They'll warn you not to cross the field while they practice with incoherent shouts. Many students are annoyed by that.]

(Back to the topic.) CPU has a major student population of working students. Most of my friends there are, and they work 20 hours a week (even more) to pay for tuition, and they have different side jobs to earn aside from that. One is a busy masseur who travels all over the island. Others sell pastries, AVON products, does laundry. Most of them had a history of stopping school to work -- I have a classmate who was a caregiver to a rich Chinese businessman's mother. I enjoy their stories.

Sometimes when they all talk about their experiences, which I enjoy listening to, I feel awkward because I have nothing to say. I've realized that I never seriously thought about money. I never realized that I am what they would consider 'lucky' or 'privileged' because while I am not rich, my parents earn enough that I don't need to work for myself. In my mind, everyone was probably like me. There was a time when my mother was in a bit of trouble because of credit card debt, but life looks fairly okay for now and a few years into the future.

Well, knowing them, I realized that all my troubles were so petty and I felt like an ungrateful brat who takes what she has for granted. Hell, I agonized over things so shitty and not worth anyone's time. They have lived with the uncertainty of where the next meal will be from, if their make-shift homes in illegal areas will still be there tomorrow. No, they don't sound sad. They talk like it was all fun, and I laugh along.

I guess the moral lesson is obvious.

Words, etc...

I wonder why I now automatically cringe at any mention of the word 'confidence'. When someone on TV claims to be more 'confident' I'd stop watching. I'd like to think that the concept of 'confidence' doesn't exist. If ever I have imagined myself to be more 'confident' it was a lie or I was fooling myself. Its almost like the word SALE, but SALE is the worst. There's no word I'd like to disappear more than SALE. I walk in a mall and that word is plastered everywhere, you see it a thousand times in one place. SALE SALE SALE. Its making me crazy. A SALE OF SOULS! Malls are brainwashing us.

Classes again next week. Which means, I haven't done anything listed on "important things to do this holiday break". All I did for two weeks was eat and surf the internet. Classes this sem are (since I've posted a list last 2 sems):

LIS 322: Introduction to Indexing & Abstracting
(I haven't learned yet how to do these but it sounds complicated.)
LIS 323: Introduction to Research Methods in LIS
LIS 326: Management of Academic Libraries
LIS 327: Documents, Serials, & Electronic Materials
(Serials and Journals are the most expensive of library materials. They're tricky to keep track of. Their prices are almost inhuman, but libraries must own quality research journals, especially for universities.)
Minors - Intro to Philosophy, Softball & Volleyball, World Literature

I have 7 subjects left! I've realized is LIS isn't about books (they're the extra bonus) but about business and management.

[I was about to put a picture here but I can't find it. Its a meme that says: "I don't always party alone, but when I do, no one knows."]

"Stop me if you've heard this one before," but to introspect is human nature.

This picture has nothing to do with this post. I've realized I'm turning 20 next year.
I have 3 months left until the -teen suffix is gone. Yet I still feel like I'm 12.

While high school batch-mates are getting sentimental about graduating college this March, I still have a year and this sem left. I will be graduating with the HS classmates who take 5-year Engineering courses. All in all until next year, it'll take 3 and 1/2 years for me to get done with BLIS. 5 years total in college that is, including (doomed from the very start) my previous attempt at Political Science which lasted for 1 1/2 semesters,  followed by a year of getting school off my head by not attending.

2009. Not going to school for a while eased years of trouble off my head. Since I can remember, I've always hated school. Nursery to 1st year college: that's around 13 years, and I've been at the most burnt of burn outs. I was a fairly capable student and excelled in subjects I'm genuinely interested in, but my hating school led to chronic absenteeism and suddenly anyone or anything just didn't hold enough interest in me to care. My parents noticed I didn't go to university anymore. I did go back to return overdue books in the library and pay fines. I pretended to go to school, when I only watched movies in mall cinemas alone to kill time. Finally, with resignation and not pushing me to do things I don't want to, it was my father who filed a leave of absence from school.

2010. No school. I spent most of my time reading. It felt good, no looming deadlines or annoying gossipy classmates to think of. I felt peace, but also a bit of guilt. It felt good that I don't have a responsibility to anyone or anything. I still felt slight pangs of guilt when I logged in websites and read about classmates enrolling, read casual conversations of happenings in school, when I wasn't doing anything except menial chores at home. I didn't try to think about it yet, but I knew that  later I will have to go back to those dreaded places called schools.

My brother finally pushed me to go back. "Do you want to return to UP?" was the question. "Of course not." was the absolute answer. It was all a haze. Its not because I hated the place or people or all I learned (which I am still grateful for even if I failed subjects), but all the hours of riding in those speedy jeeps felt like my mind eroded. It didn't seem to matter at that time. So we took a telephone directory and looked at advertisements of universities. That means I will have to choose a new course, another school. I picked one out without really thinking.

We had to go back to Miag-ao for signing clearances. It was just before the 2nd semester of 2010. There were no students in when we went, and the people signing seemed oddly nice now that I'm not going back.

2012. All of this is not a big deal. I think BLIS is more appropriate for me. What they teach is the actual stuff on the job, which I like more than abstract theories of thinking.

I got more accomplished when it comes to studies. Last sem, I got my first 1.0 in a 5-unit subject (IT in Libraries) and never got grades lower than 1.5. To my shock, I got a full scholarship for this semester because of that. It made my mom happy, which I hope somewhat makes up for all the trouble she had with me in those years I disliked school.

2014. On my last semester, there will only be 1 6-unit Practicum subject where me and my classmates will intern in various libraries here. I will still have to pass the librarian's board exam to be considered a professional. Its a funny coincidence, how once I was full of uncertainty, and the choices I made seemed unsure, random. Things have a way of straightening out, eventually.

That's all. Enjoy the Christmas and New Year, everyone.

2PAC on education

I only new Tupac Shakur (aka 2pac) as a rapper from the 90s with a bad reputation who died early, though I've never heard any of his songs. Better late, now I'm reading more on him. He's my next favorite dead celebrity after the late comedian Bill Hicks.

School is really important: Reading, writing, arithmetic. But what they tend to do is teach you reading, writing, arithmetic…then teach you reading, writing, arithmetic again. Then again, then again, just making it harder and harder just to keep you busy. And that’s where I think they messed up. There should be a class on drugs. There should be a class on sex education. No, REAL sex education class, not just pictures and illogical terms…There should be a class on scams, there should be a class on religious cults, there should be a class on police brutality, there should be a class on apartheid, there should be a class on racism in America, there should be a class on why people are hungry, but there not, their class is on…gym….Their class is like Algebra. we have yet to go a store and said, “Can I have X Y + 2 and give me my Y change back, thank you.” You know?…Like foreign languages. I think that they are important, but I don’t think it should be required. Actually, they should be teaching you English, and then teach you how to understand double talk, politician’s double talk. Not teaching you how to understand French and Spanish and GERMAN. When am I going to Germany? I can’t afford to pay my rent in America! How am I going to Germany?

—Tupac, Age 17 On the Topic of Education, 1988.

Irritating Teachers: Ma'am Negastar.

(Note: I don't really hate this teacher. I have mixed feeling about her like I have about everyone. This is just one of her traits I happen to dislike. I know this sounds emphasizing the negative...)

I hate teachers who assign an output, then don't give clear instructions, then only proceed to correct us rudely and make us go back to her again and again for her corrections and criticism we didn't ask for. She blames us for not asking enough, and she won't even admit she was wrong, too. She didn't give a clear outline, then only makes us feel so dumb with the way she talks condescendingly. May sala man siya, kami pa ginapa-gwa ya nga tanga.

The problem is she seems so egotistic that she won't even recognize her mistake and blame us, the clueless students. Its like she's so hard-headed that if you lose your patience you just want to beat it to her head that, "Can't you see you're the problem?"

I guess this is what they mean that people can't simply be changed. Out of all my teachers, she is the inconsiderate, negative-energy black hole. She's tiring. She's a perfectionist who can't be pleased, who only sees the wrong things. I know. I'm trying, even praying for patience, not to quickly lose my cool because that is my weak point.

I understand that teachers want us to learn. I understand that it will be difficult, but sometimes I suspect that its intentional on her part. Maybe she's an energy vampire who takes pleasure the misery of her students. Maybe its her hobby to put people down. My eyeballs are numb from typing a forty-page bibliography, 12-point, single-spaced, all the wasted printed paper and ink, only to retype again. I can't see very well in the first place, and this is making it worse.

This morning I passed the paper, exchanged the usual greetings but not feeling them, walked out of her office for the last time. Maybe later I will realize this is a learning experience, but for now all my classmates feel the same way: tired, haggard, and dreaded.

Overloadead

I'm in that period in college life that I'm swamped with a lot of work, but I enjoy them. I even like studying, researching, and reporting. My mind, all the ways I think of the world and deal with people, has significantly changed from what I was around the same time as last year.

I recently stumbled upon the comic strip Unshelved, about the cute little culture of libraries and librarians.

I'm an LIS student, and since there's less than 10 of us in class for every major subject, class doesn't feel like class, its more like a round-table discussion. Some subjects, we have a few from the Masteral degree still taking some undergraduate courses as a requirement and they're a lot older and more experienced about jobs and life in general... so it isn't a usual class. The major subjects for Library & Info. Science seem informal and comfortable, and it suits me.

OK, subjects this sem:
LIS 311: Information Technology in Libraries
LIS 315: Management of Libraries and Information Centers
LIS 317: Information Processing and Handling
LIS 318: Filipiniana Resources Management
LIS 419: Introduction to Archives and Records Management
Minors: Philippine Literature, Retorikang Filipino, Earth Science

Scott Douglas's tips for aspiring librarians from of Dispatches from a Public Librarian:
> Avoid cataloging classes; they will be pointless.
> Take an internship or practicum.
> Ninety percent of what your teachers teach you is theory that does you no good in the workplace; do your best to forget it after you leave school.
> Ask your teacher why a public library uses the Dewey cataloging system as opposed to LOC, then doodle for the next three hours while they explain it.
> Buy a laptop and play FreeCell during lectures.
> Libraries don't do, librarians do.
> Two weeks working in a library will give you more experience than two years in graduate school.
> Gain as much computer knowledge as humanly possible-- this will put you ahead of so many other librarians.
> Letters to the editor do not count as professional publications and will not impress the instructor.
> I am sorry to say that you may find your stay in graduate school to be not very stimulating and quite a yawn, but the job that follows is quite the contrary.

LIS isn't a very popular course, and there's still the outdated stereotypes about librarians and what they do, but we're evolving fast. Tell graduating high school students you know that there's currently, and will be, a demand for this job.

Well, this entry is a bit disjointed as my head since most major exams and two reports are due next week, and I don't want to leave this blog empty. OK...

Idolatry in everyday life

It seems that my blog is turning to a Tumblr reblog site. As for my life, I'm kind of late to the party in reading The Lord of the Rings but I finished it yesterday and its my current obsession, and I'm about to write a long post on that. Another school year is starting, two years left and this dreaded college will be over. I hope that this semester will be better.

Here's another quote:

Because here's something else that's weird but true: in the day-to-day trenches of adult life, there is actually no such thing as atheism. There is no such thing as not worshipping. Everybody worships. The only choice we get is what to worship. And the compelling reason for maybe choosing some sort of god or spiritual-type thing to worship--be it JC or Allah, be it YHWH or the Wiccan Mother Goddess, or the Four Noble Truths, or some inviolable set of ethical principles--is that pretty much anything else you worship will eat you alive. If you worship money and things, if they are where you tap real meaning in life, then you will never have enough, never feel you have enough. It's the truth. Worship your body and beauty and sexual allure and you will always feel ugly. And when time and age start showing, you will die a million deaths before they finally grieve you. On one level, we all know this stuff already. It's been codified as myths, proverbs, clichés, epigrams, parables; the skeleton of every great story. The whole trick is keeping the truth up front in daily consciousness.

-David Foster Wallace, This is Water

How's summer?

Summer is the semester I like best. Its a sem on fast-forward and there's something rush-inducing in “Two weeks left!” even if my three 2-hour classes are from 7AM to 1PM. I like the stress. Subjects I'm taking are:

Pol Sci 6: My introduction in class went like: “Good morning, classmates! My name is _____ and I'm taking up Library and Information Science, 3rd year. I'm a former Political Science student from another university and failed my major subjects. I expect that I'm going appreciate it in a different way than I did before.” The teacher is amused.

I sort of forgot everything from 1½ sem as a Pol Sci major. We're using the same Philippine Constitution textbook and I see all my forgotten notes on its pages. In 2009, I wrote this on its title page:

“Democracy is the bludgeoning of the people, by the people, for the people. –Oscar Wilde”

Speech 1: The teacher has a soothing DJ voice, I don't mind listening to her for 2 hours daily.

Ed Comp 1: Basic computer applications. I didn't know there's an option in Microsoft Word that automatically generates a Table of Contents, and lots of useful shortcuts we didn't know exist.

- - -

Here's a song I like with the word 'summer' on it (Boys of Summer):

Then party alone after the finals.

The sem's ending, so here's a reminder to students studying for finals from Cracked: 7 dumbest things students do when cramming for exams. I've complained about students posting on the net about how much they haven't studied, when they couldv'e logged out instead and worked... I am most annoyed by those pity-parties who hold contests about who's worse, but I realized I should do anything productive instead of listening or reading about their complaints. 

 I noticed in elementary and high school, people say more, "I only got 65 in the exam" rather than "I didn't understand anything." Do we care more about grades, who was higher or lower, than what we get from a subject? (Though grades are the indicator we have used for so long)

In the book Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, a teacher in English Writing experimented with his students. They would pass their drafts and papers, but grades wouldn't be given: only pass or fail. Many disapproved. The prospective A students would still attend class, while those the teacher expected to fail didn't show up much anymore because they didn't like the new system. Soon, interesting things began in class, the expected-failures-to-be attended again out of curiosity. The teacher's point was those who excel prioritized what they learn than the grade, while those who'll likely fail wanted to see the grade to tell them that they were getting by.

 "The Shadow Scholar" is a disturbing article on college education about a guy's experience in his job as a ghostwriter for student papers. In college he was a frustrated creative writer. Soon he was famous on campus, well-payed for writing theses and researches of his lazy and rich classmates. He writes about it so well.