Two days after giving the lecture on opinion column writing for their division schools press conference of DepEd Taytay sub-office, I got a message from a fellow former school publication editor-in-chief, Janna asking if I could also grace their school's campus journalism workshop. She's now the publication adviser of Holy Deliverance Integrated Christian School's newspaper, The Deliverer. My schedule permitted to accept another invitation, and the fact that we once belonged to the same organization back in college, it was easy for me to say yes.

The event was held last Thursday, August 28. Walking through the hallway of a school felt like stepping back in time, but it hits different now—I wasn’t there as someone in search for knowledge, but as a guest speaker. I was invited to discuss opinion column writing. Standing in front of a classroom with students who were part of the editorial board felt both surreal and meaningful as I got to teach them the basics, and provide the rules they need to remember. 

Another thing that made it memorable was when I was told that this is the first time for the school and its publication to conduct a journalism workshop. So in a way, it's both an honor and privilege for both Janna and I to have "officially" trained a batch of editors and staff writers at her helm as their adviser.

The event also became meaningful because of our impromptu reunion. The three of us met while we were still students in the university. I was a section editor in my freshman year, while Janna was the associate editor. On the other hand, Ma'am Gracia was the student council president. We hardly had any news about one another after graduating so this get-together was one of the noteworthy highlights of the event.

This is just my third time becoming a resource speaker and sharing my knowledge with the students was a fulfilling experience. While this was a role I never thought I would be doing in my lifetime, (because I've always felt scared and uncomfortable talking in front of a lot of people) I must admit that there's a different level of fulfillment at the end of every lecture that I conduct. Despite going through some instances of uncertainty,  I'd like to believe that this opportunity to train young minds is God's way of answering the prayer that I said at the beginning of the year: For Him to bring me in places where I am needed, and assign me where my skills and knowledge will be of great help.

About two weeks ago, I was invited by the DepEd Taytay sub-office to serve as a resource speaker and discuss the fundamentals of opinion column writing during their sub-office press conference held in one of the elementary schools in Taytay, Rizal. 

The invitation came just days after a previous speaking engagement on campus journalism got cancelled because of the inclement weather during the last week of July. I was supposed to join The Journ Circle team in that event, but due to conflict with the schedule (as it coincides with an important family event), I had to choose between the two. And in between the event and the family gathering, I picked the latter.

The decision to let go of something I enjoyed doing was a bit hard. But I just prayed for another opportunity just so I would still be able to use the materials I have prepared beforehand. And a week later, I got an answer to that prayer.

Another experience (and certificate) for the books!

God knows how to deliver surprises! :-)

If there's one thing that I have observed lately, it's how the past few months came and went with surprises. Just when I thought the Baguio trip back in April is already enough to be this year's main imprint, another one happened. However, unlike that surprise plot twist that made me tick off an item on my bucket list, the recent one was something that I never thought I would have to go through.

I had an unplanned procedure two weeks ago to remove an impacted wisdom tooth. Things happened fast; what just started out as a minor crack on the crown of a tooth on Father's Day afternoon ended up with an appointment the next day. It led to the discovery that it was my problematic wisdom tooth, and that it can no longer be saved. 

The only viable remedy is to have it removed -- surgically. 

My problematic wisdom tooth has been there since I was 20. And even then, I've been told that it should be removed eventually to prevent it from causing other potential issues. I guess the advice "if it ain't broken, don't fix it" was something I took seriously, because after being informed about what the procedure entailed, I got a bit scared and opted to postpone doing so at a later time.

But after what my dentist told me a day after Father's Day, I was quick in deciding to just go for it. Despite the fear of having to go through surgery, I didn't know what has gotten into me that after doing the required step, I called the clinic back on Tuesday afternoon and asked to be booked on Wednesday for the procedure. 

I know some of you might think I'm one brave person to decide on things this fast. But let me tell you, I am not. Just when I thought it's as simple as the usual extractions that I had back then, the removal of my wisdom tooth was a complex procedure. I've never had any major surgery so this one caused me to be anxious for a day. I won't proceed with the other bloody details, but the experience came with a few useful lessons. 

Have a trusted dentist to handle your procedure. In my case, it was a good thing that the one who did my odontectomy was our family dentist since I was in grade school. At 40, it was my first time to have a major surgery, and knowing that she had extensive training on this kind of procedure from the largest state-owned training hospital was enough to lessen my anxiety. Next to expertise, another thing that helped was her sense of humor during the entire procedure. I may be a bundle of nerves the day before surgery, but my dentist's disposition helped me to be at ease the entire time. 

Ask questions. Blame it on my interest for health, and med-related stuff, but this is the part where my "inner journalist" kicked in because I really asked my dentist a lot of questions. From what causes impacted and malformed wisdom tooth, to what will the surgery entail, how long the procedure is going to take, up to the recovery period and after care do's and don't's. I made sure that almost everything was covered before we went ahead with the surgery that lasted around 40 minutes.

Utilize social media in moderation. While my dentist discourages consulting Google as this can further heighten anxiety, I am guilty as charged in browsing social media days before surgery mainly to get information on a few things. However, utilized it sparingly only watching a particular content made by a young doctor who shared post operative care when she had the procedure months ago.

Inform what works for you. One of my concerns was the pain after surgery once the anesthesia wore off. I am cautious about taking painkillers because I tend to suffer from anaphylaxis and there are only a few medications that I can use without adverse reactions. So, prior to the procedure, I made sure to inform my dentist as to what's safe and what works for me.

Time off is essential. Messages from friends and family poured in when I posted the next day that I was recovering from surgery. And while I laced humor in my response saying it felt like going through a C-section (but with an incision on the jaw instead of the tummy),  that was how it really felt. I remember moving in slow motion at home hours after the procedure. And just like any other surgeries, I really took rest seriously during the first 24 hours while following the other advice given by my dentist.

It's been two weeks since this unexpected plot twist happened. My stitches have been removed last week and I have also graduated from religiously taking my medications.While my dentist said during my last visit that the wound was healing well, she set my expectation that full recovery will take a couple of months since a portion of the surrounding bone from my jaw was removed during surgery. 

June was another month that closed for me with something I never hoped to undergo in this lifetime, it appeared to be a necessary "rite of passage". But at least, I'm way past this chapter and all is well that ends well. I'm just thankful that my healing process and recovery time went smoothly, and my moderately high pain tolerance became a blessing that prevented me from relying too much on pain medications.  They've always said experience is the best teacher. This might not be something I can label as "best" but at least it wasn't a traumatic one -- and I am already fine with that.

My friend Diane sent me a message on my Instagram account last month while I was in Baguio. In addition to advising me to have fun on the trip, she hoped I would have time to stop by a local church. But even though I was in Baguio, I was a little disappointed that I was unable to see the city's cathedral. 

But just before we left Baguio, one of our companions mentioned that we will make a side trip to Manaoag -- a town in the neighboring province of Pangasinan. I immediately had a lightbulb moment.  It was my first time to visit Pangasinan (even for a stopover), and what immediately came to my mind was I will still be able to fulfill Diane's request because I know there is a Catholic church in the said town. 

 

It has been more than a week since I went on an impromptu trip to Baguio. If there was one thing that summer in the Philippines pushed me to do, it was making that decision to hop in and travel up north with zero sleep. 

I was fine with being left alone at home, to be honest. Joining family members wasn't really in my plans at first, but the intense summer heat, combined with how emotionally-draining life had become lately made me change my mind the last minute. We left Angono at the strike of midnight and by 6:45 am, I was already having my usual fix of iced coffee at McDonald's, not in my hometown, but right across Burnham Park.

I feel much better today after finally catching up on sleep. 12 hours of shut eye could work wonders. To catch up on sleep and rest is the best form of self care that I could think of to compensate what my body and brain went through hours before. My days rarely start early since leaving my job in the academe more than a year ago. But after receiving an email related to a job application I sent last month, I found myself up and about before dawn yesterday. 

How it feels to be an early bird and alone in the room.

I haven't travelled to the city in the last two years for career-related matters. And I must admit that I had mixed feelings doing so. I am no longer used to going to cities outside my hometown, including this one. Nowadays, trips that would take even just an hour ride away is already considered far and a bit stressful to me.

A lot of things have definitely changed in the city since the last time I was there, that when someone from human resources inquired if i had difficulty in locating their office and if I got lost, I honestly, yet candidly replied with a yes.

Days ago, I read one Facebook post that mentioned the importance of showing up, giving your best, and taking small efforts. It said we don't need to have everything figured out today. So even if I felt uncertain, and despite being unable to sleep the night before because of overthinking, I still appeared in person as a form of professionalism and courtesy to an institution who took time to read my CV, and saw it to be worth considering for the next step. 

Taking a battery of tests for four and a half hours may be challenging and mentally exhausting but doing so also gave me an idea as to how other offices conduct them. And if there was something that made me feel good about myself, it was I showed up and went through it.

While there's no certainty that things will be in my favor, the only thing that I can be proud of at least for now is that I tried and gave it a shot. I showed up (and on time!) even without sleep, and accomplished everything from start to finish even if my brain already wants to shut down a number of times. But what I appreciate most about the whole experience that I went through yesterday was the chance to meet kind people from the office that invited me, to the strangers that I met on the street.

I dropped by this mall chapel before heading home not just to pray for a number of intentions for myself and for other people, but to thank Him for allowing me to survive the day, and my daily ordeals. The past months were (and still remains to be) challenging for me that even saying what I want and need in prayer has been hard for me to do. But during my visit to this place yesterday,  my own prayer was composed of a few words:

For God to just look into my heart in the absence of all the right words.          

 

 

Just like the previous years, I treated Valentine's Day as another ordinary day and date on the calendar. I'm not a Valentine grinch, but knowing that most places will be chaotic and crowded by couples who are out on romantic dates, I opted not to travel to cities like Mandaluyong, Pasig, or Quezon City, where most recreation areas are. Instead, I used the occasion to go on a quick day tour to two different towns in Rizal.

From my hometown in Angono, I travelled first to Morong and immediately headed to St. Jerome Parish. I did not have to wait for Holy Week this year to do the Visita Iglesia. Given that I have a Pilgrim's Passport since last month, and in time for the Jubilee Year, I thought of visiting two churches on Valentine's Day.

It was in 2016, when I first visited St. Jerome Parish. I was still preparing for the Civil Service Exam that time. And while a number of things have changed (such as how the altar of the church looks now), some things still remain, like how picturesque the bell tower is and the funny coincidence that I witnessed another wedding held in that place, much like how a similar ceremony was what I witnessed during my first visit almost 9 years ago.

After a quick lunch at Jollibee, I took another jeepney ride and headed to my intended destination that day, which is Tanay, Rizal.  

It wasn't my first time to visit this town either, as I was here just five months ago when I attended a community involvement activity, and I somewhat memorized this landmark. I arrived at the church around lunch time, but I decided to explore the vicinity first while waiting for the requiem mass to finish.