Part 2
So let’s play a pretend. Like any other story, the senior high school life has its plot diagram. Since the first semester of Eleventh Grade was the exposition. This made the second quarter the rising action. This was where we get warmed up for the climax. This Semester was somehow a fresh start, but not completely. I already kept up with the prior system. Unfortunately, I had to deal with a new one. As my impulse was to see things at its worst possible form, excessive worrying kept me cold at night. And for the most part, these worries would not even be as bad as I imagined. I could never be truly sure whether I even adapted to the newly introduced system. Nevertheless, I was able to make amends on the pros and cons.
One advantage, I no longer have to play guessing games with my classmates. One semester was sufficient to design an approach fitted for the thirty-two of them.
It was amazing how my social life has changed. Last semester, my life was exclusive to my dorm room and school. Now, I got extroverted friends. We hanged out everywhere. This was a privilege I did not have in my former school. It felt so refreshing. In the past, all I ever prioritized was to accumulate more and more money in my savings. Now, I have learned to see the other tunnel. I discovered the beauty of Karenderias. I was fascinated by how far my 50 pesos could reach, a good dish with two cups of rice. And I also dined out in a fast food restaurant.
My life was so much more free from stress. My parents would still send me packed viands. But I stopped using my rice cooker. 10 pesos for a cup of rice was so much better than waking up early and cleaning the rice cooker. Unfortunately, the fridge in our floor was long due for a cleaning. The foul smell lingered on every food that I store in the fridge. This prevents me from enjoying and finishing my food. My parents tried to be thorough with the packaging. And my mother even called the admins of my dormitory. However, they claimed to be busy that they did not have the time to clean it. Newsflash, I graduated Grade 12 with the fridge still stinky.
Another good thing, I was lucky enough to reunite with most of my first semester professors. Since there were new subjects, new professors filled in. Unfortunately, there was this new professor that kept me apprehensive to attend her class. Even before I met her, there was a rumor that she calls a random student to explain a concept prior to its discussion. Some said that she had a fast teaching phase that would be impossible to keep up with. These rumors turned out to be a fact. And I was not comfortable with her style that the entire semester with her was me stuck on water testing and drowning in the end.
Little did I know, the professors were the least of my problems. Because there was one more twist before the climax. And any STEM student would side with me. Anything in mind? Hint, it is divided into five chapters comprising of subcategories inclined in APA format. Ladies and Gentlemen, meet your greatest enemy, Research Project.
Quick warning, we had to accomplish two research projects in one semester. For Practical Research 1, our professor had given us two quarters to accomplish everything. As for Research in Filipino, our professor only gave us the Fourth quarter to finish everything. It was difficult to juggle my time in two research projects with different requirements. I barely even understood Qualitative Research and I have to jump to Quantitative research. On top of that, I have to accomplish it in days.
What can make it more stressful? Taking notes on a task that was supposed to be divided to five to six members. So you have to give all the instructions and check everything. There are instances on which you would re-do everything that was assigned to your group mates. This was the moment that sleepless nights take place. If I could turn back time, I would have gotten more prepared. I would have gone on the internet to understand it, well. I would not have shown up in the class with zero knowledge on Scope and Delimitation. Because it could have saved me more time and stress. But I did the otherwise. As professors announced our tasks, my mind would stir away from focus and my heart would beat dramatically. I always ended up overwhelmed with requirements and stressed out with my mounting responsibilities. We had to do well with these projects. Because writing was one thing, but defending it was another. It was stressful but I knew I deserve to be their research leader. Sometimes, I just could not help but be more exhausted than mere members. If I were to take a different path, I would be a full-time writer. And all these chapters in the thesis made me want to question it in the first place. I have always hated the time pressure. And this basically defined research writing.
It did not end there. I also have to worry about requirements for other subjects. We have 2 mathematics subjects and 2 science subjects. This was not an easy life. If First Semester was about adjusting and memorizing the lesson. This semester was about adjusting, studying the lesson, and doing tons of paper works. So I started having a negative life. I worried about everything. There were times that we have to meet a deadline in research and a quiz in other subjects.
Consequently, I would worry about my grades. It was my Achilles to start with. At that time, I failed to apply time management. I dumped everything into my memory and rely on it. Maybe, that added burn out. But like I said, this semester was just a mere warm-up. The race would start in the Second Semester of Twelfth Grade.
Everything was nowhere from easy and simple. I admit that I did not commit my entire time to these endeavors. Because I had a fair share of procrastination and laziness. But it was then that I realized that I could be a leader. I am, actually…This was not something that would have crossed my mind before. Since I was aloof and a yes man. But it did feel good. Although I was a thousand steps closer to stress and pressure. I liked how it gave me the confidence that I could ace it. And my efforts did pay well. As I managed to be awarded as one of the honorary students for the second quarter. My 2015 self would never have realized the possibility of 2017 me being in the top 13th. Although I was not as satisfied with just that. Because I knew I could do so much more. But I was proud of myself because I managed to get through 11thGrade in FEU NRMF. Spoiler alert, I also surpassed 12th Grade. But that is another story. And guess what, it would not be any easier.
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