And so it begins..

                                . . .the time of the year that I’ve been dreading since school started. s n o w !!

                You just can’t help but smile when you find yourself fighting and struggling to walk against the freezing wind while you get slapped over and over again by the “snow” (more like ice, if you ask me) because in your head, this is not even the worst of it, yet, and it’s already quite ridiculous.

                But on another note, I just can’t help but smile for another reason. . .

The HOLiDAYS!

I can feel it already, and this time, I feel it more strongly than I’ve had in what seems like the longest time—PASKO na naman.

the best holiday memories and feelings I’ve ever had were all from when I used to spend Pasko in the Philippines…and it’s all because I got to spend it with ALL my family and relatives. <3

 

…and it’s all because of this video why I’ve been feeling it so much more this year.

it makes my heart melt :)

PAROL

Is the Philippine star Chrismas lantern that symbolizes the star of Bethlehem that guided the three wise men on their way in search of Baby Jesus

. ..The windy city.

It’s not unusual..
               . . .to find yourself too hot or too cold—never quite just right.
               . . .to find yourself saying R.I.P. to your umbrella—oh, the wind goes in all directions, and I mean ALL directions.
               . . .to find your hair all over your face—well, because the wind can’t ever decide on a set direction to blow.
               . . .to find your toes wet and your shoes all squishy inside—nope, you’re never wearing the right pair.
               . . .to find yourself walking all the way on the farthest side of the sidewalk away from the curb when it rains—gotta watch out for those puddles! Oh, wait. Did I say puddles? I meant lakes on the streets/sidewalks.              

Oh, it’s definitely not unusual     and        I’m already dreading the thought of winter. . .

But it’s definitely my kind of town. . .CHICAGO.  <3

I still have a lot to get used to going to school out here in the city, but I’m glad I have someone who can help me get accustomed to the university life and guide me during my first year here at UIC. So at my college, they have this great program where they assign their new students with a mentor, and I finally met mine this week. I think it is such a great idea and a very big advantage to have someone who’s been in the same shoes you’re in to help you make an easier transition in the university. My mentor also transferred to UIC from a community college and we definitely connected because of it. We are both Physical Therapy majors, and she’s been through the whole transfer process, so she was able to give me some pointers about classes and other great opportunities. We also talked about volunteer opportunities and she said that she might even be able to get me a couple of contacts so I can start logging hours for my volunteer experiences. I’m so thankful to have the opportunity of having someone who can show you the ins and outs of things, and even just to have that guidance to help me get into the right track of my career goals. I actually have a better understanding and better feeling of what I need to do this next couple of years to get my Bachelor’s degree, and it’s all thanks to my little connection and reassurance I had from my mentor. To all you readers out there-- take care, be safe, stay healthy.

Today's my second day here at UIC, and I'd have to say that everything is so much bigger here. The night before my classes started, I was nervous about finding my classes and getting lost. I was talking to one of my friends about where the class that we have together was located, and he just simply told me that it's pretty hard to miss because "it is just right across the street from all the other buildings with the big lecture halls." Yeah, easy for him to say... I told him that it will be a really big change for me coming from a small community college to this HUGE university. One or two of their buildings combined is like the size of our whole college! What used to be a five minute walk between classes at ECC is now easily turned into 10 or even 15 minutes walk depending on which building I'm coming from.

 

I must say, though, that I am a very proud transfer student from ECC to UIC. On my way to campus from my apartment yesterday at 7:30 in the morning, I instantly saw a familiar face on the bus from ECC. She and I had actually attended club and leadership trainings offered through Student Life this past year, and I just found out today that we have a Kinesiology class together. What's even more nice was how many more ECC graduates I saw throughout the day yesterday, better yet, a couple of them were even in my classes. It's great seeing familiar faces from the same area I came from and it's awesome that we all came from ECC :) Whenever anyone asked me about what year in college I'm in, my answer was always, "I'm a junior, but I transfered from ECC and this is my first year at UIC." And I say it proudly.

To all you readers out there--
take care, be safe, stay healthy.

So most of the faculty, staff, and students would have noticed all of the survey regarding the new ECC logo all around campus by now...

 

...so now the question is, what do you all think about it? After looking at the different options on the design, color, font, and such... I've come to realize that none of these prospective logos really represent ECC. Ever since I was in high school, I've always recognized the ECC logo to be the intertwined college letters, but this new logo? What exactly is it? This is just in my opinion, but I don't really think that our college logo should have to be explained on what it symbolizes--it should just be what it is from first-look. Changing our current logo would just make it unrecognizable, I'm sure not only to me, but to the community as a whole. What's wrong with our current logo now? It's simple, yet straight out. It's what it is.

 

I know that the college has invested a lot of time and money with this whole project of branding, and maybe that's mainly the reason why we're all being pushed for the change, but what if the college receives a lot of feedback about keeping our old logo? Would the college really listen after all the time and money invested in this change? I don't know... but what I really hope is that some years from now after my time here at ECC, I would still be able to recognize the symbol and logo of the college that really made a difference in my educational career and life.

 

To all you readers out there--
take care, be safe, stay healthy.

So far this week, I have been approached by a few Student Government candidates in hopes to get my signature and support for their nomination into their desired positions. I'm sure these candidates would either call me harsh or good after they approach me because I definitely did not just give my signature upon request.


Why do you think you would be a good candidate for this position?
What qualities can you contribute to Student Government next school year?
Why do you think you would be a good representative for the Student Body?


These were some of the questions that I asked the candidates. Getting however many signatures is easy, but most students just sign without even really knowing what they are signing for. Why should I be one of those students?

I really want to know: I want to know why the candidates are running for the positions they are running for--what they can bring to the table. I want to know how their contributions would benefit Student Government. I want to know how they plan to execute their jobs well for next school year. I want to know how they would represent the student body... and I didn't sign until I got some answers.

I don't mean to give these candidates a hard time (if that's what it comes out to be), but I believe that anyone running for a position need to justify their reasons. This goes along with the Phi Theta Kappa Officer Nominations for next school year. Our current officer team want to get the chance to hear what our nominees have to say and why they think they should get the position they are applying for. Reading the justifications on paper is one thing, but actually hearing them from the candidate is another.

 

To all you readers out there--
take care, be safe, stay healthy!

Customer Service.

 

Um, thanks?

 

I'm pretty much just really frustrated right now. I want to write a better blog than what I'm writing right now, but I think I need to cool down. Basically, let's just say that everytime I call these customer service people, the people who train them should either thank me or spite me for making them exercise what they learned during their training.

 

I'm sure these people love me as much as I love them for actually making them do their job. Other than consuming most of my limited monthly minutes being put on hold for who knows how long... all I have to say is, umm, thanks for your help... I think?

 

To all you readers out there--
take care, be safe, stay healthy.