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Reflective Essay

At first, I really had no idea what ENGLCOM is. What I just know is that it is all about English. I thought that this course was just all about learning grammar, doing some seat works regarding cliché topics that were taught in my English class during high school but all these are wrong. In ENGLCOM, we were taught on how to write about so many things. With that, I’ve had enough knowledge about the issues concerning the world. It was very exciting for me because I love reading news articles and I am really interested in writing. Another misconception is that finding resources for my essay is hard. Back in high school, we were not given the time to find our resources. We were just given 40 minutes to write an essay about what topic was given to us by our teacher. ENGLCOM has proven me wrong. Ms. Neliza Casela taught me how to deal with finding sources for my essay. She really helped a lot in providing ideas that are helpful for the entire class. Before, all I knew was find sources from the internet but now, I know how to find my sources in different ways. Finally, I realized that citing my resources is not that complicated. Again, with the help of Ms. Casela, I now know how to cite my resources in my essays. Ms. Casela made writing easier for me.

A problem that I’ve encountered in writing my essays is finding resources related to the topic. Before, I was not good at this but at the end of the term, it became easier because I was being used to it for every essay writing we need to look for sources regarding our topic. Another problem that I’ve encountered is organizing my thoughts when it comes to making an outline for my essay but again, thanks to Ms. Casela, I was able to manage my thoughts. All the problems that I’ve encountered all throughout the term, I was able to conquer it all because of Ms. Casela. She really takes the course seriously, and I can see that. She always helps us when we encounter problems and don’t hesitate with doing it.

I really improved a lot, from writing a one-page entry essay to writing an almost a three-page exit essay. Gathering ideas for my essays became easier as time passed by. I’ve learned to organize my thoughts through creating an outline for my essays. The lectures helped a lot. I gained enough knowledge about certain areas that I was not that familiar with before. I became more conscious in writing my essays because I didn’t want to see a lot of red marks on my papers. Looking up for information did not become an issue for me when writing my essays than before. In choosing my topics, I see to it that the topic I choose is something I have knowledge of and in finding for sources, I look for accountable ones so that there wouldn’t be a problem for me when I write my essays.

At the end of the midterm, I became very eager to get a 4.0 in my final grade. From all the outputs that I’ve made, my writing talent became better. I became better. Ms. Neilza Casela, thank you for equipping us, your students from A52, the knowledge that we all deserve. Thank you for teaching us how to become a skillful writer. I picked up ideas that I thought I would ever think about, and I got the hang of becoming a better student. I appreciate all the efforts done, Ms. Casela. You are a great person and I can see that you really love your job. You are our only professor who knows us all by our first name. Now that the term has already ended, I became more interested in writing. Indeed, ENGLCOM has really helped in my writing skills.

The Issue of Employment, Unemployment, and Underemployment

Last January 2014, the Philippine Statistics Authority released a new statistics regarding employment, unemployment, and underemployment. The January 2014 Labor Force Survey (LFS) results and comparative figures for January 2013 exclude Region VIII which was not covered in the recent LFS round due to the disruptions brought about by Typhoon Yolanda. According to Merriam-Webster Dictionary, employment means an activity in which one is engaged to something or is employed for a job. Underemployment, according again to the same dictionary, is the condition in which people in a labor force are employed at less than full-time or regular nurses working in call center agencies; while employment is the state of having no job or the state of being unemployed. Employment, unemployment and underemployment are some of the most common problems of the Philippines cast on headlines today.

Employment in January 2014 was of little change from a year ago as sluggish employment growth prevailed across broad sectors. Employment rate in the industry continued to expand through at modest pace or 1.9% this period. In the agriculture sector, a slight recovery of +1.5% was managed from the sharp decline of -4.9% in 2013 but a bit lower than the past years. Meanwhile, employment continued to grow in high-end industries led by administrative and support service activities. The January 2014 unemployment rate at 7.5% is up marginally by 0.4% from the last year's survey. A large percentage of the rise in the unemployment occurred among the male workers, persons in the age group of 25 to 54 years old, and among college graduates. The National Capital Region has the most significant rise in unemployment (from 9.5% to 11.2%). Notable increases also happened in Regions I, IV-A, and V. On the brighter note, lesser number of employed persons worked or expresses the desired additional job or hours of work. The number of unemployed persons fell by 363,000 to 7 million which corresponds to 19.5% of total employed, down from 20.7% a year before. Desiderio (2014) discusses that the number of underemployed Filipinos in January was estimated at 7.1 million, lower than the 7.5 million last year. Diokno (2014) updates that the latest unemployment rate is inconsistent with the picture of a growing economy. With about 1.2 million new workers joining the labor force each year, the challenge for the government is to create 14.6 million jobs in the next four years. A study forecasts that 12.4 million Filipinos, or 11.5% of projected population by then would still be unemployed, underemployed, or would have to work in the informal sector where moving up the job ladder is difficult.

While the rates of employment, unemployment and underemployment continuously change, in demand jobs both here and overseas are still considered. De Guzman (2014) identified 43 in demand jobs in the Philippines. Top 5 on the list are accountant, agriculturist, accounting staff, air-conditioning technician, and animator. One reason why these jobs are in demand is because they are also hard-to-fill jobs. Meanwhile, there are lots of opportunities that go to the Filipinos to work abroad. Pinoy OFW, an online reference for the OFWs gave a list on the in demand jobs for Filipinos in 2014. In Iraq, 9,000 nurses are needed; Israel opens its doors to Filipino caregivers; Qatar will need around 1 million workers in the fields of construction, hotel, and healthcare; Asian countries like China, Japan, and Vietnam will open job markets to foreign workers for IT workers, teachers, designers, architects, engineers, and entertainers; India needs workers in the fields of furniture design, highway, and railway construction; Macau has demand for workers in construction, healthcare and tourism; and South Korea needs factory workers.

When applying for a job, it matters whether a person is a fresh graduate or already an experienced worker. Both fresh graduates and experienced workers have their strengths. For fresh graduates, the employees already expect that they don't know it all. Instead, employers look for their communication skills, sound judgment, personality, enthusiasm, fresh perspective, and commitment to career. For experienced workers, of course, their advantage id their experience. In many cases, experienced workers do not need much training, and are able to demonstrate leadership and monitoring skills that make the employer be considering to hire them. Lorenciana (2014) claims that local employers prefer fresh graduates. HR officers prefer young and new graduates because even as these websites do not have the experience yet, they are the ones who are very eager to learn and have the drive their tasks on time.

Mainstreaming a Student from the Special Education

A few schools offer Special Education (SpEd) programs. In line with this is the mainstreaming program promoting to keep the interaction between the special students and the normal students. Students with special needs may be included in the mainstreaming so they could experience the natural classroom setting provided that they can cope up and interact with the normal students. Schools offering Special Education program respond to the students with special needs much like the normal students. Moreover, the parents find hope having sent their child to a special school. Lawrence (2013) claims that the term “mainstreaming” was first used in the 1970s to describe the practice of educating students with disabilities are held to the same standards as typically developing students. It is evident in not all of the schools that those special students can cope up with being in a regular classroom set up. None of us know what those students feel about being in the same room with the normal students but themselves.

Special Education in the Philippines is anchored on fundamental legal documents that present a chronology of events on the growth and development of the program. The first legal basis of the case and protection of children with disabilities was enacted in 1935. Articles 259 and 356 of the Commonwealth Act No. 3203 asserted “the right” of every child to live in an atmosphere conductive to his physical, moral, and intellectual development” and the concomitant duty of the government “to promote the full growth of the faculties of every child.” (Inciong, et. al., 2007). Madrid (2012) explains that the goal of special education programs of the Department of Education all over the country is to provide children with special needs appropriate educational services within the mainstream of basic education. The special students may not think about how other people look upon them but it does matter. Mendoza (2014) conducted a study about the perceptions of the normal students towards the mainstreaming program of the Special Education department. Mendoza found out that 104 out of 202 students strongly agreed on having the mainstreaming program of the Special Education department and nobody disagreed on having the said program. In the same study, 60% of the students said that they were not affected knowing that there is/are mainstreamed special student/s inside their classroom. Majority of the students or 90% said that they were able to adjust and cope up with the special students in their classroom.

Today, people have recognized the rights of people with mental disabilities. They have accepted people with mental disabilities. It is very important that we adjust with them and treat them as how we treat those without mental disabilities for all of us are humans and everyone deserves to be treated well. The Education Act of 1982 or Batas Pambansa Bilang 232 states that “the state shall promote the right of every individual to relevant quality education regardless of sex, age, breed, socioeconomic status, physical and mental condition, social and ethnic origin, political and other affiliations. The state shall therefore promote and maintain equality of access to education as well as enjoyment of the benefits of education by all its citizens.” With that statement, we could conclude that even the government promotes equality.

A child with a mild degree of exceptionality must be placed in a less restrictive environment like regular classrooms while a severe case needs a more restrictive setting like special schools and institutions (Sauler, 2010). Everyone has the right to attain knowledge through all means. Moreover, everyone has the right to attend school and bring with them quality education from the school. In 1975, Presidential Decree No. 603, otherwise known as the Child and Youth Welfare Code was enacted, Article 3 on the Rights of the Child provides among others that “the emotionally disturbed on socially maladjusted child shall be treated with sympathy and understanding and shall be given the education and care required by his or her particular education.” Therefore, it is believed by the majority that even persons with disabilities deserve to have proper education. It all implies that the good values must be considered when mainstreaming a special student.

A View of another Closet: Bisexuality

Living in this generation, we see different kinds of people. With that, our views change, and some people think differently now. Sexuality is one thing that has been changed. Before, it was only male and female. But now, there are homosexuals and bisexuals. During this time, homosexuality is not that sporadic anymore. There are people, both men and women, who came out as homosexuals but very few men and women came out as bisexuals. According to the Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary, bisexual mean, “sexually attracted to both men and women; having both sexes; relating to or involving both sexes.” According to the Urban Dictionary, bisexuality means, “to be attracted to a person regardless of gender or sex. It does not mean that you cannot make up your mind.” The word bisexual was first used during 1894. Bisexuals are often related to hermaphrodites (a person, plant, or animal that has both male and female parts); because another definition of bisexual according to the Merriam-Webster’s dictionary is having both male and female sex parts and possessing characters of both sexes.

Bisexual is always the unnoticed “B” in LGBT. Bisexuality is present to both men and women. Carry (2005), explains that some people are attracted to women; some are attracted to men. Bisexual desires are sometimes transient and they are still poorly understood. Bisexual women are often those who got divorced. Charnet, 1992, studied the psychoanalytic exploration of formerly married women in lesbian relationships. The initial phase of Charnet’s study, he found out that it was not yet ambiguous what dynamics were at work that explained why married women divorced and then chose to enter a relationship with a woman. Bisexuality in women ranges across the experimental continuum of omnisexuality. Bisexual women are unique in their own ways. They manifest features that make them different. There are factors which explain why women come out as bisexuals. Fleishman (1992), identified three factors on why women change their sexual orientation. These are: (a) their life histories, (b) the life issues created by their change, and (c) the role of mid-life in the alteration of sexual orientation. Men and women differ from their frequency of sexual attractions. Bisexual men are oftentimes closeted as homosexuals. Dr. Alfred Kinsey studies and suggested that men who claim that they are bisexual are usually homosexual. They are either gay, straight or lying. “Psychologists found that men who identified themselves as bisexual were in fact exclusively aroused by either one sex or the other. A study suggested an estimate of 1.7 percent of men show physical attraction patterns that differ substantially from their professed desires. Mores (1989) explains that sexuality is looked at and studied as dichotomy, polarizing the sexual experience as either “gay or “straight”. It is believed that men first questioned their sexual orientation earlier than women. Fox (1993) describes bisexual men and women resemble lesbians and gay men in their need to acknowledge and receive support for their homosexual attractions and whether or not they actualize either or both in terms of sexual behavior or relationships during any particular period of time.

Bisexuality, for me, is just plain curiosity, men and women are just curious of what the feeling of loving someone from the same sex is. There are more men who are bisexuals than women because men are more open about their sexual orientation. Men who are bisexuals are open to their friends, colleagues, and family. Women do not show or say what they really are because women are timid. Bisexuals are attracted to a person regardless of gender or sex. When they fall in love, it doesn’t matter if the one whom they fell in love with is either coming from the same sex or the opposite sex. Bisexuals are unique in their own ways. Their values are different; yet, they still deserve to be respected.

Made in Candy: A Sweet Treat

Made in Candy (M.I.C.) was created in Singapore in 2009. The idea grew from the creator’s obsession to candies as kids. M.I.C. is Asia’s first independent candy kitchen and sculpting authentic hand-made candies. M.I.C. had its first franchise here in the Philippines back in late 2012. Since then, the Filipinos started to love these hand-made candies.” We pride ourselves for creating the many tastes, textures, and artworks in our candies that surprise even those who thought they’ve seen it all. Come down to our little candy kitchens and see us work magic to titillate senses and invoke that new imagination through our performances.” (Creator, 2010).

Candy artisans follow simple measures to sculpt contemporary hand-made candies, and to craft pictures and messages on it. M.I.C. uses the best quality sugar and specially imported raw materials to ensure that their products maintain its strict quality. In making an M.I.C., first, come up with a design that will be the inspiration for the candy project. When the candy mold is ready, the process “roll-knead-pull” is separated again and again. Then, the candy mold is lifted to a form a bottleneck. Next, pull the other end of the mold and stretch the mold to make it thin before letting it cool and cutting it into shorter sticks. When cold, roll the mold and make a sharp curve on one end. After that, wind the candy gently into a coil; poke a chopstick to make sure that it is secured. Lastly, smoothen out the edges or create dents to form a shape. You now have your very own personalized hand-made candy.

M.I.C. has 40 designs on retail; each one used a code for flavors. The candy chefs also make lollipops in all sizes and designs, even giant ones with personalized messages. Candy chefs continuously engage customers while hot sugar forms and is open for everyone to see, smell, and experience. The shop maintains its chic, predominantly black fixtures with subtle tones of black and yellow to see the colors of the products stand out. M.I.C. is not your ordinary candy store.

Pretty Little Liars

Never trust a pretty girl with an ugly secret." Gossip thrives amid the Mercedes Benz, mega mansions and perfectly manicured hedges in the exclusive town of Rosewood, Pennsylvania. This TV series adaption is based on Sara Shepard's book, which depicts friendship, trust and secrecy. Pretty Little Liars started as a TV series in late 2010. The show became a hit because of its very interesting plot. Krystalyzd (n.d.), summarizes "Pretty Little Liars is about four girls reunited after their best friend goes missing and then at their friend's funeral, they received a text message from mysterious 'A' who know their secrets only their dead friend had knowledge of. Alison Dilaurentis, Hannah Marin, Emily Fields, Aria Montgomery, and Spencer Hastings were the members of the clique. Alison was the 'queen bee' and leader of the group before she mysteriously disappears. In life, Alison was popular, manipulative of her friends, and full of secrets. Hannah claimed the Rosewood throne and became 'queen bee' after Alison died but still, she lived behind Alison's shadow. Emily was an amazing swimmer and a diligent worker. She tried to come to terms with her sexuality because she likes girls and boys. She's a casual girl who preferred T shirts than couture. Aria was the most unique among the group. She was linked to one of her teachers in high school and she also had dark secrets to hide. Spencer was the smartest. She always tried to please her parents and always strived to perfection. Being the smartest, she always had theories that suggest to the uncovering of Alison's mysterious death.

Media Log 3: Media and Consumerism

Nowadays living in a globalized world, with acces to information at the tip of our fingers, we can acces to television in our cellphones, cars, in airplanes, mobile handheld devices, etc. Plus, we can find television sets surpassing the imagination of anyone 10 years ago. Thereby, branches, government, firms and privates have realized that advertising their products via television would bring high benefits to them (Tirado, n.d.). The advertisements we see on television, magazines, billboards, etc. are indubitably captivating. We are easily moved by those advertisements that there comes a point that we buy the product. We cannot deny that there didn't come a time that we believed in a product that was being advertised, right? That, I think is one effect of media on consumerism. We are bewitched that what we see in those asvertisements, are what we are about to get. Commercials in televisions are always fun to watch. They make it like that, so the audience will buy their product, because they enjoyed the commercial. Is that right? We spend our money to something even if we don't need it at all. It's always a bandwagon. We are expected to have this and that because everyone has it. We are being gullible everytime we see commercials or any advertisements because we are easily moved by it and we tend to feel the "want" to buy the product. It is good that we buy something that we want, but it is not right to buy everything that we want. We waste our money to some things that we don't even need. Sometimes we are not being practical when it comes to consumerism. Just because our favorite celebrity promotes a certain product, we buy it. That is not right. We have to learn how to control ourselves when we buy things, and consider the fact that our country is in poverty. We need to put in our minds that we cannot have everything that we want and not regret it.

Media Log 2: The Effects of Media to the Body Image of Teenage Girls

The influence of media to the world is undeniably present in this generation especially to the younger generation. Media has truly influenced the people. One proof is that media has set a new standard of beauty and the people easily followed and believed it. To be considered as beautiful: one has to be thin, has gap between the thighs, pointy nose, small waist, and many more. Teenage girls do their best to be the new definition of beautiful. The bodies of the models and actresses are usually those which are often the inspiration of young girls. For them, it is important to follow what’s “in” or what’s trendy.

The popular media (television, magazines, movies, etc) have increasingly held up a thinner and thinner body image as the ideal for women. According to a study of the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, 40% of girls in the age of 9 and 10 years old tried to lose weight. One effect of media to the teen girls is that they try to lose so much weight, and then they unconsciously become anorexic. Anorexia Nervosa is a complex eating disorder with three key features: 1) a refusal to maintain a healthy body weight, 2) an intense fear of gaining weight, 3) a distorted body image. Just to maintain or have the body the teenage girls want to have, they do those things. They try to look “perfect” for them to belong to the trend.

It is alright to put on something on our faces to look beautiful but it is not right to do unhealthy things just to be considered as beautiful. This perspective the teenage girls nowadays has to stop. Also, the older ones have to be the first persons to educate the teens that they don’t have to be skinny to look beautiful. Being beautiful is not just about the looks.

#medialog2 #mediaandbodyimage

Media Log 1: Problems that Filipina Domestic Helpers in Hong Kong Face

Living in this generation, every single day we learn and realize that we live in a world full of different people with different beliefs. Our way of living and culture make everyone of us different from each other and to understand one's race would just be possible with an open mind and understanding. Media shows the positive and negative sides of racism and how it affects the people’s way of thinking. Poverty is one of the reasons why people in our country are sometimes forced to take a job in other countries. Filipina women take all the risks to work in Hong Kong as domestic helpers. They do everything to gain money for their families but what do they get in return? Violence and abuse. They lack security and some people treat them very inferior. If we, communication arts and organizational communication students, stand up for these hard-working women and use our words as weapons, I think we could somehow change the perception of the foreign people to us, Filipinos.

Some Filipina domestic helpers are criticized because of their job. There is nothing wrong with their job and in fact, it is a noble job. There are problems that Filipina domestic helpers face. The most common problem is the abuse through impolite speech or nagging. “Stupid” is one common word tagged to the Filipina domestic helpers when their masters are unsatisfied with their performance. Oftentimes, Filipinas are being stereotyped as clumsy and stupid by the Hong Kong nationals. In relation to that, there was this racist commercial in Hong Kong which depicts Filipina domestic helpers as clumsy. Also, in that commercial, the character that plays the role of the Filipina was shown in blackface (a theatrical make up used by performers to represent a black person). The social media, as well as the government was very alarmed on the issue about a certain textbook in Hong Kong that defines Filipinos as domestic helpers. Compared to what that textbook describe other races such as Indians, Chinese and Japanese, the way they described Filipinos is very ‘racist’.

There are solutions to this serious problem. First, we should think what really makes us different from another races, and in what ways we are alike from them so that we would be able to know that we are all created differently. Second, we should encourage our family and friends to respect and understand other races. Third, we should be open to people from other races. Usually when we like someone that's from a different race, you will respect them because you like the person, and likewise. This will also help enhance our relationship with them. Fourth, we should not be hesitant from learning about other cultures or races because this will help us gain more knowledge about how other people from different races deal with their everyday lives. Fifth, forget stereotypes for everyone is different. Some people do fit the stereotype, but the majority of people are different. Lastly, educate yourself and stay informed. Racism is largely rooted in ignorance that in turn leads to negative stereotyping. You have to keep an open mind, step outside your shell, and read and learn as much as you can about other cultures, races, languages, etc. Knowledge is power. And if all people from different races will do follow these solutions, then racism wouldn’t be a problem at all. We all could be able to gain the respect of other races if we respect theirs as well.

#medialog1 #mediaandrace

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