Lessons Learned

Hi! All happy and shit. haha.

I feel like I'm doing an infomercial in this blog. Well, it will probably sound like one... Hmm... this entry's about the things I learned as a dormer in Ateneo... about random stuff that will actually really help and matter (or maybe it just mattered to me, whatever really). 

(L-R: Yours truly, Francesca Santos, Patricia Liu [birthday girl!!!], April Ong Vano)

615, The Den 

FOOD
1. Probably the most useful advice I could give you is to bring a pot holder! 
Over 3 years, I have been designing ways on how to get my hot plate from the microwave, I've tried pretending it wasn't hot and just using my bare hands...it worked at times, sometimes I just looked silly running through the corridors. I've tried using the shirt I was wearing, but I had to stop using that because I realized I might be showing more than what I should be showing when I do that. I've tried using tissue but then it was a waste. So just go get one, at least one for the room.

2. If you want your SPAM to be crispy, heat it in the toaster not the microwave.
I do advise you to warn whoever is eating with you that your meal will not be ready soon. Trust me, they will give you so much shit about it if they wait too long. haha

3. You can never go wrong with a bag of popcorn in your pantry. It can be a lifesaver during emotional crises. 
I think Jolly Time's cheddar cheese is pretty good and it's available at Rustan's. 

 

4. Whatever food you put out or display: chips, canned goods, cereals... prepare to share them. You can almost always count on someone to get some even if you're not there. So, if you're not prepared to share, hide it.
I didn't mind sharing at all. Plus, it kinda makes me feel good about myself when someone owes me a can of tuna. haha, classic Kylie. But I do admit to hiding some of my favorites, usually I hide my Ruffles Sour Cream and Cheddar and just share it whenever I'm around. 

5. Be creative when you cook pasta. Try it with tuna, corned beef, peanut butter, parmesan and garlic salt, etc.

CLEANLINESS, MAINTENANCE, ORGANIZATION
6. Have your own toiletries, dish-washing detergent and sponge, laundry detergent and basin. 
My mom told me to wash my own underwear so I had my own laundry detergent and basin since I first moved in...until I lost them in the batch wars. It's always best to have your own so you don't have to bother your friends. Hi Iko! Love you. Oh and bring your own toilet paper! There will be many times that not one stall will have any.

7. Have a dish rag and a dish rack. You can have one for the room.
It's best to have a dish rag cover your newly washed dishes, the room gets pretty dirty with dust and what not so better clean than sorry. 

8. Use a shoe organizer. Better if it's something you can put under the bed so you don't occupy so much space. This is something all your roommates can appreciate because you don't want your shoes lying around, also you don't want to lose any of your shoes. Quite annoying if you lose the other pair. 
All four of us had at least one experience of losing our shoes...sometimes it's in the other side of the room, or even 601! haha. There was a time we had a surplus of shoes...well Audrey's shoes. Idk why. 
Anyway, there are a lot of options for a shoe organizer, pick which would be best for your type of shoes. I just used one without any division cos my shoes are big, hard plastic case that had wheels so I just pull it out of the bed. My roommate, Prilla used like a tower... it saved a lot of space too.

9. Before sending out your laundry to Wish Mo, Wash Ko or to wherever you get your laundry, laundered? haha... if you don't like listing down everything you placed, just make sure you count every piece you put. You can also take a picture of all the clothes you put, don't take a picture one by one, just lay them all on your bed and take one shot. Eazzey pezzey.  (Oh, and bring a laundry basket!)
I actually want to conduct a study on how many pieces of clothing I lose every semester. I'm thinking I've lost 15-20 pieces in the four years I stayed in the dorm. If you have the time, label every piece of clothing you have... It's possible, promise. Just ask Lianne! haha:)

 10. Borrowing is a privilege not a right. Better label your closet if people can borrow from you or not. Your friends should understand. Have a sign-in sheet if you want:) hihihi. That's what Lisa did:) 
You don't want fights or whatever because of clothes, right? And you don't want to lose and abuse the privilege of borrowing. 

SECURITY
11. I know it's a hassle, but have your key with you all the time. Whether it's going for a bathroom break, room-hopping, whatever... Place it on a lanyard and put it around your neck so you won't easily misplace it. 
There will be times that you or your roommates will have the urge to lock the door even if you don't usually do it. So to avoid asking your roommate to come back to the dorm just to unlock the door for you, or even paying for the fee, have your key with you at all times. You can also duplicate your key, have the duplicate with you at all times, and then just keep the original one in a safe place so you won't ever lose it. I lost my key almost every year, had to pay 200 every time. 

12. Don't leave your money lying around. 
You will lose it... it may be the wind, the friend who thinks its their long lost bill, or the klepto. 

13. Lock your room at night when everyone's in already and sleeping. And don't shout out when you'll leave your room open!

 RELATIONSHIPS
14. lol. I'm no love guru. The only piece of advise I can give you, don't get caught. kidding. no.  if you're a lobby couple (meaning you're a couple that displays PDA in the lobby), expect people to make chismis about you. The dorm is a small small world. 

Oh oh oh! Finally (for now), if you didn't know already... 
15. Dial 59 and wait for the dial tone to change so you can make calls to the outside world:) Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't... you just have to keep on trying. It usually works if you dial 59 super fast, joke, well actually I used to believe that. haha. You just have to want it to work. hahaha

So basically, these are the things I learned from living in the dorm, I'm pretty sure there's a lot more but I find these the most practical ones. So, enjoy. Add more if you want:)

On a side note, just realized I had so many roommates over the years...yeah yeah, say whatever you want.... I think I had more than 7....

Anyway, I miss everyone!

 Photo grabbed from Kat's FB:)

Where Dreams Come True

Well, it's been a week since my last blog, I don't really want to bombard anyone with all my thoughts, as what my Dad has been trying to teach me my whole life, "Sometimes it's better to just keep quiet..." And so I've decided to just keep the random thoughts to myself last week until I find something not-so-boring to write about.

POOF! Disney! Who doesn't love Disney? (Well, maybe the kids today, but whatever, I LOVE DISNEY, or maybe LOVED? Still thinking...) 

I used to watch Studio D with Nikki Muller, Azura Zainal and I think William. I wouldn't care if they were reruns, it didn't matter I loved the shows! And maybe some of you did too! My favorite shows were Kim Possible and That's So Raven, I kind of outgrew Hillary Duff... 

 

 

I was a huge fan before: writing e-mails and visiting the Disney Channel website. And there was a time that they actually got my e-mail! Someone from Singapore called me up and asked me if I wanted to meet Nikki of Studio D. I went to a shoot in Fort with my sisters, my mom and my long-time friend, Mercy (if only I could find that old picture). They took a video of us answering the question: What would be the best vacation for you? Well, I answered something like being away from my parents which is probably what made them not air it. Haha! They also included me in the FGD about what the show needed, pretty cool participating in something like that when I was kid. It was prolly one of the things that got me interested in working for Disney and marketing.

After that, they gave me a Disney channel goodie bag! Hmmm, it had a stop watch, a Disney channel lanyard (which I still have), Kim Possible post-its (pretty cool cos the case was a "communicator") and some other stuff which my long-term memory has failed to recall. The funny thing was that the most valuable thing for me was the paper bag itself. It was sooooo precious. Other than my weird interest in paper bags, it was really unique since you don't find it in commercial stores. 

Moving on...I grew up with Disney movies and shows, much like any other kid. I was so engrossed in the shows, I remember having my friends sign a petition when I found out that Kim Possible was going to end soon. Well, the petition didn't go far because I became a teenager and I became interested in boys and make-up. Anyway, now I look at my little brother and feel bad for him... I was asking him if he ever watched Aladdin, Mulan, Hercules, etc. and he actually hasn't watched a lot of the classic Disney movies. Well it's not his fault, I mean there are still pretty good movies for kids like Cars, Despicable Me, Tangled... I just wish they could bring back the classics. That's what I'm gonna do when I become CEO of Disney some day! Haha! In my dreams right? Well, Disney did say dreams do come true...so... we'll see...

I don't think I have a certain agenda in writing this entry... I guess I just wanted to write about Disney:) 

I wonder what your top Disney movies and shows were? 

(This sudden Disney outburst was probably from watching Hercules, Mulan, Little Mermaid and right now, Aladdin... Disney marathon!!! I'm so happy:D)

Mistakes

Maybe it's too early to blog about today, but what the heck, I'm full of emotion right now. 

Woke up today feeling not so grateful about having a job and eventually realizing my job is literally 5 steps away from my bed... I can even work on my bed... so the ungratefulness quickly disappeared.  

I was feeling good, thinking positive about this opportunity and convincing myself that I should just suck it up and do my job. Started off with my usual 'good morning' to my boss and I started discussing some things with him...Remember how I mentioned it doesn't take much to screw things up at my job? Well, today was Exhibit A. It was one of those feel good moments, your mind is just full of rainbows and unicorns and just when you were starting to really be happy, life slaps you across your face or something like this... 

I'm not gonna tell you how I screwed things up, all you need to know is that it was my fault. (Well, you gotta hand it to me, acceptance stage agad.)

I've f*d up very few times in my life (not to brag) which just tells you that I don't really handle f*ing up very well. Some people handle making mistakes as easy as saying "DAAAAAMN, I f*ed up" and then their lives move on. As for me, it includes: self-doubt, self-pity, tears, and most recently blogging. People have been telling me that young people are supposed to make mistakes or that THIS is the time to make mistakes...  It's not that I think I'm perfect and I'm incapable of making mistakes, clearly I can screw things up just as anyone else could, but I guess I just expect more from myself. I have avoided accountability  most of my college life (for a reason that is too long to share) and having it back now scares me so much,. There's no one to share it with, it's just me. Something goes wrong: I screwed up. Something's missing: I screwed up. It's my job and it's my responsibility. I feel so vulnerable and I've got no confidence in myself. It's like walking into that consultation room and you pick that one thesis statement you were betting you wouldn't get... or your defense panel directing a question towards you for a part you did not make and did not care to look into... only now it's not with a professor who is paid to teach us and point us our mistakes, it's from your boss who pays you not to makes mistakes. 

And that's what I've learned so far from working for four months now: we're not getting paid to make mistakes. So you can hear all those line about us being empowered, us doing trial and error but the fact is once you work, every mistake you make costs something, it may not be cut from your salary but it's on you. 

I'm 20, I'm not making an excuse, I am merely making a statement that I have much to learn. 

It's Not Just Today

Today, I decided to revive this old blog of mine containing what seems to be what I was all about in Ateneo, someone who has the guts to cram yet still delivers. Things have changed since graduation and there's a lot more to think about than what Just-In-Time means, or what the statement  "...to be in relation with the other face to face is to be unable to kill" proposes. It seems so easier now, the things I went through in college because I just had to go with the flow. I could blame the institution so easily if I had a lazy day, I could blame the lack of healthy food in the dorm if I gained a few pounds, I could blame my group mates if I had a crappy output. But yeah, things have really changed. Everyone's looking at me and there's no one else to blame. 


*Breaks into song and sings "Look at me Now"*


It doesn't take much to screw up at my job: misplace the decimal, click send to the wrong recipient,  click OK to something unfinished... And it seems I have been screwing up a lot and it just puts me in a position where I doubt myself a lot and I question the things I am doing... Lately, I've been feeling like I'm in the wrong place and it's probably just because I'm living with my parents now which is something I'm not used to. But the truth is, it's more than just the location I'm in, it's more than what industry I'm working in... I think it's about where my heart is...and I'm not talking about how my current relationship doesn't feel right (heck, it's the one thing in my life I'm sure I want to stay in). It's about passion, and I don't have it, for anything. Yeah, I like playing sports, baking, cooking, whatever, but I don't have that one thing I will work hard for and focus on... closest would probably be making power points but seriously making power points as my passion, I want something more than that. 


Some people may be on their way to chasing their dreams now, some people are probably already there...I envy not your success but your decision to focus on something, to have something to dream about. Long story short:college is over; I am more accountable; life feels like it sucks right now (except for my love life, actually); I feel like I can't move because I am not passionate about anything. 


How the hell can you have passion for something? Oh wise one, teach me. 

Creatives, Culture, Enviroment

Blog Entry 6: Reflections on the Pixar Experience - How can school/work concretely encourage creativity?


In the entertainment industry, creativity cannot be anything less than essential that is why corporations like Pixar make an effort in extracting and inspriring creativity. According to the text, Pixar is able to foster creativity through the following efforts: empowering your creatives, creating a peer culture, and crafting a learning environment...


"Empower your creatives. Give your creative people control over every stage of idea development."

When it comes to work or organizations or any institution, I guess, there will typically be a hierarchy of power... president, vice, secretary and what not. There's someone on top, and someone at the bottom.

At Pixar, there are different teams that contribute, more or less, equally to a project. Their philosophy is that: "You get great creative people, you bet big on them, you give them enormous leeway and support..."

It reminded me of the King Arthur's round table. What if at work, instead of having a strict sense of who's at the seat of power, the company will establish a "round table" type of thing. This way, power to create or to contribute will be available to everyone. Everone becomes accountable and so everyone is encouraged to give it their best shot. I think there have been studies that prove that most people perform better if they know they will be accounted for (if this hasn't been proven yet, then I'm sorry). 

"Create a peer culture. Encourage people throughout your company to help each other produce their best work."
Pixar takes pride in the work ethics their employees have. They are said to support each other even if they are from different levels of the company. What the human resources sector of every company aims to do is to take care of its employees. Some companies hold Christmas parties, outings, and the like to form a bond between co-workers. I believe this is a good start for encouraging people to work together. This does not directly tell them to "work together" but it provides an avenue for them to start caring for each other. 


I guess it's the whole philosophical thing of the encounter with the face and discourse as inspired by Emmanuel Levinas. If each worker is able to engage in discourse with other co-workers they will be unable to "kill" or objectify or negate them basically because they value that person. Once they give value to a person, they will start caring about each other's performances and try to help each other out.


Of course you wouldn't want to see your friend get fired right?




"Craft a learning environment. Reinforce the minse-set that you're all learning-- and it's fun to learn together."
Who hasn't heard of the amazing Google office??? Google is just one of the select companies that have made a statement through the interior and exterior design of their work space. Red Bull has also adapted into the culture of using a creative environment to instigate creative thinking. 

Google Office

Red Bull Office

  Well of course, Pixar office is not out of the loop when it comes to using creative environment. 

Pixar Office

One of our sessions for Comm14 was held in SEC B Lecture room around 3 weeks ago and I've mentioned in class how it became so limiting and so influential to our way of thinking, at least that day. People are inspired by the things they see, smell or touch. When we have a light bulb moment, usually there is a stimulus that causes this and so if the environment is not conducive for creativity, no creative ideas can be formed. 


There is a strategy/ study known as Quantum Learning. Quantum Learning is "a powerful, engaging teaching and learning methodology that integrates best educational practices into a unified whole".  One of its many effects is the increased academic achievement. Another proven effect of QL is the improvement of students' attitudes toward the learning process. This new methodology was adapted by my high school, Elizabeth Seton School. 


The FADE model—Foundation, Atmosphere, Design, Environment —creates the context of Quantum Learning. These are the different phases where Quantum Learning could be tested. Quantum Learning begins with a strong foundation built on the principles of the 8 Keys of Excellence. It holds the beliefs that: All people can learn, people learn differently, and learning is effective when it is joyful, engaging and challenging. The 8 Keys of Excellence include: Integrity, Commitment, Failure Leads to Success, Ownership, Speak with Good Purpose, Flexibility, This Is It!, and Balance.

Quantum Learning creates a supportive physical environment that enhances and reinforces learning. Ideal learning environments include proper lighting, purposeful color, positive affirmation posters, plants, props and music. These elements are easy to include in one's classroom, and students enjoy learning more in a comfortable setting. What our school did was to place flower-bearing plants along the corridor to stimulate our sense of smell. The faculty also incorporated QL by holding exams with background music. They also set up some mural walls for us to be able to have a sense of freedom and we were able to express ourselves through it, it became a some sort of freedom wall that gave color to the environment. 

The key is to create empowering school environments that build engaging and dynamic communities of learning. The results are enhanced teacher capacity and increased student achievement. 

There are several ways in which a school or work place can encourage creativity and I believe the mere intention of any company or institution to do this can already inspire such.







Source:
Catmull, Ed.  “How Pixar Fosters Collective Creativity.”  Harvard Business Review.  September 2008.
The Pixar Story
http://www.qln.com/what_is_quantum_learning.html

Bugtionary

SNIGLETS! So many possibilities... So much power! 

For this assignment, I've decided to come-up with things that apply to me or to my friends. These aren't necessarily things that bug me... they're just things that I notice on an almost-everyday basis. 

ENJOY!

7. Clicktation (click + temptation): noun. the urge to "click" on a retractable pencil or pen for n amount of times just for the sake of hearing the sound or for the sake of anti-boredom


6. Shwatch (shake + watch): verb. to shake the wrist in order to check the time on a very loose wrist watch


5. Bread-over: noun. the left-over bread edges when someone only wants the "white" part or the middle part of the bread, the ends of the bread loaf which is usually left in the package

4. Optalnista (optalmologist + fashionsta) noun. people who wear grade-less glasses or sun glasses (even in the dark) to look cool, smart or attractive

TOP 3

 

3. Substibrush (Substitute + Brush)

verb. to put on eye shadow with the use of bare fingers instead of brushes; to substitute brushes with something else

  

2. Bollution (Baller + Pollution)

noun. the inevitable discoloration of ballers or wrist bands due to pollution 
e.g. a white baller turning black

1. Make-down (inspired by the word make-up)

noun. cosmetics applied on face that does not help in making you look beautiful or concealing what you want to conceal; the act of applying make-up that will result into the collection of insults not compliments

e.g. mascara that got smudged and wet = black eye look or highlighted eye bags

Redirecting