0 My Journey

The Journalism class was for me, was totally different of the other classes. It is unique in such a way. We had no quizzes, no long exams and midterms, no oral exams or finals. In exchange for that, we had weekly theme papers, papers full of learning and reflection. I really find it a lot more important to have such classes like this. I mean honestly, after every subject during every semester, I won’t remember the lessons I’ve studied before after some time. They are not lessons that teach you forever. Although it teaches us to be hardworking, it disciplines us, but this class made me realize of lessons that would stay forever in me.

            Being positive and being creative is what I have learned most from this class. I have learned from the discussions that being positive can get us really far. Based from sir Rick’s stories working in NYC of never giving up and keep moving on made me realize that it’s totally true in a sense that what happened in the past couldn’t help us anymore. But we could still do something for the future. Having this kind of learning could help me when becoming a student athlete in Ateneo. Writing down theme and reflection papers has also made me creative in a way. It has enhanced my ability to be able to express my deepest feelings even in a not so good English, at least people understand me to the deepest of my expressions. I have learned that the importance too of creativity is being able to explore, being able to capture photos and videos of events. And because of this, we never stop to come up with ideas that could make a total difference. It makes me think and realize how to look at things from a different perspective, from a different angle and view making a change.

            Finally I can come up to a conclusion that art is only a very small bit of creativity. After the course, I have a new look or view of creativity. Creativity is exploring, expressing in order for people to hear us, and creativity is the part of my life where I would never run out of important ideas in order to live a life.

           

Julius Lagman 

0 Disturbed

Women are to be loved. Women are to be respected. However, in some cases in Iraq and Afghanistan, they are totally abused to the max. I myself would hate seeing videos of women being battered by their husbands, getting hit with stones, and sometimes even being raped by their own husbands when they come from work. In the behind the veil, they say that the safest way for women to get protection is getting married. But, isn’t it ironic too how being married too could be the worst way for women to be protected because they also might also be abused and trapped in their own homes?

            “Any man can take advantage of any women in Iraq’s day” is what they said from the news that totally caught my attention. This gives no respect for women at all. We must remember that they are human beings just like any other men and not objects. There is this what they call honor killing and I really find nothing honorable about what they are doing when stoning women to death. It is very, very disturbing and it’s so freaky to be able to watch women even at their teen years being stoned to death as if they were pigs, as if they were stray dogs, or as if they were big rats being stoned to death. It’s really unhappy. It’s totally disturbing to see this video in youtube how the 17 year old girl is being kicked then later being stoned to death. At an early age like that, it still has a life to be lived. Men of that place are of total use of abusing. Even securities dressed in security uniforms are the ones securing the men that no one would stop them from stoning women to death. After a minute or two of the video, the woman’s blood from the head started to pour. I can never think of anything to best describe this happening but all I know is that it is totally disturbing, totally unjust, immoral, and they show no respect at all by treating women not just as lowest of slaves, but as animals and objects.

            This would not just wound them or kill many of women’s lives but it would also forever leave a traumatic experience for women living in Iraq and Afghanistan. Don’t these men have such conscience or respect at all? Again, women are to be loved. They are to be respected. Women are also human beings just like any other man. Men and women are supposed to be equal. It's really a sad thing and we together justice must indeed do something about this. 

-Julius Lagman

0 Reflections on the HWC

Changing Lives One Football at a Time

By Izella Fajardo

  In our journalism class last Tuesday Coach Rudy and Lex Maravilla of the Homeless World Cup team talked to us about what they do and the hardships they face to send a team of eight former street children to other countries to compete in the HWC. Then there are the issues of making sure that the kids in the program do not backslide into their lives of drugs and violence. In the words of Coach Rudy: “The competition (HWC) is not the end point; it’s just the beginning.” Changing lives and making good citizens out of street children is a very tough and commendable job to undertake.

             To be honest I had no clue about what the league and the team was about. I mean, I know of them because of tidbits from the news but apart from that, nada. I was really touched by what Coach Rudy was trying to achieve using football. It's incredible to think that football can really change lives, more than rehab and juvie. What hit me the most though was when Sir Rick mentioned that some of the players have never even slept on a bed before. I thought about how we take for granted things we have like a bed, pillows, cars, three square meals a day, and most importantly, a home. You can deny it, but I know that all of us have taken our homes for granted at one point or another. I know some people who say that they don't want to go home because their parents ‘suck’. Don't they realize that there are many unfortunate kids who don't even have parents to go home to?

             I realized that society should really be more open to other avenues like this in the fight to lessen teenage delinquents on the streets. I think that sports clinics are more effective than forcing these young people into rehabs and the like. We'll never know if a kid has talent if we don't do something to make it manifest. I’m not saying that rehab is not important or something like that, but sometimes, all a kid really needs is a chance for him to find hope in the future again. And if by any chance, he finds that hope in playing football, then who are we to take it away from him?