Life of a Kat

While it is clear that I will be ending my teaching 2-year stint with an unclear whereto just yet, I keep getting the same question of  Why? Why stop teaching?  Teaching will always be my passion. No doubt. The years I had spent with kids and co-teachers made me love teaching more. How I entered the academe may have been a lot easier compared to others however, leaving it appeared to be far more difficult. I am not turning my back to this advocacy. It is education that changed my life! I am where I am right now, I know what I know right now because I learned from my teachers in school. They may not have taught me everything but they let me acquire the skills to learn other things.  When my mentor told me that in making decisions, just ask one question, "What is the most important thing to you?"  That is a very easy question to answer for me. My family. My family is the most important thing for me. It is also my passion to share my blessings to them. To gi...

3:32 PM Dear Kat, How are you? Oopps, I shouldn't have asked that question. I know you are not really feeling well. I can sense that your heart has been heavy for quite sometime now. Noticeably heavier this time though. I know. I know. Everything's gonna change again. Two years ago, you had seen yourself as a teacher, now, the two years is about to end and for whatever reason, you don't see yourself in the classroom anymore. Not on a daily basis, right? That's what you meant? But you still love teaching. You thought going back to your previous life would be that easy, but the two years that had gone so fast had just brought a few challenges and now, you have doubts in your heart if you will ever get that right job for you. That one, stable and reliable job that would enable you to help and give to your family and other people. That job that would make you build that house with your sibs where your parents can live. That job that would enable you to afford plane ...

If you have watched Whiplash, for sure, you know who Fletcher in the movie is. Out of all the Oscar nominees for 2014, Whiplash is the first movie I had watched, followed by the Theory of Everything which I had to watch on installment. Fletcher is a the last name of the antagonist in the movie Whiplash, he is the conductor/teacher for a jazz band, Shaffers and Shakers, in a certain university. He is not an ordinary teacher, he curses a lot, throws things, very strict and never ends the practice until the players get his tempo. Yet, he had gained enormous respect in the jazz music circle. He is well-renowned for his very high standards and very well-played pieces. I had a couple of Fletchers in my life. There were really days that I would feel so down and hopeless yet this I-can-prove-you-wrong attitude in me lingers. Actually, it wasn’t. It was really the thought of as-soon-as-I-graduate-I-can-be-free idea that kept me going. They were the fletchers who would get my bag and st...

Dearest Mama, I thank God for a Godly Mom that you are. No words can best describe how wonderful of a mother you are to me and my sibs.  We promise that we will try to give you all those things you have missed while you were growing up because life back then had been so tight. Birthday cakes. Parties. Celebrations. We promise to give you that good life you deserve because you have always been there for us. You had been taking care of us for so many years and its about time for you to feel that you are being taken care of.  Thank you for everything!  We can only look back to the past and see how far our family had progressed and grown from six kids now you have additional two daughters-in-law. Soon, you'll have grandkids to attend to as well.  I pray to God that you live a longer life. More candles to blow and many years to celebrate with you and the rest of the family. Labyu!

Family I got up early because of a phone call from my little cousin Justin Earl from Bicol. "Ate Kathy, uwi ka na." "Oo, kaso tulog pa ko eh." "Nuarin ka mauli?" (when are you coming home?) Patay. "Di pa sure si Ate eh. Basta uuwi ako jan. May honor ka ba?"  "Igwa baga." (Meron daw.) Patay ulit. "Sige, May lego ka paguwi ko. Tulog muna ulit ako ha. Labyu."  Friends I received an FB message. Tin: Kat, may pasok ka today? Me: Hmmmm. Nagtatapos lang ng apat ng modules. Bakit? Tin: Kita sana tayo today.  Me: Oh my. Mej BI ka pero magpapa-BI naman ako. Haha Tin: Anong BI?  Me: Bad influence. Sige, see you in an hour. Ang dali ko lang kausap.  Food Tinola for lunch loaded with lotsa malunggay. J.Co overload.  Cappucino Avocado Frapp Tre Fried Chicken with Hainanese Rice at Paotsin It's Super Cheat Day  Fireworks It's Pyrolympics Musical Saturday and we got to stay to watch the presentation by the United Kingdom and got this ...

6:16 AM Makapagrandom post nga, mej matagal na yung last eh. 1.        Nasa school ako ngayon, pero hindi ako magtuturo kasi ang araw na ito ay para sa “itiman ang bilog na parang itlog” in preparation for the upcoming Language Assessment Proficiency Grading at National Achievement Test. Ganito kami til next week. 2.        Pagkatapos nito, magchcheck pa ko ng papel. Ang sama ko kasi, pinag-quiz ko sila ng 8 quizzes in one sitting. Huhuhu. Wala kong choice eh. Halos tig-5 items lang naman karamihan dun. 3.        Walang mintis, nauuna ko magising sa alarm clock ko. Late na ko nakakatulog tapos nagigising pa ako  around 2 or 3am, tapos ang hirap na matulog nang malalim ulit dahil baka ma-late ako. Masakit sa ulo. 4.        I am starting to box in my other stuff. Lilipat na nga talaga ko. Mamimiss ko ang malaki kong kwarto. Ang walk-in closet at...

7:22 PM February 2015 had full of so many stories. From writing, to flowers, to museums, to disappointments, to errands, to places, to friends, to studies, and to active job-hunting. Today is the first of March 2015, four weeks to go and my teaching contract is about to end. My idealism is being eaten up and as I go with the flow, I might just wake up corrupted already. I had gone weak and hopeless. I don't want to end up being beaten by this system. A few more days and I still don't have a concrete plan about how will I live my life after my classroom days are over. My father was very subtle in asking me about it earlier during lunch time.  "Ano bang balak mo?".... "Ano ba talagang gusto mo?".... "Ipagpapatuloy mo pa ba ang pag-aaral mo?"  After an hour of conversation over Skype with my uncle who is currently in Australia, he said "Dapat sa edad mong ayan, stable ka na eh. Kaso tignan mo yan, mawawalan ka na naman ng trabaho....