There are so many things that I am thankful about this year. There have been so many blessings, so many second chances, and so many new people who I hope are for keeps.
First of all, I am very thankful that I have restored good family relations with everyone in the Suller-Loveranes-Galamgam families. I sincerely apologize for my being stubborn and being quick to fire hurting words when bad temper gets the better of me. I am still learning to control myself when confronted with surprising situations. I hope you all find in your hearts the blessing of forgiveness, and I hope I still continue to be deserving of it.
Secondly, bless God for helping my cousin, Paulo, pass the board examination for civil engineers. I had no doubt that he would pass it, but with His guidance, it made the event more meaningful to all of us. Mark also finished his first semester at SLU with good grades. I think that's something to be thankful about, although, I believe he could have done much better if he did study more seriously. Nevertheless, tomorrow is another opportunity to become one's better self.
Thirdly, thanks to my dean and my department heads for the exemplary leadership. They have inspired me to give it my all this semester. Bless them for giving me the best classes in the world! This is the semester I enjoyed best being given best batch of classes despite the number of units. To my Litt1 students who have inspired me to experiment and think outside the box, thanks for the cooperation and the dedication. I particularly appreciate my engineering student who, despite having +50 in her exam for not being tardy/absent/'excused' the entire semester, still did her best to garner a perfect score in the finals (Ms. Asuncion). To my Arki students (collectively and individually [you know who you are/wink]) who made this sem a whole lot happier for their very contagious energy, even when sometimes I got very tired with my first 6 classes before theirs. To my Legal Studies/Comm/Educ/PolSci class in Navy Base, thank you for making my MWF meaningful. You made me feel like I have taught you so many things in just a span of a semester. And to my Eng1 students, you were very heterogeneous, I had a very difficult time handling you, kids. But there were many diamonds in the rough among you-- Ms. Ramos, Mr. Caliuag, and Mr. Vilaga (with the surprisingly spot-on speech); Ms. Biswelan, Mr. Manangan, and Ms. Garcia for the being the best/coolest classroom leaders this semester (I hope you're happy with your incentives/wink); and Mr. Castro for the determination. There are more very good students among you, but I just thought it'd be fair to pay you homage. And finally, to my English 22 students. Your grades may not have been the highest in the world, but I am happy with your improvement. Again, thank you all.
Fourthly, to my co-teachers who have made SLU the best place to work in in the entire galaxy! Haha! Muchas gracias! To my going-out buddies-- Gretta, Willow, Jen, Jane, Merlats, JC, Salve, Athena and "Her Rise" Mente, you are a crazy lot! And thank you for being so. ^_^ Mam Payaket, Mam Milai, Mam Juantala, Mam Balunsat, Mam Casilen, Mam Castillo, Mam Ordonio and Mam Piamonte and all Comm/Eng faculty--thank you for the numerous favors. Thank you all very, very much.
And lastly, thank you Kamote Equities for helping me cope with the stock market stresses. Thanks for the insights. Thanks for the fun (green) conversations. And thanks for teaching me values you will never have thought you were able to instill in me. To Jay, Jase, and Doc.
To the PinoyInvestor, Faceless Trader, Bro. Bo Sanchez, and to all the financial wellness advocates in the Philippines-- thank you all very much for inspiring us into saving and investing for a better future, a better life.
Best of all, thank you, readers of this blog for visiting. I know I have not been able to post for a long while now but with a lighter-loaded semester this January, I hope to give you good reads in the coming months. :) Merry Christmas, again, folks! Easy on the lechon!
