Psychology of Love: Intimacy vs. Isolation 4 comments

I cannot believe I actually had the nerve to pass this write-up to my Psychiatric Nursing clinical instructor back in 4th year college almost 3 years ago. I cannot even remember what was the actual instruction of the assignment or what the essay was supposed to be about although I do recall having to write about something connected with the various theories of Psychology, whether if about the works of Freud or Erikson or even Maslow. Either way, it seems like I was feeling hostile towards formal writing the day so this was what came out. 

Intimacy vs. Isolation (Erik Erikson)

A friend of mine asked me, quite randomly, what, for me, the reason for loving is. Why do we love? Why do you love him? Why do you love her? What are the things that he/she does to make you do so? What do we really get from loving when, most of the time, we receive much less than what we actually give? 

I know quite a lot of people who can’t wait to love. Can’t wait to fall in love. Let’s face it, most people think of the word love is directly associated with the ever-so-popular boy/girl relationship (can now be boy/boy or girl/girl, whichever you prefer), me included. So let’s delve on that. 

Putting aside the lackluster best-friends-forever-relationships and the often tear-stained familial attachments, let’s nose-dive into the more chaotic details of love. The “I-would-die-for-you” love. The “can’t-wait-to-see/hug/kiss/coitus-you-mwah-mwah” kind of affection. It’s messy, it’s crazy and most people end up more hurt and depressed than they ever felt after the brief mischievous glimpse of happiness. Then why do we do it? More so, why do we want it? Why do we so desperately need it? 

If you’re Sigmund Freud, you would probably say that it’s all because of sex and pleasure. A whole lot of pleasure. It’s all about the genitalia, baby, and it needs all the attention that it can get. If you’re Erik Erickson, however, you would say that having a fulfilling intimate relationship with another human being other than your forever loyal family and your ever so trustworthy friends is your developmental task at that point in time. Accomplish your tasks or else you’ll end up emotionally scarred and fixated for all eternity. *shakes head* 

If you’re like some, let’s say, liberated people I know, you plunge into relationships because you want experience. You want to know what it’s like when Tom Cruise whispered “You complete me.” to Renee Zallwegger, how it feels like to be kissed in the rain and make hot love in an abandoned cabin with the fogged up windows and the rising music like Noah Calhoun and that perpetually confused girl in The Notebook. Or perhaps, you just want to have somebody to display to your friends and to the world. Being “taken” is a social status after all. 

If you’re like me… well, things are much simpler. 

Because even though love sometimes can hurt more than it can make you happy, it can drain all of your remaining energy and rationality, it could leave you miserable and suicidal and in desperate need for anti-depressants (worst comes to worst anti-psychotics and a trip to your nearest mental institution), you cannot deny that at least a moment in time, you felt that indescribable feeling of pure floating-in-the-air kind of bliss, that out-of-this-world sensation of being with the one you love. It may only last for a few hours or mere seconds but that doesn't diminish its value. And the memory will be forever embedded in us for the rest of our lives. 

All in all, as my favorite fictional professor put it: 

 “Why do people want to fall in love when it can have such a short run and be so painful? I think it's because, as some of you may already know ... While it does last, it feels fucking great.”

December 2010 Nursing Licensure Exam (NLE) Results 2 comments

It's the time of the year once again where thousands of hopefuls in the country gather around computers screens, Googling in unision with bated breaths and pounding hearts. Hyperventilate no more, here is the result of the Nursing Licensure Exam held on December 19 & 20, 2010, released by the Philippine Regulatory Commission (PRC) this 19th of February 2011.

NLE Results December 2010    

CONGRATULATIONS to all newly passed RNs! :)

Welcome to the world of perpetual volunteerism! No, seriously, I salute each and everyone who had the nerve to face all the 500 questions without turning into a blubbering panicky mess. Now, the real challenge is about to be faced. The board exam is just for theory, now the practical exam, that is living as a nurse for the rest of your professional life, is about to begin. Good luck!

College Assurance Plan (CAP) Requirements for Claiming of Checks 270 comments

A few months ago, I posted a  blog entry regarding us claiming checks from the defamed pre-need company. Since then, I have been receiving many comments and questions regarding the requirements, process, even contact numbers, where to claim checks etc. and everything else under the sun regarding CAP. Again, for the record, I am not affiliated with the company and could much less answer questions from frustrated plan holders. However, I do feel compelled to do my best and answer these questions to the best of my abilities.

So my mother round up my CAP files and found this sort of checklist needed for claiming of checks. Add to that a copy paste session with the institution's official site, I collated this date for the benefit of all those confused and disappointed scholars out there. Hope this helps.  Drumroll please.

REQUIREMENTS:

• ORIGINAL CAP Certificate of Full Payment
• ORIGINAL Assessment Form with Breakdown of misc. and other fees / Registration Form with no. of units enrolled (From scholar's current college/university.)
• ORIGINAL Receipts for Reimbursement (From scholar's current college/university)
• Course Curriculum

Just for comparison's sake:

Applied: December 29, 2008

Check Received: June 2010

(In fairness to the corporation, I think our checks were available as early as February 2010, we were just not aware that they were already ready to be claimed.)

MAIN OFFICE ADDRESS

CAP I Building
126 Amorsolo cor. Herrera Streets
Legazpi Vill., Makati City

CONTACT NUMBERS
Ph: 817-6586, 759-2000  
Fax: (0632) 818-0560

OFFICIAL SITE:

http://www.cap.com.ph  

LIST OF CAP PLAN HOLDERS WITH UNCLAIMED CHECKS
http://www.cap.com.ph/education/Approved%20RRP%20-%20Schedule.htm

PLS. CLAIM YOUR CHECK/S FROM CAP OFFICES WHERE YOU FILED YOUR CLAIM
PLS. BRING ALONG WITH YOU ALL ORIGINAL DOCUMENTS (VOUCHER/S, CLAIM STUB/S & 2 VALID ID’s)

You can read my first post (unanswered questions and all) re: claiming of cap checks here:
http://orchestroscopy.blogspot.com/2010/06/college-assurance-plan-cap-unclaimed.html

I am aware that the official website of the company is not that informative, nor am I. Just remember, if all else fails, there's always Google to fall back on. :) Good luck co-scholars.

The Anatomy of Nurse Volunteerism 17 comments

So you just graduated from college, pinned that university nursing pin on your left collar, passed the board exam and pledged to God, BON and Nightingale that you will spend your life in purity and practice your profession faithfully. You undergo a myriad of trainings and seminars, First Aid, BLS, IVT, because it is considered mandatory nowadays and most hospitals will not allow you to 'work' for their institution without  expensive training certificates.

You pass your resume to several hospitals, use to your advantage every backer you and your parents know. After a couple of weeks of waiting, you get restless, bored and depressed from being an unproductive member of society. You are already considered a young adult. You're supposed to be doing something with your life.

You consider applying for call center jobs just to earn money, but your brand new PRC license, 4 years worth of nursing education and Nightingale's spirit floating in the air beside you like a Safeguard commercial stops you from letting go of your registered profession altogether. Mainly because there's nothing else left to do, you decide to file and volunteer for a hospital. You try to delude yourself that you are training, but inside, you know that  what you are doing is offering your services for free.

After months, even years for some, you find yourself again inside the busy bustling world of vital signs, charting, IVs and orders. It's amazing, fun and intoxicating. You meet new people, make friends with colleagues, learn new things and do procedures you were never allowed to do. You feel like you are now part of the health care system and not anymore just a nursing student trailing after her clinical instructor. You feel empowered, able and competent.

Add to that, you get to help people in one of the worst days of their lives. You feel like you're doing something right and selfless, probably for the first time in yours.

But then weeks, months, even years pass. Hospitals after hospitals will accept but never seem to hire. The initial bliss of having something to do and somewhere to go gradually dies down replaced by fatigue, burn out and this vague feeling of uncertainty. What am I doing here? How long will this go on? What's in it for me?

You start to question your purpose in life. Do you really want to be a nurse? If there's a better opportunity somewhere else, one that does not involve being an RN, would you take it? Should you take it?

With the current condition of nurses in the country these days, are you really waiting for a better tomorrow, when tides change and employment will be available once again, or wasting your time and energy being voluntarily used by these multi-million institutions, all of which can't seemingly afford to hire you even though it is fairly obvious that they need more skilled manpower? In fair trade, what company in their right mind will pay for nurses if hundreds of others are willing to work for them for free?

I once read an article referring to nurses as heroes of the current generation. Then someone commented on how self-righteous that was to call one's own profession as heroic. He then pointed out that it is called a job and not some superhuman feat of self-sacrifice. 

I think, it could only be called a JOB if you're getting paid for what you are doing, and not the other way around. Caring for the sick is probably not as noble as dying in Bagumbayan for your own country but it has a degree of altruism not seen in just about anyone.

I think the majority of the population is too selfish, too human to spend their days and years serving humanity with not much in return.

To be or not to be, that is the question.

If you took up Nursing just because your parents says so or you envision yourself in the middle of  glitz and glamour, strutting the streets of L.A. or London without much effort to get there, then this profession is not for you. If you can't handle carrying out orders for the majority of your professional life and if the weight of lives on your shoulders seems too much to bear, then don't do it.

But if you got into this profession in your own free will, without the lure of gold coins and fancy lifestyle, if the universe of health care and medicine just inspires and amazes you, then please, for all our sakes, continue what you are doing now and show the world there are still people like you who was born to serve and make  this country, and eventually the world, a better, more caring place.

Open Letter to Those Who Failed the Nursing Board Exam 22 comments

I may not know how you feel but I can empathize with the hundreds of thousands of exam takers who didn't see their names in the list of passers of this year's NLE. It's an endless cycle, twice a year thousands of new nurses rejoice, put RNs after their names and happily wait for their PRC cards while tens of thousands more cry and feel the bitter stab of jealousy and disappointment.

And I know from experience that it's not just personal disappointment that is so painful to endure. It's the expectations and hopes of people around us that can eat us up inside and make us feel utterly worthless. They've helped us get to where we are and offered us unending support. This is the only thing we can do to repay such debts and yet we cannot even manage to succeed in such a trivial task of passing an exam.

But things happen and they do for a reason. Remember, challenges come our way to be hurdled and defeated.

One thing I know is that passing or failing the board exam doesn't define who you are. The board exam is just a written test, designed to measure one's coginitive skills, guessing prowess and shading abilities. It doesn't asses one's nursing skills, how one deal with patients and colleagues and how one strives under pressure. It's a one sided exam, and failing it doesn't mean that you are good for nothing just because you weren't able to guess correctly the appropriate intervention for DOB.

Don't lose hope, don't surrender. Stand up and try to soar again. And if nursing isn't for you, then fine. Passing the exam isn't as hyped up to be anyways. If you think that the mere fact that you have a PRC license that says "Nurse" at the front will open up a world of opportunities and bring in endless flow of cash, then you're dead wrong. Thousands are still unemployed (including me) and half of the nursing population are at call centers answering call from strangers and/or contacting one to pitch in a product.

Nonetheless, it's great being a nurse. There can never be too much of people who are well-trained to care for the sick and the dying. It's a noble job, to have all the work yet little of the glory. The doctors come and go but we nurses are the ones who stay.

So if you really want to pursue the profession then stay. Stay motivated, stay strong and persevere. This is not the end of the world. There are unlimited number of chances you could take. That license could still be yours.

A failure is not always a mistake, it may simply be the best one can do under the circumstances. The real mistake is to stop trying.

B. F. Skinner

College Assurance Plan (CAP) Unclaimed Checks 361 comments

Interestingly enough, a Facebook contact was the one who brought this domino effect which led us to claiming our 8 unclaimed checks from this insurance company that once promised to shoulder all my college tuition fees no matter how far inflated the rates become compared to the time my mother signed up for the plan.

I was browsing my news feed when I saw someone post a status saying that her dad was so excited to claim a CAP check after years of waiting and follow ups. She said she saw her name on the Internet. So I googled CAP's official website but failed to find a direct link to the list of unclaimed checks there. With some more searching, I finally found what I was looking for. A long long list of names with check numbers beside them. Honestly, I felt like looking for my name in the list board exam passers. And when I found my name, turned out I passed, 8 times!

When we arrived at CAP's office in Makati early in the morning, there were already people there, some of whom are already frowning and irritable because of unavailable checks. The office was dreary and showed tell-tale signs of an institution on the brink of collapse. Sorry, but it's the impression I got from the place and even from the people working there. We claimed our checks, went to Veterans bank to encash it but then we had to go back to CAP because the checks are already stale and the administrating officer forgot to put date stamps on it, then back to the bank. All these took 6 hours of our time.

All in all, we got about 65% of what we invested more than 10 years ago. Still not enough, but better than nothing.

I noticed that a lot of plan holders are not aware that they can view the list of available checks online. Some still drop by the main office just to ask and leave quite disappointed. It's a waste of time, money and effort. I suggest visiting these sites first to know if there's a purpose to roam around Makati and their irritating one-way streets.

Official site of CAP:
http://www.cap.com.ph/

Unclaimed Checks List per areas:
http://www.cap.com.ph/education/Approved%20RRP%20-%20Schedule.htm

There are thousands of unclaimed checks waiting to be encashed. Please don't let your investment completely go to waste.

Wordless Wednesdays: April 7, 2009 0 comments

It has been a year. :(

FEU-IN BATCH 2009
Soar high, classmates.

Top 10 Things to Do Less than a Month Before the Nursing Board Exam 9 comments

10. Throw out your books if you haven't yet. Stick to summarized/bullet type reviewers and go crazy.

9. Answer as much practice test questions as humanly possible and know the rationale. Board Exam Compilations in front of the PRC are nothing but crap and should not be purchased unless you're willing to do painstaking research for the correct answer. And you won't even know where to look for the answer key for prioritization/intuition questions the BON are so fond of.

8. Attend all your review classes if you're enrolled. By this time, you'll be feeling the pressure of the looming date you've marked on your calendar since the beginning of this year. This is not the time to be too lazy to get up in the morning or skip afternoon classes because you need to check your Facebook account and serve cooking dishes that are about to spoil in Cafe World.

7. Do not panic and spend all your waking moments memorizing drug side effects, pathophysiology of sorts and that blasted developmental milestones in Pedia. They won't do you good as out of the 100 things you have to memorize, only 2 of those will appear in the exam and I'll bet anything you won't even remember the answer for those that came out. Instead, focus on those practice tests as I've mentioned because you'll remember them better, especially if you got the wrong answer. :)

6. Get some sleep. You look wasted. But sleep at night and not during the day. You're not Edward Cullen. Oh wait, Stephanie Meyer decided to ignore all the common vampire customs when it comes to bloodsuckers and sunlight, hence, Sparkly Edward. Sorry, my bad. (Yes, I hate Twilight. Though, I don't know how I managed to subway my distaste to this list which has nothing to do with the subject matter being discussed.)

5. At the same time, do everything possible to stay awake in after lunch review classes as they tend to go on forever. Every moment counts. Who knows, the one question that could have spelled the difference between pass or fail is the one you didn't hear because you fell asleep. How's that for irony?

4. If your birthday falls within the week before the board exam, take my advice for Obama's sake and celebrate early. My birthday was exactly the day before the exam and, needless to say, I spent the entire day fussing over my uniform, forms, pencils, other things and whether you can bring snacks with you. The answer is a big fat yes, btw.

3. Buy few pencils or gather the ones you have, choose one and have a meaningful and trusting relationship with it. This will help facilitate an emotional bond that will foster good working relationship at the day of the board exam. Seriously. You won't regret it.

2. Do the same with your eraser, sharpener and favorite anting-anting keychain so that on exam day, you'll feel as if you're surrounded by friends cheering for your success. And no, I'm not schizophrenic.

and the No.1 thing to do a month before the Nursing Board Exam is...

1. Start praying. Trust me, even if you're an Atheist or Agnostic you'll believe that there's a higher being capable of doing the impossible. There's got to be.

Ms. Best in English Apprehensive About an English Exam 0 comments

Oh, the irony! But, yes, it's true. The student who have always excelled in the English subject in high school, who aced the TOEIC exam in college, the one who has been reading and writing all her life, is a bit wary in taking the English Tests of all Tests.

IELTS or International English Language Testing System is the leading English proficiency exam required by various English speaking countries. It consists of 4 parts which are Listening, Reading, Writing and Speaking. As of my understanding, I need to get a score of 7 in all the categories (even though, technically, there is no pass or fail in the said exam) to be qualified to enter the United Kingdom, where I plan to study and work.

My searches in the internet made me realize that I do need to work for this as much as I've worked in passing my NLE because unlike the multiple choice TOEIC, which was pretty easy btw, IELTS is composed of identifications, essays and even an interview session for the Speaking part of the test. Now, listening and writing almost come naturally for me, but I'm pretty sure I suck at formal writing. I like articles, adjectives and adverbs way too much that when I write, a sentence can go on and on in sarcastic circles without much point in it. Which is, sadly, a major no-no in the said exam.

And I'm worse at interviews. The last time I had an interview was upon admission to FEU Institute of Nursing 2 years ago. It is an experience I wanted to forget. I bet I either sounded too cocky or completely boring. The ancient C.I. who interviewed me barely cracked a smile. Thank Obama my battery exam results were exemplary so I was not that concerned about being dropped out of an institute that I haven't entered yet.

Multiple choice is my forte. I know that for a fact. I have this knack in feeling out the right answer even though I have no idea what the question is about. I think that's the reason how I got a line of 8 in the NLE without even memorizing the developmental tasks in Pedia or any drug of choice for a given disease. If I were to take the NCLEX, with ample time and guidance for review, I'm pretty confident I could very well pass the said exam. This special power (both a gift and a curse), however, will not help me in any way in acing the IELTS.

I spent the whole day searching Google for a great review center for the IELTS. I found a couple, Niner and Kaplan. Are they any good? I know that some or most of the examinees just self review at home either by instructional CDs or via the internet. I've read that there are also many resources available at the British Council for sale. Those are all great alternatives but I'm so sick of being at home all the time right now that I'm yearning for a classroom setup.

I miss commuting and having somewhere to go to, something to do. I know it's my fault that I'm still stuck now at home with nothing but internet and TV for company because I refused to lower my pride and work in a call center or even volunteer somewhere because I have nobody to go with me. But those 2 1/2 months since passing the board exam are now over, there's no use crying over spilled OJ. So now, I really want to find a review center I'm comfortable with, study, and get my life back on track.

By the end of this month, I must be enrolled somewhere and studying my favorite subject. I'm optimistic about the review sessions because I love the language and any information about it will probably be accepted by my neurons with open arms. I've always wanted to enroll in a creative writing class but haven't got the chance since our units and subjects in nursing college is pretty much set (unlike other universities e.g. UP where you can pick your own minors).

I know this is a far cry from that. It's just I'm so ready for something to do. Watch as my BuddyPoke avatar jump up and down from excitement and her anime face light up in a comic smile.

Post Graduate Depression Syndrome 8 comments

Undergraduates may think that the day they graduate or the day they pass the board exam will be the happiest day of their teenage life. Some students can't wait to graduate from reviewing and doing mountains of paper works. I was not one of them, yet I felt like I took for granted those days when, no matter how toxic the requirements were, all I should worry about were finishing them and what to eat at lunch the next day.

Now that I know better, I urge them to think otherwise.

Graduation is just a formal ceremony where you can see your professors, deans and high ranking officers of your school wearing poofy dresses and oddly shaped hats. There is nothing special about it especially if you still have to take and pass the board exam before you can do anything with your diploma.

Passing the board exam is another thing, though. You know that you have surpassed the one thing that you needed to in order to start your life, and it's very fulfilling to see your name listed together with the thousands who passed when so many more have failed to do so. The euphoria may last up to months, if you're lucky. Other passers, like myself, weren't so fortunate.

Because what comes next after passing the board exam and having your oath taking in front of the legendary BON? Parents, families and relatives, that's what.

Being a practicing registered nurse (with salary) is not as simple as the graduate -> pass board exam -> have job -> have money -> be a productive member of the family/society chart that parents seem to have etched on their brains, especially parents from non-nursing/medical background. But reality is more complicated than that especially nowadays that clinical jobs are more elusive than ever.

And even if you have a willing backer ready to, well, back you up, you still need numerous papers which include a PRC license and certificates which takes forever to be released by your school and the PRC itself.

So what do you do while waiting for those requirements and/or job opportunities? First, if you really need the money you'll apply in a call center, make your family really happy but put your 4-year education background to waste, at least for the time being. If money is not a necessity, you bum around in your house, surf the net, be a house maid and look for Red Cross and IVT trainings. Oh, and yes, have your parent constantly nag and tell you how you're wasting time and space doing nothing.

Wow, thanks a lot. Fresh grads like us are already in an emotional turmoil of "WTH do I do now?". Add to that the sudden transition from a comfortable routine time table to an onslaught of free time you don't know what to do with. All our lives, everything followed a certain schedule where days were filled with subjects after subjects and we learned to live life in that manner. Lunch breaks were spent eating with a group of familiar people you share food, jokes, problems and laughs with everyday. Where are they now? Even if you remain good friends with all of your college classmates everyone's scattered into different directions now.

And it's not like we want to stay stagnant and be a certified bum forever. I, for one, is jealous of my batchmates who now have a paying job in the palm of their hands. I feel like everybody's moving forward leaving me all alone in the depressing state of unemployment. Still, I resist to succumb to the monetary lures of call center careers. Health care (and writing) is my passion and my background and I want to make use of the 4 years I spent studying NCM to use.

So what now? Now, I will further express myself in cyberspace because it's one of the things I know I do well and enjoy at the same time. I'm not planning to stay like this for the rest of my life but give me time.

As for tomorrow, I'm going to finally claim my PRC license. *enter big grin here*

Basic Life Support and First Aid Training at Red Cross 3 comments

Just finished our First Aid training down at PNRC East Rizal Branch. For a newly graduate and registered nurse, it is now a growing trend that after graduation and/or while waiting for the result of the board exam or having passed the said exam, one would enroll into as much seminars and trainings as humanly possible in a desperate attempt to have something put into their resumes and increase their credibility as a professional. It's common knowledge that almost all the hospitals here in the Philippines are on freeze hiring right now because of surplus of nurses, and it is now almost mandatory to have an edge among the hundreds of thousands of competition out there. Unless, of course, if you have a backer.

Anyways, among all the numerous seminars and trainings many hospitals have wisely integrated into their institutions as both help to their staff's continuing education and a business racket among jobless newly grads, the top 3 contenders for the Most Popular Seminars/Trainings among Nursing Graduates are:

1) BLS or Basic Life Support which includes trainings about everything regarding CPR etc.
2) First Aid Training which tackles on bandaging, transfers and emergency management of various cases, and
3) IVT or Intra Venous Therapy Training which we are now fighting tooth and nail for.

All of these trainings have pretty sparkling licenses at the end of their paths. BLS and First Aid valid for 1 year and IVT for 3 (?) years.

And as of this day, we're 2 down, 1 to go.

What I've Learned:

• That CPR is really tiring work and a pain in the knees and elbows.
• Rescue breathing is harder than chest compressions.
  
• Bandaging techniques are not that hard especially if you've already memorized them back in your college years.
• Doing them neatly, though, in a time pressured situation is a whole different thing.
• I can lift my 5 feet partner.
• My partner cannot lift me. Ha.
  
• Registered nurses know more than we ever thought we knew compared to people with non-medical background.
• I've forgotten at least 40% of what I've studied in review classes. :(
  

Sharing our all RN class with 3 caregivers made me realize how simple terms in our world are not at all common to others. In a society who view nurses as money hungry selfish unpatriotic people in white who would leave the country at a moment's notice (more of that in later posts), it's a great feeling to again be enlightened on how much we know and how much more we can do for other people in need of our help.

Also, I am now compelled to read over my review materials in college and review center because I feel as if I've forgotten almost half of all the essential things I've learned over the past year. Facebook's farms and mansions and stupid little pet friends for sale has taken its last nursing neuron from my brain. Time to get them all fired up again.

Now, the hunt is on... again. The hunt for an IVT training hospital, that is. It seems like everywhere we look, slots get taken right before our very eyes and it's a pain waiting for another training session to open for reservations for the next month. Hopefully, we'll be able to get reservations for an October training if all goes well. As of this moment, I'll be happy and contented with being a Licensed CPR and First Aider. :)

FEU Bags UAAP Cheerdance Competition 2009 2 comments

CONGRATULATIONS to the FEU CHEERING SQUAD for bringing home the GOLD!

Finally, after long long years, the trophy found its way back to Morayta. For those who didn't get to catch the results, here they are in proper order:

SCHOOL RANKINGS: UAAP CHEERDANCE COMPETITION 2009

1) FEU - 86.10
2) ADMU - 83.40
3) UP - 83.10
4) UST
5) NU
6) DLSU
7) UE
8) AdU

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UAAP_Cheerdance_Competition

Now, I've been reading a lot of tweets and facebook status saying that FEU winning the title is, for lack of a better word, "LUTO". Now, I must admit, FEU's routine was not as creative compared to other contenders but what they lacked in style they made up for execution and technique. I keep saying this over and over again because it's hurtful for us to be considered only winners because FEU's the host school for the 2009 UAAP. I don't think that's the case at all.

Judges this year were Douglas Nierras (director of Powerdance), Evan Alva (President, Pilipinas Cheerleading Federation), Dr. Sylvia Chua (President, Cheerleading Association of the Philippines), Joy Valenton (National Judge Gymnastics Association of the Philippines), and Ai Hasegawa (International Judge, Foundation of Japan Cheerleading Association).

The UAAP CDC didn't have judges like these in their past competitions. Normally, judges are composed of one representative from each school and a special judge with a honorable background in cheering. The change in the judging system is probably what caused the disarray of the UP-UST-FEU Top 3 tradition of the CDC. What appealed to the crowd may not be appealing to the expertise of the judges. Plus, everybody I knew who watched in Araneta can contest that FEU's routine was superb.

Another thing is the new Sarimanok (Ok, more like Chicken) theme of FEU's routine. Now, I was also confused at first. I mean, I know we're supposed to be the Tamaraws, and I know Tamaraws don't have wings. Turns out, the Sarimanok was FEU's emblem when it was first founded way before World War II. In being UAAP Season 79's host school, FEU brought back the mythical creature to signify camaraderie and unity among participating schools with its multicolored feathers with a theme "One color. One goal."

I am beating myself right now for not watching the competition live in Araneta. If I had known that my school would be champions this year, I would've fought real hard for the sought after tickets. Anyways, I'm real proud to be a bonafide Tamaraw alumni. Here's to hoping for more gold! Get that ball! :D

Top 10 Ways to Pass the Nursing Board Exam 23 comments

I'm not saying that I'm an expert on the said scenario but since a) this is my blog and I can do whatever I want and b) I did pass the June 2009 Nursing Licensure Exam on the first take (and managed to get an 80++ board rating), I think there's nothing to lose with me sharing board exam techniques that worked and you reading (or even *gasp* following) it.

So without further ado, here are my...

TOP 10 WAYS TO PASS THE NURSING BOARD EXAM
(WARNING: Follow at your own risk.)

10. Pay attention to your AUDIT/REVIEW subject.

This is one of the mistakes that I did back in college. I didn't cut classes (Okay, maybe once, but only for the afternoon lecture), I listened, I took notes, I aced the tests but I feel as if I didn't get everything that I could with the review because half the time, I was thinking that I'll enroll in a review center this summer anyways so all of this will be repeated. I'll get this topic later on. But our summer was hectic with case completion duties, Graduation and Pinning Ceremonies and with the bunch load of information pushing each other out of the way into my brain, things were pretty much chaotic and I found myself thinking far too many times while studying that I should have studied listened more and texted on my phone less.


9. Pick a Review Center that suits you. (non-compulsory)

It's true that enrolling in a review center is not needed to pass the boards. However, doing so really gives you direction in what, when and how you should review a certain topic, where to focus on, test taking strategies and green hilarious sex jokes you can only get from their discussions. Ha!


8. Throw away those books.

90% of reviewing population: Are you serious??
Me: Very. Okay, you don't have to throw them, just keep them in a dark desolate place where they belong. During the rigorous review sessions of two months before the board exam, I never cracked a book open, because I find them complicated, long and utterly boring. Instead, I concentrated on bullet type reviewers, outlines and summaries of those Valium induced texts. On the day of the exam, I knew I did the right thing. It was a waste of time reading the longer version with too many words than reading the gist of the entire thing. Less time and effort.


7. Give up the internet or whatever addictions you may have for 2 months.

It's only for two months people. I figured I'd rather sacrifice for 2 months than to live in regret and depression for the rest of my life. I can surf the net and play all the FB games I could until I get so sick of it after the boards. For me failing is not an option and if my life becomes ruined because, of all things, Facebook, then I'll never be able to live with myself. So, even though I just signed up for the world's most addicting site, I promptly clicked on that logout link and didn't visit it again until after the exam. And I was right, I grew so sick of the games after playing them everyday for two months that I made this site just to escape the sickening farm and pet madness.


6. Learn how to guess correctly.

Even if you have a nursing encyclopedia for a brain, there will be items (lots of it) where you will have to scratch your head in exasperation and guess. It's either you guess basing on related existing knowledge or you guess with nothing. Both you will experience during the exam. Learn to feel the page, use your intuition, channel Madam Auring and see invisible glowing letters of faith in taking the exam. And don't forget the ini-mini-mini-moe rule.


5. Take notes. Forget that you and that big guy called Xerox/Photocopier ever met.

It's a fact. Your brain will retain more if you listen, read, write and speak while reviewing. Without the physical act of writing, you'll end up getting all hazy visioned and end up falling asleep. In high school it may be cool to sneak a nap while the teacher's droning away, but in reviews it falls into the "WTH are you thinking??" box.


4. Know how to shade.

At the day of the board exam when we were asked by the examiners to fill the personal information page, the examinee in front of me turned around and asked me how to shade the little rectangular boxes filling the sacred oslo papers that holds our future a.k.a the PRC scantron board paper things. I was shocked. I couldn't formulate a verbal answer so, with a dumbstruck face, I just did an up and down motion with my hand while holding my pencil. I mean what on earth was she thinking taking the Mother of All Tests without even practicing how to shade at least a single tricky box. She could have perfected the test but if shaded all wrong then those correct answers won't be translated to points and those points won't be translated to a name in the passer's list.


3. Look, write and listen everyday. Read every night.

Now, I've never been the kind of A Type Personality person who would study everyday, prepare for every quiz and recites until my arm go all cyanotic. But for the board exam, I turned my back on every studying principle I believed in. (Ex. Listen to class but studying at home is for nerds. Homework is best done the night before. Studying for an exam is best done...never. Etc. etc.) It's hard studying again after going home after you've been studying for a day already, but it did pay off in the end. All your sacrifices will pay off in the end... Hopefully.


2. Answer bunch loads of practice test questions.

Review center will attest to this one. Answering tons of practice questions not only makes you remember things better but improve your guessing skills, which is very very important as I've mentioned. It's like hitting all the birds with one stone. Ain't that grand?


1. Relax and believe in a Higher Being.

No matter how much you don't believe in God, Allah or the Virgin Mary manifesting in a taco, the sudden burst of spirituality and religious fervor among board exam takers are a common, if not inevitable, occurrence. You will visit the every church that you can as if they're the 7 wonders of the world, light numerous candles (1 candle for each test point) and will go and kneel with bowed heads in front of St. Jude Thaddeus's altar. You'll do everything that you can to bathe in holy water together with all your test paraphernalia especially the week/day before the exam because you feel unholy and idiotic without it and your pencil, eraser and sharpener is infested with Satan, Lucifer and various bad spirits and will eventually fail you. Don't worry, all of this is normal, and amusing to reminisce after passing the exam. :)



So that's my take on being an influential and helpful role model blogger for upcoming registered nurses out there. I wish you all the best and will be waiting for you with open arms, a big smile in my face and a banner saying in big bold letters:

Welcome to the Unemployment World. Hoooorah!

Which Nursing Review Center Should You Go To? 39 comments

REVIEW CENTER WARS:

MERGE vs. CBRC (Carl Balita) vs. GAPUZ vs. SRG vs. PENTAGON

If you're a nursing student, nursing graduate, have a sibling/cousin/friend/neighbor who is one, have been to UBelt Morayta, Espana and the streets of Pureza or to just simplify things, a resident of the Philippines, I'm sure you've heard of them.

They are the top nursing review centers in the Philippines reviewing and producing thousands of registered nurses yearly. They may all look enticing and innocent enough, all having figures and pictures to boast to the world, but if you don't know what you're getting into, don't spend thousands of pesos on them yet. Do your research. More so, listen to reviewees who have actually experienced what it's like reviewing in the said centers. Look at the passing rate and the subscript commonly associated with them.

I don't know everything about these review centers. I've only attended one (Pentagon) and I will share my thoughts on them later. FEU-IN also has an In-House Review Program mostly made up of SRG reviewers so I can also share my experiences from that. Other comments are from my personal view of the center and what my friends have said about them.

MERGE REVIEW (Multi-Educational Review Group Experts Inc.)

I'll confess, I know little about this review center. Not a lot of people from my batch mates went here to review for the board exam. But I've scouted via the net almost all of the review centers available in Manila before and I've read pretty disappointing comments from their past reviewees. From what I've read, Trinity University of Asia is the only good thing with MERGE because non-Trinity reviewees achieve a much less passing rate. A batch mate also commented that the reviews are deathly boring and she happily transferred to Pentagon for the critical and final coaching phase.


CBRC (Carl Balita Review Center)

I cannot stress out how much I hate his face plastered all over the Ubelt. Come on, narcissistic much? And it's not like he's cover boy material, face brimming with charisma and bus loads of sex appeal. Argh. Okay, so enough about his looks. Is it worth reviewing there? Again, I don't know much about this review center besides the fact that they have tons of "freebies" (bags, lanyard etc.) which, I hate to burst your bubble, isn't free at all. You paid for it, believe me.

With regards to the actual review, I've heard testimonials which said that the discussions are okay and Carl Balita, himself, is actually pretty good. Oh, but since his center is obviously not a one man show, the other reviewers' sessions I've heard are not as good, a bit boring, which my batch mate sometimes walked out on without finishing the class.


R.A. GAPUZ REVIEW CENTER

I have no prejudices against Gapuz even though they were the main review center at the middle of the June 2006 Nursing Licensure Exam Leakage. I think he looks kind and quite fatherly to his students and he doesn't stick his face on his tarpaulins. One thing I can't understand though is what the heck does Boy Abunda have to do with nursing?

Even up to our review days, I've received tons of texts about the supposedly "5 points sure na" bullets which on the day of the board exam were nothing but useless saved messages occupying my cellphone memory. On a negative note, 2 of my 3 friends/acquaintances who reviewed there failed the board exam. I don't know what happened because those two were the kind of people who I thought would make it and at the day of the exam, they seem not at all frazzled , almost bordering on confident (based on their text messages since we all have different test taking centers). Don't ask me what happened, I have no idea.

Moral Lesson: Never rely on leakage promises. They always end bad and if you somehow managed to pass, I fear for the lives you are going to handle with your own incompetent hands.


SRG (Sultan Review Group)

I have a lot of experiences with SRG. Those reviewers they front line in their advertisements and websites were our reviewers for the In-House Review. They are fantastic, I must say. They will keep you engaged and active through out the 8-hour sessions. So why didn't I enroll here and instead went to Pentagon? Well, there are lots of reasons.

First, I hated the fact that they treat each lecture as Shameless Promotion Day. Especially at the last day of their assigned topics. One would wear a SRG shirt, one would say their catch phrase "Come and Follow Me..." over and over and over again and the other would bash, insult and blurt out unprofessional things defaming other review centers. I mean, if people really want to go and enroll at the center they will, if they don't they won't. These reviewers don't have to treat each person who doesn't enroll at SRG as an idiotic moron who will never pass the board exam because they've made the fatal mistake of not joining with them.

Second, as exemplary as the main reviewers may seem, its useless if they're not the ones who will be teaching your class. SRG has 25+ Reviewers in its system and there is no guarantee that those front liners you see in the ads are actually the ones reviewing you. Majority of my classmates confessed on going home and cutting classes because the lecturer that was assigned to their block was a comatose inducing machine.

There is the 2 week Final Coaching however, which I've heard is fun for everybody. Their statistics are also great which is a huge plus.


THE ROYAL PENTAGON REVIEW SPECIALISTS INC.

Now, I'm a proud Pentagonian so forgive me if this part becomes a bit biased but I'll try not to be. I just felt the need to alleviate everybody's fears and misconceptions about the Review Giant a.k.a. Pentagon.

Most review centers target Pentagon (obscurely of course) in their "Why-You-Should-Enroll-With-Us" Speech by stating highly misguided comments on how there are review centers with way to many students in one area, how it's hot and noisy, how you can't hear the reviewer because of all the chaos and pandemonium if you might.

Now, here's my rebuttal. In the social context, it's common knowledge that those who are at the bottom of the steps target the ones on top. The trick is, do not believe them because these are the insecure ones trying to benefit from associating their names with the most popular. With that out, let me tell you first hand, that Pentagon's style is an auditorium type review. It is expected that there are hundreds of reviewers in a single venue. But, the air conditioner works fine, the sound system's fantastic. You can hear everything even though people around you happens to talk (which rarely happens because reviewees become more serious as the countdown to the big day lessens in number).

Better yet, the 5 main brilliant reviewers that you enrolled for will definitely be the ones teaching you how to pass the board exam. Add 3 more guest reviewers for minor subjects like CD, Funda and Burns etc. and it's not a bad deal because you know you're going to get what you signed up for.

I really believe that Pentagon has the BEST reviewers in all the centers, hands down. They can keep hundreds and thousands (Final Coaching Week) of short attention spanned youngsters interested in even the most hated and boring topics of Nursing. Problem is, if you're easily distracted with crowds and is the kind of person who wants the reviewer right in his/her face, this review center is not for you.


In the end, it all boils down to WHAT YOU DO with the knowledge and strategies your chosen review center imparted on you. Notes and textbooks won't do you any good if they're not read and tucked in safely in that squishy stuff on your head.

Guess what that is and put it to work.

10 Tips on How to Ride LRT 2 (Santolan to Recto) without looking like a Transit Virgin 11 comments

10 TIPS ON HOW TO RIDE LRT2 (SANTOLAN TO RECTO)
WITHOUT LOOKING LIKE A TRANSIT VIRGIN

10. Make sure you know to operate the ticketing machines before using it. When in doubt or when all goes wrong, blame the machine.

9. Know which way the ticket goes in the slot. Nothing says "This is my first time riding the LRT" more than committing the embarrassing mistake of getting stuck behind the revolving metal thing of doom. This time, you CANNOT blame the machine.

8. Wear earphones. It makes you look cooler.

7. Do NOT run like there's no tomorrow to save yourself a seat, especially when you're from Santolan or Recto station where there's no one on the train yet. Instead, learn how to walk fast, keep your eyes on the prize and sit like a princess.

6. Bring in food and beverages, then sneak a bite or two while looking out for the roaming security guard. Smile sheepishly when you get caught.

5. Sleep. Or feign sleeping. It makes you look like you're not constantly watching whether it's time to get off the train. Even if you are.

4. Do not hold on to the train's safety hand rails at all times. Regular commuters know how to balance.

3. Regular LRT commuters also know how to stagger and fall gracefully whenever the train does its trademark sudden stop between stations. Do NOT panic when this happens. There is no bomb threat. You are not going to die. Normally, a slow train in front of the one you're riding is just making everybody late.

2. Time will come you will have actually memorized the list of stations in proper order and the "Next station, Araneta-Center Cubao. Ang susunod na istasyon ay Araneta-Center Cubao..." monologue of that disembodied woman on the train. Do not recite them with a friend to show off this amazing talent you've acquired. It's tacky. It's annoying. And it only means that you're an excited college freshman commuting by yourself for probably the first time in your life.


and the No.1 Tip on how to ride LRT2 without looking like a transit virgin is...


1. For the love of Obama and all things sacred, NEVER ever, and I mean EVHUR block the escalators when you're riding on it, especially during morning rush hours and when you can clearly hear the presence of a train waiting on the above platform. Seasoned LRT commuters know by heart that people are almost always in a hurry to board the train and have experienced themselves how irritating those people who stand side by side and block the path completely making you miss the train altogether. Don't say I didn't warn you when all of a sudden somebody squeezes in between you and your friend banging you on the chest or something.

Hell hath no fury to commuters in a hurry. Remember that.




For those who didn't get it. This thing is actually a joke.

But an effective list jokes nonetheless. :)