Sunday, February 18, 2007
#27: THE NEWS ON JOURNALISM (PART 1)
I really need to update. So, even if i'm brain-dead and all, i must, i must, i must increase my bust.
Um, that went wrong, didn't it.
Well anywhoo, i'm gonna post this one because I just went to my blog inspiration- my once fat-armed, now thin-armed friend Nika! *clap*. Her posts' great it's like enervon; it gives me energy to make my own. It rhymed! Lol. Just search the links, she's there.
So, i'm not gonna talk about recent stuff for a while, uhm, especially the prom. But I tell you, it's perfect. Maybe a little too perfect. But I guess I'm gonna be selfish for a while and keep it to myself. For I'm gonna backtrack on days waay before for the sake of updating. Here's the lowdown on Journalism.
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Aah, good news first. I won the Teodoro Valencia Cup on Journalism! *applause.*
(Hey, please let me boast in this post, okay? ^__^)
It was really hard. Bobbie Chua (starlet exemplare) and I went to Quezon City Science High School to compete against other schools on a national level. My confidence is low back then, for I just placed 7th on Feature writing on the NSPC, adding that to the fact that I was on the same room with the Saint Paul Pasig Girl who won first in both Editorial and Newswriting in the NSPC. Inferiority complex, yeah. It's a good thing I changed rooms when I saw the terror teacher who would supervise us. I'm really scared, because we had just known about this contest the day before, whilst others had been preparing for weeks. And the one guarding us is a student teacher Mam Basco look-alike. No matter really; that's life. So this is what transpired during the contest:
News: The first leg of the contest. I was watching the St. Paul Pasig girl. This was her forte. But my will to win is stronger than my pessimistic spirit. I did this:
WASHINGTON, USA- President George Bush yadda yadda...
I think that heading and my title did it. I'm confused, because I wrote a news about Bush giving a speech about intensifying troops in Iraq. And I eliminated the Saddam Hussein being hanged part. But the others did something about Democrats and crap. Thank God I followed my intuition. I'm looking for my scratch papers to remember what really made win in this category. I just can't.
Editorial: The topic is one I'm comfortable with, and after reading the notes, I believe the judge is a happy-go-lucky person who is lenient in the rules of editorial writing and borders more on its creative parts. Being a Feature writer, I think it's an advantage. Again, I'm taking a peek on the Paulinian. The proctors had been reading her notes for some time now, and they seem impressed. Habon, don't compare! x_x
Features: At last, my forte! This is the part I'm most confident I'd win. The topic's about the May 2007 elections. I made some kind of feature about that topic some time ago, so I just patterned my piece to that. These are some of the kickass lines:
"..Now I know that my mother's belief that Politics is dirty isn't true. For Politics is not dirty. It is deadly."
" Politicians, if you don't want to be branded as pigs, snakes, or every other animal on the chinese zodiac, then don't act like one."
" I wish that politics would be as clean as the barong tagalog I would wear on my inauguration day."
The title of the composition? VOTE [INSERT NAME HERE] FOR PRESIDENT.
Sports: I'm so not familiar with the jargons used in Sports Writing, so was lucky we were instructed to do a sports feature. It's about a woman boxer named "The Hurricane". So my title is A FEATHER IN THE HURRICANE'S CAP. My intro goes like this:
" This lady packs a punch. And I'm not talking about the beverage either."
Science: Dang. I'm officially brain-dead on this part. I dunno there's something like this, this Science Writing. So I just did crap and slept the rest of the time away.
Copyreading: I know I won't do well on this part anyway. Heck, I don't even know what a slugline is. So, like Science, I just did crap and slept the rest of the time away.
Dang, I just remembered that I left my digital watch on my armchair table during the contest.
You see, I was listening intently on Mrs. Correa's English lecture when Mr Victorio announced:
Mr. V: "RONALD ALLAN P. HABON, MOST OUTSTANDING JOURNALISM (mark, JOURNALISM) IN TEODORO VALENCIA!!
Habon: *stunned*
Leah: AAAAY! Seatmate ko siyaaah!!!
Jorge: AAAAY! Hiniram niya bolpen koowh!
Classmates: Ano daw?! Best in Asia?!!
So there. It was a blur. Mr. Victorio's telling me "i'm proud of you! I'm proud of you!" and Ma'am Basco telling me I won First in News, Second in Feature, Second in Editorial, First in Sports. Or Second in News, First in Feature. It didn't matter really. The awarding's supposed to be that day. But we were not there. That didn't matter too. As long as I had proven myself. For months now I've been thinking of what a failure I had been in being an English Club president and living in someone else's shadow. Now I had worth. It may not be as showy or as vocal as oratorical or some other form of English contest, but it still counts. After all, it's not everyday that a student wins 5 awards in a single play. I made Mr. Victorio and Ms. Basco proud at last. The two teachers are literally jumping. Well, i've got He Who's Up There to thank. Those 30-second conversations really worked! Walking up the stage with your achievements being recognized is such a utopic feeling. All I can say is, WOW.
+END OF EXCESSIVE PRIDE + ^__^
I'll just use my bragging rights just once, and that's now. I promise I won't let this thing get into my brain.
***
it got me home
6:30 PM
