Cover Letter

Dear mentor,

In our first meeting in ENGLCOM - RWC, you’ve told us to write a reflective essay about our strengths and weaknesses in reading, writing and grammar. Also, we were asked to write the goals that we wanted to achieve in the course. The goals that I set for myself for ENGLCOM, both RWC and LC, are - to have better thought organization in writing essays, to refine my grammar skills and to learn more. During our classes in ENGLCOM, I really believe that I was able to achieve these goals and more. I’m proud to say that the course has exceeded my expectations. Some pieces of evidence that I’ve achieved the desired learning results are my essays and paragraphs. Even with just the table contents, you can see that I’ve improved as we progressed in writing. In addition to this, since you’ve read my essays, I can actually say that the flow of my thoughts have become smoother and more concise. All these show my progress as a critical and creative thinker/writer. Evidence showing that I’ve become an effective communicator is that I can peer-edit my friends’ works better now. I’ve learned a lot about grammar tenses and hedging devices in the Language Component of ENGLCOM. What’s more, I’ve learned how to properly cite sources (Thank you, Purdue Owl and Ms. Cequeña!). Citing resources is my BIGGEST weakness in writing essays and now I’ve overcome that, though I still need to improve on this area more. Being a reflective lifelong learner, I keep my previous essays at home; whenever I need to write a new essay, I reread my previous essays and remember how I wrote them and analyze the mistakes I made so I can do a better job on my next one.

The hardest topic for me is making an outline. This topic is about me being a critical and creative writer. I’m a very choosy writer; I only write essays well when I like the topic being discussed. (e.g. my extended definition) I have tons of ideas when I write but I find it hard to narrow them down and make an outline. Because of this, I sometimes lack conciseness in my essays/paragraphs. I sometimes have to write my essays first before my outline because I need to write all my ideas before I can narrow it down. I edit, delete and make paragraphs and it takes me days just to make it right.  

I plan to practice really hard because I really love to write. I get frustrated when I’m unable to make a good essay even when I like the topic that I’m writing about. I will read more materials and practice outlining and summarizing every week. I’ve also learned techniques in our ELL (thank you, Sir Jessie) and I plan to incorporate everything I learned and hone them through PRACTICE.

I learned a lot of things in this class and I’m proud of every single thing I learned but the accomplishment that I’m most proud of in this class would be my extended definition essay. I had this motto before about time and I incorporated it into my essay.  I loved the subject that I was writing on and I was happy with the essay that I wrote. This essay, for me, portrayed what I’m capable of. This evidence proved that I’ve improved a lot in my writing.

In this course, I’ve learned 3 things about myself as a writer. The first thing I learned are the capabilities within myself that I never knew I had. I never thought that I could write well if I really put my heart in it. The second thing I learned is that I should be open-minded and objective as an academic writer. Also, according to Ms. Manalansan, our LC professor, I need to make use of hedging devices in academic writing. The third thing I learned in this course is that I should love writing to be able to write good essays. The readers wouldn’t love what you’ve written if you, yourself wouldn’t love what you wrote.

The revisions that I’ve done in my essays are all based on your suggestions. Hopefully, I’ve done them correctly. When I was revising my works, all I thought was how to make them better. I followed your comments and reread my works; I thought I can edit some of the sentences and replace them with better diction and sentence structure.

To end my letter, I wish to say how grateful I am for everything I learned in your class and though I wasn’t the best student, I’m thankful that you’ve been patient with me. Not only did I learn, I also grew as a writer because of the comments and suggestions that you’ve written in my papers. THANK YOU! J

Sincerely,

Pauline Ong

Table of Contents

A Collection

Essays(entry)	Date Submitted	Score
1. Hopeful Suffering (argumentative essay)	09 December 2011	n/a
2. Time and Life (extended definition essay)	04 December 2011	94
3. DLSU vs ADMU (compare and contrast paragraph)	30 November 2011	90
4. A Warm Winter (cause and effect paragraph)	30 October 2011	83.33
5. Cuisines from the Land of the Rising Sun (descriptive essay)	04 October 2011	80

commented on:
1. Darel's "Occupy Wall Street" http://thoughtsontaste.blogspot.com/2011/12/occupy-world.html#comment-form
2. Jolly's "Surrender: A new way of living" http://my99space.blogspot.com/2011/11/surrender-new-way-of-living.html#comment-form
3. Jhane's "True Happiness" http://enahjailalo.blogspot.com/2011/12/true-happiness.html#comment-form
4. Rochelle's "Happiness" http://rochelle-blogerzzzz.blogspot.com/2011/12/happiness.html#comment-form
5. Patricia's "Christmas, In the heart of Every Filipino" http://patriciatanyagblogs.blogspot.com/2011/12/extended-definition-essay.html#comment-form
6. Danielle's "Extended Definition" http://cskoreandining.blogspot.com/2011/11/extended-definition.html#comment-form

Hopeful Suffering

           Painful needles of insulin? Massive amounts of tablets, capsules and medical bills? Who’s to blame? Nowadays, daily exercise and nutritional diets are no longer enough. No matter what we do, we still get diabetes, cancer, obesity or depression. Going through the years, most people believe that the fault lies in genetics or adult lifestyle. But as our lives continue on, most people are starting to question this belief. Is it really all about genetics? Is eating cupcakes on a daily basis unhealthy?

              Adult diseases are growing problems of society and scientists are showing that though lifestyle is a factor on these diseases, it is not the main cause. Also, genetics barely has any influence on these diseases. The problem lies in the womb, where the blood level, emotional stability and toxin intake of the mother is the most important aspect. In addition to this, the fetus is able to discern the environment he/she will be living in. With this, there exist an evident link between fetal origin and adult diseases; the mother’s lifestyle is the lifestyle that the unborn child is inheriting. Research is still ongoing about Fetal Origins but many assumptions have been made. In addition to this, an article in Time magazine has been written about fetal origin by Annie Murphy Paul which discusses the breakthrough brought about by Fetal Origin. Paul (2010) stresses that “there's another powerful source of influence you may not have considered: your life as a fetus. The kind and quantity of nutrition you received in the womb; the pollutants, drugs and infections you were exposed to during gestation; your mother's health, stress level and state of mind while she was pregnant with you — all these factors shaped you as a baby and a child and continue to affect you to this day” (p. 38). The first 9 months in the womb has a big impact on the well-being of the child. It begets an unchangeable effect on the mental and physical health of the child.

          The most critical part of development for the child is the pregnancy stage. “Gestation (Pregnancy) is the development of the fetus in the uterus.” (Tierney, 1999, p. 595) With this, we are told that this period is really critical in the development of the child. Most people believe that playing Mozart to the womb of the mother enriches the mental capabilities of the child. But this is just the surface of what we call the fetal origin. Paul (2010) mentioned that the shaping and molding of a child is much deeper than the simple playing of Mozart to the womb. It is all about the air that the mother is exposed to, the intake of food and drinks, and the emotions she is feeling. The baby treats anything the mother takes in as biological information. Babies do not absorb music. They get information like whether they will be born in a secure and abundant environment by the amount of food the mother is digesting and how the mother and those around her help protect the womb. This increases the possibility that fetal origin is linked to one’s health.

            Did you know that the greater weight gain a pregnant woman incurs during her pregnancy, the greater the chance that the child to be born will be overweight by the age of 3? Most people believe that again, the ones to blame are genetics and lifestyle. But how exactly do we acquire this lifestyle? Fetal origin answers this with the possibility that the child inside the womb may share the eating habits of their mothers. This may be the reason why obese mothers beget children who are more prone to obesity.

“Researchers have compared children born to obese mothers with their siblings born after the mothers have had successful anti-obesity surgery. The later-born children inherited similar genes as their older siblings, and (research shows) practice similar eating habits, but they experienced different intrauterine environments. In a 2006 study published in the journal Pediatrics, researchers found that the children gestated by women post surgery were 52% less likely to be obese than siblings born to the same mother when she was still heavy. A second study by the same group, published in 2009, found that children born after their mothers lost weight had lower birth weights and were three times less likely to become severely obese than their older brothers and sisters” (Paul, 2010, p. 39) 

         “The uncertainty in this field is enormous, but we have learned that a uterus is not a diving bell that insulates its occupant from the world’s perils” (Kristof, 2010, para. 15.) Lifestyle is now perceived to be a product of the intrauterine environment that we experienced. It is not a problem that is acquired in the future. A wrong lifestyle starts as early as the gestation period. Though Fetal Origins is a study that is still at its infancy, I think that it has given us enough research to know for a fact that the period of gestation not only affects the physical appearance of the child; it also affects the future mental and physical health of the child. Adult diseases are born as soon as we are born. Genetics and adult lifestyle only has a minimal effect on these diseases that we acquire. The 9 months of suffering for every mother is an opportunity for a healthier population. Life, as we know it, is never about the end. It is all about the progress and the means of achieving that end. Now that a breakthrough has been discovered, this is our chance to turn the tide around and start living healthier lives.

References

Kristof, N. D. (2010, October 2). At Risk From The Womb. The New York Times. Retrieved from

             http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/03/opinion/03kristof.html?_r=4

Paul, A. M. (2010, September 22). How the First Nine Months Shape the Rest of Your Life. Time, 176,

             38-41.

Tierney, H. (Ed.). (1999). Women’s Studies Encyclopedia. United States of America: Greenwood

             Publishing Group, Inc.

Time and Life

          A second, a minute, an hour and a day, time moves constantly and continuously like a never-ending thread. There are different terms used for time, but what exactly is time?


            Time is an elusive phenomenon that records changes in society. It has no literal definition but Science defines it as a measurement. But what exactly does time measure? According to Science Daily (2005), time is represented through change and change can be observed through motion. The circular motion of the moon around the earth tells us whether it is morning or evening. Some people have questioned the span of time and whether it lasts forever, here is a theory mentioned in Science Daily (2005) “According to the general theory of relativity, the development of space may result in the collapse of the universe. All matter would shrink into a tiny dot again, which would end the concept of time as we know it.”(University of Helsinki, 2005, para. 4)


            We all have our own definition of time. As for me, when I think about time, the first thing that pops into my head is that time is important in our lives. We need to treasure it. It is a guidepost for the past, present and future. The past reminds us of our mistakes and experiences in the past. These memories transport us back in the past and remind us what we were and why we are here now. Dreams, however, pull us to the future. It tells us of the millions of possibilities we can achieve. Irons (n.d.) quoted, “We all have our time machines. Some take us back, they are called memories. Some take us forward, they are called dreams” In this quote, I think he failed to mention the importance of the present. The present gives us choices. It gives us the choice to make up for our mistakes in the past or to stay chained to the past and the choice to work for the future we dream of or to neglect the future. So whether it is the past, present or future, they are all important guideposts in our lives. We need to treasure each moment of our lives.


            Time, despite being abstract, can be used as a commodity. It is used as a resource everyday by everyone. A good example of this is the time we spend on studying. In exchange for a bright future, we use 6 years of our lives in grade school, 4 years in high school and approximately 4 years in college. The time spent on our education is our investment for the future. As quoted by MacKay (n.d.), “Time is free, but it’s priceless. You can’t own it, but you can use it. You can’t keep it, but you can spend it. Once you’ve lost it, you can never get it back.”


               We can also spend time in different ways like giving it as a gift. I think time is the best gift you can give to the people you care about since it is priceless and it can never be taken away. Even though time is limited, we can still use it to our advantage. In her quote about timing, Stacy Charter mentioned that with enough patience, the unattainable becomes attainable and the unreachable becomes reachable. Nowadays, television and radio stations even sell time. They charge advertisements based on its duration. Balter (2008) stated that “Time has become the ultimate commodity. We can’t make more of it, and there’s never enough.” In Economics, wasted time can be considered an opportunity cost. For example, a restaurant that opens at 12:00 p.m. loses the opportunity to sell more during the time it is close.


               Time is very precious. It moves along as we continue to live. It changes as we change. We use time as we use ourselves. When we share our time with our loved ones, we share our lives. We only get one shot in life just as we only have this time to do what we want and live our lives. Time is life itself. Don’t waste it. Bloch (n.d.) once said, “We say we waste time, but that is impossible. We waste ourselves.”

References:

Balter, D. (2008). The True Value of Time. Media Post. Retrieved November 20, 2011 from http://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/84789/the-true-value-of-time.html

Bloch, A. (n.d.). We say we waste time... Retrieved November 20, 2011from http://thinkexist.com/quotations/time/3.html

Irons, J. (n.d.). We all have our time machines... Retrieved November 20, 2011 from http://thinkexist.com/quotations/time/2.html

McKay, H. (n.d.). Time is free... Retrieved November 20, 2011 from http://thinkexist.com/quotations/time/

University of Helsinki (2005). What Is Time?. ScienceDaily. Retrieved November 20, 2011 from      http://www.sciencedaily.com­

DLSU vs ADMU

            The long time dilemma of choosing a college has always been the problem of undergraduates. Which is better? Students choosing between DLSU and ADMU will indeed have a hard time. There are many things to consider in choosing a college to enter. These are the courses, convenience and preferences. But, weighing all these, the preferred course should be the top priority. Only when you are unsure of your course or both colleges offer the same course should you consider other factors in choosing which school to enter. To choose between these colleges, one must know the pros and cons. The pros of studying in DLSU is the course offering. DLSU offers accounting course which is one of the favored courses by students because it offers job opportunities for the students when they graduate. DLSU also offers LIA-COM. This is a course that has 2 majors. A student can choose any liberal arts course and one commerce course. It’s like hitting 2 birds with one stone. In a span of 4-6 years, a student is able to major in 2 courses. Of course, having 2 majors would be advantageous in the future. Though DLSU has a lot of advantages, it also has disadvantages. Just last year, DLSU’s rank sank to #4. This is a big concern since it says a lot of things about DLSU. DLSU also has a smaller campus compared to ADMU’s. It is incapable of accommodating thousands of students. Similarly, ADMU also has its advantages and disadvantages. For example, ADMU offers business courses that are also preferred by many undergraduates. In addition to this, ADMU has a large campus. The students aren’t cramped and they can accommodate more students compared to DLSU. Another advantage of ADMU is its exclusivity. It is more appealing because no one can really say that students used money or influence to get in. they can proudly say that they got accepted because of their brains. Although ADMU is a prestigious school, it is located in a very inconvenient area. It is hard to go to ADMU if the LRT breaks down. Also, ADMU does not offer accounting course and the advantage of having a big campus is easily lost because it’s tiring and costly just to get to another building within the campus.

           Both DLSU and ADMU are prestigious schools. No one can say that one is better than the other. They both have they’re pros and cons. What is most important in choosing a college is our own preference and what is more beneficial for us. Follow your heart, to be able to excel in your course, it is important to love what you do.

A Warm Winter

         There are four seasons in Japan, winter, summer, autumn and spring. I really envy Japan because I've always wanted to see some snow. Unfortunately, this is impossible in the Philippines unless you live in a refrigerator.

           My friends who've experienced the winter season in other countries told me that it's freaking COLD. They said that it felt like their ears were going to fall off with just a flick of a finger. I wondered how the Japanese, in particular, are able to keep warm during the winter. There are three answers: hot springs, hot pot and kotatsu. Hot springs are widely appreciated by the Japanese, regardless of their age. There is an abundance of hot springs in Japan which are usually occupied during winters. Though hot springs help keep them warm, they also have a special dish to keep them full and warm at the same time.So what are hot pots? Hot pot is a Japanese cuisine that is eaten during the winter. It's soup that contains many simple ingredients. An example of this is sukiyaki. Sukiyaki is made up of thinly-sliced beef with noodles, mushrooms and vegetables. The Japanese eat hot pot on a kotatsu. The kotatsu is a desk that is layered with blankets it also has an electric heater under the table.

             Eating hot pot warms the Japanese during winters. It also warms their hearts because of the delicious flavors brought by the hot pot. Lastly, it binds a family by eating together and keeping each other warm.

Cuisines from the Land of the Rising Sun

            Sukiyaki, Ebi Tempura, Gyoza, or rice, which among them is the tastiest? It's a hard choice! I must say that they are all inexplicably delicious.

                

              The Japanese love RICE! They call rice in Japan as Gohan. Whenever I eat at a Japanese restaurant, I always check the consistency of the rice. It seems I have inherited their being finicky towards the rice they eat. This started when I first tasted real Japanese rice. The fluffy  texture made it seem like it would melt in my mouth. The consistency of the rice was heavenly. It was sticky and easy to chew, making it less trouble to eat. Rice isn't the only food that the Japanese can be proud of.

                 

              Sukiyaki is yet another scrumptious dish by the Japanese. This is a nabe dish or a hot pot dish. Sukiyaki is usually prepared in a hot pot on the table. This is usually eaten during winter to soothe the Japanese from the icy cold weather. This particular nabe is prepared with thinly sliced meat, vegetables, mushrooms, tofu and shirataki (konyaku noodles). The best Sukiyaki I have ever tasted, so far, is from Teriyaki Boy. Every  element of this dish complemented each other. The noodles are perfect and bouncy. It has great elasticity and is fun to eat. The soup is simple. It doesn't overpower any of the other ingredients. It only makes them more delicious. 

         The next dish, perhaps, is one of the most well-known Japanese dishes among the Filipinos. Yes, It's Ebi Tempura! This is a shrimp coated with tempura batter and is deep fried. There are different types of tempura but the most notorious one is Ebi Tempura. I love the crunchy exterior that makes it such a delectable dish. The element that makes the greatest impression for me from this dish is the sauce. It's a mixture of sweet and salty flavor at the same time. 

          Don't forget the Gyoza! Gyoza are dumplings with a filling usually made of minced vegetables and ground meat. Gyoza were introduced to Japan from China. In Japan, Gyoza are usually prepared by frying. The filling inside isn't the only element that makes this dish distinct from other dumplings. It also depends greatly on the wrapper. It can't be too thick or too thin. When it's too thick, the dumplings would taste floury and it will overpower the filling. When the wrapper is too thin, it would easily break. 

           Japanese cuisine is one of my favorite food. I love the balance and subtlety of the flavors and I love how their culture can be seen in their food. There are a lot of Japanese restaurants in the Philippines, but only some can really produce the taste of genuine Japanese food. Japanese food may not be the most popular dish in our country right now, but those who have tasted it will definitely crave for more. There are a lot more Japanese dishes I have yet to discover. I don't know which dish that I mentioned above would be the tastiest, but maybe I have yet to discover the tastiest Japanese dish.