I've realized two important things over this past week. They may may not have gone as well as I had wanted them to, but constructive nonetheless.

First, recitation in OBLICON. Ever since the start of the school year, I've hated OBLICON because classes were from 6-7:30 and I'm dead terrified of our professor. There never was a time I didn't count the minutes until class was over and be thankful I wasn't called for recitation that day. This week, however, things were very, very different. I was finally called to recite last Tuesday and I couldn't say a thing because I didn't study at all. I was embarrassed in class - the feeling sucked big time. After class, I was pretty confident I wouldn't be called next meeting because I was already called. WRONG! I was called again, but I studied this time because of the emotional trauma the last meeting caused me. My answers in class weren't all that bad, and I was even surprised to be smiling during recitation. It's probably why I didn't mind that I was standing for almost and hour of recitation. Imagine that - a whole hour and I didn't even notice.

LESSON: Study. Smile and the whole class will smile with you.

The day after the whole OBLICON thing happened, I went to Ultra, but just to watch. It started off really well, until Joyce started to cry out her sentiments to me that evening. She cried about her stay in the team for she no longer found the reason to stay. Their coach might leave them for good (Coach Ramil's migrating to the States) and she'll lose most of her teammates to graduation. I get the feeling, but she shouldn't leave the team for those reasons alone - she'll only be upsetting herself in the end. She felt a lot better after our talk.

She may have started smiling again, but it was me who started feeling down. I started thinking about Alliv's leaving for New Zealand and how many of my teammates who'll graduate. I don't want to emphasize on Alliv's part, she already knows more than I can type. Diba dude? She's also the reason why I know the people who make training days special. Over the time I've been in the team, I've gotten to love each of them as though they were part of my family. I'd hate it of they started leaving me one by one. Leaving the team just because they did would be a really bad reason. I joined the team for no one else but myself, so I have to stick to my commitment even if it would mean journeying alone. But the thing is, I'll never be alone - that's the whole point of a team. Sure I won't be seeing a lot of my old friends, but I can always make new ones right?

LESSON: Make the most of the time I have left with my teammates, especially my best friend. There's nothing in the world as meaningful as a hug. Train in Ultra (not just watch) - I end up crying when I don't! haha...