EXTERNAL DRIVE

Time flies fast. It has been long since I last wrote. A lot have already happened. The last entry I wrote was about how I enjoyed my clinical duty as a student nurse. Now, here I am, a registered nurse, a professional nurse by definition, currently employed as a research associate in the Research Ethics Board of my alma mater, UP Manila and is enjoying a funny and happy love life (still not used to calling 'us' a lovelife or a couple). I am finally a registered professional nurse. This statement may sound simple and may elicit the so-what reaction or the-hell-I-care-there-are-a-lot-more-professionals-like-you expression but for me, it isn’t just that. Before being able to state that fact – that sweet fact – I went through what I cannot describe precisely, life in UP, life in UPCN. Again, those phrases sound ordinary but they really aren't and those who went through the same can attest what I’m talking about. Burnout – I almost experienced every essence of this wor...

Hi Tart! Matagal ko nang gustong magsulat ng sulat na addressed sa’yo pero ewan ko ba kung bakit hindi matuloy-tuloy. Iniisip ko kasi kung sa card ko ilalagay, parang ang corny, though ginawa ko iyon sa unang monthsary natin, hindi ko lang naibigay kasi naisip kong parang ang corny nga kaya hindi ko na ibi nigay. Tapos kung ibinigay ko naman ng ibang araw, parang ang irrelevant na. Hahaha. Basta. Anyway Tart, masaya akong eleven ulit ngayon. =)) tapos single na ba ulit tayo? Hahahaha. Jk. Pero seryoso, hindi ko man preferred na bumabati ng monthsary dahil gusto ko ng anniversary, wala namang mawawala kung babati ako. Happy 3 rd monthsary. Haha. I wish us more days, months or even years together. :) Salamat sa lahat-lahat. Ewan ko ba kung bakit Tart pero ang chill chill pag kasama kita. Parang wala lang – in a good way. Masaya lang. Kapag magkasama tayo, feeling ko, I can act anyway  that I want. Kumbaga, akong ako. Komportable. Masaya ako Tart. Kahit sabog-sabog tayo pareho. Tang...

This is lifted from a photo caption I saw on Facebook.  I found this conversation empowering and I guess, I have the same sentiments regarding the subject. :)  In a brief conversation, a man asked a woman he was pursuing the question: “What kind of man are you looking for?” She sat quietly for a moment before looking him in the eye & asked, ‘Do you really want to know?’ Reluctantly, he said,”Yes.” She began to expound… “As a woman in this day & age, I am in a position to ask a man what can you do for me that I can’t do for myself? I pay my own bills. I take care of my household without the help of any man…or woman for that matter. I am in the position to ask, ‘What can you bring to the table?’” The man looked at her. Clearly he thought that she was referring to money. She quickly corrected his thought & stated, “I am not referring to money. I need something more. I need a man who is striving for excellence in every aspect of life.” He sat back...

“Ayoko talaga sa pedia.” “Wag talaga sa Ward 9. Wag sa Ward 11, Lord please...wag din OB” “Ward 3 or 5 pleaaaaase~” These were the words I declared, I thought and I hoped for before and even during the ward assignment for our N121.1 – Intensive Nursing Experience (Hospital-based). SANA HINDI WARD 11. January 21, 2013, Monday: We were asked to choose our top 3 preferred ward assignments and briefly state why we chose that ward since the professors would consider our preferences for our ward assignments.  I chose Ward 5 (Neuro), Ward 6 (Neuro-Surgical) and Ward 3 (Medical). Ward 5 has been the ward I’m wishing for since I was in my third year in college. I enjoyed my first (and last, so far) experience there and I wanted to enjoy more there. Ward 6 was my second choice just because it had “neuro” in its name (yeah, lame). Finally, I chose Ward 3 because I also enjoyed my rotations there and I like the variation of cases there.   Pro...

As part of our degree program curriculum, students are sent to partner communities to promote community development. In our case, we’re sent to San Juan, Batangas. We have been staying there since November 2012 but we go back to Manila every two weekends. We are immersed there until the third week of January 2013. In our community stay, we are expected to mobilize the community in terms of planning, implementing and evaluating health programs. We are also entailed to provide nursing care to five families following the criteria given to us. Aside from these, we are doing our community-based research as well. Months before our community experience, I had been wishing to be assigned to a large barangay where I would be very much challenged without the person I least wanted to work with (let’s call her Arsi). I got what I wanted; I was put in a large barangay, a very challenging one based on the previous batch’s experiences, but unfortunately, I was grouped with that person I least w...

Last night (until about 2am) I was with these "unexpected new friends" in an unexpected dinner in an unexpected place which happened to be the house of one of these unexpected new friends. How did I end up hanging out with them late at night? Spontaneity, it kills me everytime but I enjoy it. By the way, there were four of us.  To begin with, we have been classmates since first year college but we never had the chance to be close friends. Maybe I have been in casual talks and some kind of bonding with them but we never had the opportunity to know each other deeper. We had our different cliques that seemed impenetrable if one was left alone with a barkada to which he/she did not belong. That was the case until this year.  Due to unlikely circumstances, I have been attached to these people even if they did not belong to my barkada and I did not belong in theirs. It started with small chats, jokes and then eating with them until hanging out. We became open to each othe...

When one door closes, another opens. True. You’ve come into my life fast. I welcomed you easily and hoped that “it” will be consistent. Well, I guess I made the wrong move. I should have trusted my instinct. From the start, I felt something was wrong. Everything was fast but I told myself that life is full of surprises. You were one of those surprises, yes, but I thought you were one of the good ones. I thought wrong. Maybe I overanalyzed everything and I hoped for so much. I hoped that you liked me. I hoped that you found me interesting. I hoped that you wanted to know me more. I hoped that you enjoyed the times that we’re together. For some reason I hoped for these but deep in me, I know that I should not. You have no reason to be attached with me. Yes, you have none. I don’t have to enumerate my imperfections because in the past, almost everyday, I thought of them. I am exhausted frustrating myself for so long. TORTURE I think I learned how to deal with th...