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This is a poem entitled "Loneliness" written by Edward Estlin Cummings or popularly known as E E Cummings. At first look, one would not think that it is not a poem. The poem needs deeper understanding.
I had a difficult time understanding this poem but even if I am not so sure if my interpretaion is correct, I would still share waht I understand about it.
Being all alone makes us feel lonely. There are also times that we are not alone but we feel lonely. Something is lacking. For me, the phrase "a leaf falls" which is inside the parenthesis is significant. The use of a leaf(singular form) implies something. Why will the leaf fall? I guess that the phrase means that there is sadness. When we feel lonely, we become sad. We feel so down like we are falling. For me, the leaf stands for the person who feels lonely. The remaining leaves are the people around the lonely person.

ThE LooK

I believe that the eyes are more powerful than any other organ of the body. By looking at the eyes of a person, one can immediately tell what that person feels. The eyes are the windows to our souls. But sometimes one cannot tell what that person feels because some people can hide their emotions.
Have you ever experienced being looked by someone and then it later bothered you? A look leaves a person with mystery. A look may mean something and it lasts longer than a kiss. That is what the poem "the look" is all about.
The poem talks about a girl who was haunted by a look of a lover. Two men kissed her but those kisses did not last. The look prevailed but the kisses were gone. A single look may mean a lot to a person. You can even say something by just looking. A look is very expressive. By just looking, you can already express your love to someone.
Do you believe in love at first sight? Me? No, I do not believe because how can you love a person you just saw. You need to know more of that person. Yes, you may have a good feeling towards that person but I tell you, it is not love. It can be infatuation or admiration but not love.
Many people passes in our lives. Sometimes you think that they're staying for good. There are times when we think that it is already love that we feel but you will soon find out that it's not. The heart knows if that love is the right one. When you love, use your head and your heart. Balance the two organs. Listen to both.
In my own experience, I had a lot of suitors and I'm not bragging. They all say that they love me but I do not easily believe them. They court me and ask me if when will I say yes. I am afraid to say yes to them because they might just use me for other purposes.They give me gifts and all those stuff toys but giving material things does not mean that they love me. They always say I love you to me even of they have not met me yet. On this day, they say they love me but on the next day they are with another girl. I had three boyfriends already but in all of those relationships, there was no love involved. There was I time when I thought that I was already in love but I soon found out that it was just infatuation. I had this childhood friend and he asked me if he can court me and I satd yes. When I went to Leyte, he said that he will not court me anymore because he do not want to disturb me in my studies. He said that he will just wait for the time that I will be ready. I was happy to hear him say those words. He was not thinking of himself and I can truly tell that it is love he feels. It all started with one look.

A Soldier by: Robert Frost

He is that fallen lance that lies as hurled,
That lies unlifted now, come dew, come rust,
But still lies pointed as it ploughed the dust.
If we who sight along it round the world,
See nothing worthy to have been its mark,
It is because like men we look too near,
Forgetting that as fitted to the sphere,
Our missiles always make too short an arc.
They fall, they rip the grass, they intersect
The curve of earth, and striking, break their own;
They make us cringe for metal-point on stone.
But this we know, the obstacle that checked
And tripped the body, shot the spirit on
Further than target ever showed or shone.

Love: An act of will not of the heart

Love has been a very controversial issue since the beginning of time. Among the most asked question is that what should be followed when deciding about matters of love. Is love an act of will and not by the heart. Most people are confused with this topic and I am also one of them. Let us first tackle on the function of the heart and the brain.
The heart does nothing but pump blood that circulates in a person's body. The heart is not responsible for a feeling of love that a person feels towards another person. It is the brain that is truly responsible for it. The brain releases neurotransmitters called dopamine. This kind of neurotransmitter is the one involved or responsible for natural high. When a person is in love, biologically, it means that there is a dopamine rush that makes us feel good.
It is a common misconception that the heart is the one responsible for the feeling of love. Why does the heart being associated with love? Long ago, the heart was once thought to be the center of all thought process, not the brain. Therefore, all emotions were associated with the heart. As the belief that the heart was the seat and center of emotions faded, the love association stayed in place due to the tendency for the heart to race in response to adrenaline caused by meeting an interesting person of the opposite sex.
The truth is I am also confused with this topic. I guess the brain and the heart should go together always because one cannot say that he/she is in love because her brains tell him so. In the movies, you can always find conflicts like who should be followed in making decisions about love. Is it really the brain or the heart. Some says that the brain is above the heart and therefor it should be always followed.

Him and his 36 bummers

After the harsh punishment we had, I immediately ran to our classroom and cried. I can’t stop the tears that were falling. It was tears of anger. I was really furious at that time because of what had happened. It was just fine if he had given us such punishment if we had done a great mistake but the big deal was the punishment was too much. He did not even consider that there were girls who were having their menstruation. He even asked us if we have menstruation but he did not exempt us from his punishment. He was very inconsiderate. He was too abusive of his powers.

When I was inside the room, I cried and cried until I was able to lose my breath. All of the people were shouting with anger, some were crying, and some were hugging each other. When he came inside, some of the girls confronted him. I can’t keep the pain and so I busted out my emotion that time. I shouted at him. After all that I have said, I loss my consciousness. I can still remember when Eldee and Nico carried me toward the faculty room because I was half conscious. My hands stiffened because there was no oxygen in my body. The teachers were in panic. They called the nurse in the clinic and asked her to pick me up. A little later, I was shocked to see Jessa in the faculty room. She also lost her consciousness.

When the nurse arrived, we were then brought to the clinic. In the clinic, the nurse helped us in breathing because we were catching our breath. Dan, Eldee, Nico Martin, and Neil stayed in the clinic with us. They made us feel better. Still my eyes were teary but I felt better.

When we were already fine, the nurse gave us some food and so we stood up and ate together. There was a lot of food and while eating we were also talking of what had just happened. A little later, Novelyn and Yolike arrived. Yolike laid herself in the bed and she was able to sleep. She said she was very tired and she could hardly breathe.

While eating, Novelyn told me what happened when I loss my consciousness. She said that everyone was shouting at Richard and they were very angry. She also said that Richard shouted saying “I demand for respect!” When I heard what Novelyn said, I was again mad. How could he say such thing? Respect? Does he even know what respect means? Isn’t he out of his mind? Isn’t it a respect when we still executed his punishment for us? At the first place, respect is not demanded; it is earned. He is a leader and if he wants respect, he must also respect his own cadets.

When we were done eating, we went back to the campus and as I entered the classroom, I saw Richard talking with his girlfriend as if nothing just happened. It’s as if he did not even noticed me. He did not even sorry. His heart was made of stones. If his girlfriend was in our platoon, I don’t think he can do such an act of punishing us. A little while, we had a gathering. When we were all busy, another incident happened. Gayle’s wallet was stolen. Her three hundred pesos was gone. Our officers inspected our bags and our pockets. It was already the second time around when Gayle lost her money. The thief took advantage of the intense situation to grab Gayle’s wallet and took her money. The officers did not found her money in our bags and so we suspected that the thief already hid it somewhere.

When I arrived home, my mom asked me about what have happened. And so I told her all about it. She was very angry because of it. She said that Richard should also be punished for abusing his powers. She also said that she will go to the principal and to the adviser. She also wanted to talk to Richard.

How I want to be remembered after I leave high school

High school life is the best part or stage of being a student. It is the time when we gain a lot of friends and start to fall in love. When I was still a freshman, I had a hard time dealing with people. I only had a few friends because I never talked to anybody. Time came when I became part of a group called FAJJYMAESS. FAJJYMAESS which stands for FLorianne, Aiko, Jessa, Jezza, Yolike, Michelle, April, Ernestine, Sunshine, and Shallunah. They were my first group of friends. At first, I thought that this group will make it to the end but I was wrong. Our real personalities were shown and it was hard for us to adjust. We found ourselves with another group of people but still we remained as friends.
When I was in second year, I found myself together with Juna, Novelyn, Yolike, and Jessa. They became my new set of friendships. I was able to adjust to their attitude because our personalities are somewhat alike. I found happiness with them. The real me showed up. The talkative, clumsy jezza that no one see med to noticed. I was not afraid to show the real me. I gained a lot of friends. I learned to accept trials as challenges. I became stronger.

We always hangout together and chat with each other. Every time we talk, our voices are very loud. We always laugh at each other joke especially when someone mispronounces the words. We love each others company.

When we were in third year, we did not become classmates but still hangout together. In our classroom, I was again with other people. I was with Yolike and Ernestine. They were my former group mates in FAJJYMAESS. Even if I had different classroom with Novelyn, Jessa, and Juna, nothing has changed.. We always talk aloud. We even establish a group called SJB or the Samahan ng mga Junior Boyz.

When I was in third year, I became more and more clumsy and talkative. They always say I’m very clumsy. Clumsy is the best word that can describe me. I do not know what is in my feet that make me such a clumsy person. I do not want to change that clumsiness of mine because that is what I am known for and that is how I gained a lot of true friends. They accepted me for that clumsiness.

We are about to graduate and I want to be remembered as the clumsy person they have ever known.

ReSeArCh ArTiCle

Products containing nitrate/ phosphate are disposed by 15, 278, 808 households, 5, 899 industries and 3, 392, 361 agricultural lands. Products which we use everyday like soaps, detergents, fertilizer and cleaning agents contain nitrate/ phosphate substances. According to Ansar and Khad (2005) phosphates and nitrates could cause algal bloom. Algal bloom means that there are 1000 algae cells in one milliliter of water sample. Algae count could help determine the niters/ phosphate absorption in different bodies of water since there is obvious connection of both. Algal bloom poses real danger to the environment. When this population of Algae die, they use up the oxygen gas that are needed by other organisms which leads to their death in the process. Nitrate/ phosphate substances arrive at different bodies of water through both direct and indirect sources.The water sources used in the study were a lagoon found in Ayala Center Cebu; a river in Kamputhaw; and a well found in T.Padilla. Every water source was affected by both direct and indirect sources. A water sample of 30 mL was taken from each source for five days using the same method all throughout those five days. The samples were also taken during the same time of the day. The algae counts were taken using only a drop from each sample using a light microscope.The counting came up with the following numbers of algae from each sample after five consecutive days of gathering: River having the greatest mean number of algae of 17.4 or 194.88 algae cells per mL while the well had the least having only 2.6 algae cells per drop or 29.12 algae cells per mL of sample. The lagoon had 6.2 algae cells per drop 0r 69.44 algae cells per mL of sample.The study used ANOVA or Analysis of Variance to determine if there is significant difference in the Algae counts of the three samples. The data's significance was tested at a five percent level of significance with (2,12) degrees of freedom and compared them with the tabled value of 3.89. The test came up with an F- ratio of 3.81 which is greater than the tabled value thus the Null Hypothesis was neglected. The action meant that there was no significant difference in their algae counts and there is no significant difference in the river, lagoon, and well in terms of nitrate/ phosphate absorption. It has been also found out during the course of the study that the three sources of water are not contaminated with nitrate/ phosphate since their algae counts are far from the limit of 1000 cells per mL of sample.Out of the data gathered and findings, we therefore conclude that the water sample from Ayala lagoon, Kamputhaw river, and T.Padilla well do not differ. The sources of water have the same amount of nitrate/ phosphate contamination.
Based on our findings and conclusion, we recommend the future researchers to conduct a replication of the study but with more days of gathering the water samples. Another replication of the study may focus on another water sample especially those near factories.