Personal Stand in view of Legalizing Same-Sex Marriage in the Philippines

After the informal debates in class in view of Legalizing Same-Sex Marriage in the Philippines;vis-a-vis our lessons on the basics and foundation of Christian Morality, come up with a formal short essay (using google and other related sites) in support to your stand regarding the topic.  A minimum of three strong points for your stand is required for this seat work.  This is worth 15 points for your understanding grade.  Use the comment part for your seat work.    

Personal Stand in view of Legalizing Same-Sex Marriage in the Philippines

After the informal debates in class in view of Legalizing Same-Sex Marriage in the Philippines;vis-a-vis our lessons on the basics and foundation of Christian Morality, come up with a formal short essay (using google and other related sites) in support to your stand regarding the topic.  A minimum of three strong points for your stand is required for this seat work.  This is worth 15 points for your understanding grade.  Use the comment part for your seat work.    

De La Salle Santiago Zobel School

Christian Living Unit

Third Year AY 2015-2016

Homework in Introduction to Morality

Direction:  Write/type/encode your answers in the comment portion of this page.  Before your answers, write the following (Use this format): Family name, First name and Section.  Each item is worth 2 points.  You don't need to research for your answers.  Prior knowledge is enough.

1.  What is morality?

2.  What is Christian morality?

3.  Is being a Christian a requirement for a person to live a 'moral' life?

4.  Give at least 3 factors (ex:family upbringing, etc) that may strongly influence or trigger for a person to live a moral life? Explain briefly.
5.  What can you say about the 3 dimensions of faith: Doctrine, Moral and Worship?

6.  What do you mean by responsible freedom?  Give one brief concrete example.

De La Salle Santiago Zobel School

Christian Living Unit

Third Year AY 2015-2016

Homework in Introduction to Morality

Direction:  Write/type/encode your answers in the comment portion of this page.  Before your answers, write the following (Use this format): Family name, First name and Section.  Each item is worth 2 points.  You don't need to research for your answers.  Prior knowledge is enough.

1.  What is morality?

2.  What is Christian morality?

3.  Is being a Christian a requirement for a person to live a 'moral' life?

4.  Give at least 3 factors (ex:family upbringing, etc) that may strongly influence or trigger for a person to live a moral life? Explain briefly.
5.  What can you say about the 3 dimensions of faith: Doctrine, Moral and Worship?

6.  What do you mean by responsible freedom?  Give one brief concrete example.

De La Salle Santiago Zobel School

Christian Living Unit

Course Outline (Tentative)

Third Year AY 2015-2016

First Term: The Basics of Catholic Christian Morality

I. Introduction: The 3 Dimensions of Faith

            1. Doctrine

            2. Moral

            3. Worship

II. What is Morality?  Introduction to Christian Morality

            1. “What Should I Do?”

            2. Keeping the Commandments

            3. Following Christ

III. Who am I? Man – the Image of God

            1. Celebrating our Human Dignity

            2. Jesus Christ Reveals to Us the Fullness of Our Dignity

            3. Who is my Neighbor?

IV. Freedom and Responsibility

            1. What is Freedom?

            2. Freedom in the Old and New Testament

            3. Growing in Freedom

Second Term: The Morality of Human Acts

I. Exercising Christian Conscience

            1. What is Human Conscience?

            2. What Conscience is Not

            3. Conscience Morally Obliges

                        3.1 Subjective Dimension

                        3.2 Objective Dimension

            4. Formation of Conscience

                        4.1 Following Your Conscience

                        4.2 Forming a Christian Conscience

                        4.3 Mature Christian Conscience

II. Contemporary Moral Issues

            1.  Celebrating Life and Health – “the 5^th Commandment”

                        1.1 “The Morality of Abortion” – When Does Human Life Begin?

                        1.2 “The Morality of Euthanasia” – How Should a Christian Face Death?

                        1.3 “The Issue on Cloning and Stem Cell Technology” – What is the Stand of the

                                                                                          Catholic Church?

Third Term: Contemporary Moral Issues

I. Integrating Oneself

            1. “Human Sexuality: A Gift”

                        1.1 The Virtue of Chastity

                        1.2 Obstacles to Growing in Chastity

                                    1.2.1 Is Homosexuality OK?

                                    1.2.2 Pornography and Prostitution

                                    1.2.3 Premarital Sex

                                    1.2.4 Artificial Contraception/Birth Control

            2. Respecting Truth

                        2.1 Levels of Truth

                        2.2 Obstacles to Respecting Truth

Major Sources:

Catechism for Filipino Catholics Manila: Episcopal Commission on Catechesis and Catholic

Education of the Catholic Bishop’s Conference of the Philippines and Word & Life Publications, 2004.

Catechism of the Catholic Church Manila: Episcopal Commission on Catechesis and Catholic

Education of the Catholic Bishop’s Conference of the Philippines and Word & Life Publications, 1994.

Called to Follow Christ in True Freedom, Sibs Publishing House Inc., 2012.

Maturing in Christian Faith, the National Catechetical Directory of the Philippines. Manila ECERI

1985.

Peschke, Karl H. SVD. Christian Ethics: Moral Theology in the Light of Vatican II. Volume 1:

General Moral Theology. Mania: Divine Word Publications, 1996.

Basic Requirements per term:

1. Ebook: Called to Follow Christ in True Freedom

2. 5 Gospel Reflections

3. Formative and Summative Assessments

4. Performance Task

5. Bible

6. Optional: Lecture Notebook and Rosary

Prepared by: Mr. Cloyd Uyson and Ms. Christine Venerayan

Third Year- Christian Living Teacher

Approved by:

Sir Allan Apdua

HS Christian Living Coordinator

De La Salle Santiago Zobel School

Christian Living Unit

Course Outline (Tentative)

Third Year AY 2015-2016

First Term: The Basics of Catholic Christian Morality

I. Introduction: The 3 Dimensions of Faith

            1. Doctrine

            2. Moral

            3. Worship

II. What is Morality?  Introduction to Christian Morality

            1. “What Should I Do?”

            2. Keeping the Commandments

            3. Following Christ

III. Who am I? Man – the Image of God

            1. Celebrating our Human Dignity

            2. Jesus Christ Reveals to Us the Fullness of Our Dignity

            3. Who is my Neighbor?

IV. Freedom and Responsibility

            1. What is Freedom?

            2. Freedom in the Old and New Testament

            3. Growing in Freedom

Second Term: The Morality of Human Acts

I. Exercising Christian Conscience

            1. What is Human Conscience?

            2. What Conscience is Not

            3. Conscience Morally Obliges

                        3.1 Subjective Dimension

                        3.2 Objective Dimension

            4. Formation of Conscience

                        4.1 Following Your Conscience

                        4.2 Forming a Christian Conscience

                        4.3 Mature Christian Conscience

II. Contemporary Moral Issues

            1.  Celebrating Life and Health – “the 5^th Commandment”

                        1.1 “The Morality of Abortion” – When Does Human Life Begin?

                        1.2 “The Morality of Euthanasia” – How Should a Christian Face Death?

                        1.3 “The Issue on Cloning and Stem Cell Technology” – What is the Stand of the

                                                                                          Catholic Church?

Third Term: Contemporary Moral Issues

I. Integrating Oneself

            1. “Human Sexuality: A Gift”

                        1.1 The Virtue of Chastity

                        1.2 Obstacles to Growing in Chastity

                                    1.2.1 Is Homosexuality OK?

                                    1.2.2 Pornography and Prostitution

                                    1.2.3 Premarital Sex

                                    1.2.4 Artificial Contraception/Birth Control

            2. Respecting Truth

                        2.1 Levels of Truth

                        2.2 Obstacles to Respecting Truth

Major Sources:

Catechism for Filipino Catholics Manila: Episcopal Commission on Catechesis and Catholic

Education of the Catholic Bishop’s Conference of the Philippines and Word & Life Publications, 2004.

Catechism of the Catholic Church Manila: Episcopal Commission on Catechesis and Catholic

Education of the Catholic Bishop’s Conference of the Philippines and Word & Life Publications, 1994.

Called to Follow Christ in True Freedom, Sibs Publishing House Inc., 2012.

Maturing in Christian Faith, the National Catechetical Directory of the Philippines. Manila ECERI

1985.

Peschke, Karl H. SVD. Christian Ethics: Moral Theology in the Light of Vatican II. Volume 1:

General Moral Theology. Mania: Divine Word Publications, 1996.

Basic Requirements per term:

1. Ebook: Called to Follow Christ in True Freedom

2. 5 Gospel Reflections

3. Formative and Summative Assessments

4. Performance Task

5. Bible

6. Optional: Lecture Notebook and Rosary

Prepared by: Mr. Cloyd Uyson and Ms. Christine Venerayan

Third Year- Christian Living Teacher

Approved by:

Sir Allan Apdua

HS Christian Living Coordinator

"The Headphones"

by: Annika Bengzon 9C 

When you meet someone, you have no idea what to expect. Will you love them? Hate them? Fall in love, be friends or mortal enemies with them? No one really knows what the Universe has in plan for two souls that happen to be at the right place at the right time. Sometimes, two souls deeply in love will have that love forever. Who knows, maybe he was everything she was looking for, and she was everything he wanted to avoid. Love breaks boundaries, and that’s exactly what these two were. One lonely, cold night in the middle of January started this journey that these two young kids could never forget. She was in a coffee shop, all alone, browsing through a new book, while sipping a cup of coffee. He was across the room, just observing her. He noticed how lonely she looked. Every time her phone would ring, she would look hopeful, then disappointed. Turns out, they were headed on the same bus home. It was 8:07 pm when he first spoke to her. Headphones in her ear, looking out the window, he tapped her shoulder and said, “What are you listening too?” She took out her headphones and said, “I’m not listening to anything. I just didn’t want anyone to talk to me.” That’s all was supposed to be. Small talk. Turns out, they went to the same school. He was just a year older. He started to see her everywhere, almost like God was telling him something. He caught her in the hallway and said, “Oh hi, girl that wears headphones so no one will talk to her.” She sarcastically replies, “Actually, the name is Annika, not whatever you just said.” He just says, “Hahaha, very funny, Annika. I’m Angelo.” And that’s where it all began, these two would catch each other everywhere, in school, in the coffee shop, pretty much everywhere. One day, he realized he really liked this girl and decided to tell her. At the same time, she was ranting to her best friend how much she likes him but she doesn’t want to. Basically, after a lot of arguing, they went on their first date. One turned into two, then three and then they established they loved each other, a few months after they really got together. They would always fight about the boy she once loved. When he first saw her, the phone call she was waiting for was from him. She was heartbroken when she found out he had taken an interest into another girl in her class, she waited in that coffee shop, where they would always go, for his call to tell her he was joking. He always pulled pranks on her. He was jealous of her relationship with him. She always told him that she was better off without the other guy and she felt so much happier with him. She was not lying, although he didn’t believe her. They got passed it after he saw the guy with another girl, and she was not hurt one bit and actually was happy that they were both happier without each other and happier with the people they were with now. After he graduated high school, he waited for her. They went to the same college, he studied advertising and she studied literature. They went through a rough patch in college. Big fight, massive break up, spent five months not talking to each other, but they could not not have each other. After she turned 24, in the middle of January the next year, they got married in their hometown. Their marriage vows included that same joke about her being anti-social on their bus ride home. He always thanks her conscience that she actually spoke to him on that bus ride home. She said, “As long as the person doesn’t look like he or she would harm me, I would probably reply to them. Don’t flatter yourself.” The priest reminded them about what she was thinking in that moment, “God has brought you together for a reason. You said that she would appear everywhere. God was telling you something. And the second time you talked to her, I bet God was so happy for both of you that you did. He is proud of you both.” A couple of years later, both extremely happy, with a dog, she had a successful book out, him heading the advertising department of a big company. They had a boy. Two years later, two more dogs, a little boy who loves toy cars, more successful books and an advertising business of their own, they had a baby girl. That was exactly what they wanted. God luckily gave it to them. They were proud of their achievements, their kids and even their dogs, but mostly of each other. Looks like the Universe had a really good plan for them after all. 

Reflection: “Happy is the man who finds a true friend, and far happier is he who finds that true friend in his wife.” That is always why you must be friends first before you date, and much more before you get married. Many marriages are built on the foundation that is friendship. As best and true friends, you must love each other unconditionally despite fights and flaws, the trust and loyalty you have for each other. And the fact you would never ever give up on each other despite all the rough patches you both have. That is like marriage,that is why you must not just be lovers, but friends first. Proverbs 5:18-19 says: “May your fountain be blessed, and may you rejoice in the wife of your youth. A loving doe, a graceful deer-- may her breasts satisfy you always, may you ever be captivated by her love.”

"The Headphones"

by: Annika Bengzon 9C 

When you meet someone, you have no idea what to expect. Will you love them? Hate them? Fall in love, be friends or mortal enemies with them? No one really knows what the Universe has in plan for two souls that happen to be at the right place at the right time. Sometimes, two souls deeply in love will have that love forever. Who knows, maybe he was everything she was looking for, and she was everything he wanted to avoid. Love breaks boundaries, and that’s exactly what these two were. One lonely, cold night in the middle of January started this journey that these two young kids could never forget. She was in a coffee shop, all alone, browsing through a new book, while sipping a cup of coffee. He was across the room, just observing her. He noticed how lonely she looked. Every time her phone would ring, she would look hopeful, then disappointed. Turns out, they were headed on the same bus home. It was 8:07 pm when he first spoke to her. Headphones in her ear, looking out the window, he tapped her shoulder and said, “What are you listening too?” She took out her headphones and said, “I’m not listening to anything. I just didn’t want anyone to talk to me.” That’s all was supposed to be. Small talk. Turns out, they went to the same school. He was just a year older. He started to see her everywhere, almost like God was telling him something. He caught her in the hallway and said, “Oh hi, girl that wears headphones so no one will talk to her.” She sarcastically replies, “Actually, the name is Annika, not whatever you just said.” He just says, “Hahaha, very funny, Annika. I’m Angelo.” And that’s where it all began, these two would catch each other everywhere, in school, in the coffee shop, pretty much everywhere. One day, he realized he really liked this girl and decided to tell her. At the same time, she was ranting to her best friend how much she likes him but she doesn’t want to. Basically, after a lot of arguing, they went on their first date. One turned into two, then three and then they established they loved each other, a few months after they really got together. They would always fight about the boy she once loved. When he first saw her, the phone call she was waiting for was from him. She was heartbroken when she found out he had taken an interest into another girl in her class, she waited in that coffee shop, where they would always go, for his call to tell her he was joking. He always pulled pranks on her. He was jealous of her relationship with him. She always told him that she was better off without the other guy and she felt so much happier with him. She was not lying, although he didn’t believe her. They got passed it after he saw the guy with another girl, and she was not hurt one bit and actually was happy that they were both happier without each other and happier with the people they were with now. After he graduated high school, he waited for her. They went to the same college, he studied advertising and she studied literature. They went through a rough patch in college. Big fight, massive break up, spent five months not talking to each other, but they could not not have each other. After she turned 24, in the middle of January the next year, they got married in their hometown. Their marriage vows included that same joke about her being anti-social on their bus ride home. He always thanks her conscience that she actually spoke to him on that bus ride home. She said, “As long as the person doesn’t look like he or she would harm me, I would probably reply to them. Don’t flatter yourself.” The priest reminded them about what she was thinking in that moment, “God has brought you together for a reason. You said that she would appear everywhere. God was telling you something. And the second time you talked to her, I bet God was so happy for both of you that you did. He is proud of you both.” A couple of years later, both extremely happy, with a dog, she had a successful book out, him heading the advertising department of a big company. They had a boy. Two years later, two more dogs, a little boy who loves toy cars, more successful books and an advertising business of their own, they had a baby girl. That was exactly what they wanted. God luckily gave it to them. They were proud of their achievements, their kids and even their dogs, but mostly of each other. Looks like the Universe had a really good plan for them after all. 

Reflection: “Happy is the man who finds a true friend, and far happier is he who finds that true friend in his wife.” That is always why you must be friends first before you date, and much more before you get married. Many marriages are built on the foundation that is friendship. As best and true friends, you must love each other unconditionally despite fights and flaws, the trust and loyalty you have for each other. And the fact you would never ever give up on each other despite all the rough patches you both have. That is like marriage,that is why you must not just be lovers, but friends first. Proverbs 5:18-19 says: “May your fountain be blessed, and may you rejoice in the wife of your youth. A loving doe, a graceful deer-- may her breasts satisfy you always, may you ever be captivated by her love.”

"Iridescent"

Iridescent
By: A.Martin

Iridescent;showing luminous colors that seems to change when seen from different angles.

 It was your typical Saturday afternoon, not so sunny yet not so windy it was just right. I was a college student so I never had the chance to catch a break but every Saturday I can actually have peace and relax at the book store and every single time I'm there I see him; the guy that just wanders around looking for books to read and every time I see him he never fails to catch my eye, I can't help but feel attracted to him like somehow, he's going to be a huge part of my life, and today was the day that everything was about to change, I was going to make the first move and ask him out for coffee or maybe even lunch and I know it sounds weird right? The girl making the first move, I usually don't make the first move but with him everything feels so different as if he was going to change my entire life. So I did end up walking over to him we exchanged a few words and caught a glance of the book he was reading "The Great Gatsby" he had excellent taste in literature, he agreed to have lunch with me soon, I couldn't have been more ecstatic that he agreed to go out with me. It was the morning of the day we were going to go out for lunch I couldn't have been more nervous, I couldn't help but think what if he didn't like me? what if he didn't show, I was a mess and I couldn't stop overthinking everything but he showed and after that we instantly clicked, we'd hang out at the bookstore every Saturday afternoon and go out for lunch afterwards every single time, we became best friends and we were inseparable. 4 years passed and we were still the best of friends, I was graduating from college soon, in two weeks exactly and I couldn't be happier to finally relax and start my life. After I graduated we started hanging out everyday instead of just on Saturday's and I couldn't be more thankful for having a best friend like him in my life. 2 more years have passed and it was the day that was about to change my entire life, being best friends with him for nearly 6 years was hard to believe and I definitely didn't expect it to turn out the way it is now, it was my birthday which just so happened to fall on our regular book store Saturday afternoon ritual which ended up being our tradition after our first year of friendship but he wasn't answering my calls MONOLOGUE 1 and he was ignoring all my texts so I just ended up going by myself to check out some books to read and I stumbled upon the book he was reading when we first met "The Great Gatsby" and I smiled to myself thinking "how did I get so lucky?" so out of pure boredom I ended up reading it, in the middle of the book I noticed a diamond ring which was quite odd because you don't really see those in books, but he was there standing behind me asking me to marry him and I did, and I couldn't have been happier with my decision and that is the story of how I met Angelo Buencamino

"Iridescent"

Iridescent
By: A.Martin

Iridescent;showing luminous colors that seems to change when seen from different angles.

 It was your typical Saturday afternoon, not so sunny yet not so windy it was just right. I was a college student so I never had the chance to catch a break but every Saturday I can actually have peace and relax at the book store and every single time I'm there I see him; the guy that just wanders around looking for books to read and every time I see him he never fails to catch my eye, I can't help but feel attracted to him like somehow, he's going to be a huge part of my life, and today was the day that everything was about to change, I was going to make the first move and ask him out for coffee or maybe even lunch and I know it sounds weird right? The girl making the first move, I usually don't make the first move but with him everything feels so different as if he was going to change my entire life. So I did end up walking over to him we exchanged a few words and caught a glance of the book he was reading "The Great Gatsby" he had excellent taste in literature, he agreed to have lunch with me soon, I couldn't have been more ecstatic that he agreed to go out with me. It was the morning of the day we were going to go out for lunch I couldn't have been more nervous, I couldn't help but think what if he didn't like me? what if he didn't show, I was a mess and I couldn't stop overthinking everything but he showed and after that we instantly clicked, we'd hang out at the bookstore every Saturday afternoon and go out for lunch afterwards every single time, we became best friends and we were inseparable. 4 years passed and we were still the best of friends, I was graduating from college soon, in two weeks exactly and I couldn't be happier to finally relax and start my life. After I graduated we started hanging out everyday instead of just on Saturday's and I couldn't be more thankful for having a best friend like him in my life. 2 more years have passed and it was the day that was about to change my entire life, being best friends with him for nearly 6 years was hard to believe and I definitely didn't expect it to turn out the way it is now, it was my birthday which just so happened to fall on our regular book store Saturday afternoon ritual which ended up being our tradition after our first year of friendship but he wasn't answering my calls MONOLOGUE 1 and he was ignoring all my texts so I just ended up going by myself to check out some books to read and I stumbled upon the book he was reading when we first met "The Great Gatsby" and I smiled to myself thinking "how did I get so lucky?" so out of pure boredom I ended up reading it, in the middle of the book I noticed a diamond ring which was quite odd because you don't really see those in books, but he was there standing behind me asking me to marry him and I did, and I couldn't have been happier with my decision and that is the story of how I met Angelo Buencamino

"Bea"

By Mattheus Marcial 9D CN:26

We were classmates I first saw Bea. It wasn't love at first sight, but I admit that I did take an interest in her. I wasn't confident though so for some time it was just that at most. I don’t remember what specific event made us talk though from whatever it was we talked more and more frequently. We talked about pretty much anything honestly, from what happened in school to past stories but there were still a lot of awkward moments. It was not all good though with a lot of moments gone wrong (mostly by my fault). I can’t say for sure when I first fell in love with her, but "fortunately" my friends knew. With their "help", I was able to give gifts to her until I finally admitted that I like her.  A few years like that passed, my courage grew even more and more until I finally asked her out on a date. I took her to the countryside, in a breezy grassland under the night sky and we just lay down on the grass and talked and talked and talked the night away. It wasn’t over the top, but it felt right. A couple more years of dating and a college degree later, I finally proposed to her. It isn’t a perfect relationship, but it was one that was worth it.

After the proposal would come some of the most hectic months of our lives. From planning the seats, to meeting with the pastor, to reserving Manila Cathedral, it was 6 months of stress and work. It was only until the wedding day where I finally felt all the burdens of the past months fade away. Seeing Bea, the girl I've spent so many years of my life with, walk down the aisle to join me to proclaim our union in front of God and everyone important in both our lives made me feel light-hearted. The reception in Villa Immaculada was a grand celebration with all our friends and our now common family. We then spent the rest of our lives with our 2 children who we treated to be good and kind. It was not the best of marriages, but it was perfectly imperfect.

This project helped me think a little more about not just the future, but also the present and past. What I do now is because of my past and will affect my future. Thinking about this, I must learn from my past to use in the present to help make my future better for not just me, but for others as well. Being married is something very serious and shouldn’t be taken lightly. Finding someone that you will spend the rest of your life with is not hard but working to be with that person for the rest of your life is and is very worth the trouble. 

"Bea"

By Mattheus Marcial 9D CN:26

We were classmates I first saw Bea. It wasn't love at first sight, but I admit that I did take an interest in her. I wasn't confident though so for some time it was just that at most. I don’t remember what specific event made us talk though from whatever it was we talked more and more frequently. We talked about pretty much anything honestly, from what happened in school to past stories but there were still a lot of awkward moments. It was not all good though with a lot of moments gone wrong (mostly by my fault). I can’t say for sure when I first fell in love with her, but "fortunately" my friends knew. With their "help", I was able to give gifts to her until I finally admitted that I like her.  A few years like that passed, my courage grew even more and more until I finally asked her out on a date. I took her to the countryside, in a breezy grassland under the night sky and we just lay down on the grass and talked and talked and talked the night away. It wasn’t over the top, but it felt right. A couple more years of dating and a college degree later, I finally proposed to her. It isn’t a perfect relationship, but it was one that was worth it.

After the proposal would come some of the most hectic months of our lives. From planning the seats, to meeting with the pastor, to reserving Manila Cathedral, it was 6 months of stress and work. It was only until the wedding day where I finally felt all the burdens of the past months fade away. Seeing Bea, the girl I've spent so many years of my life with, walk down the aisle to join me to proclaim our union in front of God and everyone important in both our lives made me feel light-hearted. The reception in Villa Immaculada was a grand celebration with all our friends and our now common family. We then spent the rest of our lives with our 2 children who we treated to be good and kind. It was not the best of marriages, but it was perfectly imperfect.

This project helped me think a little more about not just the future, but also the present and past. What I do now is because of my past and will affect my future. Thinking about this, I must learn from my past to use in the present to help make my future better for not just me, but for others as well. Being married is something very serious and shouldn’t be taken lightly. Finding someone that you will spend the rest of your life with is not hard but working to be with that person for the rest of your life is and is very worth the trouble. 

"Outerspace"

By: Ria Ramos

Another rocket ship soared out of the planet again. I gazed upon it in my spaceship and pondered about how Earth is like now. Everyone was leaving the Earth. They were all journeying through the galaxies with their rocket cars or ships. My team captain asked me earlier to bring up the typewriter and type about my happiness. I was listening to Girl by The Beatles and when I came to think about it, I was actually unsure of what I really wanted to be happy. The time I felt overjoyed was maybe when I had my first love. It was mixed with puppy love and true romantic love. I was so sure of myself when i was talked with that person. My science teacher once said to me, “Romantic love is when the chemicals in your brain kick in and you feel an emotional high, exhilaration, passion, and elation when you and your lover are together.” I was a kid that time and felt disgusted, I told myself I wouldn’t fall in love.

I met Luis Benedicto in studying to be an astronaut. I started to type in the typewriter making the click-clack sound. When he introduced himself to the whole class, I asked my friend, “Do you know that Benet guy?” She couldn’t stop laughing and told me that his name was actually Bene. I was seated in front of him. I made an effort to turn my back around just to talk to him. He always told me jokes and he’d just keep trying to make me laugh. He asked me, “What kind of shoes do ninjas wear?” and he said, “Sneakers.” He became my closest guy friend in class at the same time I developed feelings for him. I kept it as a secret and saw him as my pal. One day, my friends asked me what was my favorite color, I said it was cherry red. My friends giggled and rushed to Bene and I heard him say that he doesn't have the color red. He sighed and he seemed so frustrated. Hours later, the professor dismissed the class and my friend dragged me to go outside. When I went outside, I saw Bene holding a blue plane for our project in class. He gave it to me and immediately ran away. Inside the blue plane, there was a doll holding a letter and the doll said, “Bombs away!” I opened the letter, it was all doodles on the top, on the bottom it said that he likes me. The letter said, “I like like you.” I laughed and became lighthearted. I couldn’t wait to tell him also that I felt the same. The next day, the whole class was training in the gimbal rig to learn how to recover if the space capsule spun out of control, every person had to reconnect the wires orderly to fix the space capsule. It was Bene’s turn, I told him good luck. At first he was getting really dizzy in the test and couldn’t focus at all. I was looking at him and shouted, “I like you also!” He looked at me smiling and I told him to continue the test. He looked at the gimbal rig and started to reconnect the wires. 

When his test was done, we did a highfive and we both blushed and felt delighted. I got an alarming sound from the space ship and I stopped typing. there was an announcement to deliver a package to the medical room. I got a package saying, “vaccination” and placed it in the vacuum mailbox. Back to my story time, time came that they had to recruit new people to go to missions in space. The JPGR Space Company asked me to be a recruit of theirs. I needed the money to support my mom and dad so I immediately said yes. I told this to Bene, he became depressed because he wanted me to be safe. Ever since the NASA accident, when they sent 44 people on a special mission outer space, unfortunately they died and their ships were never found. I told him I had to do it for my parents. He didn’t say a word after that. “5, 4, 3, 2,“ the people started the countdown to the rocket ship’s lift-off, my very first adventure out of the planet and I was frightened. On the last second, everything became in a slowmotion. The rocket made a roaring sound during the take off. I held my seat as tight as I could. My first stop was the moon, I was so cheerful when I landed my foot on the surface of the moon. On one spot which had a little crater that I admired I wrote, “The moon always reminded me of you, a tiny brightness in the darkness of the night.” 

My teammate caught it on her video which would be sent back to Earth in a few minutes. I told my teammate that she should delete that immediately. She refused and spent the whole time there chasing my teammate for the video. My team captain told us to get back to our station. My teammate quickly broadcasted the video in the rocket. She called me with an irritating sound. I came to the ship and covered her mouth to be quiet. She pointed at the television. There I saw Bene being interviewed by a news reporter. He was holding a poster saying, “Take care always and I hope you’d come back soon Ria!” While he was being interviewed, one of my colleagues interrupted and said, “He’s actually asking you to be his girlfriend!” Bene shooed my colleague saying not to butt in to the interview. I chuckled and suddenly it was interrupted by a breaking news, it was the one my teammate uploaded. I got embarrassed and at the same time was joyful. When I came back from the mission after a whole year, I saw Bene waiting in the station, holding balloons and a Beatles vinyl record which I’ve been bugging him to listen to. I spent the next day as my first date in the cinemas in ATC. Bene and I watched Frozen. I think I was actually in love with him. I read from a dictionary a definition of love which is an intense feeling of deep affection. I realized the meaning of several love quotes sung by The Beatles. 

One quote I’d take note was from John Lennon himself, “It matters not who you love, where you love or how you love, it matters only that you love.” I had an idea what love was, it was like a sort of attachment. I spent the next years with him. It was 12 AM on June 18, 2020, my 20th birthday. I received a call from JPGR Space Company. The whole world was in a disaster, we ran out of oil and it increased the demands of astronauts to discover more oil in the other planets. Bene was recruited by 001 Corps, we didn’t see each other for 5 years. Then on March 16, 2025, NASA brought back the life of the world again, several Koreans discovered a planet which offered more resources than the Earth could ever have. They called the planet “Walrus”. With the good news, all the astronauts were able to go home. When I went out of my rocket ship, I saw Bene. He held my hand and brought me inside the elevator. He put his knee down and said, “Will you marry me?” and then the elevator door opened and everyone was cheering saying congratulations. Bene shouted, “She didn’t even say anything yet!” Everyone became breath then I took a breath and said yes. I wasn’t nervous at all with the whole situation. I was happy that I said yes to him. We first told our parents about our engagement. 

Both of our parents approved of the marriage and offered to help with the planning. Bene’s mother taught me that I also have to be ready in my faith to be able to receive the sacramentWe had to plan the weddings and everything. My parents scheduled the initial interview. In the interview, we talked to the priest and the priest talked about how important marriage is. The priest told us, “Husbands and wives share a self-giving, love-giving and life-giving relationship with their spouse and are committed to helping their spouse grow to human and Christian maturity. They seek to form a family home, and are together the first teachers of their children in Christian faith and values.” We planned that the wedding would take place in the Mary Help of Christians Church. We completed our premarital inventory, it reflected our attitudes, we also had a wedding rehearsal. Nine months passed and I was inside my room wearing this lengthy gown in a shade of pearls. I wore my mom’s favorite silver necklace which she also wore on her marriage. I took a deep breath and looked at myself in the mirror. All of the flower girls, bridesmaids kept asking me if I was excited. I smiled and said that we should leave already. 

I was entering the Church and walking down the aisle, everyone was looking at me and I looked at Bene. He was surprised with my gown. I felt so lucky. I heard the liturgy of the word and sang merrily. I couldn’t describe what I was feeling. In the rite of marriage, the priest said the words “To have and to hold from this day forward, for better or worse, for richer for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish till death.” and we both answered, “I do.” After that, like any other mass we had the eucharist and the mass ended. We went to BGC for our reception, my family was there and Bene’s family also. I looked at the whole place, thinking that this could be the best part of my life yest. After the reception, the first thing we did was that we went to our own apartment and listened to our favorite music by The Beatles, The Queen, Nirvana and Led Zeppelin. We danced, sung, hummed and ate with it. Two years later, the world needed help again. After the discovery of the new planet, “Walrus” the planet turned into a tremendous gas planet. The scientists tried to investigate what was the cause of it. The space companies dragged Bene and I to go on a mission to visit the planet Walrus. 

When we got there, we heard a drilling sound and all of a sudden the planet’s craters started exploding with lava. Bene got separated from me. I couldn’t find him at all with all the steaming smoke. I shouted his name over and over but no response. My team captain called my radio telling me it was time to go. I told him that I needed to find Bene, and the team captain said that he was in the rocket ship already. I looked around and couldn’t see a glimpse of the rocket ship. All I saw was the color red. I fell down and my radio went to the crater and got destroyed. I didn't know what to do so I ran as fast as I could. A crater right below me exploded. I couldn’t feel my legs anymore. I sat down beside a rock, I had no legs. I wrote in the crater, “The moon always reminded me of you, a tiny brightness in the darkness of the night.” I closed my eyes thinking that I would be brought back to the time I first wrote that. I opened my eyes to see a tiny light. I was surrounded by my whole time saying what would they do to me. I saw Bene and he lied down next to me, he held my hand then I felt a distressing and pain in my lower body. He heard me tearing up. He leaned to me saying that everything was going to be ok. I asked him if he read the thing I wrote beside myself and he said he would always remember those words. I closed my eyes and when I opened them we were in a space shuttle and I was in a wheelchair. We weren’t able to return to Earth and everyone was going out of Earth. Bene was the one who’d always push my wheelchair. He changed his job. 

He always came home with something to give me. I always waited for him to go back home, I waited outside of the house when it was the time he was dismissed from his job. I was in the bottom part of the paper I was typing on and Bene opened the door. He gave me flowers and saw the whole paper I was typing on. He smiled and I hugged him. I told him that I’m glad I chose him as my moon. Another person knocked on the door and Bene opened the door. Two kids went inside, the girl was named Bea and the boy was named Lui. A married life can be tough for everyone, it would be a contented life with lots of bumps but in the end it will be ok. My ideal married life would be my parents, I always wanted a married life like theirs. My dad is a pilot while my mom was a housewife. He flies everywhere and stays home once a month for a week. My mom is always loyal to my dad, she would always wait for him to come back. She’d stay awake until 12 am just to fetch my dad from his flight. My dad would never stop messaging my mom online just to say that he loves her. Even though they always fight, my dad would always say sorry. They were the real definition of happy and romantic love.

"Outerspace"

By: Ria Ramos

Another rocket ship soared out of the planet again. I gazed upon it in my spaceship and pondered about how Earth is like now. Everyone was leaving the Earth. They were all journeying through the galaxies with their rocket cars or ships. My team captain asked me earlier to bring up the typewriter and type about my happiness. I was listening to Girl by The Beatles and when I came to think about it, I was actually unsure of what I really wanted to be happy. The time I felt overjoyed was maybe when I had my first love. It was mixed with puppy love and true romantic love. I was so sure of myself when i was talked with that person. My science teacher once said to me, “Romantic love is when the chemicals in your brain kick in and you feel an emotional high, exhilaration, passion, and elation when you and your lover are together.” I was a kid that time and felt disgusted, I told myself I wouldn’t fall in love.

I met Luis Benedicto in studying to be an astronaut. I started to type in the typewriter making the click-clack sound. When he introduced himself to the whole class, I asked my friend, “Do you know that Benet guy?” She couldn’t stop laughing and told me that his name was actually Bene. I was seated in front of him. I made an effort to turn my back around just to talk to him. He always told me jokes and he’d just keep trying to make me laugh. He asked me, “What kind of shoes do ninjas wear?” and he said, “Sneakers.” He became my closest guy friend in class at the same time I developed feelings for him. I kept it as a secret and saw him as my pal. One day, my friends asked me what was my favorite color, I said it was cherry red. My friends giggled and rushed to Bene and I heard him say that he doesn't have the color red. He sighed and he seemed so frustrated. Hours later, the professor dismissed the class and my friend dragged me to go outside. When I went outside, I saw Bene holding a blue plane for our project in class. He gave it to me and immediately ran away. Inside the blue plane, there was a doll holding a letter and the doll said, “Bombs away!” I opened the letter, it was all doodles on the top, on the bottom it said that he likes me. The letter said, “I like like you.” I laughed and became lighthearted. I couldn’t wait to tell him also that I felt the same. The next day, the whole class was training in the gimbal rig to learn how to recover if the space capsule spun out of control, every person had to reconnect the wires orderly to fix the space capsule. It was Bene’s turn, I told him good luck. At first he was getting really dizzy in the test and couldn’t focus at all. I was looking at him and shouted, “I like you also!” He looked at me smiling and I told him to continue the test. He looked at the gimbal rig and started to reconnect the wires. 

When his test was done, we did a highfive and we both blushed and felt delighted. I got an alarming sound from the space ship and I stopped typing. there was an announcement to deliver a package to the medical room. I got a package saying, “vaccination” and placed it in the vacuum mailbox. Back to my story time, time came that they had to recruit new people to go to missions in space. The JPGR Space Company asked me to be a recruit of theirs. I needed the money to support my mom and dad so I immediately said yes. I told this to Bene, he became depressed because he wanted me to be safe. Ever since the NASA accident, when they sent 44 people on a special mission outer space, unfortunately they died and their ships were never found. I told him I had to do it for my parents. He didn’t say a word after that. “5, 4, 3, 2,“ the people started the countdown to the rocket ship’s lift-off, my very first adventure out of the planet and I was frightened. On the last second, everything became in a slowmotion. The rocket made a roaring sound during the take off. I held my seat as tight as I could. My first stop was the moon, I was so cheerful when I landed my foot on the surface of the moon. On one spot which had a little crater that I admired I wrote, “The moon always reminded me of you, a tiny brightness in the darkness of the night.” 

My teammate caught it on her video which would be sent back to Earth in a few minutes. I told my teammate that she should delete that immediately. She refused and spent the whole time there chasing my teammate for the video. My team captain told us to get back to our station. My teammate quickly broadcasted the video in the rocket. She called me with an irritating sound. I came to the ship and covered her mouth to be quiet. She pointed at the television. There I saw Bene being interviewed by a news reporter. He was holding a poster saying, “Take care always and I hope you’d come back soon Ria!” While he was being interviewed, one of my colleagues interrupted and said, “He’s actually asking you to be his girlfriend!” Bene shooed my colleague saying not to butt in to the interview. I chuckled and suddenly it was interrupted by a breaking news, it was the one my teammate uploaded. I got embarrassed and at the same time was joyful. When I came back from the mission after a whole year, I saw Bene waiting in the station, holding balloons and a Beatles vinyl record which I’ve been bugging him to listen to. I spent the next day as my first date in the cinemas in ATC. Bene and I watched Frozen. I think I was actually in love with him. I read from a dictionary a definition of love which is an intense feeling of deep affection. I realized the meaning of several love quotes sung by The Beatles. 

One quote I’d take note was from John Lennon himself, “It matters not who you love, where you love or how you love, it matters only that you love.” I had an idea what love was, it was like a sort of attachment. I spent the next years with him. It was 12 AM on June 18, 2020, my 20th birthday. I received a call from JPGR Space Company. The whole world was in a disaster, we ran out of oil and it increased the demands of astronauts to discover more oil in the other planets. Bene was recruited by 001 Corps, we didn’t see each other for 5 years. Then on March 16, 2025, NASA brought back the life of the world again, several Koreans discovered a planet which offered more resources than the Earth could ever have. They called the planet “Walrus”. With the good news, all the astronauts were able to go home. When I went out of my rocket ship, I saw Bene. He held my hand and brought me inside the elevator. He put his knee down and said, “Will you marry me?” and then the elevator door opened and everyone was cheering saying congratulations. Bene shouted, “She didn’t even say anything yet!” Everyone became breath then I took a breath and said yes. I wasn’t nervous at all with the whole situation. I was happy that I said yes to him. We first told our parents about our engagement. 

Both of our parents approved of the marriage and offered to help with the planning. Bene’s mother taught me that I also have to be ready in my faith to be able to receive the sacramentWe had to plan the weddings and everything. My parents scheduled the initial interview. In the interview, we talked to the priest and the priest talked about how important marriage is. The priest told us, “Husbands and wives share a self-giving, love-giving and life-giving relationship with their spouse and are committed to helping their spouse grow to human and Christian maturity. They seek to form a family home, and are together the first teachers of their children in Christian faith and values.” We planned that the wedding would take place in the Mary Help of Christians Church. We completed our premarital inventory, it reflected our attitudes, we also had a wedding rehearsal. Nine months passed and I was inside my room wearing this lengthy gown in a shade of pearls. I wore my mom’s favorite silver necklace which she also wore on her marriage. I took a deep breath and looked at myself in the mirror. All of the flower girls, bridesmaids kept asking me if I was excited. I smiled and said that we should leave already. 

I was entering the Church and walking down the aisle, everyone was looking at me and I looked at Bene. He was surprised with my gown. I felt so lucky. I heard the liturgy of the word and sang merrily. I couldn’t describe what I was feeling. In the rite of marriage, the priest said the words “To have and to hold from this day forward, for better or worse, for richer for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish till death.” and we both answered, “I do.” After that, like any other mass we had the eucharist and the mass ended. We went to BGC for our reception, my family was there and Bene’s family also. I looked at the whole place, thinking that this could be the best part of my life yest. After the reception, the first thing we did was that we went to our own apartment and listened to our favorite music by The Beatles, The Queen, Nirvana and Led Zeppelin. We danced, sung, hummed and ate with it. Two years later, the world needed help again. After the discovery of the new planet, “Walrus” the planet turned into a tremendous gas planet. The scientists tried to investigate what was the cause of it. The space companies dragged Bene and I to go on a mission to visit the planet Walrus. 

When we got there, we heard a drilling sound and all of a sudden the planet’s craters started exploding with lava. Bene got separated from me. I couldn’t find him at all with all the steaming smoke. I shouted his name over and over but no response. My team captain called my radio telling me it was time to go. I told him that I needed to find Bene, and the team captain said that he was in the rocket ship already. I looked around and couldn’t see a glimpse of the rocket ship. All I saw was the color red. I fell down and my radio went to the crater and got destroyed. I didn't know what to do so I ran as fast as I could. A crater right below me exploded. I couldn’t feel my legs anymore. I sat down beside a rock, I had no legs. I wrote in the crater, “The moon always reminded me of you, a tiny brightness in the darkness of the night.” I closed my eyes thinking that I would be brought back to the time I first wrote that. I opened my eyes to see a tiny light. I was surrounded by my whole time saying what would they do to me. I saw Bene and he lied down next to me, he held my hand then I felt a distressing and pain in my lower body. He heard me tearing up. He leaned to me saying that everything was going to be ok. I asked him if he read the thing I wrote beside myself and he said he would always remember those words. I closed my eyes and when I opened them we were in a space shuttle and I was in a wheelchair. We weren’t able to return to Earth and everyone was going out of Earth. Bene was the one who’d always push my wheelchair. He changed his job. 

He always came home with something to give me. I always waited for him to go back home, I waited outside of the house when it was the time he was dismissed from his job. I was in the bottom part of the paper I was typing on and Bene opened the door. He gave me flowers and saw the whole paper I was typing on. He smiled and I hugged him. I told him that I’m glad I chose him as my moon. Another person knocked on the door and Bene opened the door. Two kids went inside, the girl was named Bea and the boy was named Lui. A married life can be tough for everyone, it would be a contented life with lots of bumps but in the end it will be ok. My ideal married life would be my parents, I always wanted a married life like theirs. My dad is a pilot while my mom was a housewife. He flies everywhere and stays home once a month for a week. My mom is always loyal to my dad, she would always wait for him to come back. She’d stay awake until 12 am just to fetch my dad from his flight. My dad would never stop messaging my mom online just to say that he loves her. Even though they always fight, my dad would always say sorry. They were the real definition of happy and romantic love.

"Lucky I'm In Love With My Bestfriend Bene"

Marianne Renee A. Valdes cn:40 of 9A

          My love story is quite different as everybody else's – it’s very special. Let me tell you how I fell in love with my best friend and ended up marrying him despite many struggles we had during the past. It all began when I was 5 years old.  It was my first day of pre-school and as any kid would be, I was terrified and shy. When it was recess, I was all alone, no one to talk to, just me all by myself just sitting down, watching all of my classmates play. One little boy who had tan skin, brown hair and had big brown eyes approached me and asked me if he could stay with at first. I was shy but a few minutes later I was comfortable with him and we became friends. His name is Bene. Ever since that day, we would hang out every break time.

When we were in elementary we transferred schools. Bene went to an all boys school while I went to an all girls school. My parents were always over protective and wouldn't allow any boy to go near me except Bene because my parents trusted him. Every Friday, me and Bene would always go to this tree house and tell each other’s stories, have a picnic, and hang out there.

As one day passes, we began to build a stronger relationship. I began to feel something, something I never felt before.  It is something I couldn’t understand.  But now I understand that I was falling in love with my bestfriend.

2014 was a painful year. It was the year I had to leave the Philippines and go to Canada for my parents work. A week before I left, Bene and I would hang out together as much as we could because we knew we wouldn’t see each other again. At the tree house, the night before Ileft, Bene confessed his love to me and I just couldn't say anything.  I was speechless with nothing to say. All I said was "No, I’m sorry I just can't do this". Right after saying that, I knew I would regret it but I just didn't. I knew it wouldn't just work it would break our relationship as friends.

The first two months we would always contact each other despite the time difference.  We would stay up late talking to each other with endless calls and texts but on the third month I stopped contacting him and ignoring all of his messages. I did it because I secretly love him and it just hurts to see the person I love not with me and will never be together.

After 5 years I went back to Manila. I forgot everything about my best friend that Isecretly loved.  While I was walking, some guy bumps me and my drink making it fall. The guy apologized and bought me another drink. The barista asked for my name so I said my name then the guy looked at me and smiled. I found it weird because I think I knew the guy but I don't remember. After all, I was gone for a long time.  When I sat down, he sat down in front of me and smiled and we chatted for awhile. It was then that I realized it was my best friend, Bene.

After years of being together we decided to make a big decision. We decided to get married and live together forever. We both wanted to get married in a big, beautiful and the church where both of our parents got married in. The church we got married in was at San Agustin Church of Manila. While I was walking down the aisle I have mixed emotions.  I was happy and nervous at the same time. As soon as I sat down for the sacrament of matrimony to start I could feel the presence of God so my nervousness was gone and I knew he was watching me as I get married. Now I am a mother of three beautiful children and married to the love of my life. Bene and I went through the struggles but everything would always come out well. Who knew I would marry my first friend, first boy friend and last boyfriend. Every single day of my life I thank God because He gave me a wonderful life and family.

Reflection

Even though all of this is just fantasy and in the future, this project made me realize how marriage is a big deal. It is a life changing decision because once you get married there is no going back to being single. Choosing who I would marry is a very difficult decision. Before getting married I would ask these questions to myself, Is he the right partner for me? Am I willing to give up things for him? And the most important question is, Will I be able to live my whole life with him and be faithful to him? All these questions would apply to our marriage so it’s a must for me to answer these. This project also taught me to how to be wise in my future married life and that the secret to a successful married life is having God as the center of our lives.