Ever since Christmas, I've wanted Smallville Season One. Two days ago, Aivy and I went to Best Buy to go look for In Living Color Season One. With our luck, it seems In Living Color still isn't out. So, we kept looking around and we found some box-sets that we can live with. I know I'm not much for foreshadowing, but yes, I finally got Smallville. An endless supply of ignorant Superman and Lana Lang. She isn't as hot as Angelina Jolie '93, in Cyborg 2, but having fantasies of movie stars isn't really my motif.
My Playstation 2 collection is still bigger than my Dvd collection. I'm on my 7th Straight episode of Smallville, trying to figure out why Lex Luthor has hair in the movie set, and in this series, he is bald like a baby. Especially in The Adventures of Lois and Clark, Lex Luthor had nice hair, yet tried to get Lois Lane to marry him. Another strange deciphering is doubting who the heck Lana Lang is. Does she change her name to Lois Lane, or is this chick just another character in this up-to-date Superboy? Enough with my infatuation with the Superman saga...
Chapter Six: Stress & Frustration
Before that semester started, we were on our trip to the slopes. It was Snow Jams' re-awakening. The trip before had become a little out of hand when the event decided to take a break. During my first two years, Snow Jams was always a hit for the Akbayan organization. My freshmen year, the trip was so hype that UCDavis showed up and decided to party with us. The 2nd year after my arrival, the folks went up Northeast just to find out that their first night was a total bust. They partied so hard that they lost the place. Too much noise and too much alcohol makes a college organization go hideously crazy, resulting in the cabin becoming vacant. Luckily, I didn't attend either of these events.
Spring 2000, my presidential era was beginning on the plus sign because Snow Jams was back on its feet, we had almost twenty-five people gathered and paid for. That wasn't my first time that I had went snowboarding, so I was ready to hit the black diamonds. The trip was exhilerating because I hadn't been to the snows with my friends in a long while. I met some interesting people and got to know some others when I got there. My trip began on that Friday night when Mark, Jerry, Michelle, AJ, Charlie, Heather and myself went on a trip that lasted a lifetime. We arrive, at our destination, to a cabin full of drug-infested houligans, burnt rice, rooms filled with baggages, and silence. First words from the people weren't "hello", they were "keep quiet, we already got a warning." This occasion reminds me of a particular year in the past. Let's make sure this never happens.
The semester had begun and I'm nearly a wreck because I've attempted to begin the semester off on a cold plank. The hardest job for a president is beginning a whole new semester with a brand new cabinet. All I know is that the crew that I had were down with making things better. Unfortunately, the first cabinet meeting only consisted of five to seven of the eleven members. I was heart-broken. I didn't let it get me down. I anticipated this happening. I wanted to make sure I would be able to get through this semester with my mind intact. My scariest reaction was experiencing my first breakdown. I wanted to cry and lock myself in the corner. My cabinet seemed to be falling apart. Even though it was Spring semester, I knew that something had to be done. The alumni that had always been there for akbayan started to fade out of the picture. Not just akbayan the club, but the fact that p.c.n. was coming, there was no dedication, or no momentum from year's past mainly because there was none.
Taking on task after task, I knew that if something needed to be done, you have to risk and sacrifice yourself and those who want it that bad. I wanted it THAT bad. I wanted this club, this organization to live on. Tabling and public relations was the first plan of action. My active cabinet and I had limited time tabling at the student union. Everyone's schedule didn't mix. I don't recall even having a real general meeting that year. I was able to stick with my tabling schedule. Three times a week I would set up the table and everytime we tabled I would take everything home. I was my own organization for a while. Even when other's tabled, it seemed like all they did was sit there. Tabling, phonelists, planning, and soon enough, pcn would take my life, literally.
In early february, sjsu collections came up to the table telling me that akbayan has two outstanding debts that needed to be paid asap. This is where I go crazy. The very last cent from pcn '98 was being used to pay off bills that were supposed to be paid for Showtime '99 vendors. It was, in my knowledge, platinum entertainments bill. I spoke to the past president and platinum heads and there was no proof or evidence that they were to pay it off. My stress level began to rise more and more. From that point, I remember it perfectly that akbayan had only $104.67 in it for the rest of the semester. One bill was for a mere $50. The other was so high as $840; such BS.
Next, akbayan was to pay off franchesca's mother for renting out the cabin for snow jams; a payment of $660. My head nearly exploded here. This is where my own money became part of this whole mess that we call budget. At that time, I had more than enough money, yet I didn't know that I would be earning money to pay off an organizations bill. -sigh-
The only few positive moments during this semester were Food Bizarre and some other event that I forgot what it was called. We made nearly $700 selling a plate of adobo and rice with a cost of $94. I was a bit happy to see something finally going in the right direction. The other event had to do with a filipino photographer's photos in the engineering building.
Finally, pcn had flown in and I was in enormous pressure and frustration. I wasn't going to let akbayan and pcn die out. If we didn't have a pcn this semester, there would be no such momentum to even have new members for the next semester. There would be no interested cabinet to move on to better positions in the club. This was my motivation to make things right. The best part about all this was it was my highest grade point average at that point. So, the end of february had begun and the script was nearly finished. I was starting cultural workshops underneath the dining commons, with Jaymar. The pcn committee was strong and ready to make a difference. I just remember that all the people that attended the workshops were guys. I knew that we weren't going to be able to have a quality show. All I needed was a decent show. One evening I was talking to the Singkil prince, Juan. At that time, people were chilling underneath the dining commons just fooling around. I was a bit relaxed, looking up at the moon. It was a crescent moon and I made promise to myself. I told myself that by the time I saw another crescent moon, the same size, the same shape, there would be practices at the dc getting ready to put on a damn good show on May 20th, 2000.
I had no idea what this new group of individuals would do to the future of akbayan. I just knew that the quantity had to be made. So, what if I put myself in seven of the nine dances. No one else was willing to step up, especially in the amount of time. That semester, I was president, wrote most of the script, developed backstage settings, prepared food bizarre, danced and taught dances, raised my gpa, and revived Akbayan.
Akbayan became my family in the beginning, so I treated it like a family. I did everything possible to keep this family alive. With the right motivation, you can do anything.
note: While sitting at your desk, lift your right foot off the floor and make clockwise circles. Now, while doing this, draw the number "6" in the air with your right hand. Your foot will change direction, and there's nothing you can do about it!