End of psych lecture

Our Psychia lecture is finally over. We had our culminating activity this afternoon. We danced. It was so much fun. We prepared for it for four days, practicing every afternoon after class at the university's main gym, under hellish heat. We learned samba and swing. It was an opportunity that threw itself at my feet; it further fueled my desire to learn ballroom dancing... (Skwela nya ta ga =) )

They applied make up on our faces! Yes, including the guys! Plus some lip gloss! And some hair spray and a handful of glittering silver dust!

This summer is surely memorable for me. In a sense, Ate Janice and I were alone, because we came from a different section, joining a completely new section, which was a fusion of three sections, actually (only two of us represented section S). But we met a lot of nice people. The grand daughter of the school's owner is certainly an interesting person. People either hate her or like her. I admit she certainly can get on your nerves sometimes (and with many people, she often does), but at least her personality is one of a kind. She's outspoken; she can command people's attention, and even respect. When they give an oral report, she and her husband always give an excellent reporting. They make the rest of the class feel uncomfortable, because our presentations often end up looking mediocre. We did not have any problems with the dance, because she and her husband took care of everything! They organized the whole thing, all we had to do was just dance! I guess that's a good thing, right? She was very particular to details, always making sure that things will go as smoothly as possible.

So I guess what I really want to say is that talagsa ra ka maka-encounter og mga tawo nga ingun ana. People who always go out of their shells, who often ruffles many people's feathers, occasionally offending some people here and there, but doing a good job in the end.

What's good is that she and her husband are a perfect match. She's demanding, domineering, impatient, outspoken, most of the time dead serious, but her husband is tolerant, yielding, easy-going and patient, oftentimes quiet, and have a great sense of humor. They achieve balance. They create a tandem that is, for lack of a better word, amusing to look at. They usually argue in front of us, but while mangugat na siya og murag makuratan naka sa tono sa iyang tingog, her husband always manages to give witty and funny rebuttals, and she just keeps silent and lets the issue go...

I'm glad that I am able to fairly adjust with the different folks we met this summer. If you're somewhat anti-social (I was, and perhaps still am a bit), here are some advice for you: Always smile; keep a pleasant demeanor when you're around people, especially when they're new acquaintances. As the adage goes: First impressions last. And always, always seek first to understand before you try to be understood (Steven Covey's 7 habits are very helpful). Keep your word or the promises you've kept with people. But these are not guarantees for making new friends.

Now I see the point for the dancing and the dressing up as lunatics and parading around the entire campus (we did those, too). We are going to do a culminating activity next semester in the Psych ward. I think the point is that it will prepare us for our work in the Psych ward, and it will help us bond better with our clients.

We also underwent a kind of psychotherapy this morning, as a class. It was meant to familiarize us with the process of psychotherapy, because we will do that, too, in the Psych ward. The C.I.s tried their best to make us cry (hehe); unfortunately they didn't succeed. I think you have to be a trained psychiatrist, or a psychiatric nurse, to be able to do psychotherapy successfully. If a nurse is not experienced, or has not the training, it won't work out the way it's supposed to. But I felt terrible because I had a cold, and so my eyes were always teary (I had to constantly use my hanky); it looked like I was crying! No way! =)

Next week we proceed to COPAR. We will join a different group for that. Here we go again...