Jay and I watched 21 today. There weren't that much to choose from actually. He won't watch Sex and the City, I won't watch Indiana Jones, and both of us surely won't watch Caregiver. So it left us with this movie, then. Lol. Let me pretend to be a movie critic for a moment, okay? Here goes XD

The movie's about Ben Campbell (Jim Sturgess), an incredibly smart MIT student who, wanting to pursue his dreams of going to Harvard School of Medicine but couldn't afford its $300,000 worth of expenditure, joins a secret club of five students, all of whom are being trained by Ben's math professor Micky Rosa (Kevin Spacey) on card counting skills at black jack. Together, equipped with different identities, secret code talk and hand signals, the team goes on secret weekend trips to Las Vegas, and makes thousands of dollars a night, casino after casino. Lured by the money, the excitement, and the Vegas lifestyle, Ben becomes corrupted by greed and gets hooked for good. The shy guy who easily blends in the background, now steps in Vegas' spotlight - and casino security Cole Williams isn't just about to let the team go unpunished.

The movie's not only about the card action. Watching the characters as they use their math skills and count cards, practicing their secret code and hand signals will keep the audience going "Ooohh," all through out. It had a good share of action, too. Although I wasn't that much crazy over the chasing scenes. But it was definitely a fun ride. Threw in some sarcasm and humor through their sneaky lines and attitude, this movie will not lose your train of interest long enough until you realize the credits are already rolling.

Kevin Spacey was remarkable. I really loved the Monty Hall paradox scene. And did I forget to mention that it's Kate Bosworth in there? Although Jay can't seem to fathom my unrelenting admiration for the woman. Come on, it's Kate Bosworth! XD And Jim Sturgess has some Jake Gyllenhaal (did I spell it right?) features in him, don't you think? Or is it just me? Lol. Bottom line is, the movie's good. Humayo at panoorin. :)

Thanks to mi honey for treating me out today. It was really sudden, totally unplanned. I find it sweet that you managed to squeeze this in before things get pretty chaotic at school. I really appreciate it. And I'm still waiting for you to beat me on that game, though. 20K, baby! Kiddiiing! ILY!

Classes are back. At third year na ako. Damn. I still can't wrap my mind around it. Soon enough I'll be graduating. And for the first time, I don't feel all giddy and excited about it. Not at the moment, at least. I remember how I used to complain on how sick I am of being a student and how I would give anything to graduate in the earliest time possible, get the hell out of the hallways and classrooms, make my own moolah and just live the dream! But once you're getting closer and closer to the "goal", you suddenly find yourself wanting to come up with some way to slow it down for reasons even you yourself are not aware of. Do you guys agree or is it just me and my bizaaaaarre self? Hahaha whatev. Let's not turn this into a serious entry, ok? Ok, good.

I have 4 majors -- including one course-related elective -- and 2 floats (non-majors) this term. I'm a little (or you could say a lot) worried about how cruel this term's going to be. I mean, 4 majors? That's not humane! Lol. Even the floats aren't helping at all. One is related to history which I'm very certain I despised all throughout highschool. The other one is, well, theology. And ever since, I've always felt a bit awkward on my theology-related subjects simply because of the fact that I have different beliefs compared to what they are teaching in school. I find it difficult to absorb it, as well as convey my opinions without, err.. crossing the line. Anyway, enough of that. The majors are the ones I should pray for :)) So let's see:

ADVANDB (Advanced Database Concepts) INTRODB was its prerequisite and as far as I can remember, I enjoyed that subject even though it really gave me a hard time. I'm just not sure if I would feel the same regarding this one. I hope so.

COMPILE (Compiler Theory) I seriously don't know what to expect with this one. The project seems exciting -- the idea of creating our very own scripting language (though I still can't picture what the hell that is) is very amusing. I think this subject is the one I'm going to love and hate at the same time. XD

DIGIMAP (Image Processing) This is the elective I was referring to earlier. One of our prospective thesis topics is inclined to this field so I hope taking this course would be a bit helpful for us if ever we decided to push through with that topic.

STRESME (ST Research Methods) This course is the first of the four stages of the thesis program for the ST Department. The ultimate objective of this course is for us to produce an approved thesis proposal. This includes a lot of mock defense and presentations. Ick. Just the thought of the tedious work combined with the aggravating tension and fear of not getting approved. Blah. I really hope everything goes.. uhm, not too rash. We pronounce it as "STRESS ME", by the way. Lol.

It was really great seeing my blockmates again. I felt like I was somehow isolated from all of them over the summer because I was trapped (HAHA) in the secluded walls of the office I work at. And I missed being in the campus, too. Especially Planet Gokongwei. Hahaha. XD

I'm done with my practicum. It was quite an experience. A shocker, I must say. I've never imagined that I would gain so much from it. I'd always thought about it as a waste of time, based on the stories I heard from people who already had theirs. They never did anything that would really qualify as OJT work at all. A friend told me his experience -- he was asked to make pad paper out of continuous sheets. For others, all they have to do was show up at the office doing apparently nothing and their hours would still count. It just became a formality, lacking so much depth. It didn't fulfill its purpose anymore.

Having heard so much negative remarks about the practicum, I really -- oh, and I mean REALLY -- hated it. I hated the fact that it would eat up my entire (I'm so not exaggerating here) summer break. I hated that I was the only intern from DLSU and the only intern under the IT unit (called iChannel) I was assigned to. I also hated the fact that iChannel is all about web development. Honestly speaking, I don't know anything about web development. I took that subject for granted back during my sophomore year. And this is the price I pay for doing so. To much of my dismay, not only do I have to be persecuted for being a web developer who doesn't know much (or anything!) about web development, but I have to do it using a language I've never encountered before. They were using programming languages which were nothing but foreign to me. I've never done anything using Visual Basic, ASP or SQL Server in my entire life. Oh, the horror. It's like asking me to rap in Chinese! And if those still weren't enough to tick me off, the fact that I am new, and a girl (because the entire IT floor seems to have female scarcity) would probably do the trick.

I spent each day of my first week glancing at the lower right portion of the screen from time to time to check if it's already 5:30pm and getting more and more impatient if it's not. I really felt like it was a punishment, in every sense of the word. I didn't know what I was doing. Every night when I get home from work, I'd have to search for tutorials that could help me with my tasks because internet access is very limited in the office. My communication skills has always been either a zero or a negative. Talking to people was never easy for me, let alone people from the opposite gender. That's why when I have a question, I spend 10 minutes debating with myself if I should ask someone about it or not. I'm fortunate that my boss and officemates are very friendly and approachable. I could see that they go out of their way to make me feel welcome in the group.

After quite a while, I started to learn the ropes. I realized I was actually having fun with tasks which require programming (yup, I'm a geek) even though it drains the energy out of me. The documentation, I still abhor but it's all good. I also started enjoying the company of some of my officemates. They would tell me their OJT experiences and how it was like for them during their first weeks at Security Bank. They'd tease me at how I seem to act older than most of them because they watch Gossip Girl and I don't. I still need to improve on my people skills though, because most of our conversations only happen if they initiated it.

There were a lot of times when I thought I was never going to make it. It seriously felt as though it was the longest summer of my life. But looking back at it now, I wouldn't have it any other way. The entire experience didn't just expose me to other people. It exposed me to ME. I didn't know there was this other side of me, just waiting to be found. Maybe in the coming months, I'd hang out with this side of me even more. Lol. God amazes me every time. He knew exactly the right mix of trials and hardships that would make us a better person. He certainly won't give us something He knows we can't handle. Just like what He did to Job. All we have to do is lift everything to Him and the dark clouds we once saw wandering our sky will soon disappear.

I'm still scared. But now, I'm willing to face that fear because I have God and the people I love to guide me every step of the way. Plus, you really can't appreciate the light unless you've been in the dark.