The Quintessence

Volume 1. Issue 7

A Special Post-Valentine Edition

Love. Love. Love.

QUEZON CITY PHILIPPINE INSTITUTE OF RELIGION

F O R E W O R D
I would like to thank YOU for reading ME. I hope that I actually add even just a bit value in your lives. So far, people behind ME have been successful in releasing 2-columned, 4-page letter size issues of ME ever since the start of this academic year. (Hooray!) Despite that, I feel that there are more stories to tell from the voices of our QCPIR students. Thus, I am encouraging YOU to actually be a part of ME. The staff, as much as possible, craves to make ME more value-adding, not only for them but especially for YOU. And so because YOU love ME.. (yes! I assume YOU do coz Ill cry if YOU dont.) :(..I now present to YOU a special Valentine edition!! I hope that YOU keep subscribing free copies of The Quintessence! Watch out for surprises. Enjoy reading! Have fun. :) With so much L-O-V-E,

The Quintessence

Table of Contents

ATTENTION!

THE MOST AWAITED INSTITUTE DANCE BALL OF THE YEAR!!!!

*Last day of REGISTRATION will be on Tuesday, 26 February.

Chesca Laguna Is love found in chocolates and roses? Is love found in angelic voices? Is love found in embraces and kisses? Is love found in beautiful faces? Is love written in the palm of our hands? Cause if it is, I don't understand if love really is boundless Why are there still broken houses? When the stars stop shining and the fireworks fading while the world keeps on turning that you find love's true meaning Love is both looking upward to the sky and seeing heaven in each other's eyes cause love never ever let's you fall love is found when you give it your all Isn't it about understanding when the world is raging? Isn't it all about forgiving even though you are bleeding? When the stars stop shining and the fireworks fading while the world keeps on mocking that you find love's true meaning when you find that special feeling of a love that's never ending

Pink Month Lorenzo R. Tabin III

this month means many things, and one in particular, and that is the color pink. at least, for me that color stands out, more than the red hearts, more than the shared chocolates, and the massacre of roses. maybe because it makes me think of femininity, and shake your head if you must, but it does. and femininity reminds me of the smiles that touched me, made me stand straighter, made me blush in embarrassment, made my heart beat faster. it reminds me of childhood scenes, making paper hearts to give, but never giving away the ones i made... it brings back the song "i wonder why" and sixth-grade never felt better than singing it while looking at her, and she glancing back with a... smile. it brings back the rush of names, and high school was a rush of wonder, but one in particular, the most wonderful name for a child inspired to take the poet's path. college and the world shaped my words more keenly, with different faces, different smiles, different names... and different ways of losing the game. and yet the color stays, neither fiery as the flames of red, neither pristine as the purity of white, but innocence and recklessness mingled and painted the glasses that i wear... and i wear them still. and so i fix the bent frames, polish the cracked lenses, and carefully set them back before my eyes... thus it always is, this month, these days of pink promises... i weave... not paper hearts, but carnation couplets, still hoping, as i set them free, that one will find them... and find me.

ANG PANGAKONG PEBRERO LORENZO R. TABIN III

naalala ko ang mga pangako natin sa isa't isa ngayong pebrero na muli. mabilis ang pagdating at pagpaalam ng panahon, gaya ng mga dahon na nagpapatianod sa hangin, isang biglang kaway, isang iglap ng kulay, at alaala na lamang siya na malilimot ng isip. hindi ko alam kung kailan nagsimula ang pangakong pagkikita, ngunit tanda ko pa ang gulat ng biglaang pagsalubong ko sa iyo. pebrero pala noon, paalala mo sa akin ng makailang ulit. hindi ko inakala na kaytagal mo palang hinintay na bigkasin ko ang mga inaasahan mong salita. hindi ko rin sinabi sa iyo na kaytagal kong hinintay na ikaw ay magtapos at maging paham upang mabigkas ko ng walang agam-agam ang mga katagang walang kamatayan. ngunit kinailangan kong pumailanlang at lakbayin ang karagatan. para sa iyo. pebrero din nang mapagpasyahan mong pigtalin nang tuluyan ang mga kwerdas ng awit sa ating pagitan. kaya't ako ngayon

at unti-unting nawalan ng kulay ng aking pangalan ang mga bituin sa gabi para sa iyo. pebrero din nang mapagpasyahan mong pigtalin nang tuluyan ang mga kwerdas ng awit sa ating pagitan. kaya't ako ngayon ay tila bituing nagpapatianod sa kaylamig, kaytahimik, na kalawakan.

UNSPOKEN LOVE Jake Everytime my heart has a wound thats deep I go to the corner and I start to weep And when I try to resist the pain It still feels like a never ending rain The first time I laid my eyes on you I thought it was a dream come true And it feels so bad when you left Because you stole my heart like theft Now Im lonely and full of dread And now I wish that I am dead This will hurt me really bad And this poem makes me really sad

QNECT:

DESCRIBE YOUR CRUSH or the ONE YOU LOVE.

Few minutes after, I look back at the entrance and see this familiar-looking sister who just greeted Kuya Arnold, our friendly Institute bodyguard who loves to play guitar. I got the scriptures in front of me, pretending to be very busy reading. Haha, didn't I just say that I am going to ponder for awhile? Hey, do you mind me describing the familiar-looking sister for I just observed that she sat at the corner, almost in front of me. She is wearing a brown ruffled dress that stretched around three inches below her knees. A ribbon is neatly clipped on her wavy hair beside her right ear and I find it really cute. Now, I told you she looks familiar but I actually do not know her. She suddenly put in her headset and opened a violet book. I dismissed my quiet observation since it seemed like she glanced at me for three seconds. I randomly turned the page of my quadruple and read the green marked verse: 1 Nephi 11:15. I smiled.. widely. Then, I looked back at her. She seemed to have fallen asleep. I found myself studying her heart-shaped face. She's got two closed eyes, a nose, and closed pink lips. I see she wears a gold young women medallion and it perfectly looks nice on her. I was staring at her medallion when she suddenly opened her eyes and I was caught off guard. ************************** I didn't realize I fell asleep until my sleeping consciousness woke up because of the music. I opened my eyes and lo, a brother sitting at my left front is staring at me. So, I smiled but I covered my face with my book afterwards. I do not know how long I have fallen asleep and I do not know if he was staring at me for a long time. I know this brother. I always see him play table tennis and he's actually very good. Aside from that, I do not know who he is. I looked at the wall clock hanging above the entrance door, ten to nine. That late???! Suddenly, people from the classrooms started to walk out. So, I started fixing myself. I stood up. The brother flipped his scriptures, put it inside his leather scripture bag and stood up too. I pursued the door when he suddenly opened it for me. Or maybe for himself since he went out first not noticing me. Not a very gentleman guy. He suddenly vanished at my sight. As I went out of the building towards the gate, I was shocked when a baritone voice spoke behind me. "Hi, Sister. I am Brother Kevin Elijah. You look very familiar." [TO BE CONTINUED]

A terrible headache hit me after my nerve-wracking straight seven hour exam in my major subject. It's already 7pm in the evening and I found myself wondering where to go. I feel like I don't really wanna go home yet so I started walking around the Acad oval. I am craving for some peace and comfort. I want to certainly relax. Yes oh yes. Relax. I can think number of places where I can do that. I can get a body massage at my favorite spa. Or maybe I can just go stroll around the mall then eat in a nice dining place. Or since I have not much penny right now, I can just go somewhere and eat ice cream. Or this or that.. or.. Right. I looked at my watch again, 7:43pm. Stopping at the exact place--in front of my college actually where I started walking awhile ago--Haha! I didn't even realize I have walked 2.2 kms already thinking where I want to go when at last. Bingo. A maroon-roofed jeepney going to Katipunan stopped by and I quickly hopped in. I actually do not know why but a voice seemed to whisper in my ear telling me to do so. And so I did. I soon realized there's no other place where I can better relax than in the Institute. It's actually that late but I just wanted to sit inside and listen to some music or maybe just read something or write in my journal. As I enter the building, I quickly saw Kuya Arnold and I greeted him good evening. It seems like people are inside some rooms since there are classes ongoing. Anyway, I sat at the right corner. I got my headset and chose to listen to some EFY music. I was listening to "Have You Received His Image in Your Countenance?" while letting my eyes search around the lobby. I counted around four people hanging around too. I actually do not know their names. I am shy to talk to them. I opened my Jansport bag, getting "Rich Dad, Poor Dad" book.. and so I read. ********************************* "Amen." The Old Testament class has just finished. Still feeling the sweet spirit because of what we have discussed, I decided not to go home yet. Instead, I sat at one of the couches near the entrance to ponder. Yes! TO PONDER. Tomorrow is Wednesday anyway and I have no class in school. It's quite weird that my table tennis colleagues are not around already. I heard they went on a friend's debut. I do not know who the sister is but I think they call her Carla. Thus, I have no playmate I can't play table tennis. As I look around, I saw a couple quietly talking to each other. I see they were dating. And at the table beside the water station, a young sister wearing a white uniform is sitting--studying a thick book which I perceive to be a book of medicine-MAYBE. She seems like a nursing student.

P.S. Hi! I hope you have enjoyed the first storyline. I do not know how long my imagination will go wild but I will do my best to create a nice Institute fiction story. Although characters in the story are the usual people you really see around QCPIR. Haha. -Elikar