November 12

Exactly one year ago, I was sitting on my bed, facing my laptop, and spazzing about Cho Kyuhyun. Tonight, I’m still sitting on my bed, facing my laptop, and thanking everyone who greeted me on Facebook because I’ve passed the FPGEE!!!

Dream #1, accomplished.

Today must be a lucky day.

TOEFL!

Oh my God, I’ve passed* the TOEFL!!!

I just crossed out Dream #2 in my Dreambook. God is good all the time. Thanks to everyone who prayed!

Thanks to St. Jude Thaddeus, whom I prayed a novena to 9 days before the exam, the 9th day being October 28, his feast day. Thanks also to St. Anthony of Padua, whom I asked to pray that I may succeed in all my studies and examinations. And most of all, thanks to Jesus Christ, Who granted all our prayers. AMEN.

*Passing scores based on FPGEC standards: Reading=21, Listening=18, Speaking=26, Writing=24. Each section weighs 30 points. Total points=120.

Ten/Ten/Ten

Because today is 10/10/10 (and it’s not gonna happen again until after a millennium), I’m writing a blog entry, just so people of the future will know that The Silent Spectator was alive on this very special day.

I started the day with a prayer, and with a status update on Facebook saying, “Today is 10/10/10! I must be lucky today!”

On Twitter, I checked the Trending Topics only to find out that Kim Hee Chul was on #1, even surpassing Solomon Burke who just passed away.

Today I went to my aunt’s work and washed my clothes there. (Yes, we do wash our clothes there ‘coz my aunt’s a private nurse and her patient Jim lets us use his washer and dryer whenever we wish).

I was sitting on the corner while Jim was watching TV so I was able to catch an episode of Born Different, a TV program which features people who were, like the title says, born different. One of these people was Brooke Greenberg, a girl who basically has all the physical and mental characteristics of a toddler except the age, because last January 8, 2010, she turned 17. Her doctor compared her pictures when she was 5 and when she was 15. No difference.

After the 7PM mass, I told the priest that 2 weeks ago I asked him to pray for me for the FPGEE, so even though it didn’t turn out easy, I was confident that I would pass just because he prayed for me. He smiled at me and then I started to walk home. It was only 8PM but it was dark already, maybe because Christmas is approaching. The farther I walked, the darker it became, and the faster I tried to walk. And then, there was a raccoon.

Dreams Update: SEPTEMBER 2010

September is up, and my exam is up! We took the FPGEE this morning in Colorado! The questions were generally simple but I guessed most of the time. The results won’t be out until after 8 weeks. The moment we got out of the test center, we were smiling.

Last week, after watching Charice’s cover of Beyonce’s “Listen” on Glee, I browsed other vocal covers on YouTube and concluded that Charice’s cover was the best, even better than Beyonce’s original. Then I stumbled upon zeldaxlove64‘s YouTube channel and got impressed by her beautiful voice and covers. I suddenly wanted to take voice lessons and build up my own channel too. I also saw a vocal cover of “Listen” in Spanish, which has “Oye” as its title. It sounded so nice, I wanna learn Spanish too.

But before all that, I shall take TOEFL iBT first, apply as a pharmacy intern, take the NAPLEX and the MPJE, become a registered pharmacist, and earn big time!

Sacrifice

“God works in mysterious ways sometimes.”

That was what Ma’am Eva (our dean) told me when I was complaining about NABP taking a very long time to evaluate my FPGEE application papers.

“It’s already been 8 weeks and they haven’t sent me my approval letter (test permit) yet, as opposed to their ’4-6 weeks’ promise. If I don’t receive it ‘til September 16, I won’t be able to sit on the exam on September 30. What’s worse, the next exam date is not until April 14, 2011!”

Good thing, my dearest Mommy (who is in the Philippines) faxed a letter to Carmen Catizone, the executive secretary of NABP, pleading to expedite the evaluation of my papers. In addition to that, she prayed a novena to the poor souls in purgatory which would end on September 8, birthday of Mama Mary.

So yesterday, September 7, (September 8 in the Philippines) I checked our mailbox, and OMG my NABP letter was there! I can’t anymore describe right now how I reacted yesterday upon seeing that letter, but, I swear, my reaction was epic! I was so happy I could cry!

I’ll always look back to that moment as a miracle, a miracle from Mama Mary. I believe Mama Mary prayed hard enough for my NABP letter to come that her son Jesus Christ wasn’t able to resist.

God really works in mysterious and, should I say, surprising ways sometimes.

Prayers really work. Not only my NABP letter arrived yesterday, but also those of my classmates’ (even the ones who applied only 3 weeks ago).

PS:

Prayers really work, so if you have a moment (even just 10 seconds), please pray for me or at least make the sign of the cross for me to be able to pass that test which is on September 30, 2010 (only 22 days from now).

We’re having a difficult time in the house right now. Our water heater leaked Monday night; the carpets got soaked and need to be replaced. The water supply’s cut off. Police came and tagged our house as “inhabitable,” and that’s what it’s gonna be until the water supply’s back and the carpets brand-new. We’re spending the night in someone else’s home, just like evacuees hit by a terrible storm. It’s very difficult to study.

But Mommy never fails to be one of my biggest sources of strength. She texted me a while ago and told something about sacrifice, which suddenly reminded me of Sam Witwicky’s quote in Transformers:

“No sacrifice, no victory.”

Ohmygod!!!

OMG!!!!!!! I’m sitting here, smiling like crazy! OMG how could I erase this smile from my face! Miracles do happen and, yes, they really do happen, and when they actually happen, oh my God they drive me nuts and here I am in this never-ending pit of everlasting craziness, like a taste of bliss painting a smile on my face which for some reason I really couldn’t erase, and did I say I really am smiling right now? OMG!!!

Lucky

I didn’t study the whole week and that sucks because I just made a review schedule 10 days ago. If only I had obediently followed my schedule, I would’ve been done with two books by now; but so far, I’ve only been done with two very short chapters. FAIL.

What I did instead the whole week was devote my time and energy to job hunting and worrying about my FPGEE application. Saturday last week, I received a letter from NABP, saying they already received and reviewed my application materials and found out I still lacked one thing: my General Evaluation Report from ECE. So they wouldn’t proceed with my application process until they’ve received that ECE Report which should be forwarded to them by ECE itself.

When I checked my ECE status online, it said it might take them 5 whole weeks to finish my evaluation report. So that would mean, I would have to wait for 5 more weeks before NABP could proceed with my application process, and the chances of me not being able to sit for the FPGEE on September would be pretty high.

Wednesday this week, I called ECE and inquired about their rush service. After listening to the customer service representative’s brief explanation, I gave them my credit card number and billing address so I could avail of the 5-business-day rush service for a whopping $75, almost equivalent to the cost of the evaluation report itself ($85)! Anyway, there would be less worry on my part, since I would no longer have to wait for 5 weeks but only for 5 business days.

Thursday night, I received an e-mail from ECE, saying, “We completed and mailed your evaluation report today, July 8, 2010 to your home address. An official copy of your evaluation report was also mailed to the NABP via Federal Express (FedEx),” Whoa! That wasss fassst! OMG, that was really fast! It’s only been 1 day, as opposed to their 5-business-day promise! I would only have to wait for next week to receive my copy of the report (because they only sent my report via regular mail). ECE is really fast and amazing!

Fast forward to this day (Saturday): I came home after talking with the pharmacist at Rite Aid, who said she would keep my resume and contact me as soon as they already need my help. Tired and a bit exhausted, I took a nap, and when I woke up, I found there sitting at the foot of my bed, my General Evaluation Report from ECE.

Gosh, ECE is really fast. And amazing!

Now, I realize that while I have been wasting my time and energy worrying about petty things this week, God has always been with me, still doing His job (guiding me while I ride the bus alone, protecting me during the wild protest for Oscar Grant, keeping my ECE package safe, giving me courage while talking with the store manager, etc.).

Therefore, like God, I should do my job too, and that is to make the most of everything that I’ve been given. I won’t ever waste any opportunity.

***

P.S. The pharmacist at Rite Aid advised me to take the PharmTech exam, so maybe I’ll schedule for a test appointment this week. Good luck to me.

P.P.S. I can’t think of a title; hence, “Lucky.”