Post-review of the much awaited opening of the Marist School Employees’ Athletic League 2015

Yesterday was the opening of the first MSEAL (Marist School Employees’ Athletic League) with our team, MAPAC, combined with some staffs to complete the blue team. Some highlight? I represented our team as our torch bearer. After that, some extra formalities with hilarious yells that we did spontaneously.

Bad news: Last night, my shooting streak was over. Last year, I didn’t miss an attempt in the perimeter. Last game, I shot two attempts and it just clanked the iron. We went into overtime, was just trailing by two in the last two minutes but we never scored during that period due to exhaustion. Final score: 79-89.

Good news: First time that I stole a ball in a fast break attempt while the opponent is on transition. And since we didn’t have any center, I have to grab the rebounds from our more than six feet tall opponents whenever I subbed in. I think I had five or six rebounds.

The best part of the game: On the last 2.9 seconds of the regulation, we had the last possession. Only down by two points, we can win or tie the game. the opponents are holding our players during the inbound since they have three more fouls to give. They can actually foul us until the game ends. So they gave two fouls and left us with 0.5 seconds. That means a catch and shoot situation. But some screen play and presence of mind did trick our opponents. It was so fast that our tallest player was suddenly open near the basket and the inbounder just took the opportunity. That was not in the play! Presence of mind did the trick! He caught and shot the ball. Overtime!

We don’t have enough gas in the extra period. A bittersweet loss. No regrets. We did our best. Maybe some hydration drinks will help us in our next game.

How I got to teaching Geometry

There are Typhoon Egay in the country so no classes. To make my time productive aside from Facebook and NBA 2K14 (outdated gaming), here I am blogging.

I’m teaching Geometry now. It’s a shift in career from a Psychology major, to a Catholic religious Brother, to a secondary teacher, and now a math instructor. Yes, I love Math and it’s just funny how I got this teaching load.

Here’s the story:

First week of June, I was asked if I am interested to substitute a teacher in the Afternoon Shift, an outreach education program for the poor kids here near Marist School and Marikina City. On the second week, I went to school to be given the Learning Plan, a textbook, and the Course Outline for the whole school year. And the following day, I started teaching Geometry to Grade 9 students. That was quick.

Postscript: In case you’re wondering, we start our classes in June until March or April; some schools start their school year in August until May starting this year.

An on-court (and courtside) basketball game report

MARIKINA CITY, PHILIPPINES—At 5:15 pm, we entered Marist gymnasium to start warming up. As I went in, I see students, varsity players, sitting in a circle as if they were enjoying a campfire. Since the game is near, they cleared the court for us. I saw my former high school Electronics teacher practicing his shooting with a teammate. It will be our basketball team against the High School Faculty members. I saw our assistant coach warming up. I wonder where the players are since the game is starting. If both teams don’t have at least five players, it will be a double default. Each team have sufficient players. They turned on the shot clock and the score board. The buzzer sounds, the coach to fielded me in the line-up. So I ended up as a starter. Continue reading →