This quarter’s reflection is proportional to the quarter itself: very short. It went by faster than the previous quarter. Since the seniors’ grades have to be computed early, most of the requirements were due earlier than usual too. Pisay students are known for their procrastination and superb cramming skills. For seniors, the 4^th quarter is the ultimate test of their cramming powers. Or their ability to prioritize their tasks, whichever one is applicable. Although it’s common in the school, cramming is a practice discouraged by the teachers mainly because it often results in substandard work. Despite the whirlwind of tests and projects, however, many seniors still find the time to relax or take pleasure in their dwindling days as a student in Philippine Science High School.

                Since I neglected my studies in the past few quarters, I now have to exert a lot of effort to make sure that I graduate. While the possibility that I won’t graduate is very threatening indeed, I was still able to have fun during  the past few weeks. I have learned to appreciate the little things amidst the very stressful happenings. I think that this is very important when facing something difficult. As long as you can find happiness in little things, you’ll have the energy to keep on keeping on.

                The primary focus of the subject is evolution. Every quarter out topics had something to do with evolution. When I recall the lessons each quarter while writing essays for the portfolio, I gain a deeper understanding of the lesson. ‘The Mitochondrial Eve’, for example, was a very confusing concept until we watched a film and discussed it in class. The same goes for animal behavior which was discussed last quarter. I already had the idea that behaviors were either learned or taught. The other concepts of animal behavior, however, like altruism in other animals and the adaptive value of behavior was unclear until it was highlighted in class.

                Writing the portfolio articles really helped in understanding the topic and making it easier to remember. If we weren’t required to pass a portfolio, I might have forgotten most of the lessons already. Unfortunately, my portfolios were mostly done in a hurry. The essays were crammed a few days, even hours before the deadline. The resulting portfolios weren’t so bad but they might have been better if they weren’t rushed in the last minute. It might have also helped if I took notes in class so I don’t struggle to remember the details of the discussions while cramming the essays. And it probably didn’t help that I wrote the essays very late, when I was sleepy and my brain isn’t very reliable.

                Procrastination is a behavior acquired by almost all the Pisay students. According to an article I read in Scientific American’s website, task aversiveness is a main external trigger for procrastination. Nobody would delay doing something they love. It seems peerfectly normal, however, to put off something you don’t want to do. A phenomenon known as temporal delay could also be responsible for procrastination. As the deadline draws nearer, the feeling of accomplishment seems more valuable and iti is more likely that the student will do the  task required. The immediate gratification provided when the deadline is near is a good motivator. The article also said that a person who isn’t conscientious is more likely to procrastinate. Impulsive people are at risk too because they are more easily swayed by temptation. 

                According to Dr. Pychyl, procrastinators delay the task because they don’t like and it makes them feel lousy.      Pisay scholars also say that they delay the requirement because they are waiting for the ‘adrenaline rush’ that will make it easier for them to do project. Cramming could also be a way to minimize the bad feeling by doing the maximum amount of work in a minimum amount of time. Not only that, crammers have a scapergoat if they perform badly and they could also brag more if they do well. I remember telling myself on several different  occasions that I would have done better on the exam if I actually studied and if I did well on an exam I didn’t study for, I can brag that it was all talent and no skill. Dr. Pychyl also said that procrastinators probably do so to lead a better mental life. 

                Pisay students probably procastinate and cram to get good grades while minimizing their stress. It can’t be denied that the massive workload in Pisay can lead to a huge amount of stress, procrastinating and cramming are learned behaviors to preserve their mental fitness.

                This quarter passed by quickly and classes were suspended several times. But even though the third quarter seems short, a lot of things happened, a lot of requirements were given and a lot of lessons were learned. Though I try, my learning habits haven’t improved that much. I was able to improve my Biology and maybe even my Physics, but somethings aren’t so easy to do. I was wondering if it really is just laziness r lack of discipline on my part but then I realized that I have to factor in external forces too.

                Studies don’t just depend on the students, the teachers play a big role too, along with the friends, family and the rest of society. Among those previously mentioned however, teachers bear the heaviest burden. A teacher has a big influence on a student’s studies, especially in how the student reacts with the subject. A strict teacher for example, may cause the student to pass all the requirements but in turn resent the subject due to fear for the teacher. A good teacher is a teacher that can get along well with the students. Lively teachers make the lesson, and consecutively the subject more interesting and the students are encouraged to study more for the subject. Bland lectures, however, make the subject seem uninteresting and maybe even a waste of time.

                The student’s friends influence his or her study habits as well, if all my friends are reviewing for an exam, I feel somewhat compelled to study as well. And when my grades are considerably lower, it gives me an incentive to catch up. Pressure from parents could really make a student work hard, though this often comes with a lot of stress.

                The environment has a role too. The proper atmosphere can make studying easier while a relaxed or wild atmosphere may distract the student into slacking off or pursuing leisurely interests. 

                Aside from things concerning my studies, I realized that having a positive outlook on life is very important. Thinking about things negatively could make bad things seem worse and good things may be taken for granted. Not only that, a negative outlook makes life more stressful than it has to be and it make one age faster to. Staying optimistic leaves one feeling light and relaxed while pessimism makes one grumpy or nervous.

                One’s outlook in life affects all the aspects in life, from one’s mental and physical health to one’s friendships and other relationships. Life always has its ups and downs but just doing it without fearing the worst is much better than running away from your duties because you’re afraid of failure.

                That’s another thing. I always shied away from my responsibilities due to fear or laziness but when I actually get started, it’s not as bad as I thought before and could even be rewarding. It took me such a long time to pick up my book and study for biology but when I did, things turned out pretty well and I got a high score in our second long test.

            EA Games’ new video game, Spore, is a game where you make your own species, starting from a microbe in the sea to a creature on land to a tribe that just gained sentience to a civilization that aims to dominate the world to space-farers that aim for the center of the galaxy. The first two stages are the only ones where you can modify your creature with genetic mutations using DNA points acquired from interacting with other species. There is a huge variety of parts to choose from, each one has an advantage and a disadvantage. The game missed an important part of the environment though. There is hardly any climate that would influence a species’ development. Aside from that, the concepts of evolution and adaptation are well portratyed in the game. They even included migration in the game. After some time, when the food supply around your nest begins to thin, the entire pack moves on to a new, bigger nest to propagate your species, pretty much like how the early humans migrated out of Africa to colonize the other continents.               

                The early humans that left Africa probably left for a reason, and as they were hunter-gatherers, the reason is most probably food, the same reason the your pack in Spore would leave their previous nest.. The climate forged their path as they searched for new sources of fruits and new herds to hunt. After all, why would they cross an arid desert if they could just travel by the seaside? It’s too bad the game developers were unable to use this to make the game more interesting and to add variety to your species development. The group of hominids that left Africa spread to many continents and is said to be the descendants of all non-African humans. The Homo sapiens then adapted to their surroundings to form the humans we now today. And just like with the early humans, greater sentience led to the formation of tribes. These tribes soon fought for dominance of the continent, dominating or allying other tribes to gain supremacy. And once your tribe has subjugated the other tribes and ruled over the continent, your species enters the civilization stage. The goal of this stage Is to unite all the nations of the planet using several means, namely: economic, military and religious. In a way, it’s very much like human playing out human history with other species. Our current stage would be civilization stage, as we have yet to unite the planet and our space technology is not that advanced yet. The final stage is space colonization. Colonizing other planets and interacting with alien empires. 

                Spore is a game that plays out human history, from the evolution of our species to our current state, in a simplified and unadorned version. It even displays a possible future, supposing that there are other intelligent beings so near us in space.

     Firstly, learning is distinct from studying. Studying is a way of learning; it is actively seeking knowledge or improvement of a skill. After all, you could learn things without actually intending to learn them. You could read up on astronomy and learn how to navigate with the stars without actually studying the night skies with that purpose in mind.

         Next, learning happens a lot more outside the classroom. If you are fortunate enough, you would probably spend most of your early life in school, studying. This, parents would always insist, is a good preparation for the future. Indeed it is. Though most of the things you study in class you wouldn’t actually use in real life, schooling helps refine your learning process. Your brain learns to think, to analyze, and to rationalize. All these skills actually better your learning. It becomes easier to understand things and to view them logically once the mind received a bit of training. Training that is given early on in the form of schooling. But of course, all these are just preparations for something else. One might ask, what is the point of refining one’s learning in school when the studying is done in school? Some people may think that learning stops when they graduate but it would be quite sad if that was the case. Upon leaving the school is when true learning begins, in my opinion. This is the time when you would actually experience things you could only discuss sparingly in the classroom. As a senior I naturally took college entrance exams. There I would study and learn the things I would need for my job. However, there is more to one’s life than one’s job, and most of the things aside from those with relation to one’s job, one does not, and cannot, learn in a classroom. These things you could only learn with experience and the skills you honed during your schooldays would help you get the most out of it.

         Finally, do not just reflect, apply. In my previous portfolio I wrote that reflecting upon what you have learned is very important in retaining the knowledge. This quarter however, I have realized something that would further strengthen the effects of reflection- that is, application. No matter how much you reflect on something, putting it in action is a better way to remember it, understand it and even discover new things about it.

                In the same manner that mutations and adaptations are caused by an organism’s environment, the tiny changes in my life has been caused by similar forces; high school to be specific. First and foremost, when I entered high school, I had to stay at the school dormitory. Even as a child, I preferred staying indoors and reading to going outside and playing with other children. As a result, I know little of the world outside books and though I learned a lot from reading, it was still very different compared to actually experiencing the things I have read. This I learned when I entered high school and stayed at the dormitory. Living far from home has put me in constant interaction with other people. I don’t even know who the neighbors across the street are, and now I’m living with complete strangers. Slowly, I became more familiar with my new environment, and with the people I was stuck with. As necessary for adaptation, I learned a few other things aside from socializing. When I did not have enough clothes, I had to learn to wash and to iron them myself, a chore I was spared at home. I also lost the unfavorable traits that made living in a dorm harder than it should be. I stopped leaving my chocolates at the dormitory’s fridge when I discovered that there were people who didn’t respect other’s property. 

         Aside from living in a dormitory, I am now studying at a school specialized in science and technology. Though I did not choose to do so, and my head was filled with scientific jargon. While conversations involving ATP and the efficiency of one’s path between classrooms were commonplace at school, I get weird looks when I mention things like thermal equilibrium in a conversation with my friends outside the school. And to think that I didn’t realize I was using technical terms until my cousin pointed it out, saying that I was making her nose bleed with all the science.

         In the span of a few years, I have accumulated enough small changes to have several distinctions from my previous self. Not that I am a different thing entirely, as species become when they evolve, but I believe I am well on my way. I still have a long way to go and there are plenty of mutations to pick up on my way as I strive to survive in the ever-changing environment.

         It’s common knowledge that there are a lot of different kinds of animals living on Earth but actually seeing the diversity with your own eyes, even just in television, is altogether a different experience. I have seen many documentaries about nature and the wild, I even watched a show or two in Animal Planet during the summer, but I must admit that I’m not really that familiar with Galapagos. I know Darwin went there before, and I know that life there is very diverse, but like I stated earlier, seeing it makes one realize how diverse it really is. And I haven’t even seen it firsthand yet. Just imagine how awesome it would be to go and discover new species yourself.

         Aside from seeing more of the Earth’s diversity, I also learned more about the mechanism behind it. I cannot clearly remember when I was first introduced to natural selection as the mechanism for evolution but I know that it has not been as clear to me as it is now. Evolution is pretty hard to imagine at first, especially since the changes can be very gradual and the entire process takes longer than a lifetime in more complex organisms. Learning about cumulative selection however, has shed some light on the evolution process. Evolution isn’t a random process but an accumulation of small changes in an organism, some of which may have occurred by chance. The filtering of these tiny changes however, the removal of the disadvantageous ones and the accumulation of the advantageous ones, is the key to evolution.

         Our studies didn’t stop at that, we looked even closer at evolution and what happens in a population’s gene pool as the population evolves. It is like an applied version of the concept stated above and is parallel to our lesson in biology. We even did an activity on allele frequency in a population under a specific situation.

                 Even though it did not really seem like we studied a lot, I feel like I actually learned a lot of things. I have only evaluated three of the things I learned even though I could probably give a few more.