A Gift to Humanity.

 This. I should've.

Don't judge just yet. You haven't read my story. This post may be soporific. Just bear with me, if you refuse to do so, you know what to do.

 Despite feeling unwell, I still turn up for today's event and I am very grateful indeed for doing so. Even though the event wasn't approve by the college administration board, we, this group of noble youth decided to go on with the program.

We made a special visit to a school for children of special backgrounds. The program started yesterday but I couldn't participate since I had to sit for Calculus 1 test 2.

The journey started at about 9 am and we arrived at Sentul Boulevard 45 minutes later. Thankfully the traffic was smooth all the way. Before meeting the kids, we had a briefing and practiced the movements and the chorus of You Raise Me Up and  Heads, Shoulders, Knees and Toes with the accompaniment of 2 acoustic guitars played by 2 seniors.

After practicing, we saw some kids coming down the stairs, who were ecstatic to see us. We gathered our things and went upstairs.While going up the stairs I felt anxious and a little daunted as I was about to have fun with kids. It's not that I'm not good with them but the fact that it's been a while since I played with kids for quite sometime and I was worried that I was unable to relate to them. To be frank, my childhood is way epic than those of kids these days, even though iPads, Angry Birds, The Avengers haven't existed at that time. The moment I entered classroom, I smiled when I saw boys and girls in school uniforms most probably lower primary school kids with the looks of anticipation to meet us.

A senior reintroduced yesterday's volunteers and introduced today's team to the kids. That warm, fuzzy feeling you get when you introduce yourself in front of an audience, and they greet you back. After breaking the ice, we started with a simple game, Tied In Knots, where you are in groups of 4 or more, cross your arms on front of you and grab the other person's hand and try to form a circle. Then we sang Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes with movements and also You Raise Me Up chorus twice.

Subsequently, each volunteer was assign to at least 2 kids for the 1 hour reading session. I enjoyed reading WITH 2 adorable girls, probably aged 7-8. Even though it seems too mainstream to read fairy tales especially Cinderella, Snow White and Rapunzel whenever there's any reading program or session with children, I had fun reading with them even though the ending to the 3 stories are similar where the heroin falls in love and get married with prince charming. The girls most probably from a neighboring country as they talked to each other in between the stories in some foreign language and I can only smile while listening to them.

When the 1 hour period ended, we started with the arts and craft session by making a simple key chain. I helped out the 2 girls by handling the scissors whilst they draw on the colored foam (unsure what that material was). The other senior conducted that session and showed us some examples: a flower, the red angry bird and a smiley face. I was awed with their creativity as they drew hearts,sunflowers and an angel. I was indeed very touched with that. "She must've gone through a lot," I said to myself.

We shared the scissors and double sided tape with another group which was really time consuming to wait for our turn to use those instruments. The volunteers were also given the same material to create our own key chains.

Since I ran out of time and materials because I was helping out the whole time and I gave my materials to those 2 girls, my key chain was the one I showed you in the photo above. Whilst the other kids completed their masterpiece and helping each other to clean up, I was still doing the final touches for the girl who drew the angel. I didn't want to miss a chance so I grabbed the pink material and orange marker, drew Elmo's face and cut it out. The angel girl asked me where should she paste the Elmo since she already completed her key chain. I paused for a moment and solemnly I told her that Elmo was mine.

I should've. I should've given her my Elmo and pasted it behind her beautiful angel-surrounded-by-hearts -and -roses key chain. I really feel bad for not doing so. Why on earth was I so selfish to the child who loved my drawing of roses for her, which do not appear like roses and also the child who went through life more than I did at such a young age?

I don't deserve to be called a human for doing so. I feel bad for unable to pronounce her name correctly even though she had her name tag on. During the reading session, I only called her "Girl" and "Dear" and I was too ignorant to read and remember her name even though she wrote it on her key chain.

I do hope I am able to be remembered and forgiven for my wrong doings and as compensation, the key chain that I helped her to make. In return, I will treasure the Elmo key chain and not write my name on it as I dedicate this key chain to her and I'd like to say, " Angel girl, Elmo is for you and me. "

I didn't want to leave the center too soon, but alas, we left with a heavy heart. Even though we only spent 3 memorable hours but we grew closer. I am very thankful to the seniors who took the effort to create this kind of event as it got me thinking.

I am and should be even more grateful with everything I have, even though I've hit rock bottom and  fell down for a number of times, having scars and bruises and still trying to walk properly, hoping that I could run again, like I used to. I'll try to have the determination and high spirit as those kids have in going through their lives at such age. In retrospect, at their age, I was living a normal and comfortable life, no worries as I was only a child yet they are trying their best to continue living and hoping to grow up and live better lives despite all the scars and bruises, which are worst than mine which they had when they were younger.

On the way back to Shah Alam, I gazed out the bus window and while listening to piano instrumentals on my playlist, something struck me, like lightning. I can't recall at some age, I wanted  to pursue a career in the medical field and when I am older and have enough funds to live a comfortable but normal life, I would love to be a volunteer in any non-profit organizations, just to give back to the community. With today's experience, I will try my best to realize that dream, hoping that I could present a gift to humanity and may all you people out there have the opportunity to experience something similar like I did so that you could increase your awareness with these issues.This is indeed an eye-opening experience and I wanted so badly to go for next week's session but then I decided to give a chance to the other volunteers hoping that they'll experience the same thing as I did.

I won't be revealing what those kids have gone through and I do hope you respect my decisions.

No matter this program was unapproved by our college administration, it was worth it. I am willing to go through anything if I get into trouble with the administrative board for participating this event.

When Life.

When life gives you lemons, take them. Think about the others who doesn't get those lemons.

Take this moment to thank God and be grateful that you have wonderful people around you especially your parents who supports you no matter what and your family who will be willing to do everything they could to always be there for you and help you gain back that fighting spirit in you even though you might be or are reaching a dead end but like they say: "It's not the end yet, you'll just have to go a few steps backwards and take a new road to continue your journey,"

I am indeed grateful that my parents are still around or else I wouldn't know what to do. I fell down for quite a number of times, but they're always around to help me up, clean up my wounds and still encouraging me to stand up and continue walking and hoping that I'll be able to run eventually.

I'm just a kid, there's still a lot for me to learn and experience to be a better person. If God's willing, I do hope I can repay all your sacrifices and kindness in the future. May God bless you and thank you for being in my life. If it wasn't for you and God, I would've gave up a long time ago.

"Oh God! Forgive me and my parents. Have mercy on them and bless them as they care for me since I was a child."

I pray that this is a blessing in disguise.

Things People Do In College.

Flip-flops become as important as soap, and shampoo.

Asleep by 2:30 AM is an early night.

New additions to the food groups: Mountain Dew and Oreos.

Make sure your alarm clock has back-up batteries.

Professors are like celebrities: you see them, but they never see you.

Learn to love your roommate, especially when he/she leaves you the room.

Printers only break down when you desperately need them.

You never thought you would share so much about yourself with people you have known for such a short time.

Computer games go in and out faster than the latest fashions.

Disney movies are more than just classics.

You will hear more stupid nicknames than you ever thought possible.

Cereal makes a meal any time of day

Keep your high school term papers; nowadays, everything is recycled.

ATMs are the devil's advocate.

You never realized how cool you can be.

Keys have never been so important, yet you seem to lose them more than ever before.

You meet the type of people you only thought existed in the movies.

You learn to sleep with light, noise, extreme temperatures, and roommates snoring.

You get good at rationalizing on whether to do homework or not.

Procrastination becomes an art.

Jeans may be worn as many times as the wearer desires.

The only reason you ever dress up is when everything else is dirty.

With all the wealth of knowledge around you, you start to feel like you're on intellectual welfare.

Going to the mini-mart is a major treat.

 You get good at rationalizing on whether to do homework or not.

Procrastination becomes an art.

Jeans may be worn as many times as the wearer desires.

The only reason you ever dress up is when everything else is dirty.

With all the wealth of knowledge around you, you start to feel like you're on intellectual welfare.

Going to the mini-mart is a major treat.

Classes: the later the better.

The longer you're there, the less you talk about home.

Always wear your safety goggles. They're not kidding.

You don't learn last names.

People who never talked to you in high school are now your best friends when you come home.

You are NEVER alone

It's amazing how late you can stay up doing absolutely nothing, yet falling asleep in class or in the library takes an average of two seconds.

You never realized how quiet your house was.

You get along so much better with your family now that you never see any of them.

Your life will never be the same again.

Extracted from Funny2.com

Now I Know.

Finally Week 14/16  a.k.a Speech WEEK (in my opinion) has ended. I presented my research essay progress report earlier this morning. My topic was/is Genetically Modified Foods (as I studied that topic in English for Science and Technology 3 years ago, why waste all the knowledge I  had already acquired?)

The others presented their topics such as hacking (for good purposes, I'm serious), men's relationship with gadgets, brain drain, organ donating,  and the topic which really caught my attention was about Introverts.

Now I know, I'm one of them. It may seem cliche and all but it is the truth. Don't believe me? Well, too bad. I know myself better than other people do. I've been searching the most suitable word that really describes me as a person (besides impassive) and voila! I proudly announce that I am indeed an introvert.

Adapted from :http://giftedkids.about.com/od/glossary/g/introvert.htm

Definition: Contrary to what most people think, an introvert is not simply a person who is shy. In fact, being shy has little to do with being an introvert! Shyness has an element of apprehension, nervousness and anxiety, and while an introvert may also be shy, introversion itself is not shyness. Basically, an introvert is a person who is energized by being alone and whose energy is drained by being around other people.

Introverts are more concerned with the inner world of the mind. They enjoy thinking, exploring their thoughts and feelings. They often avoid social situations because being around people drains their energy. This is true even if they have good social skills. After being with people for any length of time, such as at a party, they need time alone to "recharge."

When introverts want to be alone, it is not, by itself, a sign of depression. It means that they either need to regain their energy from being around people or that they simply want the time to be with their own thoughts. Being with people, even people they like and are comfortable with, can prevent them from their desire to be quietly introspective.

Being introspective, though, does not mean that an introvert never has conversations. However, those conversations are generally about ideas and concepts, not about what they consider the trivial matters of social small talk.

Introverts make up about 60% of the gifted population but only about 25-40% of the general population.

More Food For The Brain.

The Brain
The human brain is the most complex and least understood part of the human anatomy. There may be a lot we don’t know, but here are a few interesting facts that we’ve got covered.

1. Nerve impulses to and from the brain travel as fast as 170 miles per hour. Ever wonder how you can react so fast to things around you or why that stubbed toe hurts right away? It’s due to the super-speedy movement of nerve impulses from your brain to the rest of your body and vice versa, bringing reactions at the speed of a high powered luxury sports car.
2. The brain operates on the same amount of power as 10-watt light bulb. The cartoon image of a light bulb over your head when a great thought occurs isn’t too far off the mark. Your brain generates as much energy as a small light bulb even when you’re sleeping.
3. The human brain cell can hold 5 times as much information as the Encyclopedia Britannica. Or any other encyclopedia for that matter. Scientists have yet to settle on a definitive amount, but the storage capacity of the brain in electronic terms is thought to be between 3 or even 1,000 terabytes. The National Archives of Britain, containing over 900 years of history, only takes up 70 terabytes, making your brain’s memory power pretty darn impressive.
4. Your brain uses 20% of the oxygen that enters your bloodstream. The brain only makes up about 2% of our body mass, yet consumes more oxygen than any other organ in the body, making it extremely susceptible to damage related to oxygen deprivation. So breathe deep to keep your brain happy and swimming in oxygenated cells.
5. The brain is much more active at night than during the day. Logically, you would think that all the moving around, complicated calculations and tasks and general interaction we do on a daily basis during our working hours would take a lot more brain power than, say, lying in bed. Turns out, the opposite is true. When you turn off your brain turns on. Scientists don’t yet know why this is but you can thank the hard work of your brain while you sleep for all those pleasant dreams.
6. Scientists say the higher your I.Q. the more you dream. While this may be true, don’t take it as a sign you’re mentally lacking if you can’t recall your dreams. Most of us don’t remember many of our dreams and the average length of most dreams is only 2-3 seconds–barely long enough to register.
7. Neurons continue to grow throughout human life. For years scientists and doctors thought that brain and neural tissue couldn’t grow or regenerate. While it doesn’t act in the same manner as tissues in many other parts of the body, neurons can and do grow throughout your life, adding a whole new dimension to the study of the brain and the illnesses that affect it.
8. Information travels at different speeds within different types of neurons. Not all neurons are the same. There are a few different types within the body and transmission along these different kinds can be as slow as 0.5 meters/sec or as fast as 120 meters/sec.
9. The brain itself cannot feel pain. While the brain might be the pain center when you cut your finger or burn yourself, the brain itself does not have pain receptors and cannot feel pain. That doesn’t mean your head can’t hurt. The brain is surrounded by loads of tissues, nerves and blood vessels that are plenty receptive to pain and can give you a pounding headache.
10. 80% of the brain is water. Your brain isn’t the firm, gray mass you’ve seen on TV. Living brain tissue is a squishy, pink and jelly-like organ thanks to the loads of blood and high water content of the tissue. So the next time you’re feeling dehydrated get a drink to keep your brain hydrated.

Hair and Nails
While they’re not a living part of your body, most people spend a good amount of time caring for their hair and nails. The next time you’re heading in for a haircut or manicure, think of these facts.

11. Facial hair grows faster than any other hair on the body. If you’ve ever had a covering of stubble on your face as you’re clocking out at 5 o’clock you’re probably pretty familiar with this. In fact, if the average man never shaved his beard it would grow to over 30 feet during his lifetime, longer than a killer whale.
12. Every day the average person loses 60-100 strands of hair. Unless you’re already bald, chances are good that you’re shedding pretty heavily on a daily basis. Your hair loss will vary in accordance with the season, pregnancy, illness, diet and age.
13. Women’s hair is about half the diameter of men’s hair. While it might sound strange, it shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise that men’s hair should be coarser than that of women. Hair diameter also varies on average between races, making hair plugs on some men look especially obvious.
14. One human hair can support 3.5 ounces. That’s about the weight of two full size candy bars, and with hundreds of thousands of hairs on the human head, makes the tale of Rapunzel much more plausible.
15. The fastest growing nail is on the middle finger. And the nail on the middle finger of your dominant hand will grow the fastest of all. Why is not entirely known, but nail growth is related to the length of the finger, with the longest fingers growing nails the fastest and shortest the slowest.
16. There are as many hairs per square inch on your body as a chimpanzee. Humans are not quite the naked apes that we’re made out to be. We have lots of hair, but on most of us it’s not obvious as a majority of the hairs are too fine or light to be seen.
17. Blondes have more hair. They’re said to have more fun, and they definitely have more hair. Hair color determines how dense the hair on your head is. The average human has 100,000 hair follicles, each of which is capable of producing 20 individual hairs during a person’s lifetime. Blondes average 146,000 follicles while people with black hair tend to have about 110,000 follicles. Those with brown hair fit the average with 100,000 follicles and redheads have the least dense hair, with about 86,000 follicles.
18. Fingernails grow nearly 4 times faster than toenails. If you notice that you’re trimming your fingernails much more frequently than your toenails you’re not just imagining it. The nails that get the most exposure and are used most frequently grow the fastest. On average, nails on both the toes and fingers grow about one-tenth of an inch each month.
19. The lifespan of a human hair is 3 to 7 years on average. While you quite a few hairs each day, your hairs actually have a pretty long life providing they aren’t subject to any trauma. Your hairs will likely get to see several different haircuts, styles, and even possibly decades before they fall out on their own.
20. You must lose over 50% of your scalp hairs before it is apparent to anyone. You lose hundreds of hairs a day but you’ll have to lose a lot more before you or anyone else will notice. Half of the hairs on your pretty little head will have to disappear before your impending baldness will become obvious to all those around you.
21. Human hair is virtually indestructible. Aside from it’s flammability, human hair decays at such a slow rate that it is practically non-dis-integrative. If you’ve ever wondered how your how clogs up your pipes so quick consider this: hair cannot be destroyed by cold, change of climate, water, or other natural forces and it is resistant to many kinds of acids and corrosive chemicals.

Internal Organs
Though we may not give them much thought unless they’re bothering us, our internal organs are what allow us to go on eating, breathing and walking around. Here are some things to consider the next time you hear your stomach growl.

22. The largest internal organ is the small intestine. Despite being called the smaller of the two intestines, your small intestine is actually four times as long as the average adult is tall. If it weren’t looped back and forth upon itself it wouldn’t fit inside the abdominal cavity.
23. The human heart creates enough pressure to squirt blood 30 feet. No wonder you can feel your heartbeat so easily. Pumping blood through your body quickly and efficiently takes quite a bit of pressure resulting in the strong contractions of the heart and the thick walls of the ventricles which push blood to the body.
24. The acid in your stomach is strong enough to dissolve razorblades. While you certainly shouldn’t test the fortitude of your stomach by eating a razor blade or any other metal object for that matter, the acids that digest the food you eat aren’t to be taken lightly. Hydrochloric acid, the type found in your stomach, is not only good at dissolving the pizza you had for dinner but can also eat through many types of metal.
25. The human body is estimated to have 60,000 miles of blood vessels. To put that in perspective, the distance around the earth is about 25,000 miles, making the distance your blood vessels could travel if laid end to end more than two times around the earth.
26. You get a new stomach lining every three to four days. The mucus-like cells lining the walls of the stomach would soon dissolve due to the strong digestive acids in your stomach if they weren’t constantly replaced. Those with ulcers know how painful it can be when stomach acid takes its toll on the lining of your stomach.
27. The surface area of a human lung is equal to a tennis court. In order to more efficiently oxygenate the blood, the lungs are filled with thousands of branching bronchi and tiny, grape-like alveolar These are filled with microscopic capillaries which oxygen and carbon dioxide. The large amount of surface area makes it easier for this exchange to take place, and makes sure you stay properly oxygenated at all times.
28. Women’s hearts beat faster than men’s.The main reason for this is simply that on average women tend to be smaller than men and have less mass to pump blood to. But women’s and men’s hearts can actually act quite differently, especially when experiencing trauma like a heart attack, and many treatments that work for men must be adjusted or changed entirely to work for women.
29. Scientists have counted over 500 different liver functions. You may not think much about your liver except after a long night of drinking, but the liver is one of the body’s hardest working, largest and busiest organs. Some of the functions your liver performs are: production of bile, decomposition of red blood cells, plasma protein synthesis, and detoxification.
30. The aorta is nearly the diameter of a garden hose. The average adult heart is about the size of two fists, making the size of the aorta quite impressive. The artery needs to be so large as it is the main supplier of rich, oxygenated blood to the rest of the body.
31. Your left lung is smaller than your right lung to make room for your heart. For most people, if they were asked to draw a picture of what the lungs look like they would draw both looking roughly the same size. While the lungs are fairly similar in size, the human heart, though located fairly centrally, is tilted slightly to the left making it take up more room on that side of the body and crowding out that poor left lung.
32. You could remove a large part of your internal organs and survive. The human body may appear fragile but it’s possible to survive even with the removal of the stomach, the spleen, 75 percent of the liver, 80 percent of the intestines, one kidney, one lung, and virtually every organ from the pelvic and groin area. You might not feel too great, but the missing organs wouldn’t kill you.
33. The adrenal glands change size throughout life. The adrenal glands, lying right above the kidneys, are responsible for releasing stress hormones like cortisol and adrenaline. In the seventh month of a fetus’ development, the glands are roughly the same size as the kidneys. At birth, the glands have shrunk slightly and will continue to do so throughout life. In fact, by the time a person reaches old age, the glands are so small they can hardly be seen.

p.s Suddenly I wonder why I posses this interest about facts. Can't believe me? Try to check out my high school essays. I hardly, or I dare say, NEVER write any fiction or story-based essays. Let's just say my imaginations are way beyond expectations when it comes to that matter.

Food For The Brain

1. Albert Einstein's parents were worried that he was mentally too slow because he took a long time to learn how to speak.

2. 150 couples get married in Las Vegas each day.

3. 22% of people skip lunch daily.

4. A fire in Australia has been burning for more than 5,000 years!

5. Coca cola would be green if coloring wasn't added to it.

6. On the penny, Abe Lincoln faces to the right while all other presidents on other coins face to the left.

7.Every US president has worn glasses.

8. Mosquitoes have teeth.

9.On average, babies crawl 200 meters each day.

10. Butterflies taste with their feet.

11. An ostrich's eye is bigger than it's brain.

12. The planet Earth is the only planet not named after a god.

13. The city Rome is located on every planet.

14. Dolphins sleep with one eye open.

15. If you were to drive 100 miles per hour, it would take you 29 million years to reach the Sun!

16. The human brain is 80% water.

17. There is no full word for "Mrs."

18. Cat's urine glows under a black light.

19. A dragonfly lives for only 24 hours.

20. Children who are breast fed have been proven to be smarter than those who have not.

21. Cows milk is the most common food to be allergic to.

22. An Indian man grew his finger nails to the length of 76 inches.

23. A cockroach can survive days with out it's head.

24. 97% of all money printed in the US contains some cocaine.

25. Organized crime in the US is estimated to be about 10% of the nation's income.

26. Mars has the largest known volcano in our solar system.

27. Carpenter ants have been used to close wounds in Asia and South America.

28. Vanilla is the most popular ice cream at Baskin Robins.

29. You are more likely to be killed by a donkey than in a plane.

30. The weight of a blue whale's tongue is greater than most elephants.

31. A bean cell has more DNA than a human cell.

32. Size for size, the hair on men's beards is as strong as copper wire.

33. A peanut is in fact not a nut at all. It is a legume.

34. The Beatles sell more records each year than the Rolling Stones.

35. The higher the income, the more likely a man from the US will cheat on his wife.

36. An elephant can't jump!

37. A person laughs, on average, 10 times a day.

38. Hitler was a vegetarian.

39. Rutherford Hayes, the 19th president of the US, was elected president by one vote!

40. Apples are better at waking you up in the morning than caffeine.

41. The oldest piece of chewing gum is 9000 years old.

42. The speed of a rain drop is 7 mph.

43. The World Trade Center had several of it's own zip codes.

44. Wal-Mart was China's 8th largest trading partner.

45. 6% of men propose on the telephone.

46. An ostrich egg would take 4 hours to boil.

47. Colgate made a toothpaste available in a jar.

48. Diamonds in Brazil are harder than those in Africa.

49. Pollen can last for infinity.

50. During his life, Van Gogh only sold 1 of his paintings.

51. No president of the US was even an only child.

52. Any Rubik's Cube combination can be solved in 17 turns.

53. An average human sheds 40 pounds of skin.

54. People who smoke eat more sugar than non-smokers.

55. There are no clocks in Las Vegas casinos.

56. The worlds youngest parents were in China in the year 1910. There were 8 and 9 years old.

57. Researchers in Canada have found that Einstien's brain was 15% wider than normal.

58. The maker of Aspiring market heroin in 1897!

59. Rubber lasts longer when refrigerated.

60. In the year of 1992, 55,142 people were injured by jewelery.

61. The drug thiopentone can kill a human being in one second.

62. The worlds smallest mammal is the bumblebee bat of Thailand. It weighs less than a penny.

63. Starfish have no brains.

64. If Barbie were life-sized, she would stand 7 feet 2 inches tall.

65. The Catholic Church owns the most land in New York City.

66. Mount Everest grown 4 millimeters a year.

67. 80% of all arrested criminals are male.

68. Albert Einstein never wore any socks.

69. A component of toothpaste is made from recycled tin.

70. Beavers can swim half a mile under water with one breath of air.

71. The average CEO's salary in the US is 475x the average worker. It is 22x in Britain, 15x in France, 11x in Japan.

72. The trunk of an elephant can hold 4 gallons of water.

73. The city of Jacksonville in Florida is the largest city in the US.

74. The average human blinks about 25,000 times a day.

75. Arabic numerals are not really Arabic, they were invented in India.