en 101 - group 1 anthology

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V A N T A G E P O I N T


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Seeing things through a different set of eyes changes the whole picture.

Cameron C. Powell

Perspectives. Points of view. Vantage points.

Our entire world is a web of the perceived, where objectivity is subsumed by the subjec-

tive. Who's to say whether our surroundings are truly the way they are, or if that is simply the way

we perceive, even wish them to be? Strictly speaking, it is impossible to view anything in an un-

biased manner. The way we look out at our surroundings is colored by our opinions and biases,

whether or not we know or acknowledge that they exist.

Following this line of thought, a single, unremarkable object such as a chair, perceived in

myriad ways depending on who is looking, is molded and remolded countless times. The objects

which we perceive are not untouched: they metamorphose into experiences, feelings, and memo-ries, imbued with multiplicities of meaning.

We present in this anthology different objects or concepts as screened through the minds

of each of our writers from things we typically take for granted, such as a shelf or the school

bell, to weighty, immaterial concepts such as illness and death, time and tradition. Each manu-

script, carefully selected for its inclusion in the anthology, has been composed and treated, we

believe, with the ingenuity and skill worthy of Merit English students.

With this, we hope that our anthology will not only be an enjoyable read for you, but a

reflective one, which will let you view the world in another perspective. We believe that it has

done the same for us.

Please join us in our journey.

Sincerely,

Christa, Chesca, and Park

The Editors

E D I T O R S N O T E

Vantage Point | 1


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When you put yourself in someoneelse s shoes and you think you know what their lives are like or what their stories are, it s easyto imagine yourself being happy. Sometimes it

just seems so much easier to escape, to recreateyourself, to run from the life you ve been liv-ing. What good is it to float around in your crazy, perfect world when you re supposed to

be trying to keep your feet on the ground? Howfar can you go when in truth you aren t moving

at all?Music is a sort of magic, not only for

your ears but for your mind. It has the power totransform your mood, to take you places andtell you stories of the lives, loves and feelingsof others. I see so many people in and out of campus wearing earphones, whether they besitting down, walking around, or even sleeping.They take this magic with them wherever theygo, and so do I. It s a nice thought, carryingaround your escape at all times. Whenever youfeel like you don t want to hear something or you want to go somewhere else without reallyleaving, all you have to do is put your ear-

phones on and shut the world out.I sometimes wonder what people are

thinking when they re listening to music andwhat kind they listen to. In my case, I select a

playlist based on what I feel at the moment.

Lately I ve been listening to a lot of Snow Pa-trol. What I like about their music is it has thissad, nostalgic vibe, which is exactly how I ve

been feeling. I sometimes imagine myself as asort of character in their lyrics: I m a kid run-ning through a garden playing out scenes of dragons and princes with my best friend, I m ateenager pining for someone very much unat-tainable, I m a wife with a family slippingaway, I m a fish swimming without a cluewhere I m headed, I m standing still as I watchmy life race by.

Once I get attached to a song and I vehad the chance to analyze it, I begin to feel itsweight. Sometimes memories come with it. Idon t know if this happens with everyone, but

I find it poetic how one string of melodies canstretch into a symphony of memories. Yet notall music makes me nostalgic. I also find mu-sic can spark creativity; it makes you moreimaginative. Music opens doors to worlds youdream of when you find the time to sleep. Yetit can also ground you and give you a glimpseinto someone else s soul, tethering you tothem.

Twine of

Melody

By Kimmy Pearson

Twine of Melody | Vantage Point | 6


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I just got back from my routine one-

hour run; as always, I feel more refreshed now

than I did an hour ago. I did not always react

like this towards an activity so strenuous and

taxing. There was a time when I would never

even consider wasting a good hour of my day, profusely sweating as I flailed about my village.

My body would ache, my feet would get blis-

ters, my knees would throb, my back would

sting. I am talking about a time a little over two

years ago, when I was still in high-school. I

looked significantly different then.

Obviously, the main reason for my pre-

dicament was my passion for food. I love food.

I loved it when I was a kid, and I still love it

now. I don't classify myself as someone with

knowledge in the culinary world, or the finer

aspects of gastronomic tastes, but I do know

that I absolutely enjoy eating. My food choices

were never really healthy either. I despised

fruits and vegetables, and although I am a bit

more nonpartisan in my food choices now, I

still won't be eating any salads anytime soon.

Most if not all of my focus on food is directed

toward meat. Beef, chicken, lamb, pork, sea-

food, I loved them all. Grilling or frying was

my choice of cooking. I devoured piles of the

tasty viands, so much so that I'd actually want

to apologize if any of the readers are vegetari-

ans. I enjoy a lot of weddings, birthdays, par-

ties and the like, not only because of the festivi-

ties, but also because of the buffet that comesafter these ceremonies. I could go on and on

but the point is, I love food, so when I was con-

sidering shedding the extra poundage, I imme-

diately ruled dieting as out of the question.

As a young boy of three or four years of

age, I had a relatively normal physique, albeit a

wee bit on the chubby side. Of course, this

never really posed any problem to me as I was

noticeably taller than most of the children my

age and a lot of people found my baby fats to be

quite cute and cuddly. Growing up, though, I

never really lost the mass and unfortunately,

even piled up on it. And so, like most elemen-

tary students in an all-boys school, I experi-

enced a lot of ribbing, especially about my

weight. I was classified as slow, ungainly and

quite immobile. The opposite of graceful, to be

exact. Not everything was bad though, because

I still had my height, and that intimidated some

of the kids that dared to try and annoy me.

The Daily Jogger By Park Palacios

The Daily Jogger | Vantage Point | 8


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I wish you had been there, she said.

She seemed strangely disconnected. I couldn t

blame her; it didn t seem real. He might have

been dead by the time I woke up so I hardly got

any sleep that night and many nights afterward.

I don t think I ll ever see some underly-ing reason for this, for the expiration dates set

on living people. I don t have the eloquence to

say this in any other way it s not fair. It s

cruel. I can t do anything about what will hap-

pen, no matter how much I want to. I don t

know when I should stop hoping that things

might get better or when the wait will end. I can

only watch from the sidelines as someone I love

is taken away.

I don t think I ll ever understand why I

have to watch him die.

After his confinement, he came to pick

me up for class. His arms were hidden under his

sleeves again. My eyes widened and he stared at

me questioningly, like he had no idea why I d

be surprised to see him.

Why are you here?

Because I want to be here.

But you shouldn t be here! You

should be at the hospital! It s not that simple.

Why shouldn t it be?

He gave me a small, sad smile and

kissed me on the forehead

21 | Vantage Point | Expiration Dates


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Photo Credits

Agnes Cecile

Ordinary Comics

Pagan Network

Running Future

Sagada Igorot

Marta Bavacqua


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