GAMES GAMES GAMES

A Life Well Lived

Fr. Rogelio B. Alarcon

Fr. Rogelio B. Alarcon is a priest who has established three Angelicum Schools in the 1970’s.

The concept of a school catering to the individual needs of each learner was on the mind of Fr. Rogelio B. Alarcon, O.P. when he was a student of Colegio de San Juan de Letran in Manila. 

In 1972, he (then the first Prior Provincial of the Dominican Province of the Philippines) was able to convince some educators and the Provincial Council to establish a non-graded school. It was to be called Angelicum after one of the Dominican houses of studies in Rome and in honor of the Dominican Angelic Doctor of the Church St. Thomas Aquinas, the Universal Patron Saint of Catholic schools.

The year 2014 is year Fr. Alarcon will be celebrating his 77^th birthday. He is currently a retired priest of Santo Domingo Church.

In his 49 years in priesthood he claims that until now he is absolutely satisfied that all he has set to do for God and for his neighbors are being accomplished.

Fr. Rogelio B. Alarcon’s existence is a life that can be marveled upon.

The first Angelicum School he established (now Angelicum College) was founded in Quezon City in 1972. The second was established in Teheran, Iran in 1974 and was later closed when war broke out. In 1978, Angelicum School Iloilo was opened with 70-plus students and four teaching staff.

Angelicum School Iloilo, which occupies the Lizares Mansion compound, has an area of 16,500 square meters along McArthur Drive, Tabuc Suba, Jaro, Iloilo City. The mansion, which is a mixture of American and Spanish architecture, is still one of the most elegant structures in Iloilo.

He encouraged the idea of The Non- Graded System of Education.

The Non-Graded System of Education is based on the philosophy that learners are different from one another and the belief that all children are capable of learning the same quality of knowledge.

The Non-Graded System of Education sees a subject area as a continuous whole with a complete set of skills to be learned without the usual time frame.

The learner's progress in a given subject area level is determined by his personal capacity to learn coupled by the efforts he exerts as conditioned by his moods, degree of responsibilities and maturity.

Father Alarcon also encouraged the Open Classroom System of Education.

The Open Classroom System of Education is based on a principle that the process of learning transpires wherever the learner is. In the classroom, the teacher sets the mood for learning, but the process is not confined to it. Learning could happen in the next room, in the playground, in the library or under the trees.

The whole world is the classroom.

Even after every success Father Alarcon has been through, he still remains humble and faithful to God’s judgment.

When he was asked if he thinks he’s doing well as a priest, he replied, “I don’t know. It’s up to God, really. I’m just doing the best that I can.”

Fr. Rogelio Alarcon is a person who not only should be admired but also imitated. He is an inspiration to everyone and also a person who’s life contains a very important lesson.

Follow God and nothing will ever be impossible.

Book Review: Corpse in the Mirror

Corpse in the Mirror

About the Author:

A.S. Santos has been writing for magazines since the age of 14, and has worked professionally as a scriptwriter for TV, a magazine editor, a creative writing teacher, and a creativity workshop facilitator.

The author’s own experiences with the paranormal began in high school, during encounters with the Ouija board. At first it had seemed like a game, until those experiences turned disturbing... then frightening.

Since then, Santos became interested in the paranormal, but mostly in the scientific theories about what makes paranormal phenomena possible.

In 2009, Santos was working on a personal project, a little booklet called “The Top 12 Things Teens Need to Know About the Paranormal.” It was to have been the booklet that the author would’ve wanted to have back then during those teen years, the booklet that would help teens today better understand the paranormal experiences they may have.

However, that booklet project was abandoned, because in the middle of researching it the author suddenly had the idea for a three-book series about a teenage girl who gradually develops her psychic abilities upon joining her school’s paranormal research group.

And that was the beginning of the SPRG series. Santos has finished the second book of the series, Corpse in the Mirror.

Major Characters:

Name: Samantha Davidson

Samantha is a girl from New Jersey who has just transferred to her mother’s country, the Philippines, because of her dad’s job offer there.

She has a secret. Ever since her grandmother died, due to being hit by a car, Samantha realized that she had a special ability. As her grandmother lay between life and death, Samantha stayed with her from the ambulance until they reached the hospital. And as she was with her, Samantha kept hearing her grandmother’s voice, even when her grandmother reached her last final breath. And ever since then, she realized she was capable of more extraordinary things, but the problem was how she was going to use them.

In the first book, Samantha Davidson was able to hear thoughts and voices. But in Corpse in the Mirror, her eyes began to see what others’ cannot. She wants to find answers.

Name: Lana Chan

Lana is Sam’s best friend. She has also experience strange occurrences in her life but has viewed them in a different way. She claims she has been helped by her guardian angel multiple times in her life. Lana’s religious beliefs and faith has amazed Sam and has also helped her in her trials.

Name: Migs delos Santos

Migs is somehow similar to Sam for he is also looking for answers. He has his own share of experiences when it comes to strange occurrences for he has shared a conversation with his dead brother before. He is a selfless guy that does everything in his power help Sam and his other friends.

Name: Richard Malvar

Richard is a rebelling against his father and has joined the SPRG group to prove it. He didn’t expect that anything in the SPRG group can change his life as astonishingly as it did.

SUMMARY:

What will you do if you could see the eyes of your future murderer? What would risk if you knew you needed to save the lives of your friends and your family? How will you handle the fact that you are the only one who could help yourself?

Samantha Davidson is a Filipino-American who has just transferred from New Jersey to the Philippines. Recently, she has found out that she could hear people’s thoughts. That was her secret, and she has looked for answers through the Student Paranormal Research Group (SPRG), a group in her school.

During the first book, she has ventured and tested the limits of her abilities at that time. And as she was doing so, she found out that she was involved in an invisible war; a war in which humanity has always been part of, a war that is ongoing even until this day.

With the SPRG, she has discovered and learned more about the world within the world we have today. The mysteries of this life are unfathomable, but that doesn’t mean everything about them should be known.

The Corpse in the Mirror book goes through how Samantha digs deeper and finds more than just her ability to hear sounds that regular humans should not be hearing. She begins to see. She starts to see people’s thoughts, see through their eyes, and see what’s hidden behind the walls of reality.

Every time her abilities become stronger, she puts her life more at stake. Seeing every move of a serial killer isn’t always what any teenage girl would want.

Review:

Have you ever wondered if there was more to life than what we’re actually seeing?

The Corpse in the Mirror is a sequel to an amazing and breathtakingly thrilling book; The Voices in the Theater.

The second book tackles Samantha’s continuously growing abilities. These abilities are not what they seem. They are not those regular talents that regular people have, no. These abilities can make Samantha able to hear thoughts, see what this world has been hiding, and even get a glimpse of the future.

The Corpse in the Mirror isn’t your regular horror book, for it contains real facts and it is mixed with certain elements of science that could make you question the life we are living today.

Samantha’s talents may make her more aware of the secrets of humanity but being exposed to the truth won’t always be something that would protect her from its dangers. The more she knows the more she takes the lives of people around her in grave danger.

What do you think would you do if you were given the chance to see through your killer’s eyes?

Samantha, with the help of her friends, tries to solve mysteries around her and prevent profound and brutal deaths that have not happened yet. But, will they succeed if Samantha herself is hesitant? Will she have the courage to use her abilities for the greater good?

The book itself can hold anyone’s attention. Every scene is packed with a thrilling sensation that will make readers chase after the answers. The mysteries and doubts of Samantha Davidson can be applicable to what people have doubts about today.

Every time Samantha digs up something new; every time she finds out more secrets, readers form this strong desire to seek for more. The book is filled with astonishing and unpredictable scenes that makes readers create this formidable craving to never stop digging deeper into the book.

With every page comes with outmost heart-pounding and spine-thrilling sentiments that would not fail to keep the readers at the edge of their seats.

Once readers take hold of the world behind the pages of this book, the life ahead before them will never be the same again.

How do we get this book?

Click the link: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18686248-corpse-in-the-mirror