Fashion Statement: What I wear is what I am!

Fashion, according to Pauline Weston Thomas, is a free form of speech. But is this really true? Judging from my experience, I think I can agree that what we wear sends a message to other people. In my life, I have many examples of how what I wear makes me who I am.

Roles/Wearing a uniform:

Back in Ateneo Grade School and Ateneo High School, we were required to wear a school uniform. It may seem that school uniforms only represent us being students. But it also shows what school we represent, in our case, the clothes showed everyone we were Ateneans and proud of it. It can also show ideals and values of the school like the blue color of the high school polo represents our dedication to the Virgin Mary.

Me being a high school student with my high school class

My hobbies:

I was a guy that never really cared much about fashion. But that doesn’t mean that what I put on doesn’t show how I feel or think about a day. There days that I want to wear something that shows what I like to do. Here are just some of those.

I have always been a big football fan ever since I watched the 2002 World Cup on the television. I know that I’m never going to be a football player but there are other ways to make me feel that I am and this is where clothes and accessories come in. I am a big fan of the Italian Football Club A.C. Milan and I’ve been always buying their jerseys every season. I started out buying fake jerseys but then I realized if I want to be more of a Milanista, I’d have to buy the original jerseys. Whenever I wear these clothes, I feel like I am a part of the club one way or another. And my feeling of being a player doesn’t just stop in football. For instance, when I have an important exam to take for the day, I wear my Milan football jerseys because when I do, I feel like putting on my ‘game face’ and conquering that test just like how my football idols conquer theirs night in and night out.

How I think I look like in an exam

Me wearing my jersey and scarf during a Milan game

My Milan jerseys

As I mentioned awhile ago, I know I’m not a good player so I decided that what I can be is to become the best fan I know. So also always wear my jerseys whenever I watch a game to give support even if the team will never know if I wear them. Besides that, I also have shoes and accessories like ballers.

My Milan ballers

Besides being a Milan fan, I’m first and foremost a FOOTBALL fan. So I also own jerseys from other teams. But I’m actually more proud of collecting scarves of football clubs and national teams.

My collection of football scarves

Aside from football, I am also a comic book fan. This all started when I wore a Thor costume. I internalized being Thor and I had a really fun time with it. So besides having a costume of Thor, I also have a Thor shirt. I wear it everytime I feel good or I felt like I want to read more comics or everytime Marvel announces something big about their movies. It allows me to let out the geeky side of my personality and I don’t really care how people think about it, as long as they get the message that I love comics and I am THOR (for that day at least).

How I felt I looked like.

How I really looked like.

I also love travelling. So I always make sure that everytime we go abroad, I get a shirt from that country. It makes me remember the places I went to and the experiences that I had.

Just a few of my souvenir shirts

Shirts with messages:

Besides hobbies, I also have shirts that have text on them because of something I want to convey or show support for. Sometimes I also feel some sense of pride or the occasion is right like when I wear org shirts during org events and school shirts during games. Below are some examples of these shirts wearing them because of the occasion.

Conclusion:

So I have been able to show how I show people a part of who I am through what I wear. I may not be a fashionable guy (I still ask help from mom and sister for what clothes should I wear or buy), but I still use fashion to convey my thoughts and feelings, and as well as what my role is (like being a high school student, but I don’t wear it anymore since, well, I’m in college already). I do hope that people see fashion not just to show off if you have money, but also to show things you want people to see about you and the things that you care for. Remember, the clothes don’t make the man, it’s the man that makes the clothes.

Source used: The Semiotics of Fashion by Pauline Weston Thomas

http://www.sgsbo.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/Alessandro-Nesta.jpg (for the football player (Nesta) image)

http://media.comicvine.com/uploads/10/108927/2083825-thor.jpg (for the Thor image)

What has Physics 10 taught me

Science in the Philippines

In a world where technology seems to be advancing, I believe the Philippines is getting left behind in this regard. Proof of this is how badly we predict weather here. Time and time again, due to our old and outdated equipment, a lot of lives were lost simply because the predictions of PAGASA were way off. We have to blame the lack of funding and appreciation of science for this. We have to support science in our country because it can uplift our country into greater heights and improve our way of living. Let us not be happy with only hand me downs from our allies like the USA. Why not make our own innovations?

Being a student of science in the country

To able to study in the country’s premier university that is well-known especially for being good in science is a big privilege for me. It was always my dream to study in the University of the Philippines since I was a kid. I also have to consider myself to be very fortunate that I’m enrolled in such a prestigious university.

With that said, being a student of science in this country is great because I get to have good education and not everyone here gets to have that. Science is very interesting because it aims to let our knowledge of the world grow. I get to learn things such as planetary motion and astrology in Physics 10, get to do lab work in chemistry. I’ll even get to study the human body in biology. All of these will help me and other students understand the physical world even more.

How do Filipinos view science?

I think Filipinos know that science is still important in education. But I believe that we still undervalue science, especially when it comes to research and technology. This is why we are behind other countries in terms of science.

Filipinos, in general, are probably scared of science because they think it’s hard.

But if we look past this notion that it is difficult, perhaps we would appreciate the beauty of science. It’s sad because after having Filipinos contribute like the fluorescent lamp and lunar rover to technology, we are lagging behind our neighbors. If we want to improve as a country, we need to realize that we have to support scientific studies and research in the country even more. It will also help us keep some of the country’s brilliant minds to stay in the country if we give them resources for them to develop their minds in scientific research even more.

What is Physics and its significance?

Physics is defined to be the study of nature and the study of matter and motion. But of course there is more to Physics than just these definitions.

Physics has a big influence in our lives today. As I have learned through class, without it, a lot of our technology wouldn’t be present today. Without Galileo, we wouldn’t have telescopes and we’d still probably believe that sun is not the center of the universe. Michael Faraday and Maxwell gave us a better understanding of electrical and magnetic fields, and these would eventually lead to some technological advancements like magnetic levitation. There are many more examples of inventions being made because of physics. Physics gives us a basic understanding of how things and the environment works which allows us to go through our jobs and other daily hassles.

What has Physics 10 taught me?

That’s a good question. At first, people told me to take this class because it was an easy ‘uno’. When I was able to get the class, I was very happy, especially since I’m a very grade-conscious person. I was thinking that I wouldn’t learn anything new since this was ‘easy’ Physics. But you know what they say, expect the unexpected.

Before I took up Physics 10, I viewed science as something essential, but also something that brings down my grades. I knew that science was interesting, but I didn’t really see that until I took Physics 10. Having a class that is geared for students to see interesting things about science really helped me see how important science is and how relevant it is to our lives in modern days.

Probably one of the best things that Physics 10 showed was that our world is full of things that we don’t notice in our daily lives. We usually think that subjects like physics pretty much have no connection to our lives, but they are actually relevant to us. For example, physics can explain to us how airplanes are flown due to the flow of air from high to low pressure, which is explained by Bernoulli's Principle. The photoelectric effect explains why photography dark rooms use red lights. Physics will also help you understand why the sky is blue and other interesting facts.

This class also made me even more in awe of our universe. The lectures about the universe were very interesting because there is nothing bigger than the universe. What was also interesting was the way these scientists were able to prove their theories because it is hard to imagine how the universe works. Kepler used many mathematical equations to create his planetary laws. Galileo used telescopes to observe the universe and even became blind for it. Newton used Kepler’s laws to show gravitation and that the universe follows laws. Einstein even went further with his theories of relativity, which were proven many years after to be correct. The fact that the universe is growing and expanding even more shows that there will be more to discover in the future and it is up to future generations to find out even more.

Lastly, and I believe the most important thing I got from Physics 10 is that it made me appreciate human intelligence and the power of thinking. It is important to note how powerful the human mind is. As the Greek philosophers showed, it makes us question everything around us. This is what started science itself and what makes it very important to us. It is what made Galileo believe in what he thinks is right using scientific evidence even if the Church was against him. It made Isaac Newton so curious that because of him, we now know about gravity and the Newtonian laws of motion. It is what made Albert Einstein imagine what the Universe is really like way ahead of our time using his general and special theories of relativity. The core values of science, the five diagnostic features of science and the goal of science all show the importance of thinking in our lives. The human intellect can empower us to do great things and discover much more about ourselves and the universe.

Because of what I have learned from Physics 10, I would hope that UP students who can take it to go sign up for this class not just for the grade, but more importantly to learn more about physics. It has taught me to appreciate the world, the universe and human intelligence. I am sure that besides these, you will also find many other things that will definitely keep you interested in physics. I hope that you too would learn to love the sciences as well, especially after taking this wonderful course.