Ocean of Fears (Panacea Series #2)

Chapter 1

One.

There are really two types of tired. The first one is someone who needs sleep. The other one is someone who needs peace, and I need that both. I don't have enough sleep. I don't have enough rest. Ilang araw ko nang pinagsasabihan ang mga kagrupo ko sa research na pag-aralan ang part nila. And ever since that day, I have been revising our research.

What did they contribute? Wala! It's just the money! 'Yong perang pina-print!

I regret having them in my group. Akala ko ay magiging magaan lang ang proseso ng aming research dahil achiever kaming lahat na nasa grupo. Mas mabigat pa sila sa lahat ng mabigat! And they've been mocking our research, kesyo h'wag na raw magpasa!

Do they even know that practical research is one of the specialized subjects? Kung ibabagsak nila 'to, sa tingin ba nila makakapagmartsa sila sa graduation?

"How did you measure the reading comprehension of the students?" asked by a panelist with a serious tone.

My group mates were glad that the panelist allowed them to speak in tagalog-english, although this must be formal, and practical research is an english subject.

Dumating na ang araw na defense na namin. Totoo pala 'yong nasagap nila galing sa ibang strand. Mabuti na lamang at noong mga panahong 'yon ay nagseryoso ang mga kagrupo ko. They studied our research paper and on the last day of our preparation, we reviewed it together and thought of the questions they might ask to us. And of course, we need to prepare a food for the panelist. Wala kaming maisip... kaya sa huli, cookies at orange juice na lang ang hinanda namin.

"Nagpabasa po muna kami sa mga students noong first week of the first month na ginagawa namin 'yong research. Of course, selected students lang po. Those who read e-books lang, and on the third or fourth month, we distributed questionnaires again to see if there is an improvement. Doon naman, since nagbasa nga po sila ng e-book, pinag-compare po namin kung may improvement at kung puwede po bang maging tool ang e-books to improve students' reading comprehension," Izzy answered the panelist.

"Additional lang po, Ma'am, since nowadays more on entertainment ang kabataan. They won't read that if that is not entertaining and an e-book is a good instrument to improve students' reading comprehension because e-book contains you know... narrative story. And since na-hook na po silang magbasa, they will be fond of reading. Their sense of understanding will be developed." Carl added.

"Uh-huh. Akala ko ba 'yong mga respondents n'yo ay mga e-book readers na? Bakit kailangan pa silang pabasahin ulit since nagbabasa naman na pala sila?" diretso ang titig ng panelist kay Izzy. "And do you think, during that two-three months, may binabasa silang e-book?"

Ginagapangan ako ng kaba sa dibdib at unti-unting nanlalamig ang aking katawan. Their stares are giving me chills. Tila ba sila ay handang-handa nang baragin ang research namin at idikdik kami.

"And we all know that most of the e-book writers are not professional writers. That can be a gap. Knowing e-book, maraming mga grammatical errors 'yon or any types of errors, so that can be a barrier to the improvement of the reading comprehension of the students," said by the panelist again.

Grabe ka na, Ma'am. Mahihimatay na ako rito, Ma'am.

"About that, Ma'am, of course we have this intelligence. Habang palaki tayo nang palaki, mas naiintindihan natin 'yong errors sa mga text, knowing na nag-aaral din naman tayo kaya malalaman natin 'yong mga basics, so while reading the e-book, since mahilig magbasa ang students ng e-book, kung may error man, matutulungan sila n'on na punain ang mga mali. In that way po, roon pa lang, makikita mo na may improvement sa kanila dahil alam nilang may mali sa text."