PIXAR and Google: Ways Toward Success

What would our childhood look like without PIXAR and how hard would a student’s life be without Google? PIXAR, an American computer animation film studio, produced movies that made our childhood fun and exciting. At the same time, these movies gave us lessons that we’ve carried with us while we were growing up. Of course, Google is always there for us to answer all our questions in life. It helped us to arrive at the right answers and it also provided us entertainment at any moment we wish to be amused.

Witnessing the documentary films of these two well-known companies is definitely inspiring and it truly flamed the eagerness in me to be like the persons behind the success of the two companies. How I wish I can bring the same level and intensity of the significant changes that these two companies brought to humanity!

Bloomberg Game Changers talks about the lives of Sergey Brin and Larry Page and their journey in creating the most powerful search engine, Google. Both Sergey Brin and Larry Page have the same vision and that is to organize all of the information that is present in the world and make it available to everyone through the power of technology.

Believe it or not, Google had a rough start. They struggled in finding their own identity and in looking for sponsors who are willing to finance their plans. However, those hindrances didn’t stop the brilliance of these two computer wizards in making their vision a reality and that is to create something that will revolutionize information gathering.

While watching the said documentary film, there are a lot of things that came to my mind, but there are two specific concepts which really captured my interest. First, one can never predict how far he can actually get, so everyone must be like Brin and Page who both exemplified perseverance at its finest. Without perseverance combined with undying passion and steadfast commitment, Google might not be existing nowadays. Second, creativity makes the impossible possible. The proponents of Google proved this one when they tried to reach their endeavors even if that means committing to unorthodox ways just to come up with a solution to their dilemma.  

On the other hand,  PIXAR Story tackles the adventure and success of a computer animation film studio that is responsible for one of the greatest animated movies of our generation, Toy Story. Another famous product of PIXAR is the movie, Finding Nemo, which is undoubtedly one of the most touching and funny movies people have ever seen. But, behind all these great movies is a dark and rocky road, which has been crossed by three passionate people namely John Lasseter (the artist), Ed Catmull (the scientist), and Steve Jobs (the businessman). To achieve the success these three geniuses wanted to have, they had to face a multitudinous of challenges like bankruptcy and some conflicts with Disney. They struggled in finding and establishing their own mark and of course, in making the profit. But, with the incredible determination of these young men, they were able to develop the Toy Story, which was hailed as the highest grossing film in 1995. Years after, they continued their greatness in making the successful animated movies like A Bug’s Life, Monsters, Inc., Cars and many more. Just like the story behind the success of Google, the dedication of these people was the secret ingredient in the recipe of achieving their prominence.

Two companies…

Two different stories…

One thing in common…

Both struggled…

Both succeed…

To end, let me share one of my realizations after watching the documentary films. It is indeed true that without patience and perseverance, we can’t get anything that we want. These two stories are reminders for us that we shouldn’t narrow down our dreams. Never back down and just continue to hold on to what we believe. 

A Judge for Two Days

As a teacher, assessing, criticizing, critiquing and evaluating things aren’t really new to me. I’ve been an educator already for half a decade and of course, I have done a lot of grading sheets already. However, believe it or not, long time ago, I really wanted to experience being a judge of a prestigious event of an institution that I am not connected. It is because all my experiences in checking and grading different things would always be related to my job and my profession. It’s either I’ll be checking the outputs of my students or would be choosing the best entry for an essay writing contest.

So, while I was thinking of an activity that I’ll be doing for the Walk the Edge activity, I was so glad when I received two invitations to be a judge of two different events hosted by two different schools. This is something that I really wanted to experience. With this, I gladly accepted both invitations with a lot of enthusiasm even though I had to re-schedule some of my errands to resolve schedule conflicts. 

On July 7, 2017, I went to St. Joseph School of Pandacan to be their judge on their Club Recruitment Day. I was one of the three judges who were tasked to choose which among the clubs will be the recipients of the special awards – Most Creative, Most Organized and the Most Enthusiastic.

Each club presented their persuasive campaigns inside the classrooms of all the students and it was a half-day activity. There were twelve co-curricular clubs and most of them prepared a video campaign hoping that the students will be interested to join their respective clubs after watching the videos that they have prepared. Honestly speaking, I did not have a trouble giving scores since it is quite easy to distinguish which club did superb.

However, I did not experience the same thing last July 13, 2017 when I went to San Beda College to judge the class presentations of the forty sections of the Senior High School Department. The activity served as their culmination for Integration 2017, an annual event that is conducted to welcome the newcomers in the Bedan community.  It is indeed a unique way of introducing the Bedan culture to them.

There were twenty presentations and each presentation is composed of Grade 11 and 12 students. The STEM students’ theme revolves around the future of the environment and the technology. ABM students’ presentations must depict the future of the economy and the HUMSS students must show how they view the future of peace. GAS students were allowed to choose any of the aforementioned.

This time, I felt how hard it is to be a judge. I was erasing my scores from time to time because I was undecided. Most of them did well and it was not an easy decision that we, the judges, need to make. As a matter of fact, when we were tallying the results, we found out that most of us have different bets on the contest. The decision wasn’t unanimous and it only shows how tough the competition was.

At the end of the show, I realized that even if being a judge and being a teacher both require the skill of assessment, these two things are still far different from one another. Indeed, it’s an experience that I am going to treasure. Even though it gave me a headache, I still had a lot of fun and I am now looking forward to the next one. 

Mr. Peter Fetalvero: A Man of Passion

Creativity is no doubt an innate skill. It is something that cannot be taken away by anybody. However, it doesn’t mean that everyone manifests the same amount of creativity. There would always be people whom we can categorized as the best when it comes to being creative. One of them is Mr. Peter R. Fetalvero.

Mr. Peter R. Fetalvero is undoubtedly one of the best architects in the Philippines. At a young age, Mr. Fetalvero has already shown his interest in drawing and sketching. Most of his subjects back then were already houses and building. Because of his passion and talent in drawing, he decided to take up BS Architecture in the Technological Institute of the Philippines (TIP). During his stay in the said university, his father received a number of awards and was always recognized for his talent in drawing. He also received the prestigious best thesis award during his college years. Few years after he graduated with a college degree, he decided to take up a course in Interior Design in Philippine School of Interior Design. (PSID).

At a young age, he has also manifested the skills of a successful entrepreneur. As a matter of fact, he already started to accept to do scale model designs for private individuals and companies when he was still a student. He used his passion to earn money as well. No doubt, he became one of the most successful architects in the Philippines.

In Nuestra Señora de Aranzazu, he became the Parish Arts Committee Chairperson. One of the tasks of the said committee is to prepare the Nuestra Señora de Aranzazu Parish in special occasions like the Holy Week and the Christmas season.

For two years, he worked as an employee of the Ebol Construction. He served as a Senior Draftsman in the said company. After two years, he already started establishing his own construction business and with his undying hard work and steadfast commitment, it became a big company. The firm is named after him and it is now known as P.R. Fetalvero Construction and Development Corporation. In the company, he provided architectural designs for residential, buildings, commercial structures, schools, churches and many more. His firm also offers interior designs for commercial spaces and condominium units. 

He has received various awards for being a renowned and reputable architect. Recently, he was awarded as the Outstanding Club President for Rotary Year 2016-2017. He was also given recognition by CONEX 2017 as one of the EXPO directors. He is an active member of the United Architects of the Philippines (UAP) – Marikina Valley Chapter where he once served as the organization President.

Despite all his achievements, Mr. Fetalvero never forgets to share his blessings. As a matter of fact, he is giving free design services for several parishes like Nuestra Señora de Aranzazu Parish, Immaculate Concepcion Parish and San Jose Parish.

Posted below are some of the outstanding works of Mr. Fetalvero.

Photos came from Mr. Paulo Fetalvero.

At present, he is the CEO and owner of the P.R. Fetalvero Construction and Development Corporation. His wife, Arleen Fetalvero works as a business woman in the UA&P where their oldest child, Althea Fetalvero is taking up BS Entrepreneurial Management. Meanwhile, their youngest child, Paulo Fetalvero is a Senior High School student in San Beda College – Manila and he is under the Science and Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) strand.

Picture of Fetalvero Family 

(From Left to Right: Paulo Fetalvero, Peter Fetalvero, Althea Fetalvero and Arleen Fetalvero)

Let me share a quick anecdote about Mr. Fetalvero’s son, Paulo Fetalvero. Paulo is my former student in San Beda College. He was part of my advisory class last school year. Indeed, Paulo, just like his father, possesses a lot of potential when it comes to art. He has an overflowing potential to be a very good artist and he looks forward to follow the footsteps of his father as he dreams to be an architect in the near future. Knowing them made me really believe that creativity is innate because it definitely runs in the blood. 

Mind Mapping: A Good Practice of Self-Reflection

Introduced in the 1960’s by Tony Buzan, Mind Mapping is a graphic technique which provides a universal key to unlock the potential of the human brain. It harnesses the full range of cortical skills – word, image, number, logic, rhythm, colour and spatial awareness – in a single, uniquely manner.

Nowadays, mind mapping is considered by many as the most powerful thinking too for our times. It can be applied to every aspect of our lives. Through mind mapping, we are able to do self-reflection and apply critical thinking.

Recently, in the only class that I have this intersession semester at Ateneo, the Creativity and Problem Awareness class, we were asked by our professor to create a mind map. At the end of the activity, we are expected to come up with a graphic image showing where our finances go and how we manage our money.

At first, I was hesitant in doing the task. Honestly speaking, I really think that the activity is fitting only for the younger ones. I guess it is because I am not really into any form of drawing and I think the different colors of pen made me think more that the activity doesn’t really fit my way of thinking and my personality as well. It is because I always prefer things to be just in black and white. But, while I was doing it, I realized that I was completely wrong for mind mapping suits the needs of all ages.  

As you can see, there are five specific areas that I give so much significance in terms of financial management and these are the following:

- Needs (food, family expenses, and bills)
- Emergency (unexpected circumstances)
- Future (heath insurance, properties - car and house)
- Savings (investments, bank)
- Personal (travel, education, leisure, events)

In my mind map, I only used four different colors - black, red, blue and green. If given the choice, I would have used one or two colors only. It is because I really prefer things to be simpler and in a way, more formal.

Mind mapping is indeed a good way of planning and putting things in the right places. It is also a good way of evaluating yourself and checking if you’re on the right track. I can say that because of the realizations that I had after finishing the activity.

I realized that art isn’t really my forte and that’s something that I have already accepted a long time ago. As much as I love art, art seems not to love me at all. Hahaha! But seriously, I really think mind mapping would be more effective for people who are blessed with innate skills in graphic designing. 

To my surprise, my output made me realize that I am living my life the right way although, for obvious reasons, there are still a lot of things that I have to improve in terms of managing my finances. That is why while I was doing the task, I thought of cheating. I planned to put things in my output even if in reality, my money doesn’t go there. It is because I think that as a young adult, these things should be part of my concerns already.  

Mind mapping can make a person feel good and at the same time, feel bad, for himself. This is what I felt after doing the activity. The activity is indeed a good practice of thinking, reflecting and evaluating.