Men get out!!!Highly confidential!!!## Strictly for women only!!!

Music and Me!!!

First of all, let me introduce myself to you,I am April Niña Protacio de Mata. I am the youngest in the family of four. My sister is now working in the biggest mall chain. My father works abroad and my mother teaches Cathechism in a number of public schools in Imus.I am a third year Communication Research Major. For those who don't know yet, I am just a transferee here in UP, I came from Philippine Christian University in Taft, Manila. I transferred here two years ago, that was in 1998 and I sure did experience a lot of pains and hardships in fixing and settling my documents from PCU to UP. I don't know why I suddenly decided to go here because back in high school I never imagined myself being in this university. I didn't even take the entrance exam here. So, when the time comes that I have to choose what school I'm transferring to, my friend studying in Business Administration called me and said that it's really nice being in the freest university in the Philppines. She also said to me that it's really easy to transfer. To make the long story short, here I am enrolled in JOURN 109 class, racking my brains out and near to tears because my groupmate and I don't seem to have the knack for uploading this thing.


Ok, enough of that. Let me tell you more about myself. I live in Imus, Cavite and during weekends I go there not only to get my allowance but also to attend choir rehearsals. Didn't I tell you? I am a member of the Lingkod ni Yahweh Community Music Ministry which sings every Saturday at Imus Cathedral and weekly rehearsals every Sunday. I joined the choir in 1997 when my friend Ate Helen invited me to audition in the group luckily, I was accepted. I learned lots of things from the group, music wise, I'm better now. I gained a lot of friends. It helped me with my spirituality because of its occasinal retreats and recollections. And because, it is under the Imus Pastoral Council, there are a lot of formation activities for the youth. I experienced performing with the Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra last 1999(we sang Halleluiah Chorus!). We even had a concert in 1997 along with the four other resident choirs of the parish. Lingkod also joined a number of competitions these past years, but our biggest achievement was when we bagged the first prize in a contest sponsored by SM as a representative of SouthMall. We won a whopping amount of P50,000. Boy, was there a grand celebration! Last year, we joined another contest spearheaded by Angel Radyo, a sister company of Joey Lite Music(92.3). Again, we won and took home P30,000.


Now, you see why I love singing so much. It practically honed my teenage years because of my involvement in the group. It helps me to keep in tune with myself. It serves as my outlet when I'm so worked out with my studies. My friends there continue to shower me with their love and affection. You could even say that singing and being with the group boost my self-esteem and my way of reaffirming myself.(Well, aside from the love and care of my family!)


Right now, we are all tensed, awaiting for the confirmation of our conductor if our biggest plan ever will be on. You see, a friend of our conductor, Tristan, who also happens to be the president of the UST Singers, is brave enough to sponsor us to sing in Europe. Yes, he is willing to send us to Europe for a six-month singing engagement. We held our last audition last Feb.18 and we accepted 8 applicants. It is still undecided if we will still continue auditioning because we are still short of members, we have to come up with 25 partipants for this tour to push through. Everyone one of us were all anxious and pretty nervous. We are all hoping for the best and praying that this new endeavour is really meant for us and willed by God.