Protected: A Letter to someone- Demand Letter

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Getting Even with Northcap Review Center

June 1, 2008. I should be taking my board exam today.

And I hated it when others waste my time. I’ve long decided that I am the only person licensed to waste my time. Funny how I used the word licensed. Jesus Christ. It was all wrong from the beginning. It was a pile of dung, me praying that I’d pass the licensure exams when all the while I should’ve been praying for at least a chance to take it. Sheesh! Are you kidding me?!

-Prinsesa Musang on “The 2008 Board exam Result”

I am dumb in spelling.

I guess we’ve been super-dee-duper dumb in the first place that’s why we fell victims to the evil exploits of the co-owner of Northcap Review Center, Vivian Lazaro.

Requisition. Ultimatum. Demand.

Maybe that’s why they call it “demand letter” because among the three synonymous words, the word “demand” demands the least challenge for anyone who cannot spell well. I know I heard them talking about writing a demand letter the last time there was a meeting, but I never really consider writing one or never really comprehend its use. I never had the chance to go to school last week due to my diarrhea so I never truly realized that the rest of my classmates were really serious with this. Today, an ex-groupmate in my hospital duty as a student nurse explained everything I have to learn.

She was planning to ask for a refund for every penny she wasted this summer and that includes her enrolment fees, PRC registration fee, lodging and food expenses and even her transportation allowance. I guess the total reimbursement shall cost as much as 40,000 Pesos… which is too small as compared to what Angelo’s bestfriend was asking- I heard it sums up to more than a hundred thousand Pesos.

Now I haven’t done the math yet, but with my transportation allowance amounting to more than 150 pesos a day, I guess I’ll fetch to as much as 40-50,000 Pesos…. hmmmm.

I’m going to draft my demand letter tonight and I’ll just print it tomorrow to make sure I haven’t misspelled anything. Or maybe I can e-mail it to Musang to add some interesting details, perhaps a reimbursement for the milk we added on our milkless-avocado shake.

RNs-Rejected Nurses

The Review Center has been on business for fourteen years already. It has branches across the country from Baguio, Dagupan, Cabanatuan, Manila, Davao yata and I think in Visayan provinces though I am not sure where exactly (UPDATED: May 22, 2008 1:55PM) MY classmate corrected me, they don’t have anu Visayan branch.

When it comes to motivating students, I think nothing beats this company. It has some traditions that can never be found from any other review centers, all for the sake of motivating us. Among the most notable are the Boodle Fights and of course the “it’s-raining-license”-cheer.

I especially like the cheer.

The cheer’s philosophy, with this review center, our future Nursing Licenses seem to be falling from the sky and all we need to do is to grab them. So whenever someone yells, “IT’S RAINING LICENSE!” we scream our lungs out as we push our arms into the air, our hands grabbing the imaginary licenses signifying our wholehearted belief that each one of us shall pass the board exam WITH EASE, as time passed the cheer easily became an involuntary reflex that we didn’t have to think of what action shall be done the instant the magic words, “IT’S RAINING LICENSE”, is uttered. It is really neat.

Days before I learned about the scam, when I was already starting to believe that licenses fall from the sky, I went to Lallaine’s house for a tutorial with some concepts I was having a difficult time with. As we went on clicking her computer for potential music downloads reviewing, I asked her, “Hindi na tayo Student Nurses, ‘di pa rin tayo Registered Nurses, anong tawag sa ‘tin ngayon?” (We’re not Student Nurses anymore, and yet we’re still not Register Nurses, what should we call ourselves now?).

She didn’t have to pause to think. She gave her answer confidently.” Syempre, Nurse” (Of course, Nurse) in an as-a-matter-of-factly tone, ” ‘yon yung sinasabi ko kung nakikipagchat ako.” (That’s what I tell in the chatroom.)

I resisted the urge to challenge her view, afterall we are indeed nurses, minus the licenses.

Last week, the owner of the Bataan Franchise [of this review center] talked to us. The Department of Labor and Employment already passed an order to PRC to let us file our applications again, but the letter has a clause at the bottom giving frewill to the PRC to decide if they want to follow the order. Until now the PRC hasn’t said anything.

PS To Vivian Lazaro, I hope you realize how many people you are hurting now.

Fixers Fix Everything

“Perhaps, it’s more than humor. It may also be viewed as tenacity, perseverance or the gambler’s mentality. It may even be the scammer’s mentality.“
-Connie Veneracion

The line was meant to describe the Filipino’s amazing gift of deception.

Updating what I have written here, the review center has finally realized the need to talk to us about what happened and about us not taking the Nursing Board Exam on June 1 and 2. They sent two representatives, a Lecturer and a Nurse assistant from one of their branches, this afternoon.

Unfortunately, a lady named Daisy, posed as a PRC representative or something, met with one of the real, real owners of the review center. She told her, according to them, that she can help the review center to file our documents to the PRC. And since this is the Philippines where fixers fix everything, the owner of the review center gullibly believed her. Instead of queuing at the PRC, the management instructed us to file our documents to them so we can conveniently focus on the review. Since we TRUSTED them we sent them our PRC requirements and sat conveniently reviewing for the board exam. And the rest was a history. Daisy did not file our documents for the board exam and fled away with all cash. One of the co-owners, named Vivian (not the real real owner, just a co-owner), is now also missing.

According to them they filed a request to the DOLE and PRC to extend the date of filing of application for the Nursing Board Exam. But now I lose all the hopes of ever taking the exam this June. Some of the girls were already crying as the dialogue was going on. It is really disheartening. We couldn’t focus on our review anymore, not that it really matters now. I just feel bad really. I thought I had the worst of my ordeal when my father suddenly changed his mind and ordered (ORDERED) me to enroll in this review center. Yun pala, it was just the beginning. All the plans, all the enthusiasm, all gone. I am in the lowest of my spirit and I hate every minute of it.

PS Prinsesa Musang’s mother was there this afternoon and she was really cool. I decided not to attend the lecture this afternoon.

Updates on my Existence Part 3

I was really down during the first three weeks of April. It was because the night after my graduation, my father and I had a really huge shouting match. I planned to leave the house and spend the whole summer reviewing with Neil and his girlfriend [as i partly mentioned here]. I already paid the house and the reservation in a review center as early as late February. But for no reason, my father retracted his decision. I didn’t have anything against the review center here, I just felt bad because I have already laid a two months worth of plan in my mind and his abrupt change of heart really frustrated me.

I didn’t have a reservation in the Review Center nearby, so when I enrolled, they put me in section two. I know some of the people there but I wasn’t really close to any of them. It was really difficult for me. Everyday was a torture until the time came when I was already doubting my self. Thoughts of boycotting the review and even the June board exam visited me everyday. My heart was so heavy, and even though the lecturer was really good I decided to cut the class last April 18.

They say that sex is the best stress reliever, but since that cannot be arrange at the moment, I settled for a second Plan. Last April 19, I decided not to attend my class anymore, the next day [April 20] I dropped by the section 1’s building and asked the administration if I can be a regular student there. Some of my friends are there. Angelo, Hanzel, Lallaine, PrinsesaMusang, Asase, and even some of my classmates way back in Freshman attend the class. I felt so relieved.

Though they are two subjects ahead of me, I was still able to cope. They were really supportive. Yesterday, since my father left for Manila to attend my sister’s open heart surgery on Monday in Philippine Heart Center, I went to Lallaine’s house and asked her to teach me. I was always among the top three in the exams in section 2, still, my scores are considerably miles away from Lallaine’s scores who is always in the second or first spots here in section 1 [my new section], and I am really happy that she said yes when I asked her to give me a tutorial. She joked that her tutorial fee is really expensive while feeding me with their own version of halo halo (halo halong fruit cocktail). She’s one of the nicest people on earth… really.