Nicole Karyz M.

Bañares
11HUMSS2102
SCRWRIT

Activity: So Eassay!

The Humanities and Social Sciences is one of the 2-year academic strands of the Senior
High School department in the Philippines. It focuses on the strong points of oral
communication, media, and information content, and amplifying our skills in reading and writing
as our scope of acquiring knowledge expands. Furthermore, this targets the study of human
behavior and societal changes, and analysis of arts, culture, literature, and politics. The
opportunity to socialize with other people and express our voice and action will unleash more as
we HUMSS students will choose to the interpersonal careers of journalists, educators, lawyers,
writers, psychologists, anthropologists, etc., that proper the specialization of the strand. As of the
year 2018-2019, there were 600,000 HUMSS population who were eager to wonder and explore
what was on the other side of the wall. Also, the strand includes specialized subjects of
Introduction to World Religions and Belief Systems, Disciplines and Ideas in the Social
Sciences, Creative Writing, Creative Nonfiction, Philippine Politics and Governance, Trends,
Networks, and Critical Thinking in the 21st Century, and Community Engagement, Solidarity
and Citizenship. Through its opportunities, the unlocking of such new discoveries as we live will
be possible because of the practical knowledge that we have been learning in this strand.

Apparently, this strand is making us to move our feet away from our comfort zones as it
releases our interactive skills to take on the world and talk to a lot of people that will augment the
level of our self-confidence; confidence is the most beautiful thing that we can possess as it
raises the feelings of being comfortable with who we are and letting our worth be recognized.
Being confident implies that we are thoroughly informed about the things that we must perceive
with deeper understanding in this societal world. Moreover, it opens the chance of challenging
our personal beliefs as this practices the act of proving something through debates. It also allows
us to appreciate the concept of reading and dealing with journal articles as it enhances more our
creativity skills through creative writing and creative nonfiction. This utilizes our freedom of
expression in logical reasoning, evaluating articles, and developing one’s imagination through
literature that can make them reflect things that can be reached. This strand is dealing in teaching
fundamental skills that enables them to meet the demand of higher forms in this 21st century.

Although we are being honed in this academic field, still the approach of our academic
composure beforehand should correspond to the current higher level of education to access
information easily and to go things smoothly for the expected level of comprehension. We take
to be prepared informatively about humanity and social events, particularly the laws, culture,
religion, and language. Meanwhile, an interesting perspective of one ‘humanista’ student about
her reason why she chose HUMSS is published in an online blog. According to her statement,
she chose this because we HUMSS students are aware of some of other people’s deepest secrets
because her favorite principles of Sociology and Psychology equip us with the capabilities of
viewing people through different lenses. Aside from this, she also wrote that we could
understand everyone better due to the theories that she learned, specifically the Rational Choice
Theory that informs that we tend to choose those who will benefit us the most in every situation.
What is fascinating further about being a HUMSS student is that we have been given various
specializations to be favored that keep our brain engaged in thriving for ourselves and for the
sake of the society.

Personally, this strand has been making me step up on my game. I did not regret
revolving my knowledge around this interpersonal strand as I tend to challenge my introversion
and I desire to be more vocal and active about my upright actions and thoughts to contribute
beneficially to the society. Consequently, I am now participating in such interactive events and
this achievement is one of my reasons why I am jubilant being a ‘humanista’. Meanwhile, the K-
12 higher educational level program in the Philippines has created changes for ensuring Senior
High School students to aim not just for educational advancement but for possible employment
as well that equips them with much-needed skills to work even without a college degree from the
obtained information of their specified skills. Thus, being a HUMSS student at Senior High
School is the most interesting among the academic strands as we will discover our purposes here.
It leaves us no trace of regrets as it is people-centric that deals in communicating effectively to
flourish our quality being globally competent in our future endeavors.
References:

Carpio, C. (2018, April 12). K-12 Academic Track Series: HUMSS. UB, 111 Paseo de Roxas
Building Legaspi Village, Makati City 1229. Edukasyon.ph. https://www.edukasyon.ph/blog/k-12-
academic-track-series-hu
(n.d). K-12 Education Program Advantages and Disadvantages. Daily Investing Tips.
https://investmenttotal.com/k-12-education-program/
(2019, August 25). What College Courses are Available to Me if I’m Taking HUMSS?.
1100 Campus Avenue, McKinley Hill, Fort Bonifacio, Taguig, 1634 Metro Manila. Enderun Colleges.
https://www.enderuncolleges.com/news/what-college-courses-are-available-to-me-if-im-taking-h
umms#:~:text=HUMSS%20or%20The%20Humanities%20and,involved%20in%20this%20stran
d%20too.
(2021). Humanities and Social Sciences Strand (HUMSS). UB, 111 Paseo de Roxas Building
Legaspi Village, Makati City 1229. Edukasyon.ph.
https://www.edukasyon.ph/courses/senior-high-tracks/academic/humss-humanities-and-social-s ciences-
strand
(2017, October 03). Reasons why HUMSS is the best strand. Blogger.
https://humsslago.blogspot.com/2017/10/reasons-why-humms-is-best-strand.html
(2020, August 28). MOST ASKED QUESTIONS ABOUT HUMSS. Humanista Files. Facebook.
https://www.facebook.com/106402207850269/posts/most-asked-questions-about-humms1-what-is-h umms-
strand-all-abouthumanities-and-s/113685523788604/ (n.d). What is HUMSS?. Online Senior High.
https://www.onlineshs.com/all-about-humss/
(n.d). Humanities and Social Sciences Specialized Subjects. STI Academic Center, Ortigas
Avenue Extension, Cainta, Rizal. STI Senior High. https://www.sti.edu/programs-shs-
details.asp?procode=3
Klent, L. (2020, October 30). Why incoming SHS students must choose HUMSS.
Medium. https://medium.com/@leoklent16

DISCUSS QUESTIONS
1. In your own words and understanding, define coherence and think of some ways to improve this
in your writing.
2. Define cohesion and think of ways to improve it.
3. What are ways by which you can organize your ideas?
4. Why is organization an essential part of writing?
5. How can you prepare your ideas before you write them?

ANSWERS
1. Coherence, in terms of writing, is the resulting flow of a written essay or paragraph based
on the well-organized words and sequenced ideas that are connected logically to the main
topic that makes the paragraph meaningful. To improve this essential factor, I must
paraphrase the topic question to plot out certain ideas that are related and maintain the
connection of the paragraphs through using advanced transitional words according to
 their uses. I also need to be consistent in focusing on my intended audience to be aware
of related words and ideas that I will write in a paragraph. using pronouns after the noun
has been written to imply connection between the sentences and avoid confusion of the
nouns used.
2. Cohesion in writing can be seen through the unified process of one sentence to another
sentence in a paragraph. The improvement of cohesion can be achieved through using
necessary transitional words to connect the idea of the sentences, proper utilization of
phrases or words that dictates references or antecedents and using pronouns after the
nouns have been written to point out connections of content and to avoid confusion.
3. There are various ways or techniques to organize data about a certain topic. They can be
through presenting a table via brainstorming that depicts the problem and its suggestions,
graphic organizers like table, Venn diagram, fishbone diagram, concept map, flow chart,
plot diagram; topic outlining, or sentence outlining.
4. Organization in writing text is essential for it is the root of the cohesion of words and
coherence of the paragraph. It aids the discoursed texts to have a meaningful and logical
paragraph that presents well-comprehensive ideas that will not lead to confusion and
disapproval of the readers for organization of the texts influences the knowledge and
actions of readers.
5. In writing discoursed texts, I need to be aware of the preparations of ideas so I can write
sequentially and logically. I am referring to the data and facts firsthand through
researching the main topic to have a strong ground on my objective and subjective types
of essays or paragraphs. Also, I am preparing ideas through feedback from other people
and brainstorming with them that will make me create organized ideas to broaden my
perspective and stance on the topic. All these things will help me to build cohesive and
coherent texts.