Abigael Marnell J.

Gabutan

Writing for Lost Time

Critic Paper

This is an analysis of Sonia SyGaco’s work entitled “Writing for Lost Time” it has a

clear understanding on how she persuaded her readers, how she reflected from an

unforgettable event of her life and most importantly how her work reached various audiences.

Sonia SyGaco was a strong-willed woman with an infectious passion for service is

known for nurturing and molding learners to be leaders. During her primary and secondary

degrees, she didn’t engage from any extracurricular activities and focused herself in reading

books and developed to like writing stories and essays.

In her reflective essay mentioned above, she did emphasize her nature of being a

writer in mind and in soul. It was painful for her to stop writing after her uncle made her

realize that writing will never give her a permanent pay and so she needed to sacrifice her

career and look for job that would suffice her needs and to have a brighter future.

After graduation, she gave up everything about her passion knowing it would put her

in peril. She managed to gamble to the city of Manila, look for job and after several months,

she became an interesting writer, a newbie but did well at a card company, it’s just that even

you published lots of books and magazines, but luck doesn’t come all the time. So in relation

to that, she did stopped writing and look for another work, a legislative secretary she was, but

put it behind after experiencing an overnight pressure because of becoming a midnight

employer. The pay was good as she said but everytime they’re having meet-ups with other

political bigwigs (powerful political persons) she seems to be out of place when conversing

about the visits they have during holidays.

There were times she wanted to go back home, to her family but her pride keeps on

tossing the thought of it aside and continued her journey in the big city. Then after how many
jobs she get through, she had a cell phone business and last for many years and when it was

over; undergone bankruptcy, she end up being a housewife that lead her write again.

SyGaco’s work means all the episodes and occurrence happened to her life after

giving up the passion she had are the ones she wanted to write about the time she decided to

go back to her own path, her freedom perhaps. She said, “Financial value can never replace

the love for writing”, I felt that. It means how much money can do to the lives of the likes of

her cannot exceed the way writing can, because if you choose the thing that frees you from

sinking over depression and from hardships you struggled physically and emotionally, that’s

how writing make a writer happy.

Furthermore, the purpose of her essay reached a lot of readers. It may be hard

to understand for lots of idiomatic expressions and figurative languages were present, but it

was effective in persuading everyone who reads it. Also, whoever is in touch to her work will

gladly open their minds in preparing themselves in facing daily life struggles. They would

become a wise decision makers in taking decisions in life and with the options they’ll be

choosing, hope they’ll be satisfied.

 Abigael Marnelle J. Gabutan’s Narrative Report

Straight to bath at exactly 4:30 after cooking, that’s unusual for me knowing I woke

up at almost 6 in the morning when schooldays, but things were different when I’m still

having my immersion to Carmen, Cagayan de oro City. Waking up early was like a miracle

to me and it has made me a responsible person for 10 days, I guess.

When things were ready, we eventually ride a jeepney and reach Cogon at 6:45 then

Cogon to Country Village Hotel (CVH) and be there somehow near to 7:30 and punch our

Daily Time Record (DTR’s).

On our first time as housekeepers at CVH we were trembling, scared of what will

happen to us. We were silent and as of the moment we greeted our head he did respond and

smiled back cheerfully that’s the time we gained strength and the thought that we will get

along with him until we leave the immersion venue.

Though the work was not that hard but we’ve done our best to obey and to work on

what has been ordered to us by our department heads. During mornings, there were few

checkouts so we’re not that really busy−we just did the dusting, sweeping and mopping. In

the afternoons, we either clean up rooms or make up rooms because there were checkouts and

guests arriving. If no so busy, we fixed up linens that were brought by laundry, we arranged

them on the specific shelves that were assigned to each kind or size of linens. A time or so,

we were given a half or to one whole hour in relaxing ourselves it is part of the order coming

from the head, we’re very thankful about that. When clock ticks to 5:10, we were off to the

hotel, punch our DTR’s, go home and arrived nearly 8 in the evening because of the heavy

traffics in the bridge which connects the road from cathedral and Carmen.

Honestly, we don’t have any problems with the management of the mentioned hotel.

Also, the staffs there were approachable so as the ojt’s from PHINMA COC. Sometimes we
eat lunch together in order for us to get along and to know each other as well. On our second

to the last day of being an ojt, our department heads treated us a siomai it was around COC

campus, we enjoyed the moment, took grouphies and savoured each memories we shared

since the first day we stepped in that building.

Until the day came that it would be our last, it was strange. That was an afternoon

when were done with our tasks and brought with us our cell phones since that morning we

stepped in. We were caught by the security guard while using our phones in the storage room,

we stared at each other the tension went heavy between me and that guard. I don’t know what

to do, he moved his head like it was a sign of disappointment and finally he walked through

the storage room, leaving us in pure shock, we just used it actually for documentations maybe

tool for escaping the boredom.

The ‘wake-up-early’, riding jeepney from Kinawe to Cogon, Cogon to Carmen and

vice versa, the mopping, sweeping, dusting, folding, sorting linens and let’s insert the

sleeping, and of course the memories and experiences we have in CVH will be cherished.

Those were essential in preparing and serve as lessons to us and later will be a guide to us in

handling daily life situations.