Life Expectations Vs. Reality

Have you ever visualized your life when you were young, or even as recently as a teen, and how it would turn out? Do you have a time frame and goals in mind for when you're older? What is your ideal career?

I just recall those days as a teen girl, daydreaming, and planning my future. As I've recorded in my scrapbook, I've compiled a timetable of my career accomplishments.

When I was in elementary school, I just wanted to be a teacher since my mentors had inspired me to teach children and mold them into better human beings. but my perspective began to shift during my third year of high school.

I'm just fascinated by the word tourism since I've seen it in television commercials. I often wonder what tourism is and what it's all about, and day after day after seeing the commercials, I realize what tourism is and I'm keen to learn more about it. As I discovered when conducting my research, tourism is similar to a life cycle; there are several sectors, one of which is the travel sector, which is one of my favorites because I enjoy going around the world. So, after graduation from high school, I'm going to take a tourism degree and plan to work as a flight attendant. I'm manifesting for it.

Fiction

I will be trained to be a flight attendant after graduating from college, and following the training, I will be an outstanding flight attendant. After a year of working, I will be a regular employee with decent wages, and I will begin to build our new home in our hometown, investing a good amount of money for benefits and securing healthcare for myself and my family. I send my siblings to prestigious institutions to pursue their dream degrees, and my life will become better.

That is my ideal scenario, but it will not be achieved in reality; and the answer to the question of what will happen is that I have no idea.

 Pursuing dreams

My parents informed me after I graduated from high school that I would not be able to attend college because they did not have enough money to send me there. I was crying so hard at the time that I asked them to find someone who could help me achieve my college goals; perhaps I will be a working student, which is fine with me. My mother, on the other hand, did everything she could to get me into school, and since I had a brother who works, they decided to help each other so I could go into college. Thankfully, it will actually happen in reality.

At the prestigious university in Visayas Region, I earned a bachelor's degree in Hotel, Restaurant, and Tourism Management. I'm thrilled to be able to pursue my desired degree. I obtained a scholarship to aid my family financially, and I studied extremely hard to graduate on time. After 4 years of hardship, my endeavors were rewarded, and I received my diploma.

 Reality

I assumed that after graduation, I would be on my way to success. I was searching for a flight attendant job on the internet and was very disappointed to learn about the qualifications. One of their requirements is height, which I unfortunately lack. I'm only 5'1", yet their requirements state that they must be at least 5'3". I've changed my mind and will pursue another job path that is equally relevant to my degree, such as being a cruise ship crew member or working in a five-star hotel throughout the world. However, I believed it would be simple; I thought I would be able to get work quickly because I know and am convinced that I am highly competent due to my courage and strength. I have faith in myself and am confident that I will succeed.

But reality hits me in the face; I've been having trouble finding my way, and it's been especially difficult to discover even one. I opted to fly to Manila a month after graduation in search of a brighter future. I expected it to be simple to find because Manila is a large city and I knew there would be plenty of job openings. but I didn't anticipate that there would be more applicants than openings, and that some of my competitors would have a lot of experience while I am a recent graduate. I expected those with experience to be given preference, and I was placed second.

Application

I believe that out of a hundred percent of applications, 85 percent were rejected; 14 percent failed to respond, and 1 percent were chosen. It's really disappointing to know that I was rejected the majority of the time and was compared to other applicants. Some agencies have always advised people to call back, but no one was able to.

1st Job

After a month of job hunting, one of my cousins recommended that I work for the firm where she worked, but we are two separate businesses with the same owner. I was delighted at the moment, and after an interview and exams, I passed everything and started working as a hotel administrator.

The Challenge

After 6 months of work, my branch manager requested that I file all of my documents for regularization while also increasing my salary. I was ecstatic and overjoyed at the time. However, that is simply a fantasy because the pandemic has begun. My savings were being spent, and I urgently needed to go home to Leyte because I didn't have enough money to meet my needs. After 3 months of suffering from pandemic and lockdown, I've finally arrived home. Unfortunately, I don't have anything to carry for pasalubong because I don't have any money. I was so depressed, and every night I cried myself to sleep, blaming myself for not making better life choices. I was turning 22 at the time, yet nothing positive happened to me, back to zero .

However, I wiped away my tears and decided to stand up again; after my 21-day quarantine. I began searching for a new work; I prayed fervently and looked for every chance. I used to sell stuff like apparel, tumblers, face masks, face shields, and other items online. Finally, I found a job as a quality analyst, then year 2021 as a loan officer, and now as a freelancer.

Lessons in Reality

We cannot force our success in life; we can choose our path, but we cannot anticipate what will happen in the future. We may have fantasies during our adolescent years, but that's fine; we have the opportunity to dream big. It's alright to not be okay sometimes, to fail and make a bad decision once in a while. It's quite normal to feel empty and unwanted; all we have to do is accept the pain, cry a lot, and embrace the reality that we are down at the time. Then get back up, try again, and keep looking for a better opportunity.

God has a beautiful plan for us; perhaps he has a better choice for us than our desires; therefore let us not give up so easily.

In comparison to last year, I'm doing better today because I've accepted reality and am going with the flow. Now I'm concentrating on helping my family.

Thank you!

I have a lot of things to write, but the other piece may be published at a later date. I hope you will find reading about some of my life experiences interesting. I hope you are doing well right now and that you always take care of yourself.

What about you, have you had similar experiences to mine? Share your challenges and accomplishments, and let's chat about it. I really just want to hear.

If you have any questions or concerns, please leave them in the comments section below; I would love to hear from you. I appreciate it.

I'd want to express my gratitude to individuals who have upvoted my previous writings. Always may God bless you.

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