My Achievements In Life: I'm Still a Failure

"I was born to become an achiever."

That is what I believed because my parents raised me to become one. I thought this is what I am destined to be, to achieve goals after goals.

I graduated in Kindergarten, not as the Valedictorian, but as the Salutatorian of my class. At such a young age, I think this is already an achievement. My parents, especially my mother, wanted me to always come first, so when I got in Grade 1, I studied day and night just to master reading and writing. I remember my mother would always scold me if I don't know how to read a certain word and I'd end up crying. I endured all the pain I got from my mom's beating just for me to read well in Filipino and English.

I joined school competitions for English, Math, and Science. I was good in numbers and science back then, so luckily, I was always one of the pupils who got to represent my school for English, Math and Science contests. I remember I was one of the winners in a Math contest when I was in Grade 3 and Grade 5. I was a consistent honor pupil from Grade 1 to Grade 5.

Fast forward to grade 6, I graduated again as the class Salutatorian. My parents were proud, I knew for sure, but they would have been prouder if I got to be called to go up the stage first.

When I got into High School, I was one of the active Girl Scout members. Because of that, I joined the Chief Girl Scout Medal Scheme project. At the age of 14, I became a Chief Girl Scout Medalist, which is the highest reward or honor a Girl Scout can receive. This, for me, is one of the biggest achievements I have accomplished in life. It wouldn't be made possible without the help of my parents, mentors, and generous donors who contributed to the realization of my project.

I managed to be an honor student from Grade 7 to Grade 10. On our Moving Up Ceremony in Junior High School, I was rank 3 in all of our sections. I was also awarded with Honors and still on rank 3 amongst 100+ students when I graduated from Senior High School.

When I got into college, I have so many goals that I want to achieve. I feel like I have a timeline to follow.

It was my goal to have my own savings account at the age of 18, and so I did. I opened my Savings Account on BPI.

At 19, I wanted to try to travel alone, and as expected, I did and that was at Sagada. This was my first time traveling far from our province alone, and without the knowledge of my parents. I only informed them that I traveled to Sagada alone when I got home.

After my solo trip to Sagada, I planned for my next solo adventure. I wanted something bigger than my Sagada trip. Something that people my age will see as a huge achievement. And so I planned for my Mt. Pulag Birthday Hike on my 20th birthday. Mt. Pulag is the highest mountain in Luzon and 3rd highest mountain in the Philippines, and being able to hike it at the age of 20 is such an accomplishment for me.

I wanted to see a 6-digit number on my savings account before I turn 21. And because I take all my personal challenges seriously, I achieved it 2 months after my birthday last December 2019.

Then the crypto-verse came into my life and made me set huge goals that people my age are quite impossible to achieve. But my determination to always be an achiever never disappoints me. Just this April 2021, at the age of 21, I managed to achieve my Crypto Portfolio Goal of $21,000, and it keeps growing. Even though it's just in a virtual currency, I still feel like this is such a huge achievement because if I convert them all into fiat, I will be considered a "Young Filipino Millionaire".

You see, other people think that I have achieved so much in my life already. If I were to think like how I thought back then, I would say, "Of course. I was born to be an achiever."

But this pandemic made me realize that all of my achievements mean nothing if I were not able to make a change in this world.

I'm still a failure if I don't get to make my parents proud. I'm a failure if I don't get to inspire even just one soul in this universe. I'm a failure if I don't get to share my story and motivate others, especially the young ones, to keep on dreaming and keep reaching for their dreams and goals in life.

Life is short, so I should be living it meaningfully. That is why I am no longer in a hurry to achieve these so-called "great achievements" in life.

Perhaps, my ultimate goal now is to live my life where I could give a positive impact even to a single person's life, and that would be my greatest achievement in life.

"To Inspire and Be Inspired."