Jimmy Chronicles: Overcoming Self-indulgence

Hey there, my dear friends! How's it going? It's the 2nd day of May, and while I still have fresh ideas to share, I'm now going to share my 2nd article.

As I have mentioned in my first article, videogaming is one of my hobbies. From the beginning of my high school years up to the end of my college years, I had beed playing DOTA. Because of my addiction to the game, my life had been turned and flipped many times over. I was initially studious and diligent at school, but at some point I got easily influenced by my peers.

I started cutting classes. And since my mother would only give me 30php everyday, I had to get some extra from dad's pants hanging on the wall. I became a delinquent.

Realizations came to me only when I had failing grades in Chemistry when I was in 3rd year high school. I was counseled by my homeroom teacher, and she told me that if I didn't take my studies seriously the following year, I would lose my chance to enroll at the state university.

Since then, I tried to change my habits. I started going to school early. I did not miss any class. But I couldn't really fully give up on playing DOTA. So I would then stay at the gaming cafe only during weekends. Thankfully, When I graduated in high school, my average grade managed to reach the minimum requirement for the BSEd course.

I was supposed to take BS-Civil Engineering, but I came to the school for the screening a day later than the scheduled screening date for the course.

In my first year in college, my first subject was at 7AM-8AM, and the next one is at 4PM-5PM. Because of the long vacant hours in between, my stupidity once again got ahead of me. I wasted my money at the internet cafe.

My mother sold anchovies at the wet market when I was in college. We didn't have serious financial problems until the price of the fish at the market became super cheap at some point and it lasted for months. My mother had to stop selling anchovies because no one would buy them anymore. I had to stop going to school.

I was filled with regret. I could have saved all the money that I've wasted. I was so careless for not thinking that that kind of situation was going to come. But it was too late for that. So I made up my mind. I applied as a loan collector. My salary was only 200 a day but I didn't mind.

Before the following school year started, I made up my mind. I wanted to finish college. So I applied for the tertiary education subsidy and luckily, I was one of the students who wer chosen as grantees. Because of that, I managed to graduate.

My dear friends, the message that I want to impart upon telling you my story is that our life choices play a big part in achieving our dreams. Privileges are there for us to utilise well, not to waste. We never know what's waiting for us along the way, so it is wise to take advantage of what we have in a good way and be prepared for the challenges that awaits us ahead. Our needs come first; our wants may follow afterwards.