Uncertainty Leads Me to Where I am Now
High school is said to be the best part in a person's life. It's the time where you are free and worry less. But have you experienced to be in doubt where to go after? or what you will do after high school? I did too.
My high school is a bit memorable. A bit because I transferred from one school to another. But, it was okay. I am a solo person. I don't hang out much with people, and if I do, I did it just a little bit to give respect. I spent my free time in playing RF online. It was a popular game during my time. When I get home I prepared dinner and cleaned the house. It was a routine. I knew back then that O got some talent, no matter how aloof I was, I can easily adjust to people. I can talk with them even if I just met them recently. I can draw, I can paint. All I know was I was like jack of all trades. I did things that were necessary. It was my gift I guess. And that's how I survived my high school days.
Months before graduation, my fellow students were busy applying for scholarships and looking for schools where they can build their dreams and succeed. Me? I wasn't sure. I was not even sure if I can go to college. I may have good grades but one thing I knew, we can't afford any college that time. It was hard that's why I never thought about going to college. Instead, I was scanning and looking for job opportunities. That way, I can help my siblings to go to college one day.
Then a tragedy happened that changed me. It schocked my life entirely. I saw my grandma hanging in the ceiling. A supposed to be party that I had to attend to became the saddest funeral I've ever had. She had her reasons but one thing for sure, it's about MONEY. That time, I promised myself that no one in the family will suffer anymore because of money. And so I decided to give a shot in taking the scholarship at UC for seamanship. I was almost accepted but I failed the final exam and interview. Maybe it wasn't meant for me. I woulf love to be an architect or engineer but we don't have the means to pursue it. I have a frail body so my parents wouldn't let me be a working student. So there, I almost ran out of options. Suddenly, someone told me to try to go to CTU-Argao. Tuition was less, the location is not that far, the environment is friendly and I thought I'll give one last shot. If I get accepted, I'll go to college and if not, I'll find a job.
I top the entance exam. Yey! But it's nothing though. I still felt empty. Little did I know that when I top the exam, someone caught my attention. the Student Affairs Office's Dean, Mrs. Pinote. She was a major key on what I had become during my college days. She was the one who led me to the pioneering Cerge M. Remonde Foundation Scholarship Program. I took the process and luckily I got in. It was purely luck for me because the President of the foundation forgot the most important question that I wasn't able to answer when she asked me about it during the induction program. She said, if she didn't forget the question and I answered the way I did, I wouldn't be part of the program. For the first time in my life I went inside a blessed and prayed there. Thanking the Almighty Father for the great opportunity and promised Him that I will not waste the opportunity.
It was a proud moment for me that I made it in. I can now study without worrying my parents about my tuition fee. The program shouldered my tuition and miscellaneous fees. I had nothing to worry about anymore and just study. The program wasn't the only opportunity that I got. I built a name for myself too.
When I was in high school, I was just a nobody, but in college, I became someone else. I became Mr. Reliable. I was the smartest in my class since almost all of my classmates weren't sure about our course. Some of them did not have a choice, the others failed their first choice and the rest was trying their luck.
I was the one who made projects for my classmates, in return, they paid me. I wasn't that bad, after collecting the payment, I bought them snacks. I just left a little for myself. Am I good in doing business? I wasn't thinking about business that time. All I knew, I was helping them and at the same time helping myself. I felt like Cinderella who came from rags to riches. I even ranked second in the entire IT department from 1st to 4th year students. It was a very successful year. Not until my second year days.
I struggled a lot during second year. My plate was full and I couldn't handle the pressure. I wasn't my usual self. I drank a lot. I played around. I wasn't studying in advance anymore. The never been late was always late. I almost failed my majors. It was the darkest in my college life. Still, I managed to be on top but not the same as before. I was embarrassed. My mentor told me I could've been a candidate for suma but after what I did, it's probably not gonna happen anymore. I regret what happened of why I did those things.
Third year days was like my payment for the bad things I've done. I persevered once a again to regain my form but it was not enough. All I could do was to save what was left for me.
When I did my OJT, my mentor told me thst I could've a chance for magna, only if I will get a 1.0 or 1.1 grade for my OJT which was hard enough to get. But I used that as a motivation. Why do I need to do everything for that grade and for that distinction? It's because, the scholarship program will give rewards to latin honors. If I will become a magna cum laude, I will have the chance to fly to hongkong and macau foe vacation and a staycation in Tagaytay. I pushed myself too hard so that I will have that opportunity. It's already in my hands but it almost slipped awat that's why this time, I'm gonna do whatever it takes.
It told my supervisor about my situation and he just told me, "follow my lead ans I'll reward you." And so I did. Not knowing that what he meant was night out life every end of the week. He wanted me to drink with the boys from afternoon to dawn. It's all I should do. No matter how tired I was. I endured everything. When I got my grades, I was happy yet I was crying.
I indeed flew to Hongkong and Macau. Stayed at Tagaytay but it didn't made me really happy. I was able to redeem myself but to what expense?
Life is a choice. We do things as we please but nothing stays the same. The moment we realized that it's not good for us anymore, it may be too late or it will cost a lot to bring ourselves back. Just like what happened to me.
How was your college life? Are you in the place where you see want to see yourself from what you had imagined? What does success means to you?
NFT Journey (Plant Vs Undead)
Crypto and NFT are things I am not familiar with before. Social media posts and advertisements made me interested in it. I am no fan of research and reading so I did not really look into it. I heard so much about Bitcoin ans Axie but I was so hesitant to pull the trigger and invest money I am not really sure of.
I started to allow myself to indulge in NFT gaming since one member of the family told me that his friend was playing the Plant vs Undead game where you invest and water plants then you earn actual money.
It took me long enough to have the courage to do the game. I waited for a little while to invest because it costs a lot. By the time I invested the mechanics of the game was updated. I realized, I wasn't able to analyze the game well. What I invested was put on hold and I should play the game and abide the rules to earn. Little by little, the game is losing its credibility since there were so many updates but you couldn't convert your assets to actual money.
My interest in it was slowly going down. Odette came and I lost the touch n the game. I haven't played it since the internet connection is so unstable right now.
The game itself is fun. You can fight the undead to gain PVU but on the last update i saw, if you win a battle you will get fragments that later on can be converted into something. In farm 3.0, there's this mini game where different games can be played like, fishing, gathering, forging and more.
If you are only after gaining immediately then don't be hooked into this game. Most of the users in this game are losing their interest since you cannot have immediate return of investment or shall I say dead investment.
Think first before you do investments. Research well and familiarize the background of whatever you are interested in.
Do not rush things since there are plenty of opportunities. You'll lose some in the process but with the right attitude, you'll get it back as soon as you learn to master how it's done
In my point of view, risking is part of life.But with proper research and background to whatever you do, you'll not be risking anything for nothing, you will definitely have something in return. But on the other hand, if you don't do research, you'll have nothing or might as well lose everything in the process.
While Growing Up
I was born in one of the coldest months of the year. I wasn't sure if I was born out of love or out of lust. Then again, I am thankful I am alive. But somehow, I wish I should not have. I grew up in a poor family who struggled to have a decent home with no electricity and there's always a doubt whether we can eat a meal or not depending on how much my father would make in a day. Back then, I didn't mind all of that. No matter how hard our life was, my parents didn't left us. They gave us more than what we needed. They taught us to see the reality and be thankful of what we have as of the moment.
We don't own anything that is why we were always moving from one place to another. Much more when my father left us, we moved a lot just to find a place to live for 3 years. That 3 years changed me completely. Thosr years were my darkest times. I was completely lost and alone. There were people but they didn't understand how I felt. It felt like I was given a big responsibility that isn't fitting for my age. I matured at an early age. But did I really mature? or did I just go with the flow of life? Did it do me anything good? I think not. My childhood was stolen from me. I couldn't smile back then. I lied a lot not to make people worry about how I truly felt. I was lost and no one can help me because I didn't let anyone do so.
I grew up with so much hate and anger. I was hiding it by working hard and just focusing on my goals. What I accomplished means less to me since my heart is full of hatred. I was so envious to all people who can smile so brightly. I wish could do the same. But no matter how I tried, I felt so alone and sad. I was thinking, my life is so messed up that I want to end it in an instant.
I pushed through just to live. No matter how hard life is, I needed to survive. I've reached where I am now because of my determination and perseverance. But then again, healing is still a process. I am far from it. But I want to be healed. I just don't know how.
Printing Business as Sideline Job
Working 8 hours straight for 5 days a week does not guarantee a stable financial income. To some, their salary is enough, but as for me, it was too little for all the expenses and things needed at home. I always asked myself, what else should I be doing to increase my income. And so doing a sideline came to mind. but the question is, what should it be?
I asked my mother about her opinion on this but she didn't agree since I will no longer have the time to rest. It would also disturb my work since no one will manage it properly while I am at work. But i did not listen to her. I pushed through with my plan and decided to buy a juicer machine.
I was excited at first. I imagined to be doing it for a long time. I did it without a concrete plan and so it went downhill and eventually it ended up not giving the sales I hoped to have. Why?
No on managed since I am working.
No proper area to put it into.
It's not what people really wanted to buy.
The cost of juice is pricey already and so I need to sell it at a higher price to gain even a little.
So I decided to stop it. I lost more money than gaining from it. I was scolded for being in such a hurry and rushing to do something that wasn't planned very well. But as risky as I am, I accepted it as a challenging experience. I just rested for a bit and risk another business in mind. I only asked for 5,000 php from my sister and I also gave 5,000 php to buy a printing businedd with heatpress package. I never asked for anyone's opinion about. I just did it. So I went home with the package and surprised them with it.
The difference this time is that I knew what to do with it. Because of this JHANKENGEL printing services was born. None of them expected it would be of success except from me. I thought it through that in this kinf of business, I can do it even if I am working.
We print customized tees, stickers, mugs, keychains, and other souvenir items. We also expanded by buying tarpaulin machine. The business isn't showing too much income but we know we are earning because we bought many machines already for printing out from the profit we made from printing itself. We also borrowed money from the profit of the business but we always paid back so that we can roll the money over.
I realized that when you don't plan something out properly, no matter how much you wanted it, it will not work. With proper planning and considering all possibilities, you can be successful especially if you can take all the risks and consequences that comes through it. Our business is still going on for 3 years and counting. We serve the clients' interest and not the intent to gain. We ensure to produce quality outputs rather than giving poor items and in return gain from them. Money cannot buy satisfaction. What satisfies us is the compliment they gave after seeing what they did for them. We may earn a little but little by little we are earning more.
My professor once said, "the product of good work, is more work."
Odette: Bangon Cebu
Disaster doesn't just destroy housed, buildings or any infrastructures. Sometimes, our dreams and hopes vanished in thin air too. What we worked hard for may be gone in a blink of an eye and there's nothing we can do no matter how prepared we can be. When mother nature unleashes her powers, all we can do is hope and pray that we can save even a little.
Odette is just one of the strong typhoons that that hit the Philippine territory but i left Cebuanos so much damage. Cebu is known to be protected by Snr. Sto. Nino as long as people worship and believed in him, nothing should be feared. But this time, no matter how we pray for this storm to change direction, it can't be stopped from hitting Cebu especially the southern part.
Odette hit in the evening when people were already asleep. But to some, that evening wasn't meant for sleeping, but to transfer on where to find a stronger shelter to protect themselves from the storm. That night was a nightmare to most people. People wished it would end as early as possible, hoping that the sun will rise again to give hope and start rebuilding. But that hope seems lile forever as hours goes by.
Morning came and people saw the devastating damage that Odette left. Houses and buildings were damaged, electricity was cut off, water stopped from running, roads were damaged, lanslides were everywhere, animals were killed due to floods and trees were down no matter how strong their foundation were. The time, effort and heart spent for everything that the storm broke cannot be replinished with any amount. Hopes and dreams were torn apart in an instant.
Cebuanos are built differently. If other regions waited for help from the government or from other people, Cebuanos were already rebuilding themselves. They wait for no one to stand and rise again. If people beg and complain first, Cebuanos just shut their mouth and work their ass off to continue living.
Cebuanos, are known to be resident and full of hope. No matter how hard life is, whatever may hit them, they will always shine and survive. No storm can bring them down. Cebuanos believed that every time life pull them down, the more reason they need to crawl back up and survive.
I can attest to this because I am a proud Cebuano myself. I witnessed how people struggled and how they came with solutions to start living again. We were down but it's the end of life. In every problem there's always a solution.
Disclaimer : All that's written here is from my self opinion. Pictures and other medias in this article are free media from this site.
Life
Life is a continuous learning process. We need to adjust and adapt to what life is giving us. Struggle is part of life in order for us to grow more. Heads up to those who are living for the moment. It is not always about fun anymore. We need to prepare on what lies ahead. Preparation is an integral part of life. It may not be followed along the way, but at least, we know where we are going and what to do.
Life is a continuous learning process. We need to adjust and adapt to what life is giving us. Struggle is part of life in order for us to grow more. Heads up to those who are living for the moment. It is not always about fun anymore. We need to prepare on what lies ahead. Preparation is an integral part of life. It may not be followed along the way, but at least, we know where we are going and what to do.
@trimmer339
