That Corner of the Sky: The Teacher, The Future Policeman, and The Lawyer






Nicole was really strange as a teenager.

She wasn’t like those other girls who were always pretty in pink and had dozens of friends. She was just…different.

She was that kind of girl who keeps it to herself. Her friends could be counted on one hand. She didn’t really believe that she had to know everybody’s name and that she had to be everybody’s friend. High school was tough for her. She didn’t really excel.  Her grades weren’t really that high, but she got through high school okay.

At first, she didn’t really know what to do with her life. She felt that everyone around her didn’t think that she was capable of anything. So, that’s what she did. She didn’t even give herself the chance.

But when she reached college, she took up BSED major in English as her course and finally realized that she wanted things to change. So by the time she turned 18, she stepped into the limelight.

Who knew she would be really good at volleyball?

Yes, you read that right. She was really good at volleyball. Teachers can be sporty too, you know.

And as of today, she sidelines has a volleyball coach for LCUP. (way to go, ate! Winner!)





Next, we have Ryan.

Ryan didn’t finish high school. He was in his 4th year when he decided that he didn’t want to study anymore. Years flew by and he was stuck in his same old cycle: gising-kain-volleyball-inom-tambay-tulog-gising-kain-volleyball-inom-tambay-tulog… on and on it went. Until time came when he realized that he was sick of it all. With his friends and family’s moral support, he enrolled himself in the ALS program. And after 2 years, he graduated. He graduated with honors, to be exact.

Now, he is recognized as the Youth of the Year of the Parish Commission on Youth and he is currently planning on pursuing a degree in criminology next school year.

It’s amazing what determination can do to you, isn’t it?





Last but not the least, there’s Karla, the lawyer.

When I asked her why she wanted to be a lawyer, she answered me with a straight face “ayoko na kasing maloko ulit”. I looked at her. I thought she was joking, but she looked like she really meant it. I asked her why, and she told me, “I’ve been through a lot. Hanggang ngayon single pa ko oh. Abogado na nga, single pa rin. Haha. Ang hirap kasi magtiwala ulit. Lagi na lang akong naloloko.”



As this is one topic that I don’t know how to narrate properly, I will let Karla narrate it for me.



“To be honest, I wanted to be a teacher. I had a boyfriend back then. He also wanted to be a teacher. Then after years of being in a relationship, bigla siyang nawala. Parang bula nga eh. Wala man lang pasabi. Isang araw parang nagising na lang ako na, ayun, wala na. Sawa na raw siya. Sayang talaga. Minahal ko pa naman nang sobra yung lokong yun. Yun pala, may bago na pala ang loko. Pinagsabay ba naman kami. Kaimbyerna, ‘di ba? Anyways, habang nag-aaral pa ko, feeling ko nun na parang my heart wasn’t in it anymore. Napaisip ako na ginusto ko lang ba talagang mageduc dahil sa kanya o dahil gusto ko talaga? Then I realized that the first one was the right answer. So I began to think of shifting to another course. Pero anong course? Well, since high school, I was very aware of my surroundings. Kung ano nangyayari ganun. Ang hilig ko manood ng balita, and I also liked talking about what’s happening in the government and in the society with my dad who, by the way, was also a lawyer. So I thought to myself, why not give PolSci a chance? So I did just that. I shifted to PolSci and when I graduated, I pursued my Juris Doctor degree at UST. It was very fulfilling. And it is still fulfilling up to now. Totoo nga siguro yung sinasabi nilang you have to love what you do and do what you love, and that’s exactly what I’m doing right now. Masaya ako, honestly. And Fei, if you’re still thinking about my answer to your first question, I’m not taking it back. Haha. That’s still my reason for becoming a lawyer. Ayoko nang maloko ulit. Hindi lang ng pag-ibig ha. Eto naman. Ayoko na rin maloko ng false happiness. Paano kaya kung tinuloy ko yung pagteteacher ko? Masaya kaya ako? I’m happy with what I am now. At least I’m doing what makes me feel fulfilled in life.”









Everybody has their own corner of the sky. They may not find it at the place where they thought they’d find it, but it’ll soon turn up eventually. People just have to keep looking. Serendipity exists. It truly does. And with these people—Nicole, Ryan, and Karla—it worked its magic. They were all looking for something, and what they found in their journey was something very different yet more fulfilling than the one they were looking for. It’s kind of funny when you think about it. Who knew people’s unlimited desires would do us good in the future? Constant determination is the key to unlocking that future.

After all, wouldn’t you want your life to be something more than long?




And to summarize this blog post, I think it is but apt to end it with a song J

 *cues music*


Try to listen:
Corner of the Sky






Note: Not their real names. They asked me to keep them anonymous so I used different names. :)

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Benjo Cruz: The Lugaw King of Bulacan

Image
Bienvenido M. Cruz Jr., most commonly known as “Benjo” by his friends and colleagues, was born on December 22, 1977 in Bambang, Bulakan, Bulacan. He is a 39-year old businessman from which sprung the brands “Lugaw Republic” and “Juice Colored”. Hailed as the “Lugaw King of Bulacan”, Benjo wasn’t your usual successful businessman. For one, he had a very humble start. It was not all luxury and money at first. In 2004, he flew to Japan to become a singer in cultural shows performed there. “Sa Japan, oo, six months lang yun. Kaya ako nagkaroon ng puhunan dahil sa pag-aabroad.”, he said. Benjo was in Japan from December of 2004 to March of 2005, but wasn’t able to come back to Japan because of some dispute between the Philippines and Japan at the time. Luckily, he stayed in the Philippines and invested in his first ever business enterprise called “Kiss King of Balls”. “Mahabang kwento actually. I started business May of 2005, but it was not Lugaw Republic. It’s Kiss King of
Read more

Pampanga: Oh surREAL!

Image
MARCH 11, 2017— It took a lot of brainstorming to figure out where our group was going to travel. We decided on the fact that we all want to keep it local. So we decided on Pampanga— Bacolor, Pampanga, to be exact. San Guillermo Church Before the trip, I did a little background check on San Guillermo church. I found out that it was first constructed by Augustinian Friars (same as the old churches in Bulacan like the one in Calumpit and the one in Bulakan), and it has stood its ground for nearly 440 years. But that’s not what peeked our interest into paying a visit. The church was as strong as an independent woman (no joke). It was hit by an earthquake in 1880 and was rebuilt in 1886, but that’s not the most tragic part. More recently, it fell victim to the aftermath of Mt. Pinatubo’s 1991 eruption, burying half of the church’s structure in lahar. But now, onto our visit. When we got to San Guillermo, we immediately took interest in the church’s grounds, more commonly known
Read more

Just Wanted To Let You Know

Hi. I don’t know if you can read this, but I’ll type it anyway. Maybe someone could relay this message to you. We’ve been together for so long, and this is the first time I’ve thought of finally revealing our special relationship to the world. I know, I know, why didn’t I think of this sooner? I’ve loved you since the first moment I laid my eyes on you. The first time I held you made me feel like I’m going to be addicted to you, and believe me, I wanted to fall into the sweetest addiction you can offer. At first, I didn’t know how to approach you. I didn’t know what I should do to understand you. I didn’t know what I should do to make you trust me. But eventually, I did. I've been nothing but patient with you—memorizing every curve on your face, learning your strengths and weaknesses, even enduring the times when you didn’t want to cooperate with me. I wanted to mold you—to make you see how much you mean to me, to make you see how much you matter, to make you see how
Read more