Tomorrow I turn 29. I’m trying to think real hard if I have achieved the things I dreamed of when I was just a little girl. And if I am the person I wanted to become back when I was innocent and a little naive. This is a journey down memory lane, random things that I can still remember from my youth…
When I was in kindergarten, I remember being mischievous and I do know that I was never shy. I always got the “Most Friendly” award, maybe because I try to befriend everyone regardless of who or what they are. I remember falling down from the big slide and when my teacher asked me what I want to be when I grow up, I remember saying I want to be an astronaut while all my other female classmates wanted to be nurses or teachers. I never learned how to read until the middle of my 2nd grade, words are meaningless and garbled images to me (I only learned later that there’s a name to what I have, Dyslexia) although, I’m quite adept at Math. I can multiply long before I can read. Thanks to my tutor, I think her name was Ms. Makiling or something… The main motivation for me to learn to read was because my older sister had her name on the honor’s list, she was always 1st honors while I got nothing. Mainly because I can’t read and I don’t pay attention, my GMRC was 76 – but I was really good at Math.
Anyways, I learned to read on my 2nd grade and had the 3rd honors at the end of the year. From 3rd grade up, I got the highest honors and graduated Valedictorian on my senior year. It was tiring, all those studying and keeping up so I decided to slack off when I got into college, more so because I wanted to read and write than actually study and get good grades in Electronics and Communications Engineering. I love Math but I found out that I love reading and writing more – go figure. I did graduate, but I never actually used my degree. I wanted to be an astronaut, remember?
I got pregnant with my little princess while reviewing for the board exam, I did not pass. The reason was not because I was pregnant and could not concentrate, I got high grades on the first two subjects but failed miserably on the 3rd. Failed because I do not know the dimensions of the signage if you want to sell cellphones, yeah, I blame the system. But me failing the board exam did not get me down, and no I never tried again because at the back of my mind I know that if I passed it and got the license that so many companies look at as “gold” I would be obliged to find a job that is suitable for the degree that I have and yes I’ll be miserable. My first official work was as a tech support for Dell, I don’t really hate it, I just thought its not really suitable for me. My second one was as a data encoder then after training an SEO analyst, and I then started ghost writing for SEO ebooks online and also writing thesis for foreign students. After research, I found that web designers and developers get higher pay and so I taught myself how to design and develop websites. It took me about a month to get my act together and when I felt really confident that I can do the job and whatever I still don’t know I can learn without any problem I started looking for clients. I’m a pretty quick study and am able to grasp concepts quite easily and I am confident – both my strength and my downfall.
That’s a quick rundown of what I have achieved so far, but the best one that I have is a loving husband and two very special kids. I wouldn’t trade them for anything, not for all the riches in the world nor all the success not even the possibility of me being an astronaut. So am I happy? Can I confidently say that I’m successful and that I have the life that I dreamed of when I was young? I may not have what I’ve dreamed of, but I am positive that I am very happy with what I have and who I have become – its more than I ever expected and I know for a fact that the future holds a lot more for me and my family.