The First Roadblock

Five days in law school and I already found myself crying in hopelessness. Right from the start, I knew that it would be hard. Before classes started, I tried to prepare myself emotionally. I actually thought that I succeeded. But obviously I didn't. This is the first challenge I faced in law school - winning the mind game. Law school tests the students' character and passion.

Fear: A Dreamer's Enemy

"Tell your heart that the fear of suffering is worse than the suffering itself." This is one of my  favorite motivational statements of Paulo Coehlo. Indeed, our fear hinders us from doing or achieving certain things. Fear is all in our mind. Once we've learned to conquer our fear, we will discover that it is actually what was restraining us to achieve our full potential from the start.

A Just War?

Soil covered of blood. Dead bodies scattered everywhere. Destroyed buildings. Gun fires in the distance. Wailing ambulance. Weeping families. 

War brings many dreadful effects to humanity and society. Despite the negative impacts brought by wars, the world is not unanimous in its opinion of it. There are those who oppose war while another side believes that war is justifiable and for the good of mankind. Benjamin Franklin believed that “there has never been a good war or a bad peace.” In this sense, can we say that war can be tolerated if it resulted to peace?

The Real Essence of Education

"If education is always to be conceived along the same antiquated lines of a mere transmission of knowledge, there is little to be hoped from it in the bettering of man's future. For what is the use of transmitting knowledge if the individual's total development lags behind?" -Maria Montessori

Accounts of our very first day at school – we all have them. Most people, especially our parents, treasure this moment and they try to retell this over and over. The first-day experience varies from one person to another. My other siblings, according to our mom, did not want to be left behind at school. They shed buckets of tears just to convince our mom to stay until their class ends. For them, school was frightening because it was an unknown land, an unexplored environment, an unfamiliar world.

A Better Me to A Better Country

Back in 2009, I was awarded as one of the 10 Outstanding Expat Pinoy Children. The Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI), as part of its efforts to recognize the contribution of OFWs or Expat Pinoys, holds an annual search nationwide for 10 children with OFW parents who excel academically and hold leadership positions in school or in the community. Among the requirements to the said search is an essay citing the ways that one can be an instrument of nation-building. Below is the essay I submitted:

Confucius once said, “To put the nation in order, we must put the family in order; to put the family in order, we must cultivate our personal life; and to cultivate our personal life, we must first set our hearts right.” I think the most remarkable contribution I can give to our nation as a child of an Overseas Filipino Worker is to improve myself and become an asset to the country.  I can do this by becoming a conscientious student, a considerate sibling, a respectful daughter, an upright citizen, and a God-fearing Christian.

Comfort Zone

I must let go. I've been holding myself for too long. It is difficult for me to leave my comfort zone and take risks. This attitude is greatly influenced by my closest friends in school who possess the same. They are part of my comfort zone. I don't try to mingle with other people and join other organizations because I already have them. I never go to a place without one of them as a companion. We support each other as a group but at the same time pull each other to be stagnant (even if we don't intend to).

Identity is A Big Deal (Lesson Learned in Mae Sot, Thailand)

Value your identity because many have lost theirs and are struggling to the point of death just to preserve the little identity they have. This is what I learned from illegal Burmese migrants I met in Mae Sot.

Mae Sot is a province of Thailand that is commonly called as the "Little Burma" since it's where most Burmese sought refuge when they flee Myanmar  to escape from danger (Burma is the old name of Myanmar). Some Burmese refugees and migrants who grew up in Mae Sot lost contact with their families and relatives. They are not considered citizens of Myanmar nor of Thailand. They are stateless individuals.

Lesson Learned in Myanmar

Just because you don't get credit for what you do, doesn't mean you stop doing it.

In Myanmar, my friends and I had the opportunity to meet and talk to residents who carve statues and figurines for a living. They were a group of four or five men.

This group of men transforms the wood into something beautiful, something with a face. They give life to the wood.

You know, what was sad about their story?

Here I Come, Southeast Asia!

Excited. It is my first time to travel abroad. For someone who dreams of seeing the world, this is such a BIG DEAL. Since I was young, I have always wondered what lies beyond the Philippines. Imagine my happiness when our instructor told us that we will have an educational trip in some countries of Southeast Asia! I said to myself that I need to join the trip by hook or by crook. Lucky for me, my parents are very supportive. They are more than willing to pay for all the expenses. These are the moments that I really feel blessed to have such loving parents!

Lesson Learned From A Highlighter

It's necessary for some details to be highlighted while others are better left ignored. Similarly, don't focus much attention on the flaws of people around you, try instead to see their positive traits.

This is one advice that we unintentionally forget to live by. Because it is so much easier to notice people's shortcomings, right?

Luckily, I discovered a technique to overcome this tendency to be a nitpicker.

Learning Fragments

Life is an adventure. That's a fact. No amount of careful planning can prepare anyone for its surprising twists and turns. It has always fascinated the curious child in me, kept the adult me apprehensive, and preoccupied my inner philosopher.

This blog is my attempt to write down my story, contemplate my struggles and triumphs, make sense of life, and discover my soul in the process.

I am writing this for myself, for my sanity. I'm certain that I still have to face a lot of challenges and failures -- challenges that would make me forget how to be strong; failures that would make my self-esteem wither and even shatter my hopes and dreams. When that time comes, and I know it will, this blog would remind me that life is wonderful despite the pain, and trials are conquerable no matter how tough.

This blog is also for anyone who, by a quirk of fate, would come across this blog and find meaning in what I have to say. It is part of our nature to empathize with one another. I believe that the lives of the 7 billion people in the world are interconnected. Somehow, at some points, our stories converge. We are overwhelmed by the same emotions, bothered by parallel thoughts, and moved by the same call of passion.

There are priceless lessons waiting for us each day. Sometimes we are too preoccupied  that we miss noticing real treasures of life, which are concealed by their simplicity.

Life lessons are fragments, scattered in different places and situations from various people and objects. They could be hidden in a book, expressed in a line of a song, portrayed in movies, overheard at the grocery store, manifested through an interaction with a stranger, etched in memories...They are everywhere, if we only take time to observe. We must collect as many fragments as we can to make our journey through life meaningful.

I hope to enjoy my journey collecting learning fragments with you!