ABOUT ME
Hi, Hivers! My name is Lee and I am currently 22 years of age turning 23 this coming October. I am a graduating student taking up a Bachelor of Science in Tourism Management major in Sustainable Tourism Management in the extension branch of Cebu Normal University in Medellin. I love doing kind things and helping people and animals.
I was raised by very supportive parents and my Lola, and we’re both living under the same roof. I am the eldest of the family, I supposedly had 3 siblings but the 2nd born which was a boy died when he was 9 months old. I was too young back then but what I remember is I didn’t eat properly during his wake and I was just on his side doing nothing. The 4th born who was the youngest also died because she was already weak inside my mother’s womb and it got worse when my mother’s blood rose and made my baby sister suffocate inside. It was very crucial for both my mother and baby sister, my mother was able to have normal delivery even though my baby sister wasn’t breathing anymore.
I remember when I was outside the delivery room my father was out for a moment that time. I saw a nurse carrying a box towards the door and I couldn’t keep my eyes off it. When the nurse got out of the door, she announced our surname, I raised my hand a bit and then she handed me the box. But, I was unable to move, so she put the box on my lap. It was my baby sister inside the box! The people around me look at me, I can’t even look at the box or even touch it. I felt the heavy feeling and I became numb and blank for a moment. Then my father arrived and the nurse gave instructions to my father. Then he got my baby sister with the box on my lap. It was the moment when I was able to sigh because I had forgotten I was holding my breath. Now, I have my only baby brother, the 3rd born and he is very active and smart and we love him so much. Other people would think I am his mother whenever we’re together because I am 15 years older than him.
I lived in one of the barangays of Tabogon where water was abundant, a serene environment, and surrounded by mountains and green plants. I am a proud “probinsyana” and would always fall in love with this place where I grew up.
As the eldest daughter, I always help my parents doing the chores. My mother wants to save water, so we will go together to the main source of water, the Ulbo Spring. We would wake up at 3:00 am either Saturday or Friday when I don’t have classes and go down to Ulbo bringing our dirty clothes to do our laundry there. But since November 2023 we stopped washing our clothes in Ulbo Spring because my mother has a lump in her right breast and she needs not to lift heavy things or use her strength too much. They won’t let me go there alone too because it’s a bit distant, scorching hot when I go home and the wet cleaned clothes are heavy as well.
I would help my parents gather some firewood or coconut shells for our native cooking stove. We would get grasses when it rained or when our goats weren’t full so that they wouldn’t be hungry at night. We are also making round rugs as a sideline. We buy used or leftover fabrics, cut them, and file them. We also sewed them when we still have a manual sewing machine, it was wrecked and was repaired multiple times but now it can’t be repaired anymore. So we’re now paying for the sewing and then we also sell it. Those are some of the typical days I do living in our abode home.
I am a committed student and eager to finish my studies. It is innate to me to wake up early especially when it’s schooldays. It became much earlier now that I am in college because I should wake up at 3:00 am every Monday and Tuesday and some other day if we are asked to go to school. I have to leave the house early so I can ride a bus for a lesser fare. I get home late because it would take almost an hour to wait for the bus and traveling time for an hour.
I am an academic achiever from kindergarten, an honor student in Elementary, with honors in High School, with high honor when I was in Senior High School and now I am a consistent dean’s lister in college. To be honest, I am not aiming for an award whatsoever when I go to school. I just don’t want to fail and I don’t want my parents to be disappointed. The reason why I would always be surprised every time I knew I was one of those achievers or one of the dean’s listers. I had my goals and plans but I prefer not to disclose it. But, all I want is to succeed in life, not just for myself but for my family. I would also wish to help others, be it people or animals who need help, and contribute to the environment positively. The recent award I received during my college days is a certificate and ₱500 from our Congresswoman Janice Salimbangon.
PASSION/INTERESTS/HOBBIES
I love nature so much that every time I am stressed I hike up to the mountain and watch the clouds slowly drifting to the wind, watching the mountains, and listening to the birds chirping. Once I do that my mind calms and everything will be light as a feather. In addition, I do love planting may it be fruit-bearing trees, vegetables, fruits, etc.
Reading stories from Wattpad and the Jonaxx app and watching K-drama in HiTV and Bilibili are some of the things I love as well because they help me to escape reality. It made me realize a lot of things and one of them is about relationships that it doesn’t always work the way we want to or end up the way we look forward to. It would always be an expectation vs. reality. That is probably one of the reasons why I am still single for my 22 years of existence.
Listening to music and singing are both a hobby shared by my family.
Furthermore, I love animals so much. I love spending time with our 3 cats, I named them Mingkay who is already very old I had her when I was in Grade 4, Pochy the son of Mingkay, and Knight the black cat I saved from being thrown and he’s originally from San Remigio.
We have 2 dogs named Shone and Buddy every time we come home they always rejoice even if sometimes we don’t have some treats for them.
We only have 3 goats now and I named the mother goat Mony, his son Eufy was named after my great-grandmother because they had the same birthday, and the other goat the youngest I named Shanly because she was born during my birthday, so yeah we’re twinnies and we almost got the same color. Here's a fact all the goats we had before were sold already, I cried every time it happened. If only I could keep them forever and if only there is no emergency.
I also like to make snacks for my baby brother, just any ingredients that are available because my baby brother loves to eat snacks.
I love taking pictures of nature, the beach, sky rather than myself.
Every time my brother joins a contest in his school like a book character, etc. I would always be the one to make his costume, with his approval of course. Then I would tell him what he should do and say but because he is still a kid the things I taught won’t be much followed once he’s up on the stage. But, still, every contest he joined he always had an award and was close to winning or would actually win.
MY REASON FOR JOINING HIVE AND MY CONTRIBUTION TO HIVE
I joined Hive so that I can share my experiences because I do have a lot to share. When I’m with my friends I always have something to share and always something to talk about. Also, it’s better to write my experiences of mine to preserve my experiences. Why? Because we are just human it may be our experiences but sometimes we unintentionally forget about it. In addition, I would also like to practice my writing skills. It is also a great way to connect with people from faraway places. I would get to know other people’s experiences and in exchange, I would be able to learn from them and they may also learn from me.
HOW I GOT TO KNOW HIVE OR WHO INTRODUCED ME TO HIVE
Thanks to @jeannmazing she was the one who introduced Hive to me and encouraged me to join. She was my friend and a classmate during High School and I’m glad she still remembers me. I attended the orientation last March 24, 2024, at 10:00 am in Google Meet. It was presided over by @jeannmazing and she discussed what Hive is all about. She did it well and I was able to understand and learn from her.
Yey! You’ve reached the last part of my self introduction. Thank you for reading! Stay tuned for more blog.
Shalom ka-Hivers!✨