I am a striving college student from the mother of all professions, the College of Teacher Education. I am specifically majoring in English — and yes, I am always perceived to know everything.
I find it interesting that people who know my bachelor's degree seem to think I'm perfect.
Newsflash! I have a whole world to discover before me, and I believe there is more to learn out there. Just like how you are learning about me now. Speaking of learning, I first learned my ABCs through my parents who never ceased to guide me both in temporal and moral needs. My mother is working in the corporate world, while my father is a stroke survivor, who is now balancing being a house husband and a diligent father at home. I am the 5th among 7 siblings, and life has not been easy since the day I was born.
We've been moving houses for as far as I can remember, and a life of precariousness has dominated my childhood. In fact, as an infant, I would smother my bottle of lukewarm water with sugar as a substitute for milk, which is the origin of a nickname my mother coined, 'the sugar baby.'
Growing up, I saw how my parents did their best in everything with a load of prayers. They have never regretted our family life despite the hardships and even thanked the Lord for the little that we have. This inspired me to reset my mindset about my life. I started striving and didn't let poverty and insecurity hinder me from achieving things. I started trusting God was up there looking after me. Fast forward, here I am now, braving university life.
Everything is God's marvel in my life, and I am not putting anything to waste. I will keep pushing and praying for better days and diligently do impactful things that could change my life and that of the world, for instance, writing!
Things I put too much attention into
I thought I was a boring person, not until I discovered things that singled me out from the rest. Firstly, I am a music lover. I started carrying out a tune when I was little and from there, I have not stopped since. Due to familial influence, I also learned to play the strings and started writing my own songs.
Oh, and writing. I am a lover of words. I write and it's the only thing that I could imagine doing for the rest of my life. Of course, I started writing cringeworthy teen fictional stories, which turned into poems, until school forced me to do articles. As an education student, verbal and written skillfulness is a must.
To add, despite not having any background in campus journalism, I am a part of our university's student publication, holding the position of Associate Editor-in-chief. Being relatively new to the position and responsibilities, I consider myself a work in progress, and still a learner in the world of writing and campus journalism.
Along the way, I realized that I should supplement my writing with something. Eventually, I started to read to help improve my writing. Initially, I forced myself into reading despite not wanting to. But then I saw a quote by Naval Ravikant saying, 'Read what you love until you learn to love reading.' It made sense to me and inspired me to keep reading. I also realized that I must read a lot as much as I write, because what will I write if I don't know anything? Indeed, I've seen myself improve in writing through reading.
But there were times when powerful external things caused me to stop writing for a while. And honestly, those were the most unalive, and unmagical days of my life. I've never felt so unfulfilled. That's when I realized how much writing has been imprinted in me, and that I could no longer break away from it. Writing is my lifeline, I realized. Journalling, poetry, and songwriting; they kept me sane for the past years of my earthly existence.
However, there were moments when I wondered if I was good at this. There were times when I could not even start to write a single sentence. But I realized, it's part of the journey—to be burned out, to have writer's block, and to pause for a moment and breathe. It's not always perfect, and that's because life is yet to unravel its wonders for you. There is more to learn, which taught me to always be teachable and accept criticisms, whether constructive or destructive. Part of discovering myself is by discovering the world.
Hearing about Hive!
Discovering the world included discovering Hive. I was introduced to Hive through my friend, @digdeeper2. At first, I was moved when Christine said that she instantly thought about me the moment she heard of Hive. I was hooked on the idea of blogging. Though I have been writing a lot, I've never actually thought of putting out my work. But I remembered how much of a sharer I am, and I couldn't get to share with a proper audience that would appreciate it. Christine knows that I write a lot, and that made her invite me to an online orientation last June 23, 2024, facilitated by @jeannmazing. I've heard of communities to which I could share my interests and thought that I could also reach and discover more people and stuff that I can relate to through Hive. Thinking about it now, I am thrilled to write and share about my wonder ponders on random things I see around me. A broken trunk of a tree on a rainy day, a book that made me brawl my eyes out, my dog's silly antics, and a lot more photos that could tell meaningful stories.
I can't wait to share and see others share their own interests on this platform. Excited is an understatement to describe how I feel about starting my newest journey with Hive. Thanks for dropping by!