Flying at Twenty One

Flying, for me, meant soaring high or achieving things. Back in the days, I could only ride planes in my dreams or when I closed my eyes. Cheers to growth!

Here’s a piece I wrote on my 21st birthday:

As a young kid, I always went out in the open and looked up to airplanes passing by the not-so-active fly zone over the Western part of Isabela province. At that time, I could only ride planes in my dreams or when I closed my eyes. As I turn 21 today, I'd like to look back at how far I've flown and how far I've grown.

We have a simple life. Both my parents are teachers who taught me the value of education and hard work. I grew up close to rice paddies, 𝘐 𝘩𝘪𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘮𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘴, 𝘧𝘦𝘥 𝘥𝘶𝘤𝘬𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘥𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘷𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘱𝘢𝘭𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘰𝘯 𝘱𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘵𝘴. The simple agricultural life became my everyday scenery.

Leisure travel is one of our most minor priorities, so I can only travel around if it's for free. Aside from 30+ local schools, I traveled to Tuguegarao, Baguio, Antique, Boracay, Koronadal, Davao, and Hong Kong for free largely because of writing, math, or science competitions.

In my 21 years, I learned a lot. I cried in the most unusual places: in the middle of a conference hall, at the back of a tricycle, and even in front of a UVLE (UP Exam interface) screen. I flew out of my comfort zone especially when I first learned how to video edit in Grade 8 and how to edit in the metaverse last 2021. I still fail exams, lose case competitions, and get rejection letters.

Even though I still face failures and rejections, I have good footprints to celebrate. I established my network of good people through organization memberships and multiple engagements. I built my presentation and problem-solving skills through business case competitions. I developed a strong sense of accountability through my back-to-back internships, running for 24 consecutive months now. In fact, my recent internship flew me to Singapore for corporate strategy sessions, all-expense paid.

Yes, recently, I rode a plane. When I was above, it made me realize that some young kids might be waving at our aircraft. I feel happy about how things have changed. 𝘐 𝘯𝘰 𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘮𝘺 𝘦𝘺𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘧𝘭𝘺.