I came to this beautiful world on the sunny afternoon of

February 24, 2000.I was born premature. I was born in the

wonderful city of Ormoc, a small city in Leyte, Philippines.

Family Background

My father, Ramon E. Antig, is a businessman. He is the 6th out

of the 7 siblings. He graduated at Southwestern University in
Cebu with the course of Medical Technology. Though his course is
not related to this job today, he can still use this when
somebody needs help. On the other hand, my mother, Tetsie
T.Antig, is a housewife. She is the 3rd out of the 4 siblings.
She graduated at Southwestern University in Cebu with the course
of Medical Technology. Same with my father, her course is not
related to her job but she can use this when somebody needs
help. Please do not ask how they met because I also do not know
how the met each other. My older sister, Rochelle T. Antig, is
studying at Silliman University. She is now 1st Year College. My
younger sister, Rashielou T. Antig, is studying at St. Pauls
School. She is now grade 8. I am jealous of both of my sisters
because they are honor students while I am not so the attention
is always in favor to them. I also have attention, but these
attentions are negative just like when they always push me to
become an honor student and when I fail to do it, they will
scold me. Maybe God did not make me an honor student in purpose
because I truly believe that everything happens for a reason and
I heartily accept it.

Childhood

I stayed in the incubator for one week because I was

premature for one week. I spend the first 8 months sleeping,
crying, eating Cerelac and drinking milk and water. When I was 9
months old, I was able to speak my first word. I forgot what it
was. 2 months later, I know how to walk.

In 2003, at the age of 3, I was enrolled to San Agustin

Schoolyard Montessori with the level of Nursery where I would
always learn childrens songs and at home I always watch
Nickelodeon, Disney Channel and Cartoon Network. I also watch
Sesame Street in DVD. During weekends, we visit our
grandmothers house in Brgy. Ipil.

At the age of 5, I was still committed to San Agustin. Then,

I had this exam in Math. The topic was about adding,
subtracting, multiplying and dividing numbers. I answered the
test and I realized that I am very quick in adding, subtracting,
multiplying and dividing numbers. The teacher was so impressed
that a five year old person can answer quickly. I asked this
question: How did I do it so quickly?. Until now, that
question is still left unanswered. Until now, I still have this
gift from God and use it to serve Him and make Him proud.

Years have passed, I am now 10 years. I am now in grade 4. I

transferred to St. Pauls School of Ormoc from San Agustin. I
was in Section Jade. I met friends like Thomas Tan and Marco
Lladoc. At that time, I was adjusting the new environment.
Believe it or not, my overall ranking was 70 out of the 105
students. I realized it very quickly so I made adjustments. My
rank changed from 70 to 45, from 45 it became 30 and I improved
so on.

In grade 5, I was also in Section Jade. Since I know my

potentials such as my ranking, my plan is to study hard so I
will be in Section Emerald next tear. My rank should be 35 and
above. In the 1st quarter, I can say that my ranking in decent
but I am still not contented and I know that I can improve. But
in the 2nd Quarter, I was rank #18. I was so proud and also at
that time, I was the Top 1 in the class. Same thing happened in
the 3rd quarter but my overall rank was #20. Two places down and
in the 4th Quarter, everything I did was the same as the 2nd and
3rd Quarter. To summarize this, I overachieved.

As what I said earlier, my goal was to be in Section Emerald.

It did happen. I know that it is hard to be in Section Emerald.
In the 1st day, I was quiet. The students of Emerald are not as
noisy as the students in Jade. I planned to make some noise.
Next, in the next few weeks, I realized that there were
conflicts about our classmates. It seems that I overestimated
them. Luckily, Maam Stephanie was there to fix the conflicts.

Marc Valenzona, Karl Saavedra and I made the class more fun. We
make noise, but of course, we know our boundaries. One thing
that I cannot forget is the declamation. Maam Stephanie planned
two sessions. The one is the day before the sem break and the
other one is the first 3 days after the sem break. It was the
first session. It was my turn. I was nervous and I forgot the
lines especially the middle part so I cannot skip and recite the
next lines. I stopped. Maam Stephanie was very disappointed.
She thought that I was joking around. Believe it or not, I was
the only person in Section Emerald who failed. During the last
day before the sem break, I tried to memorize the piece. It
seems that I am not ready. I prayed to God that I can do it.
After the sem break, we had the declamation. It was my turn. I
did not expect that I memorized the whole piece and luckily, I
got a high score and also, I am not the lowest anymore. Thank
goodness it was done. I was thankful that Maam Stephanie was
there because she pushed me to the limit. She improved my speech
and grammar. At the end of the day, I graduated at elementary on
March 24, 2012.

In grade 7, there were like 20+ students who transferred to

another school. A new chapter begins. I got high grades from 1st
to 2nd Quarter. In the 3rd Quarter, The boys and I played
basketball everyday. As a result I got a low grade especially in
Filipino. I got a grade of 77. It was the first time that I got
a line of seven in the report card. I told my mother about the
news and she was shocked. She challenged me if I cannot improve
my grade by at least 5 points, I will be transferred to another
school but luckily I passed the challenge. I realized that I

should be able to balance my academics and sports. I think it is

a lesson learned for me.

Adolescence

I turned 13 in grade 8. During the first week of the school

year, I was absent for a week because of a family reunion. We
spent a great time at Singapore. After a week, I came back to
school. It seems that I am not in condition to study after the
reunion. My ranking was so low. I think it was 42. Thomas, my
friend, came to me. We planned to challenge ourselves to have a
better rank. I was able to do it. I think it was rank #14 and
Thomas was also able to do it too but my increase is too high so
I have to be consistent. One experience that I would never
forget was the time I got the highest score in the Unit Test in
History. At that time, I was struggling to run my program in
Turbo C and I was dismissed after snacks time so I was late for
History time. Luckily, Sir Jeffrey was so kind, he gave me a
chance to get in and started the quiz again. It turned out that
I was the highest. I truly couldnt believe it. In the first
test, it was about Current Events. I got a low score. I did
not know that my low score was higher than most of the class. I
think the current events type of test was a factor of getting
the highest score in the Unit Test. This event gave me the
momentum of all the other subjects. After Yolanda, since there
was no electricity, there was no Current Events type of test
anymore. Especially that our schedule is 3 times a week, I feel
lazy to study. Guess what, low ranking happened but it was a
slight decrease and same happened in the 4th quarter.

I am now 14 years old. I am now in grade 9. One event that

happened is that the DepEd implemented the KPUP grading system
without surveying the students. I know that KPUP is the right
answer in the long haul, but we are not prepared for it yet.
There should training for at least a month or two. Right now, I
am still adjusting the KPUP grading system. I survived the first
5 months of KPUP and there are lots of more to come. I was
amazed that I had a decent rank in the 1st Quarter. It seems that
I am not the only one who had difficulties in the KPUP. The most
intense event that happened in the KPUP is the Performance Task
in Math. I know that Math is not really a difficult subject for
me but the Performance Task is individual. I was nervous.
Without a doubt, I know what to do. The question is: Did I do it
right? I submitted a sample to Sir Marjune and he approved it.
It means that I survived. Another challenge is the interview.
Sir Marjune called ten students. Out of the ten students, only
one got the perfect score. I was nervous and pressured. When it
was my turn, I did my best in the interview. I got the perfect
score. I experienced the sigh of relief. After I was finished,
it was my classmates time to shine. They also got the perfect
score. At the end of the session, half of the students got the
perfect score and I was second of the half of the students who
got the perfect score. I was thankful that I got the perfect
score because it is guaranteed that if I only got a single point
lower, the grade will be lower.

You know what, Life is like a roller coaster, you just have
to enjoy the ride. I know that in my life, I have ups and downs,
good times and bad times. I know that life is not that easy, and
it never will be. I know that life is too short, that is why I
am enjoying it. That is why I am sometimes noisy. If I would
leave a message to the people who will read this, my message for
you is to live life to the fullest. Now, my journey continues to
complete my life.