Diego Alcudia 3

11-Mayer July 2, 2017

The Best and the Hardest

How does one explain their high school? This question was running thorugh my head when I was
thinking of what to write about. High School was a memorable time for me. It was a time of growth, discovery
and adventure, and there were a lot of things I experienced during that time that helped me become into the
person I am today. As much as I would like to tell you about everything, I’ll focus on just one; which was
actually the bulk of my stay there; and that is Dulaang Sibol. There were so many things I learned there like
commitment, teamwork, and perseverance that helped shape me into the sibolista I was and still am, and taught
me things I know I will take with me forever.

Dulaang Sibol is a theatre organization or org for short, and we would meet each other everyday
after school, sometimes even on weekends until at least seven in the evening with shows we’d put on every two
months or so. Before joining the org, I didn’t even have an idea that I would be a part of another org; much less
this one because I was on the football varsity team. Long story short, I auditioned for the org, I didn’t make the
tryouts and I ended up joining, but little did I know that this would be the start of probably the hardest challenge
I would face. At the start if my first year they absolutely stressed that the group demanded commitment and that
if I wasn’t committed to this group, then I shouldn’t bother joining, so I agreed. I was committed to everything;
the late nights coming home exhausted from both school and sibol, trying to balance those two things along
with my family life etc. They also had a rule that if I failed any subject after a term/ semester, that I would be
temporarily kicked out of the group until I could pull my grades back up, that’s why I had to do well in my
academics so I could stay in the group. So I guess you could say that I was quite committed to the org, and it
was in these tests of commitment that I found the secret of consistently doing something despite it being
difficult: a sense of joy. A sense of joy that would make even the hardest jobs seem easy, and that’s how I was
able to stay committed to Sibol, and how I can learn to be committed to anything in my life.

Since I wasn’t the only one in the group, there were many moments wherein I would disagree and
argue with the other members, especially my fellow batch mates in the org. this was where teamwork was put
into play. My batch and I were arguing over several things at once. Some of the arguments were quite petty to
be honest, and others were really serious matters that really tested our unity as a batch. We argued and argued
for several days until we were finally able to sit down together and talk about it and work the whole thing out
together, and we were able to pull of everything. It was here where I leaned the true meaning of teamwork. One
part was to be able to put aside our differences even for just a moment for the sake of the greater good of the
group whatever that may be to you. The other was to be able to accept each other in spite of our differences and
disagreements and work together utilizing each other’s different strengths to put out incredible results.

The organization brought me so much joy, but along with that joy came a lot of hardships. Like I
said before, I was going home everyday at seven or later in the evening exhausted rehearsing for shows and still
had to do whatever homework I was given that day. It was hard even for my parents because they thought that it
would hinder me from doing well in my academics. I even thought of quitting because of something I went
through when I was a sophomore. It was December and we were preparing for our annual show “Come to the
Manger.” It was the day before the actual show and we still weren’t nearly ready. We had so much to do and I
was really starting to feel the pressure and almost stopped functioning. The day before, Sir Pagsi our moderator
was saying tat maybe we should just cancel the show rather than give our audience a mediocre show, but we
decided not to and push through. I don’t know how I got the strength from that I was able to perform with my
fellow sibolistas, but I did it and it turned out to be an amazing show. Through all the adversity we faced, we
persevered and were able to put on a good show. This taught me to “dig deep” when times get rough and you
don’t think you can do anymore, because as long as there’s a will, there’s a way.

Dulaang Sibol is a magical place where I was able to learn a lot of things I know I’ll be able to carry
throughout my life. It isn’t for everybody, and it isn’t easy, but like Sir Pagsi would say: “The best is almost
always the hardest, and the hardest is almost always the best.” This org was the best for me because it taught
me so much that I can apply not just in the org but my day to day life and this is what I can offer to you and so
much more.