PACALNA, ANIFAH B.

1. Who am I?

At the age of twenty, a lot has happened in my life. I came from a family of three
sisters and two brothers, and I was in the middle. I never thought that I would make it this
far because I was always afraid to try things and fail. It was tough for me to explore the
different sides of me because I am too scared to face failure. I was raised by my mom as a
person who chases excellence. It was nothing to me when I was a kid, but as I grow and
understand more of life, it was a tight battle for me. Things are no longer the same as before
it became harder and harder. There are times that I just shut myself out because I am
worried that I would disappoint my mom. I even thought that my mom is too selfish for
being too strict. When I entered college, I realized that all the things that my mom has
taught me are her ways of showing how affectionate she is and how she values me. Her
ways became my foundation to strengthen myself as an individual and to strive harder even
if life becomes tougher.

2. What are my strengths and weaknesses?

As an individual who has been into many circumstances, I have met and known my
strengths, as well as my weaknesses. There are times when I do feel proud and satisfied with
myself, but there were also times when I just don’t understand myself completely.
In twenty years of existence, I realized that I’m good at making other people happy.
I was always on the go with things that make me feel happy. I’m also enthusiastic and very
committed to my goals. I always make sure that I find time to accomplish my tasks which
helped me academically. I’m not fond of procrastinating, that’s why I tend to always
accomplish my task before deadlines. Besides socializing and being good at managing time,
I’m also good at dancing and giving words of hope and encouragement to people. However,
along with those strengths, I still do have my weaknesses. As an individual who strives to
make other people happy, I’m very sensitive to other people’s feelings and thought. Since
others’ thoughts are important to me, I do easily get hurt. Sometimes, I tend to be a
perfectionist in terms of assessing my works. I don’t get satisfied quickly with my works so, I
tend to spend more time proofreading it until I get the work done properly.

3. What are my goals and aspirations in life?

When I was a kid, I always dreamed of many things, silly and not. However, as I get
older, I realized that there are certain things that I wanted and this is to achieve a life of
happiness and contentment. I really aspire to have a life that is simple, but genuine and
beautiful. To achieve this, I need first to successfully graduate as an accountancy student
which is my dreamed course. After succeeding in my academic life, of course, I want to grab
the chance to let my parents feel how much I’m willing to succeed in life for them. I want
them to be stress-free and live their lives in a completely harmonious way. I want them to
feel the gift from God and just feel good about life. Lastly, to fully accomplish my goals and
aspirations in life, I need to become a financially free person so that I could also extend the
gift that God has given me to other people.
4. How can I achieve or maintain high self- esteem?

Achieving or maintaining high self-esteem can be a challenge to so many people,

including me. Since I am a very sensitive person, especially towards others' thoughts and
perceptions about me, I always make sure that I could improve myself. To be not so
vulnerable to such a situation, I need to level up or raise my self-esteem, and that is through
strengthening my trust and faith to God. God knows our pain and even those deep
sentiments that we have. Therefore, to build up my self-esteem, I need to trust myself, the
skills, capabilities, and talents that God has to lend me. I need to exercise acceptance of my
flaws because if one does not accept his/her own self it would be hard to let positivity flow.
Moreover, instead of being sad about my weaknesses, I will embrace those weaknesses and
turned them into my strengths.

5. Can I be a self- actualized person?

Yes, I can be a self-actualized person because I believe that there is no impossible

thing in life if we really ought to achieve goodness and contentment. Achieving self-
actualization varies from person to person. Hence, a person who is contented and fully
satisfied with his/her achievements can be said to be a self-actualized person. It depends
upon the goals and aspirations of an individual or even how an individual perceives life. For
me, I can be a self-actualized individual if I am no longer vulnerable to the pain of what
others might think of me negatively. Also, if I am fully satisfied with myself and have
accepted every bit of my flaws, then I can be a self-actualized person.