2.

I
fyouweretocompareyourl
if
etoashor
tst
ory
,whatst
orywoul
ditbe?
(Pr
esenty
ourshortst
ory
)

Theobstacleinourpat hashor tstor

y ,
wereIhav i
ngcompar i
ngmyl i
fet oi
t .Myli
fehas
manyobst acl
esandr oadwaytofacet hecircumstances.
TheKi ngofthestoryhadaboul der
pl
aceonar oadway ,
hethenhidhimselfandwat chedtoseei fanyonewouldmov etheboulder
outoftheway .
Manypeopl eloudl
yblamedt hekingfornotkeepi
ngt her
oadsclear
,butt
herewas
apeasantmant hencameal ongandt ryi
ngt opusht hestoneoutoft heroads,aftermuch
pushingandstrai
ning,hefi
nall
ysucceeded.
 Andt hekingofmyst oryi sGodwhogi vemechal l
engesandobst acleinmyl ife.Iwas
alreadyacol legestudentbef oreyear2012- 2014atBuki dnonSt ateUniv ersi
ty-
Sal ay
,Ex t
ernal
studiescenter.Isucceedmy1stand2ndy earbutwhenIwasi nmy3r dyear1stsem.dur i
ngour
preli
m mont hIwasadmi ttoCagay andeor ohospi talatCagay anMedi calcent erbecauseof
denguef everandt hatti
meIt aughtitwascr iti
calbecauseIwaspl acedi nemer gencyr oom but
duet olackofv acantr oom t hat
swhyIwaspl aced in emer gencyr oom and Iwasnot
comf ort
ablewi thi
nt heenv ironmentbecausei t
'sr eal
lyhur twheny ouseepeopl ehav i
nga
troubleaccident,aopensur gicaloperat
ionwer ey ouhearaper sonshout ingbecauseofpai n,
andmostpai nfulpartwheny ouseet heparentscryingoutl oudfortheirbabydi ed,myhear twas
reall
yfeltachingthosemoment ,Iseethereali
tyofobst aclethatgivenbyGodwi t
ht hem.

AndIaskedmy selfwhataboutme? ,whatpr obl

emsGodwi l
lgiveme,andIf eltner vous
every
dayandt hattimewhenIwasi nthehospitalf
or6daysIhavetroubl
esleepingIcan' teven
sl
eepmyey ebagsgetdar kerduetolackofsleepandal otofnegati
vemi ndsetdueofbei ng
pessi
mi st
icthi
nkingl eadmet ostopmyst udies.Yes,astupi
dandi mmaturedecisionst hatI
havemadet hroughy earscome,unti
li
treachthemomentwhenIdeci dedtobei nar elat
ionship
andbuildmyownf ami l
yattheageof18andnow, we'v
ebeenalmost6years.

Attheageof23, Ireal
izedhowst upi
dIam bef or
ef ornotfinishingmyst udies.Andnow, I
fi
nall
yrealizedt hathav i
ngeducat ionalatt
ainmenti si
mpor tantbecausei tprovi
desst abili
tyin
l
ifeandt hechancesf orbett ercareeroppurtuni
ti
esandopenupnewdoor sforyourself
,t hat'
s
whyIdeci dedt ocont i
nueandpur suemyst udieseventhoughIhav ei nacommi tmentbutIt ake
theoppur tunityt ogowi thit,witht hehelpofchedpr ogram theyhel pusandencour ageus
"Motherhood"t ocont i
nuest udiesev ent
houghIhav en'
tababybutmycl assmatesf el
tmet obe
parti
nmot her hoodgr oupstudent s,wehav eourcommonsense.Wi t
ht hehelpofchedpr ogram
manyofus" Mot herhood"pur sui
ngourst udieseventhought herear esomepeopl ejudgi ngus
thatwear est udy i
ngonlybecauseofchedal l
owances,butwedi dn'tli
stentot herestatement
andwer at her,letti
ngour selvesbeeducat edandpur suingourdr eamsf orsomedaywear e
successful personi noursoci ety.

Ihaveastr
ugglesanddi f
fi
culti
esinli
feandnowIknowt hatGodgivemeallofthesejust
toshowhowIwi llbeabletoovercomeit.Godnev erpromisedlifewoul
dbewi t
houtproblems,
buthedidpromisehewoul dbewi thusandseeust hroughev er
yobstacl
e.Thethi
ngst hatI
mustshowtohimt hatIhavetobeopt i
misti
cinli
fe,fai
thwi t
hhim andtofocusonmyst rengt
h,
notmyweaknessessot hatIwi
llbeabletomov et
hemount ain.

Justlikethepeasantmaninthestoryhegi vehisstrengt
ht ooutthebigr
ockinaroadway
andhef i
nallysucceeded.AndIknow thattheseobst acl
eswecomeacr ossinl
ifegi
veusan
oppur
tunit
yt oimproveourcir
cumtances,andwhi lstthelazycomplain,t
heother
sarecreati
ng
oppur
tunit
iesthroughthei
rgener
osit
yandwi lli
ngnesst ogetthi
ngsdoneandIbelievet
hatIwill
besucceededper sonsomedayandreapther ewardsofnotgi vi
ngup.
1.Amongtheacti
ver
evol
utioni
stsmenti
onedabov
e,whodoy
out
hinkhas
thesi
mil
arstor
yofyourl
ife?Inwhataspect
?
IchooseAndresBonif
acio,Hewasasonofgov ernmentof f
ici
al.Wehavesi
mil
araspectof
beingrai
sedbyourparentswithther
eduti
esandresponsi
bil
it
iesasagov er
nmentof
fi
cial
swith
theirmonthl
ysal
aryt
osust ai
ntherefami
l
yneedsandt oser
vepeopl ewi
thhonor
.

Duringmychi
l
dhoodyear
s,myparentsl
ovet
oser
veourcommuni
ty,t
heywant
edt
obea
l
eaderandamemberoft
hegover
nment.

Myfatherbef
ore,ser
vedhisduti
esforbeingamili
tar
yof
fici
alsandlater
,deci
dedtobe
el
ect
edasabarangayoff
ici
alsandbyt
hegraceofGodhewini
ny ear1997andenduphist
erm
i
n2002.

Aft
erhim, mymot heral
soelectasbarangaykagawadi n2consecuti
vewinsyear2002-2007.
Shelater
,decidedtorunasabar angaycaptaininourbar angayinyear2007-2010butshewas
fai
ledtowi n,butshedidn'
tlosehope,sheagainr e-
electinyear2010wi thsamepositi
onand
fi
nall
yshewi nascaptai
ninourbarangayandendupi n2013.Af t
er3y ear
sofservi
ce,mymom
wasi l
l
,afterbeingadmitt
edinthehospital,
shehav et otakemedicineevery
dayinordertol i
ve
l
onghealthy .Dueofhercondi
ti
onshecannotl ongerserveinpubli
c,butdespi
teofhersit
uationI
thankGodf orhavingheri
nourlivesandforthosechancesi nli
fe.

Afteray
ears,Myf
atherwasrecent
lyrunagainasabarangaykawagadandhewi
ndur
ingt
he
el
ect
ionvot
ing.
Andnowheagainapubl i
cservanti
nourbarangay
.

Accordingtothel i
feofAndr esBonifaciohewasal eaderoft hephi l
ippiner evoluti
on, heser ve
alsoint hegov er
nmentandl eav ehisr emarkabl
ewor kinourphi li
ppines,ev ent houghIam not
l
ikehi m orIam notuset ofoll
owt hef ootpr
intsofmypar ent
s, butIam v er
ymucht hankfuland
proudofmypar entsf orbeingapubl i
cser vanti
nourbar angayev enthought heydi dn'tf i
nish
theireducat i
onalat t
ainment ,butt heyr at
hermustshowed and pr oved t hatiti snott he
hindrancef orwhattheywantt oachieve.AndI '
m gonnauset herecour agef orIbel ieveIwel ldo
i
tandIwi llbeablet oachievemydr eamsi nlif
e.Ihavetobebr aveforf aci
ngt hebat tlefiel
di n
myl ife,li
keAndr esBoni f
acio,hewasabr av emanf acinghi senimi esi nt hebat tlef i
eld,and
throughhi sworkt hephil
ippi
nesbr eakf reef
rom Spaniardcoloni alr
ule.Todayandf orupcomi ng
generationhisstorywer ealway sberemember edl
iketheot hers.