Name: Christina Marie M.

Eje

Reflection:

My relationship with the people around me depends on how they treat me. For now, it's been a
roller coaster ride of emotions, but I think it's fine and normal. Some days are grateful, some are
fun, and some are sad, angry, or betrayed, but there's always a reason for me to fight and let go.
Maintaining a good relationship is hard; as I always say, it requires effort, understanding, and a
healthy mindset. I maintain good communication with them by being trustworthy and truthful.
Being truthful eliminates doubt and insincerity, but we must exercise caution with the level of
honesty we provide because it may cause hurt feelings. We can be truthful but do it in a
respectful way without stepping on someone's feeling, because not everyone is ready to accept
the truth. Also being patient and having the ability to listen while hearing is a helpful way to
maintain good communication with our loved ones. We won't be able to understand them if don't
know how to listen and understand. Remember that communication is a two way process;
without a sender and receiver, it won't be effective. As I repeat what I have said in the interview;
trust and honesty are the key components in my life. These two things are the most important to
me because I despise it when someone lies to me when I need it the most. It is a bad sign of
relationship for me, and without these two components, a relationship is just a journey without
direction. Honesty and trust are the very foundation of a good relationship; being happy isn't
enough for us to last. Meeting the right people who understand that my personality needs
recharging and that keeping myself away for a moment or having some alone time is an
indication of a boundary for me to maintain a healthy relationship with them and to myself. It
means that taking a rest will be able to help me reflect on my actions toward my surroundings or
loved ones and the things that I must upgrade in myself to become better.

Showing support is easy, but consistency and being genuine hits different. I show my support to
my loved ones by being there with them even they won't ask me to be there for them. I would sit
with them and listen. I support them through my presence and by giving them words of
affirmation or a piece of advice to clear their doubts and cheer them on. When my sister asked
me how to make an infographic, I sent her one of my works and explained the process. I guided
her well, told her to follow my instructions, and told her she could do it when I sensed she was
lost and afraid of not knowing what to do. Another is when my friend is always insecure about
how she looks. I told her that I and her are built differently; just because I skinny doesn't mean
she's not pretty for who she is. I even encouraged her to eat healthy, and have a workout session
with me during the summer to tone our bodies, and somehow today she's feeling better and
showing sincere confidence in her own beauty.

I discover that the topics they tackle in the webinar have the same situation to my past
experiences. I’ve been also a victim of bullying and being in that situation is hard and fearing for
me when I was in elementary, it makes me don’t want to go to school anymore, but overcoming
that situation was a big deal to me. Bullying gives me trauma and fear of talking/socializing with
people; afraid that they might judge me from who I am but the sooner that I learn about my
weaknesses the sooner I become stronger for myself. I teach myself to be a fighter when I reach
high school. I study well and make goals. I made sure that my high school life would be
memorable and successful. I loved how looking back to my past experiences and see the same
experiences from other people makes my heart happy because there are people that I can relate
my feelings to. After the bullying experience, I became the bigger person and start going out to
my comfort zone, and I think most of my journey in high school and in life up until not
highlights my eagerness to seek for others and learn from them.

Doing the things that I thought I won’t be able to do was a very big accomplishment, and while
taking the path that I choose making me feel a lot of emotions; it is like an unpredictable journey
but having a good foundation of friendships makes the hardship worth it. However, as I continue
to become mature, I realized that there are relationships that needs to be cut, and just continue
life without them. It’s about outgrowing the old system that I am into, but it doesn’t mean to
forget them and lose care for them, it is just a sign for me to stop holding on an old rope that
wasn’t healthy for me anymore. Walking away was hard, but it wasn’t a sign of weaknesses but a
sign of courage to protect myself and the relationship that is no longer giving us respect. I think
it’s been months since I left. Since then I feel like a heavy stone in my chest was gone, and I am
happy with that. Sooner or later there were still people that I’ll going to meet along the way but
only few will give impact into our lives, and when we them, don’t let them slip away. Show your
loved and support for them as we continue to grow beside them.