Looking Back: Childhood and Decisions

"How one handles success or failure
is determined by his/her early childhood."

I studied at Paaralang Sentral ng Argao - I, about 4 blocks from our place. I went straight to Grade 1 as kindergarten was not a pre-requisite at that time (obviously!). I finished Grade 1 with the first honor award, and that was the only first I got until I graduated college. (Haha. What a loser!)

One unforgettable picture of my childhood days was the time I got into a fight with a classmate in Grade 2.  I threw a sizable twig at him causing him injury on his forehead. I could not recall what exactly the cause was but I think it started from a bullying act. Our teacher, who happened to be his aunt, punished both of us by letting us kneel in front of the class until everyone left for home. Looking back, I thought I was a brave kid. Haha.

I didn't know I had a talent in dancing until I entered Grade 4. My teacher enlisted me in a dance group for a school activity. I was a member of the school's dance troupe until I graduated elementary. In every major school occasion, the DT was there to perform. There was a time when we competed in a regional dance competition performing La Jota Moncadena. We took home the second prize (I think, if not the first - such a poor memory. haha). :P 

I continued to be part of a DT even when I was already in high school. The same members of the DT went to the same school as I did - St. Michael School Hijas de Jesus. We had regular shows at Argao Beach Club where we mostly performed ethnic and folk dances. Not only that, I also got to perform in the annual town fiesta celebration and in the annual Sinulog dance festival in my town participated by most of the schools (elementary and HS). Quite a childhood experience for me. 

My life was so simple and less complicated then. I was really sure of what I wanted in life. I just wanted to finish school and get a good job. I was so persistent and driven to finish school that even if I was sick, I had to report to my classes. :)) I liken myself to those students we usually see on teleseryes walking to the school on slippers. I used a net bag for my papers, notebooks and pencils. I played bato lata, takyan (sipa), luksong kabaw, luksong tinik, and other games you could play in the streets with your childhood friends and neighbors. I am so proud I had experienced such a life. I wouldn't have been able to differentiate good from bad or better from worse without such experience.

When people asked me what I wanted to be when I grow up, my straightforward answer was "to be a civil engineer". I really did not understand what that was. I just liked the word engineer. That answer was consistent until I finished HS. It only changed when my college sponsors brought up the idea of me getting a BS in Accountancy degree. And the rest became history. 

Where I am now or where I will be going is a matter of choice. What I am now or what I have become is a product of the choices I made in the past. And I could say, I am proud of those choices. 

People say, and I agree, we need to cherish our childhood.  It's the ONLY one we have. Do you have memories of your childhood?