#maxinerivera

This essay gave me a sense of nostalgia, I had fun writing it and I hope you will have fun reading it. It is really personal but I would love to share my precious moments when I was still a child and discovering the world. A glimpse of my past, that molded me to who I am today. Enjoy!

          The freshly brewed coffee lingers my nose as I set foot at the end of the staircase, I can hear the plates and utensils rumbling, the voice of my grandmother’s soft voice echoes through out the kitchen, singing her favorite songs of the 70’s it was a typical Saturday vibe. I saw the table was set for breakfast, my cousins, aunts and uncles, slowly went out of their room, their face looked like they were fresh out of bed, some were wearing their working clothes and was ready to take on the day. We went to our respective chairs in the table with me in the right side beside my grandma, while she was sitting at the head chair. We held our hands and said grace, as I peeked at my grandma, I saw the satisfaction in her eyes, we were complete, her face looked like she was at peace. It was one of the best moments in my childhood. My whole family, complete, eating our breakfast, starting our day right.

           In middle school, I was the cheerful, sporty kind of kid. It was that moment when I saw the gushing of water, the smell of chlorinated pool, it was that moment I fell in love. Days past I insisted my mom to let me enroll in the swimming club in sports center. She agreed and that was the start of a spark inside me. I trained hard and swam harder under the blazing heat of the sun. My skin turned darker, my hair was dry as ever because of the chlorine but I didn’t care at all, as long as I know I was doing what I love. It was a Friday morning, did my usual routine, stretched wore my goggles and swimming cap then immediately went for the waters. I did my usual laps, and turns when I started sneezing, maybe it was time for me to stop swimming and go rest. I went home with my nose still clogged. My mom served my favorite dish, but I couldn’t smell it one bit. The next day, I went for a swim but still I was sneezing non- stop. It continued for days when I swim. So, my mom decided to have me checked up. I did not expect the events that happened afterwards. The doctors voice lingered in my brain, telling me that I can’t swim anymore. A warm embrace went my way, I felt something inside me broke. When I went inside the hospital, I did not expect I will be receiving my first heartbreak, my first love.

           High school went on, I thought it was going to be one of the magical moments in life. I was still disheartened that I will not be able to swim anymore. I was walking in the hallways when I heard, loud banging. I followed the sound; it was inside the gym. There I saw volleyball players, playing. The ball flying all over the gym. I heard their screams and shout as they went for the ball. I felt a pang in my chest and I hoped I would be able to have that much passion in me again. Little did I know, I found my second love. I like the feeling of the ball as it fits in my palms, the feeling of the ball when it hits my arms, I love it when I felt whole again when I am inside the court. It was truly one of the best moments in my life. I had a bond with my teammates that I can’t explain, we traveled together, experienced hardships together and we won together. I can hear the loud cheers of the people around the court, the excitement radiating around the gym. It was that feeling that fueled us to keep going, and win more for our beloved school. It was a great honor and pride to bring the school’s name wherever we play. I thought I was just playing, but neither do I know, I was making memories that will last me a lifetime.

In this essay, I shared my experience on our first airplane ride trip. I remembered to include details, to give you a hint on what I experienced when I was there. Trips are considered special for me, for it gives you another set of memories that will be treasures forever.

        I felt the adrenaline kicking when the plane started to move. The butterflies rumbling in my stomach just imagining, going to a new place. It was the first time I rode a plane. I was anxious yet my face was still stoic, I didn’t want anyone to see I was scared. The entire plane ride went smoothly. We landed safely around midnight in Manila. I was confused of where were going first, we rode inside a van and the next thing I know, I was fast asleep inside.

       I woke up to the cold breeze touching my skin, as I slowly opened my eyes, I saw the sun peeking out between two mountains, it was like we were meeting the sunrise. It was absolutely breathtaking. The road was uphill and narrow, there were trees and flowers along the road that added to that nature relaxing vibe. I felt peace, the feeling of being this close to nature. I can already smell the pine and dirt; it was a very comforting smell. I tugged my jacket tightly around my shoulders, I did not expect that the weather would be this cold, I was shivering!

       We went on to look for the hotel that we would be staying. I can already feel my tummy rumbling, it needs food, something preferably warm perhaps. We found the place where we will be staying at and the view from the hotel was still breathtaking, it was extraordinary, we can see the mountains, the house structures, it was overlooking. We went inside and settled our things, it was a good thing that they have heaters, their showers also had a heater, it was amazing. After we have settled in ourselves, the first agenda was to eat.

       We were strolling along the streets looking for some place to eat breakfast to. My stomach was rumbling, and the anticipation of eating was making me hungrier. We saw a restaurant that sells bulalo, I can smell the soup as we entered the restaurant. It was warm and cozy, still it was surrounded by pine trees, and the view was still tremendous. We sat down and ordered a bowl of hot steaming delicious bulalo. It was truly mouthwatering, when we saw the food. When I sip the soup of the bulalo, it was salty and aromatic that can give warmth to the body. Beads of sweat were forming in my forehead despite the cold weather, it was because of the hot bulalo gushing down my throat.

       It was time to follow the itinerary my mom has made, like any tourist person, we should visit the tourist sites in town. We went to parks, museums, gardens and many more. When we were all visiting these places, I noticed something strange, the locals were just wearing a plain t-shirt and shorts, I mean aren’t they cold it’s like 15 degrees outside. Meanwhile my family and I were wrapped like a burrito, baggy sweatpants and thick jackets covering our bodies. I find it amusing, that people can easily identify who the locals are and who the tourists are. The day went on just us strolling around town, capturing the best moments and I was there standing in the middle of it all, internally wishing this will not end.

     It was the last day of us being in the city, we needed to go back to Manila. While we were traveling down, I tried not to sleep. I wanted to savor the moment, I wanted to capture every little detail of that place. I will never forget on our way to Manila, we were all silent, smiles were from ear to ear, my sister singing her favorite nursery rhymes, my mom singing along with her. I just felt the energy we were all vibrating, were happy and contented. Bagiuo city will forever have a place in my heart. It was forever imbedded in my memory.

     When we got to Manila, we still had a day to spare. We went to the Ocean Park, Manila Zoo, the things my little sister would enjoy. I saw little kids running around with their faces that can’t be tainted. They were grinning and laughing at the animals. Even I was amazed of the animals in the ocean park. I was a kid for a day, it felt good. I held my sister’s tiny hands as we walked along the aquariums and ponds. I can smell the stinky salty smell of the animals when we passed along the sea lion area, where they were being fed by their staffs. It was getting darker and we needed to go back to the hotel. For our flight was early in the morning.

     It was mid-November; the year was almost ending. We needed that trip to unwind, relax and reward ourselves for the year that we have passed. It was a very wonderful experience and memory that I will treasure forever, it was with my family. I valued time, all through out the travel. I valued kindness, that wherever we go we should be kind. It may be a short and small trip but it had a great impact on our hearts forever. It was not the destination; it was who you were with in traveling to the destination.

I was laughing when I was writing this piece, I remembered that specific day and brought my lips to grin. I will never forget that day, the day where I realized family is everything, family will always be home. 

          It was a fine morning the sun was up, everything seemed fine. I can smell the dishes being cooked in the kitchen everyone was busy. It was our annual Christmas party; everyone was in their toes. My aunt was busy inside the kitchen, she was very sweaty and I can see her face was very tired. My uncles were outside playing their usual game of cards, while drinking beer. My cousins were watching a movie in the living room, we were all ready for our annual tradition.

         When my uncle shouted “Ako na bahala sa lechon!” Everyone was frantic, everyone was excited. We were all howling and shouting. My cousins went out to fetch the lechon tray and got the car ready. I was so excited, so I went up the room and got ready, I was excited, I have been craving for lechon for months. My tummy was grumbling and it was full of butterflies. I was grinning from ear to ear. My family can’t contain their happiness. We were all waiting for our uncle and cousin to comeback with the lechon.

I got emotional remembering our experiences in our immersion in Home Care for Girls. It was one roller coaster ride, at some point we got tired but the kids never failed to take away our tiredness by their sweet smiles.  This piece is very close to my heart, remembering the good stuffs.

            Immersion is one of the requirements before a grade 12 student can graduate. Everyone was excited and nervous at the same time; we did not know what to expect. It was the day where we had to go to our respective centers. All of us were very anxious, palms were sweating, legs were shaking and smiles that I cannot fathom if it was a genuine one. We bid each other goodbyes and started to travel to our center. We rode in teacher Nene’s car because we did not know the way towards our center. When we got to the center, the first thing we saw was the scary signage of the home care for girls. It was written with red ink and crooked lines! It was like a scene in a horror movie, it seems like it was written with blood, when we saw the signage, my groupmates and I looked at each other and laughed. We knew this will surely be a ten-day challenge for us.

           We got out of the car, with our scared faces. Teacher Nene led the way inside the center. The center was beside Carmen National High School. We can hear some students talking, shouting, teachers having a discussion and etc. Outside the center it has a small row of flowers and a fence surrounding the whole building. It was an old and rusty 2-storey building, its paint in the walls were already chipped, some were peeling of and the materials looked old. When we entered the gate, the guard was the first person who greeted us. She had her sweet smile plastered across her face; her uniform was slightly tight around her. We signed the log book given by the lady guard and the next thing we know kids were rushing towards teacher Nene, hugging her tightly and kissing her.

          It was time to start our day, the kids went back to their rooms after they had hugged teacher Nene. We were also greeted by one of the social workers in the center. Ate Joanne gave us an orientation about the center and about the things that we will do throughout our work immersion period. They let us stayed in the conference room on the second floor of the building where some of the children study and do tutoring. The first thing that we did was we cleaned the center. We swept the floor, mopped the floor, wiped the windows and walls, arranged some of the stuff and cleaned the surroundings. Everyone got busy. It was only ten in the morning but we were sweating so much. While some of us were cleaning there were kids that was slightly interacting with us. Among those kids, the kid that got my attention was this small 3-year-old girl where she kept on giving us “mano”. She kept doing that 5 times just getting our hands and putting it in her forehead. Little did I know, she was the one that will make my heart break.

        Our first day went by a blur, the kids were still not interacting and we cleaned the whole center. That was the most productive thing we did for the first day. We were all physically tired, our bodies became weak, our legs started to cramp and we all want to go home and get a good rest and sleep the tiredness away.

        On our second day, half of the kids decided to interact with us some brought their books and assignments. The center head told us that we can tutor and help the kids with their assignments in school. All of us were busy with the kids, I personally was teaching this 9-year-old kid to read. She was a bit shy at first but she eventually gave in when I started to make jokes and made her laugh. We started with the basic alphabet, I started to sing the alphabet so that she will be able to sing with me and to test if she knows the alphabet. I was amazed when she sang with me, grinning from ear to ear. We continued our tutoring session with a lot of drawings with the letters. My patience was running out but I had to swallow the bile in my throat and kept the smile in my face. I knew I needed to go the extra mile, maybe not just a mile but an extra kilometer for my patience and social skills. The second day was filled with smiles and laughter, the kids were slightly showing us some emotions.

       On our third and fourth day we were getting closer with them each passing day. We played some games to take their boredom away and put some smiles on their faces. We were running around the center, laughing, shouting, and jumping all over the place. We were like kids all over again, we were sweating so much we were tired but we didn’t care. We wanted to make these kids happy. We wanted to hear their laughter. We wanted to take their bad memories away and replace it with happy thoughts and dreams but sadly we all know; at the back of our heads we can never wipe those memories away and we know it will be a scar them forever. Some kids were starting to share their life story, some kept timid and quiet about it. When it was time to go home, I felt something heavy, I can’t process and understand the things they have shared with us. It was like a scene from a movie I didn’t know was possible to happen.

      On our fifth day, I got closer with the kids. They wanted to play with us. We played all the time! Sometimes when we some of my groupmates were not busy, they tend to help the kids with their tasks. It was Friday and all I can think about was going home and get a good sleep. My heart was still heavy, my emotional state was still shocked but still I kept a mask on my face signaling that everything is okay, I am okay. The 3-year-old little girl, got closer with me. She always held my hand, we played endlessly, she was very clingy with me. She kept on hugging and kissing my cheeks, she kept on calling may name, and she even calls me in her sleep. I was getting too attached with this little girl. I still wondered why she is in the center. One of the elder kids told me the little girl’s story. It broke my heart into million pieces and I wasn’t able to sleep that night. It was a weekend after but I wanted to be with her and hug her telling her that “I’m sorry that world was so cruel to you”. All the children in the center got a piece of my broken heart.

       On the last days of our immersion, we have been attached with all of the kids, we were like family. We help them with their tasks such as washing the dishes, cooking their food, cleaning the center and many more. We did not want it to end but sadly we were halfway done with the immersion. On the last few days, laughter and tears were shared. It was time to go we had a short culminating program, where we gave them candies, clothes, and many more. We cooked spaghetti, bought chicken and hotdogs for them to enjoy. We danced Tala their favorite dance craze and everyone had a smile in their face, a bittersweet one. The kids kept telling us not to go but we said we needed to go, but we told them that maybe in the near future we will try to visit them. We left the center for the last time, signed the log book, our tenth day, our last five PM out. On our way out the kids were shouting goodbyes and my heart was beating so fast, I was sad that we were leaving already but I am happy that we have done our service and gave our very best to serve the kids and the community for the greater good. It will always be part of our memories; this memory will surely stay in our hearts.

I was sobbing when I was making this piece, my heart aches for all the memories I had with the kids. This essay is really personal and I am really vulnerable, I showed all my emotions in this essay. It made me feel a lot of emotions that one cannot fathom.

           It has been a tough ten-day immersion for us the grade 12 students. It was tough at first but eventually we loved our jobs. We grew attached with the kids; we loved the idea of helping other people especially our society. We were assigned in Home Care for Girls where the kids have been physically abused, abandoned, rape and many more. Upon seeing their faces, I was not expecting for what their smiles were carrying. I thought these kids were just kids, but I was wrong, these kids are fighters, a strong one. They were fighting for their lives, fighting for freedom, for safety. It made my heart break that an early age they experienced the harsh world. I didn’t know that these kinds of things happen in the real life for I was born with a golden spoon in my mouth, I thought these only happens in television shows but no, it really is happening and it clearly is evident in the society. For the 2 weeks we were working my heart was aching, I needed to process all the things the kids were sharing. That was all I can do for now, was to listen to them and make them feel like they have someone to rely on.

           There was this kid, a 3-year old baby girl. We grew attached with each other, we kept on playing and laughing for days. When I heard her story, my mind couldn’t process what she had gone through. My heart was breaking, I couldn’t sleep, I kept on thinking on how did she survive, on how cruel the world is to her. I wanted to be angry, to cry but at the same time I felt hopeless, just like what she was feeling. I realized how cruel and harsh the world is but there is still hope, there will always be people who will help you overcome all the hardships in life, like the center they were staying, the workers in that centers dedicated their lives to help those kids out and it was a great, knowing that they are there for these kids. It made me want to help the society to become better, maybe not now but soon enough, I will help these kids.

           Overall, my experience was rolled into full of laughter and heartbreaks. I hope that I will forever remember this experience even when the day that I die. It truly is an eye opener for me, for us. I realized a lot of things that I know will help me along this so-called life. I hope that in the future I will be able to fulfill my promise to help these kids, to help the society to become better. The whole experience taught me to become better, because I had the chance to be better. It also taught me to be kind and have patience to everyone you meet, there will always be more than what meets the eye.

Remembering this memory was a heartache. My life’s foundation is in this essay. I hope you will learn something from this work. May it open your eyes, that everything happens for a reason.

           My testimony happened when I was at my worst. It was the year 2018, where my body was sort of failing me. It started with a simple red eye then it became another. Some doctors said it was a virus, some said it was an irritation, and some said it was cancer. It was a tough year; I spent the whole year trying to find diagnosis for my reddish eyes. My family was also affected by my sickness, everyone was worried for me. At that moment I felt helpless, I felt insignificant, I felt like I was a burden. The days went by and still no doctor can give me a concrete diagnosis. My studies were also affected, I skip classes just to go to the hospital, skip tests to do lab tests and many more. My body was getting weaker and I was giving up. My mom cries to sleep and my dad was handling my funds for the check-ups. Everything was falling apart. I came to a point where I would just skip check ups and just let the pain sink in.

          Mid-September I was in the hospital for my check up, the 12th doctor. She is an ear, eyes, nose and throat doctor. She checked everything, when she checked my throat, she saw my tonsillitis was swelling. She wanted to take it out because if it will worsen it can cause another disease that can affect the heart. I was scheduled for operation the next day. When I got home another accident happened. My foot got lacerated with our screen door so I had to be rushed to the hospital to stitch up my foot. My week was full of hospital visits and it was not good. My tonsillitis was removed and I had to stay in the hospital for a week. My spiritual belief was slowly fading at that time. I rarely pray and go to church anymore. It was not because I did not believe in Him anymore, it was that I was thinking he was not the answer. He cannot help me with my problems right now, but He proved me wrong.

          I felt alone and everything was falling apart. I slowly clasped my hands and prayed myself to sleep. For the first time in months I felt peace and I slept soundly. It was like He was letting me rest from all the things that was happening around me, within me. The next day it was still the same, my eyes were still red and my head was throbbing the only different with me was my smile and perspective. I needed to fight my illness and fight all the negativity around. After that night I became, energetic and it seems like I was back to my old self. I was slowly accepting the fact that I was sick and I needed to fight it with the help of everyone, family, friends and especially Him.

Upon making this paper, I reviewed one of the best outputs in the class. It was told in a well organized and manner and makes you feel you want more. I  can never ask for a better output than this. 

           “A memorable trip to Dakak” was written by Jasimah Gutoc. It talks about how her whole family spent and enjoyed their stay in Dakak. A three-day trip in a beach resort where all of them were present and surrendering their selves to that vacation. They used the trip as breather from their everyday lives. It is full of happy moments and typical family vacations that gives you a smile on the face when reading it. The whole paper was written in a very descriptive manner. It was well written that everything is in details.

            The author started out how her morning went, added some conversations, that made me or the readers understand that she was going out with her whole family. She added some personal details, such as how her family calls her and the likes, which makes the paper interesting. As she narrates how they got to Dakak and how they arrived in Dakak, everything is in a realistic manner.

            She described and added conversations with her family that makes it much more exciting to read. When they rode the roller coaster, I liked how she described her hair as a “bruha” which adds a little humor to the paper. She ended it with a very nice line that can also put a smile in your face. We can all relate to what she meant that we all need a break from reality, an escape with our loved ones.