For 9 years (kindergarten to first year high school), I've studied in an exclusive all girls catholic school.  And in that 9 years, the only idea I have of what a school look likes or what we do in school is what I have experienced there.

On my second year in high school, just a few days before enrollment period, I found out that the family business wasn't doing as well as it used to and everything is about to go kaput.  I didn't feel the gravity of the situation until it was a choice of who was going to stop schooling, me or my brother.  I didn't know then how much it would affect me, but since I was the older sister, I decided that it had to me. 

The school year went by and it was a mixture of all sorts of feelings.  Feeling a little free that I didn't have to wake up at 5:00 in the morning to get ready, a little sad that I had to wait until 4:00PM before I could talk to my friends again.  Feeling a little left out that everyone had soiree's and I had to wait for my 8 year old brother to go home from school while watching Home TV Shopping on a television that only had 3 channels. 

Come next school year, I knew I no longer had the heart to go back to my old school and be with another batch.  I also knew that we no longer had the capacity to pay for such school and so I transferred to a small village in Bulacan (with my Aunt) and on that village was a newly built private school.  I studied there for a year and thought I would be able to adjust, but no.  The place and the school was never and will never be home.  After that school year, I went back to Marikina.

As soon as I got back, I realized that I will never have the chance to go back to my former school . OR ANY OTHER private school .  --- We just couldn't afford it at the time. My Lolo, being the captain of the ship, decided I study in a public school.  Yep, in a public school and it was a reality that a girl from an exclusive catholic school had to take at 15 years old.  

1. My first day in that school, students kept looking at me from head to toe.  It was when I learned that right at that moment, I was just like the rest of them and acting all high and mighty won't get me anywhere. --- Not in that school and NOT IN LIFE.
2. The comfort rooms were BAD,  the fabric of the uniform was kind of itchy, the spacing of chairs in the classroom were non existent,  canteen food was ~_~,  teachers' past time is to sell you stuff you can buy outside for the half the price ----- This my friends is REAL LIFE TRAINING.   You never know what life will throw at you, but you always have to be prepared for the worst.
3. During my first year there, a student was stabbed by someone from another class. YES. STABBED. INSIDE THE SCHOOL GROUNDS. A SCHOOL that had more than 1,000 students had ONE (1) Guard.  I never found out if the student survived, but one thing I learned for sure, you'll never know when it's your time.  CHERISH EVERY MOMENT YOU HAVE.

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50 Sweet Ideas: Things to Blog About by Fat Mum Slim

One sunny day, I was sick and stuck at home.  I was staring at my blog for sometime and then found myself googling "Blog Ideas" and saw A LOT, but this list from Fat Mum Slim's Blog is my favorite as its the kind of things/memories I'd like to lock in this blog. 

Hence, a promise to my blogging self was made --- finish all 50 for 2019!

~

FINALLY joined the bandwagon!

For the past few weeks I have spent all (no mommy duty) hours watching Game of Thrones Season 1 to Season 7.  Since the Season 8 hype (may pa-countdown sila sa facebook guyz), my cousin has been telling me to start watching it so I can make it just in time for the last season which will premiere on April. (UPDATE: TOMORROW!)

BEFORE you think of me being so full of myself ("lakas nito maka-artista mag advise tungkol sa rumours") this is just one those things I want to share and laugh about. This may not be a very substantial blog post, but I promise I have a point. Hehe! This is actually inspired by the brother whom I was with some nights ago --- he said "Ate, bigyan kita advice ikakayaman mo to, gawa ka ng libro --- "Fake News ng Buhay Ko" --- And I thought, hmmm... I can't write a book, but I can definitely write this post.

We had this small family argument/meeting where my Aunt started blurting out stories she heard about me that kept me and brother laughing.  Mind you, she started nagging about me being in the middle of these horrible rumours (when I was younger) while it was actually the younger sister and brother who was the topic of the argument.  You know, the classic Filipino Family scenario where the eldest gets all the blame for the younger siblings rebellious ways because you weren't such a good example back in the day? That's what happened.  -- But hello, rumours nga eh! Can't believe my Aunt actually believed them!



Anyway...

Just so I can make my point, let me give you a brief background as to how these old "rumours"  my Aunt was talking about started.  I lived in Marikina all my life and as you know, it's a very small city with tight knit communities.  Almost everyone here are either relatives, friends, friend of a friend and so on --- you get the picture, right?  And because the city is so small, people from within the city usually hang out in the same places and pretty much does the same things.  In effect, we all move about one tiny world within the city.  In such a tiny place, with so many people and too many things happening, stories are bound to be written and of course rumours are to be whispered from one ear to another.

Despite living in Marikina all my life, I was the "new girl" back in high school.  It was always --- That girl who used to live in that 4-Storey house and studied in an all girls private school, but lost almost all their family fortune when her grandfather died and was forced to live a simple life. --- That's a 37 word statement that basically sums up my teenage life, but you won't believe how much more words people were able to squeeze in them to make my story more dramatic and colourful.  As if it wasn't dramatic enough.  The rumours were as mild as I was the "naghirap" girl and as worse as "pakawala" or that 5 letter word we call the people we super love and super hate, or just you know, a female dog.

I did not write this post to defend myself from those rumours.  I can't blame whoever made it in the past, the person must've had a basis for all them.  After all, I wasn't the nicest and most proper teenager back then.  I wanted to write this post, because I'm pretty sure there are teenagers out there going through it as well.  Might even be worse in this day and age given how irresponsible some kids use social media as a weapon against their peers.

I am writing this post to tell you, whoever you are who is in the middle of a really bad rumour, to just LAUGH.  Really, just laugh it all out.  Laugh it out with your friends, your boyfriend/girlfriend, your family or whoever.  Don't let it get to you and don't let it eat you.  Don't feel the need to explain yourself to everyone.  If you do feel the need to explain, which is normal, explain only to the people you love dearly.  Don't make the same mistake I did of trying to please everyone around me.  It's not going to happen, just as "so fetch" wasn't going to happen for Regina George.  I made that mistake just so they would believe me.  In the end, it backfired and all went kaput right in front of my face.

Remember, you're no Kim K. You can't manipulate these rumours and convert them into cash.  The only thing you can do is laugh about it and just be with the people who love you and believe you.  Learn to block the negativity because believe me, they will only get worse.  Just when you think rumours are over and ends in high school, they get worse in college and even scarier when you start working.  As early as now, learn to block them and laugh about it.

These things are inevitable, specially if you are like the younger me who is all over the place.  It's part of growing up.  We can't please everyone and we have to accept that sometimes, there are just people who live for the rumours or fake news as the world of social media calls it now. As I always say to friends, bigay niyo na sakanila kaligayahan nila, baka kasi boring buhay nila kaya ganon. In english, let them be.  :P

Just be thankful, kasi trending ka hehe, kidding aside --- just be thankful of the things that you have in your life, moreover be thankful that you are not one those individuals who waste their time spreading rumours because that in itself says a lot about a persons character.