Fare well Pisay, Fare well Iloilo

Tomorrow, I would be leaving for my longest time away from the place I've called home.

16 years, 10 months, and 11 days of my life have been spent mostly here. Living a modest life in our modest home, I have learned a lot from the people around me. Our neighbor (up till now) taught me how to ride a bicycle, most of the trisikad drivers don't ask me anymore where I will go down, and the water refilling station delivery service passes by our house regularly. This is the place we all call "Love," literally. Popularly known as Pag-ibig.

I entered kindergarten in a school run by the Jaro Diocese. I attended a nearby-Sunday school run by Doane Baptist Church at the same time. With all that, I have learned how it is to be a Christian. But more importantly, I have learned to recognize God in my own way by what I have learned through the daily Catechism, my experience as a chorister of our Sunday school, and what my parents and grandparents (father's side: Protestants and pastors, mother's side: devout Catholics) taught me - despite religious conflicts, I have learned to know God and have a personal relationship with Him. I don't mind whatever religion it is.

Then I entered elementary, where, up to now, I remember the basic foundation of the things I have learned - Arithmetic, sciences, language, and many more. This is when I had my most exposure to academics and extra-curricular activities, giving me my own kind of self-confidence whenever I encounter similar situations. I also gained friends that up to now, recognize me when we meet. My first communion, first fights, first achievements, first love, 24/7. And, of course, my best friend, though distance and communication hinder me from reaching him, he will always be part of me, as he has opened me to the world beyond the barrier I had made.

High school tested me on what I had formed of myself in the years before. So many demands, trials, tests - the list goes on. Yet so many things I have learned from the people around me - my friends. Here I have learned my own niche, my own style, my own preferences. Here I have learned the universality of things. I have learned to love not selfishly, but selflessly. To lead not by orders, but by example. To follow not by result, but by process. To speak not by the mind, but by the heart. This wass the time that people have become influential to my life. Upon entering, there was someone who made me feel comfortable by who I am despite my "difference" to many. There was someone who formed and tested my capability of being a leader. There was someone who taught me to learn through my mistakes and of others. There was some one who served as an example on how to inspire others by who you are and what you can do without really making an effort. There was someone who kept me grounded, and, despite all our misunderstandings, our friendship and rather "strange" relationship. Those were the years when I learned to love and express it, whatever other people have to say about it.

All these. I learned. Now, I will go to a place unknown to me. The test of what I have learned and who I can become in the future.

Good bye and fare well.

^_^