While I was cleaning my cabinet, I saw some of my old articles filed in an envelope. Reading those articles brought me back to the old times. One article that caught my attention is the one that I sent to the Candy staff but unfortunately, it was not published.

Here’s what I wrote:

With all those obstacles I have encountered, problems I have dealt with, and experiences I have gone through, even if no one has ever told me that I am amazing, I still feel and believe that I am.

I think that my courage and determination are the things that make me an amazing teen. At my age, I have already experienced failures and hardships. I have felt being rejected and being unwanted. But with all those things, I still persisted to stand up. I have this vision of life that whenever we fall, we should learn to stand up. Accept what life offers us and learn from it. I grew up carrying my vision of life and because of that, I learned to be courageous and be determined.

Like a typical teenager, I also have dreams and goals in life that I want to fulfill and achieve, respectively, in the future. But fulfilling and achieving it is not that easy. You have to work for it and face the challenge that awaits you on the other side of the road. Because I want to fulfill my dreams and achieve my goals, I decided to take the challenge.

I know that there would be times that I would get hurt that is why I have prepared myself for it. I will accept whatever that pain is because “No pain, No gain.” How can I learn if I will be running away from that pain? How would I learn to stand up if I will just be hiding from it? I believe that hiding from pain (or problem) is such a cowardly act. In order for me to become a better person, I must learn and that is through facing and fighting the battle even if I will get wounded because I believe that there is a time for healing.

Now that I am on my last teen year, I am ready to take the road to my dreams and goals. For the past five years of being a teenager, I am proud to say that I, Jeremy Xyla F. De Vera, an ordinary but an AMAZING teen with courage and determination

- Xyla 2004

Yes, that was written four years ago. I am happy that after four years, I was able to achieve something. I know that I failed in some instances but at least, those goals and dreams that I was thinking while writing that article were achieved and fulfilled. I know that I still have a lot of dreams and I can not wait to fulfill them.

It’s nice to read old articles or old diary entries you’ve written in the past. You can actually reflect from it and see what you have become after a couple of years.

As for me, I think I am still that amazing teen that I used to describe in that article. The only difference is that I am a teen no more plus I have more responsibilities now than before when I was a teen.

1. ishy wrote:
   February 18th, 2008 at 9:12 pm

   very inspriring. malapit na akong dumating sa last year ng aking teen year. makasulat nga ng ganyan.

   [Reply]