I remember when I wanted to work hard in school because I dreamed of becoming a firefighter. Being a firefighter sounded so cool when you were a kid: I mean, you got to kill fires and save people in their burning houses! I told myself that I will be a firefighter someday, and I am going to study hard for that.

I could say I was a spoiled child because I usually got what I wanted. I was a “Jollibee kid”, always collecting the toys in the ‘kiddie meals’ (and never failing to get them all!). Almost every day after class, I was with my aunt because she treated me like I always had academic stars. We would go to the town to buy a Jollibee meal and her medicine at the drugstore.

My elementary days taught me to be an achiever. I was able to be a consistent honour student and compete in different quiz bees. It was around that time that I got involved in a journalism camp and felt the pressure to become a member of the community. The camp made me realize that I should watch the news because of its social importance.

I consistently joined school press conferences as a copyreader from Grade 5 to Grade 10. (My coach told me I had poor handwriting so she put me in that category.) Being a journalist made me realize that our government system was rigged by greedy people in power.

Everything was so perfect when I was young because of those precious times when I thought life was so easy: all you need to do is work hard, eat three times a day, treat your children well, and so on.

As it turns out, we live on survival of the fittest since not all people have equal opportunities and the means to solve their different life problems. Too often, people in power only funnel opportunities to those who are near their level. It’s a pill that is hard to swallow: the reality that bad people are often the rich ones.

Until now, my childhood dream of growing up, earning money as a firefighter and building a big house for my family will remain just that – a dream. I still do not foresee this thing happening. The system is not the same anymore, it is at its worst. Filipinos are barely surviving on their small wages.

Weak leaders keep deteriorating and exploiting the system. The business industry keeps its workers overworked and underpaid. The inflation rate continues to rise due to unpaid overseas loans in the country. The system that still a cycle system for “experienced” politicians. 

It seems life will never be fair and fruitful as long as you are a poor person. Things only get worse as time passes by because as you grow old, you realize that life is a big picture that you need to paint and work on. Our lives turn into a blank canvas as we come to understand the essence of reality.