Journey Through My Lens

The start of my journey in this world began on November 21, 2003.¹ A boy named Christian Nathaniel F. Sy was delivered at Biñan City, Laguna.² Were supposed to be four siblings, unfortunately my mother had three miscarriages.³ This is the years in my life that I enjoyed a lot, to elaborate more about why I enjoyed my childhood years, let me share to you the reasons.⁴ Schooling, I first entered school and get to learn how to write and read at Maranatha Christian Academy, this is also the first time where I am away from my parents for a day after being with them during my baby years.⁵ I studied my elementary at Immaculate Heart of Mary School in San Pedro, Laguna.⁶ During these years I always played every afternoon with my friends to the point where my clothes were all dirty and soaked in sweat, and playing back then was the main activity of kids like me.⁷ Birthdays is one of those events that happen once a year that make me miss my childhood years.⁸ You may ask why? Because back then every birthday is celebrated with a lot of guests and all your favorite food, drinks, characters, and many more are present in this parties.⁹ Christmas, a yearly occasion that we celebrate because this is the day our savior Jesus was born.¹⁰ This occasion brought a lot of happiness to my heart, because I celebrate it with my family, and this is the time we get our presents from Santa.¹¹ Speaking of Santa my parents made me believe that Santa is real, and it made my Christmas extra special when I was a kid.¹²

During also these years I met my real ones and that's my FRIENDS, those friends I met are the ones that I can count on.¹³ I also had my first crush when I was seven years old and that girl, I had a crush on became my friend.¹⁴ These things made my childhood years memorable because this was the first time, I experienced that romantic excitement.¹⁵ Let me also share with you the best memory I had.¹⁶ That memory is when I got selected to play in Batang PBA, it's a dream for every kid that loves playing basketball.¹⁷ So, being selected for this kind of event is a special moment and this helped me gain friends and experience that I still use.¹⁸ However, in life there's always good and bad experiences.¹⁹ Now that I have shared with you the good things that happened in my life, let me share with you some of the unfortunate moments I had in my life.²⁰ Severe fever, pneumonia, and our so called na-matanda, these are some things that made me realize that being sick as a kid is very hard, because drinking medicine is a big challenge for a kid like me back then and of course the bills we need to pay every time.²¹ One more unfortunate thing that happened to me when I was 10 or 11yrs old, I became a victim of budol budol gang and this experience gave me trauma.²² Thankfully I recovered from it and continued living life with happiness and peace.²³

For Christian Nathaniel F. Sy, this is the years where he experienced a lot of his first¹. To start, I had my first girlfriend when I was 14yrs old and had my first break up at 15yrs old². During these years I learned how to take care of our house, because as an only child I got used to doing household chores because my parents chose not to hire a helper or so called kasambahay³. I think that decision made by my parents is a great one, because it helped me become mo responsible and disciplined⁴. Given that they both work and sometimes I'm the only one left in the house, this gave me a big responsibility to do things like cleaning, cooking, and other stuff to maintain the house⁵. In these years I get to experience High School Life, this is the time where you do silly things that makes you go to the guidance office⁶. This is also the time where you explore what you really like, for example in my case I joined our basketball team during my freshmen year to senior year in high school at Immaculate Heart of Mary School⁷. Joining the basketball helped me gain a lot of confidence, since growing up I experienced bullying because of my body and being one of the players helped me bounce back⁸. To complete the high school life experience, I also joined senior scout as one of the head officers. Being a senior scout helped me improve my leadership skills and communication skills, but it didn’t end there⁹. I also joined our city’s Youth Week Celebration¹⁰. In this event I became one of the Junior City Officials and got the chance to experience how things work inside a government office.¹¹

After my stint as a Junior City Official, I also entered our Student Council where I became the Vice President for Internal Affairs¹². After many years studying at Immaculate Heart of Mary School, pandemic hit and took the chance for use to have a physical moving up¹³. However, the restrictions given by the government didn’t stop me from studying and this is the time where I applied as a Senior High School student at the University of The East¹⁴. My journey as a STEM red warrior began, and I was shocked with how the system works¹⁵. There are times where I’ll just cry with how much workload my teachers are giving me, on the brighter this helped me become stronger and improve in managing my time¹⁶. Just like in my high school years, I also joined organizations in the UE¹⁷. First organization I joined is the UE Manila SHS Engineering and Robotics Club, I joined this as a member only and I’m a grade 11 student that time¹⁸. After a year of being a member, I took a big step and joined the MICC-UE Manila or the Multiple Intelligence Coordinating Council- UE Manila and this time I joined as one of the staff¹⁹. These organizations contributed a lot to making me a better version of myself, and after the extra two years²⁰. I finally graduated with honors at UE theatre with my batchmates, and it’s extra special because that’s the only time we got to see each other face to face after being in an online set up²¹. After graduating, the decision on what to choose for my college degree began²².

Now that I chose what program I will be taking for college, I enrolled again at the University of The East and continued my journey as a red warrior¹. The program I chose is under the college department of College of Computer Studied and Systems (CCSS), and that program is Bachelor of Science in Information Technology (BSIT)². The first year of my college year was good, I met new friends and got the chance to experience a lot³. I also met different kinds of professors, and it made me realize that for you to stay away from trouble you should follow the instructions and be obedient to them⁴. I also experienced the no extension rule, this helped me improve my time management since we have deadlines to follow⁵. Knowing that joining organizations is my favorite thing to do, I applied for a position in one of the RSOs of our college department⁶. Luckily, I got accepted and I became of the Assistant Vice President Internal and the work I had helped me gain connections from the professional field⁷. One of our tasks was to contact professionals from LinkedIn as one of our guest speakers in the events like CCSS Week or just a scheduled webinar/seminar for my fellow CCSS students⁸. This also helped me improve my communication skills, however, given these experiences I had in my first year of being a college student, I’m not happy with the program I chose, and I realized that during the first few months of my first year⁹. I kept it from my parents the whole school year, and here comes my second year¹⁰. As I enter the new semester, I’m questioning myself if this program is really for me and thankfully most of the subjects, I had last semester made me enjoy my program even more¹¹. This is also the time I told my parents that during my first year, I’m not happy with the decision I made and I’m just grateful that my parents didn’t scold but they commended me for my honesty.¹²

Now, my second year is currently going great, and I hope it continues until I graduate¹³. I’m saying that it’s going great because I experienced a lot, I’m part of the student council as a member of staff of the ways and means committee¹⁴. Being part of this committee opened my mind how crazy it is to be an officer of the student council; this also made me decide that it’s better to be a staff rather than an officer¹⁵. A few weeks ago, I achieved one of I can say a great milestone and that’s because of me playing in the sportsfest¹⁶. Representing our college department is an honor and I gained a lot of appreciation not only from my classmates but also from the professors that love the game of basketball¹⁷. Hoping to represent our college department again next year and until I graduate¹⁸. I just wish to finish my college years in flying colors, I know there’s a lot of obstacles that I will be facing¹⁹. I just need to believe in myself and trust the process, this will be a long journey and I’m looking forward to finishing this in a good way²⁰.