About Me — Andrei Jarell Vedad
Filipino Writer, Mental Health and Financial Literacy Advocate.
Hello, I’m Andrei Jarell Vedad. I’m born and raised in the Philippines. I’m a mental health and financial literacy advocate.
My goal here on Medium is to improve my writing, establish an online presence, and to write just about anything that comes to mind (within the terms and conditions).
I love to read and write, and I strive to make a positive impact in my home country and beyond.
I have a website, check it out if you like.
Educational Background
College Life
I graduated from college with a Bachelor’s degree in Information Technology from Adamson University (Soar high, Falcons!). I’m fascinated by the progress of technology, so I’m quite tech-savvy. My favorite programming languages are C#, JavaScript, and Python.
There’s nothing worth noting during this part of my life. To be honest, I never really enjoyed my college years. Though I did join some talent contests hosted by the university from time to time.
I play the classical guitar and I love playing flamenco. Feel free to imagine me playing the guitar while walking away slowly and looking straight at the camera like Miguel from Road to El Dorado. But it has been years since I’ve last held a guitar, so I forgot how to play it now.
Law School
In 2022, I quit my job and went to law school at Arellano University School of Law (Hail to the Chiefs!). I’m optimistic when I started going to law school. As the saying goes, “Turn over a new leaf.” This is part of my life where I want to start over, and it’s true. I never enjoyed my college years, but my time in law school has been amazing. Apart from the hundreds and hundreds of cases and books that I need to read.
The picture above is a photo of cases that I need to read, and that is just for one subject alone! Shout out to my Philippine Constitution I subject.
Curious as to what those books above are? Those are codals. Basically, books containing the text of the law.
I was so naive and optimistic back then, I even had my name engraved on my codals.
This has been a HUGE reality check for me, because in law school, everyone is equal, everyone starts at zero. My time in law school solidifies that I’m not really smart.
Well, law school isn’t all studying, of course. I still have a life… what’s left of it, anyway.
I’ve made friends along the way. Good friends. We’ve been helping each other as we journey across a place worse than hell that is law school.
In law school, we’re family. We help each other grow, and nobody gets left behind, and I think that’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever heard, unlike in college.
But that’s enough about law school. That’s a story I’ll tell in the future, so stay tuned. You’ll love it because it involves alcohol… a lot of alcohol.
But what I have to say is, this meme describes me the most during my time in law school:
Work Experience
Department of Information and Communications Technology
During my last semester in college, I took an internship at the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT). There, I hone my skills in database management and network management. It’s quite a fun experience. I was part of the National Broadband Plan Cluster Group during my time there. It was a great feeling when I was part of improving the ICT infrastructure of the country.
Provincial Government of Aurora
When I graduated from college, I didn’t work right away. The plan was after I passed the Philippine Law School Admission Test (PhiLSAT), I’ll rest for a year then I’ll go to law school. But the pandemic happens, so I started working in the Provincial Government of Aurora in 2020.
I mean, it’s alright, like, it’s nothing really grand or anything. There are tons and tons of paperwork on a daily basis, and the pay is below minimum wage.
I’ll write a separate blog post about my time at the Provincial Government of Aurora because it’s a long one (ranting, mostly). It involves love, politics, betrayal, politics, heartbreaks, politics, friendship, politics, camaraderie, and politics. Did I mention politics?
Advocacy
Mental Health
I’m an advocate for mental health. As someone who has been living with depression, and didn’t get the support I was looking for in the past, I want to spread awareness to people that mental health matters.
You matter.
Your feelings matter.
Living in a predominantly catholic country that still thinks that having mental illness equates to being a lunatic and must be sent to an asylum, I want to break the stigma, so people with mental illness can finally be treated with the respect and help that they deserve.
Financial Literacy
I’m also an advocate for financial literacy. I invest in dividend stocks in the Philippine stock market. Through my own investing journey and personal finance experiences, I have come to understand the power of financial literacy in building wealth, achieving financial goals, and securing a brighter future.
I am committed to sharing my knowledge and experiences to empower others in making informed financial decisions and unlocking their financial potential.
Hobbies
I am in no way an all work and no play kind of guy. I also have hobbies such as writing, reading, gaming, watching anime, and virtual YouTubers.
Writing
As a writer, I believe in the profound impact of words in inspiring, educating, and bringing about change.
I’ve been writing since I was in high school. I don’t have a blog then, but I tend to write short stories during my free time. No, I don’t want to share them, and I’ll never will. But, I’ll give you a description: all my short stories during my high school days are dark, really dark. Mostly self-inserts.
If you search the internet hard enough, you might find my old Blogspot (Blogger) site and Wattpad account. I can’t delete them now because I don’t know the email associated to it. *Hint, hint*
But I warn you, it’s not a pretty sight. Just thinking about it makes me cringe, hard.
It was during college when I started writing a blog, well, not really a blog. It’s still mostly short stories, but it’s more tame, and it’s centered around the world of Black Desert Online, one of my favorite MMORPGs.
Personally, writing is therapy for me because I can express myself in writing.
Reading
I love symbolism and symbology, and when I first read Dan Brown’s The Da Vinci Code, I fell in love with it, and it led me to read his other works. I especially love The Lost Symbol because it is centered around Freemasonry, it’s because my father was a 32nd Degree Freemason and a past master of their lodge.
My all-time favorite novel is The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas. It shaped me into what I am and helped me survive my dark high school days.
And as a gamer, I’m a huge fan of city-building games, survival games, MMORPGs, and RPGs, which allow me to explore new worlds and engage my imagination. Lately, I’ve developed an interest in TTRPGs, immersing myself in the rich and imaginative worlds of these interactive storytelling games.
Anime
Ah, anime. Another reason why I survive my dark high school days. My all-time favorite anime are Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, Code Geass, Overlord, and Youjo Senki. Not in any particular order. Let’s just say 30% of my life revolves around anime during my dark high school days.
Gaming
Let’s get to the fun part. I’m an avid gamer. If I said earlier that 30% of my life revolves around anime, well, gaming is 50% up to date. If I’m not writing or watching anime, I’m just straight out gaming all day and all night. So, if I haven’t been posting new blogs for quite a while now, you can blame my gaming time.
I go by my gamer name “Ibarra” or “Ibarra9510” if the first one was taken.
As a gamer, I’m a huge fan of city building games, survival games, MMORPGs, and RPGs, which allow me to explore new worlds and engage my imagination.
Lately, I’ve developed an interest in TTRPGs, immersing myself in the rich and imaginative worlds of these interactive storytelling games.
If you’re going to ask me what is my favorite game of all time, I’ll say Final Fantasy XIV.
Memes
Memes, I love memes. That’s it.
Guns
I love war games, so, of course, I love guns. My personal favorite is the M1911 pistol.
Once a month, when I’m in Manila, I tend to go to a shooting range to shoot some targets. It’s sort of therapeutic for me to just shoot stuff… legally.
Virtual YouTubers
Anyone here likes VTubers? I’ve already heard of VTubers before, such as Kizuna Ai, the members of Nijisanji, Hololive, and VShojo. But I only got to Vtubers when Hololive English first debuted and I got stuck in the rabbit hole ever since.
Personally, I love Ninomae Ina’nis, Vesper Noir, and Magni Dezmond.
Religion
In my birth certificate, I’m a Catholic, but personally, I’m an Atheist, specifically, I’m an Agnostic Atheist. And no, I’m not like those other atheists that would put down other people just because they believe in their god. I wholeheartedly believe that people should get along regardless of their religion and their lack thereof.
I wrote a blog about my experience as an atheist in a predominantly Catholic country:
