Passion Driven

A short anecdote of my dream

Imagine. Believe. Achieve.

You might think that these simple words are meaningless and impossible. You might think that it’s just a little play by an imaginative, creative 12-year-old girl who just think of any word or catchy phrase that I can add on to my bio on Facebook or Instagram.

But these three words bear a lot of meanings. These words have made me who I am today and who I want to be in the future.

I am a young campus journalist who is greatly inspired by those three simple words because without these, I would have never imagined that I can accomplish all that I’ve dreamed of when I was just in Grade three.

The support and mentoring from my coaches who guided me every time I take the challenges of competing against other schools is a very big factor, too. They taught me discipline, one of the most important things that I needed. Having that discipline, I managed to go and compete in different places and meet different people like in Pangasinan where the last National Schools’ Press Conference was held at and we finished as among the best three teams in Collaborative Publishing.

Most of the time when I am doing an article, I get stuck in one paragraph. But that did not stop me from doing what I want which is journalism. In fact, it even pushed me to do better. It is my passion and it helps me take my mind off many problems. I am always trying even if I am sometimes struggling to continue the journey that I have started. Every time that I struggle, I put in mind that life is never easy for those who dream. Because those who dream, they will suffer the pain and will sacrifice their time to be better than they were yesterday.

In the times that my coach gets angry because of my work, I put those mistakes in my mind and I try to never do those again. I put these mistakes as a platform to broaden my horizons so I can see to it that I will get better and better. I admit that sometimes I do have mistakes in my work. But it is better to fail in originality than to succeed in imitation. And that is something which I have learned from journalism which I think I could apply in my whole life.

It opened my mind to many things. The first thing is honesty and truthfulness. Being honest is a thing that should be applied in journalism — no lies, no fake news. Journalism is truthful. Journalism can never be silence. It must speak immediately while the echoes of wonder, the claims of triumph and the signs of horror are still in the air. If you want to change the world, journalism can be your weapon.

With the great power that journalists possess to give news and information to people, should come great responsibility. Because journalism is the faith of the future, it can change the world if people start acting now. It serves as a bridge to empower the people as we dig deeper to the stories that must be heard by many. We should not be deprived of what we deserve such as our rights. We can do something for the people and that journalism will be able to serve as the catalyst of change. Journalism shows people’s right and fights for it. The world will never be free without it.

Being with the people that I know motivated me to continue doing journalism. At first, I was not sure of what I was doing, but with putting of much patience and hard work, I managed to come this far. Journalism is not a thing that I only do for nothing, it is not only for fun. It enlightens my soul, lights up my world, and open my eyes. It becomes the hope of our world. We, journalists are needed by the world. It is our task to let them know the truth. We have to write what is worth reading, and do what is worth writing. As someone said, writing is a struggle against silence. I want to be a journalist. I will act as a role model for the next generation and will be the hope of the nation.

I want to help in making a new tomorrow not just for me, not just for my family, but everybody. I want to let them experience a better tomorrow.

I want what Kara David, Patricia Evangelista, Maria Ressa, and Jessica Soho have been doing. I was touched by Miss Kara’s talk to the children who are the faces of tomorrow. She touches their soul. I want what Miss Patricia did when she opened my mind to what the failed war on drugs has brought — more deaths. It made me realize that not everything that the government can do is good for the people. It made me realize that we are sometimes fooled and sometimes lose our senses because we are not part of the problem. We actually become apathetic. We often lose our compassion. I really admire what Maria Ressa of Rappler has been fighting for. She’s been into the forefront against a war that aims to cripple press freedom. She’s been into a war where mass media is being made as destructive weapon against the government. But, it’s not. It will serve the people against whatever abuses and misses of the people who are bound to serve as faithfully — our political leaders. I’ve been a great fan of Jessica Soho in the way she touches here viewers with the stories which we think do not have impact on us. They are only a few of the most admirable journalists and media personalities that these county needs in the midst of massive abuses and problems that the government has created.

Journalism is my passion. You can never write a good article if you do not embrace doing it. If you do not put your heart into it. Being a journalist made me proud of myself. It made people around me proud of me too. My family are even asking me to teach them how to do journalism. Even if sometimes I lose time to play and mingle with friends, I still love writing because as I said, it is my passion.

I have my calling already. I know what is my purpose. And it is giving truthful news to people.