When I was a kid, some people asked me, What do I want to be when I grow up? I answered that I wanted to be a teacher. As time went by, I changed my mind. I wanted to be a chef, who cooks delicious food like my Mom served us at home. Again, I changed my mind, I wanted to be a race car driver ‘cause I loved playing with cars. And again, I changed my mind. I wanted to be a singer 'cause it was my dream to perform on stage. Again, I changed my mind. Over and over again. There’s so much that I wanna be that I can't figure out. So much I wanted to explore. But I can’t choose all of them. My parents said that I have to choose only one. It should be the one who gives me joy, the one who fulfills my purpose in life. As I grew older, I still wondered what I wanted to be. What would be my purpose in life? I got lost at that time, worried what would be my future. At the age of twenty-one, I finally know the answer to that question… To write untold stories.

It all started during Pandemic. Everything is at pause. My family and I can’t go out due to restrictions. Our small family business was shaky at that time. I had to skip school, in order to give way for our finances. I was stressed at that time. Everywhere I look, I see tragedy. I had to go offline on social media to lessen the negativity. Some of the people that I knew died. It was heartbreaking. At that time, I needed an escape. Until I discovered some stories online. From then on, I started reading them to escape from the harsh reality. I had fun reading them. I laughed, cried, experienced some butterflies in my stomach and I got to learn from them. After a year, As I continued reading, there were some ideas popping in my mind. It was sitting there, waiting for me to write it. At first, I got anxious. I had no experience in writing stories at that time. Until that time came that I had the courage to write my first ever short story. The story is all about grief, about the importance of family, and how meaningful time is for us. If only there's a magical hourglass that exists, if you've given a second chance to live again even just in an hour. How would you spend it? As I wrote the story, I instantly felt love with the art of writing. I fell in love with how my imagination turns into words. Words that I get to share with many people. As I finished writing it, I was thrilled to accomplish my goal and I posted it online. As days passed, I was nervous whether people would like it or not. The story was raw at that time. As some people read it and they loved it. I was shocked by their feedback. I remember one feedback from the reader that she can relate from the story. She shared her experiences, realizations and what she has learned about the story. I felt grateful, happy, overwhelmed, and honored. That gave me enough courage to continue my writing journey. It gave me confidence to craft new stories that I wanted to share with everybody.

From that moment on, I realized that… I was made to write stories. To dig deeper to my wildest imagination. To share untold stories, to express my feelings, to share my experiences and lessons in life, to be able to share my perspective about society. Writing stories gave me a chance to be a voice to those who are voiceless. I felt that some people needed my words, just like how I needed to hear. It became my purpose and gave me a will to learn more about it. It also gave me a chance to explore who and how I wanted to be. Finding the purpose of my life is not easy. I faced self-doubts, rejections and disappointments. I learned that in life, we get lost, but along the way, we'll figure out the right path for us. I stumbled a couple of times but that’s life. It’s all in the process of self-discovery. It’s about rising up on your two feet, standing up on what you believe in, following your heart, and just being with yourself.