"A GLIMPSE OF WHO I AM" BY MERENCILLO, GAIL CELESTINE M.

 " A Glimpse of Who I Am"

Everyone gains experiences throughout life—that’s how we grow. As we age, our experiences shape us, making us believe that we can improve and push beyond our limits. It’s like a video game: the more we experience, the more we "level up," unlocking our full potential and aiming higher than where we began. 

For example, one experience that changed my mindset was when I made it to the “With High Honors” list at school. Before that, I didn’t really care about my grades or recognition. But once I experienced that sense of achievement, something shifted. I wanted more. I wanted to keep pushing myself to reach even higher. I haven’t reached my ultimate goal yet—but I believe that, with time, I will. This journey has helped me understand myself better, especially when I try something new and ask: “Can I do this?” “Can I handle the pressure?” And the answer I’ve found is: yes.

As I think about it, every person in this world is different, they have their own limitations on what they can do. Others think that I can't do this, but I can, I can go beyond my limitations and do what is best. Everything felt like I was in my own space in mind, but there's more to it. It's like decoding a message on its meaning, but for this, it's my life that I'm decoding, from my past that has happened, the present that is about to happen, or the future that is soon to be unraveled. While my mind and body work on accomplishing that goal, my spirit is trying to think of a way to make it better for what I'm doing. The way my entire body functions is different, like when doing my reflection paper, research paper, assignments, or performance tasks, it seems that I can only do it one at a time to prevent mistakes from happening, and I never wanted that to happen. I can do better, I can't just sit and think that this is alright, think of a solution that can make this better, and that is what I've been doing lately for the past years, I've been trying to do my best in everything, but it seems like that the flower hasn't bloomed yet, maybe when the time is right, I'm sure that flower will bloom.

Given the situation, I believe it reflects both a limited and emotional perspective. I tend to doubt what others think of me, and I often fear not meeting their expectations, which only limits me further. It's important to remember that everyone sees things differently. Each person holds a unique perspective—whether partial or holistic. Some of my friends, who have known me for a long time, see me as a kind, caring, and responsible person. On the other hand, those who barely know me may only see a partial view. They might think I’m strict, which is true to some extent, but they haven't seen the deeper parts of my personality yet.

Before I act on my plans, I always try to understand the full situation. I make sure to consider my emotions, the people involved, my thoughts, and the context. I avoid saying things that don't make sense or are off-topic. One wrong move can lead everything to fall apart, so I do my best to be mindful of how I approach things.

My understanding is like a building block for the situation, if I can't solve it, then it will either collapse or stay as it is until someone brings it up and continues building it. In the end, my understanding would change; no matter the situation, it is still important to know that you should be open-minded when there's an urgent situation. Considering both the partial and holistic perspectives of a person would contribute to the development of your understanding of a person's life. It also helps them think open-mindedly and not only to your own self. Don't close the doors of your partial point of view because closing it would eventually lead to misunderstanding, and will cause you to not be open-minded to others, and vice versa. The partial and holistic point of view work together perfectly because when one shuts down then the other can't work. It is a key point for me to reach my goal and let that flower bloom.

My experience is a motivation to me to keep moving forward, but it always has this bumpy road along the way, and I can say that I have believed in certain truths, which led to opinions which I understand. I needed more research than that to prove that what I believe is the truth, but I also understand that this is everyone's opinion too; they may disagree with me or agree, and it's their choice to pick either of the two. From what I learned from my mistakes, I need to research before I can say things out loud, only to realize that they disagree with me, and that is their opinion. I had to evaluate the situation before acting on it, because doing so would be drastic, and we didn't start researching, finding the proof and evidence, for the theories of truth and its fallacies. In the end, when everything is settled, this is still an opinion of myself and others, too. As we all know, the truth hurts, which is true, and the truth helps me grow further to debunk those opinions that others have. They may talk about me that I can't make that goal of mine come true, it's because it is still in process and it takes time. We may sugar coat our words, but nothing stops the truth from giving answers to others' opinions. People think that the truth won't help, but it will for as long as you know how a statement goes. We all have our own opinions, and that is alright. We have our preferences, and that is completely up to you. Without truth, no one will know that this is the truth and not an opinion.