Who Am I, Really?

Finally found it among dozens of files in my computer. A reflection paper submitted during an introductory course on Philosophy. (08.19.2010)

Who am I, Really?

You were born in Sta. Rosa, Laguna on September 20, 1990 and you’re turning 20 this year. For almost 14 years now, you’ve been with your aunt and her family in Koronadal City, South Cotabato, Philippines. However, for the last 9 years, you’ve been residing in dormitories, from one to another. Presently, you’re staying at a dormitory just a few steps away from the university. You had your first experience of formal education when you were in the Holy Spirit Academy, and then transferred to Florenceville Learning Center, both in Laguna. You went to Davao Christian High School when you were in Kindergarten. You had your basic education at the Koronadal Southern Elementary School. You’ve finished high school at the Iloilo Chinese Commercial High School. And at the moment, you’re attending classes at the Ateneo de Davao University from which you’re a fourth year Architecture student.

You were born of average physical attributes, although much of it had improved a lot compared from how they were when you were younger. Your current height is 5’9 1/2” and weighing 60 kilos. You’re thin but not exactly scrawny, though you’re under-weighted. You also have a fair skin complexion. Aside from these generally visible and measurable features, you’re smart, creative, observant, strong-willed, hard-working, and resilient. On the other hand, you’re stubborn, critical, cynical, and compulsive. Commonly, you’re a happy and contented person, still loneliness and insecurity never fails to trouble you from time to time. You’re usually passive and unmindful but you don’t stand idly when the principles from which you were raised are challenged. You’re spiritual but absolutely not religious.

You’re the eldest son of a father who’s very considerate and warm, a true gentleman, and who believes deeply in you but also expects a lot from you. You’re the grandson of an entrepreneur / real estate broker / village leader / negotiator  and a homemaker / nurturer / wonder woman / comedian / film enthusiast. You have a younger brother who might be smarter than you, considering his field of interests – herpetology and paleontology; and another brother, the youngest one, who’s too young to decide on serious matters like career and field of interests but is far more sociable than you are and, far more interesting than you’ll ever be, too. You’re a nephew to an empathic and loving aunt who’s also an Architect with an utterly high standard, and a cousin to a bunch of wacky, fun-loving, and young people.

You’re a friend to many who matter a lot to you. Some of them are acquaintances, some are surface friends, true friends, or intimate friends; most are in other places, some in other countries, and in other points of their lives. Each of them have different influence in your life and animated some part of your being. You’ve been into a lot of stereotypes because of the circle of friends you had. You’ve been a geek, You’ve been an underdog, You’ve been an athlete, You’ve been a party animal, You’ve been invisible, You’ve been a student politician, You’ve been a performer, You’ve been a leader, all because your circle of friends, from one time to another, have also been such. Maybe next time if you would have some music enthusiasts as your new circle of friends, you could then be a musician as well.

In any given day or in any occasion, you do several things. I see you visit the library to read newspapers and magazines. You read books and novels. You check my social network sites to keep in touch with our friends. You blog or post in blog sites or social network sites about everything and anything which interest both of us, but doesn’t necessarily interest other people. I see you play video games with friends. You watch movies with friends or alone, just with me. You listen to music while taking a bath and singing your lungs out, and with matching dance moves as well. I could hear you every time and I could sense that shower time is your quality time. You think a lot about our plans, things we like to do or our problems while lying on bed before going to sleep. You think when we walk. You dance. You sing. You play the harmonica. You play volleyball. You cook. You study. You fulfill your duties as a student leader. You do things either because you want to or you have to, though sometimes you just do it to kill boredom and of course when you have time to do so.

Ultimately, you’re working in lots of directions towards two major projects – us, and our aspirations. You’re mostly defined by your passion, and your sole passion is Architecture. Though you love to do a myriad of activities, and had been boggled for sometime whether Architecture would really be your chosen vocation. But it is clear that you’re a person who’s giving a lot of your time, thoughts, and considerations in studying how Architecture is done, and how it could be done by you.

Presently, you have a job, because we call it that way, which challenges you every time. You have a job which requires you to study a lot. You have have a job which has a lot of exams. You have a job which requires you to pass those exams. You have a job which you wish to do well at and you wish to have it done the best way possible. You have a job and you share it with me. Over this year and next year, we will outgrow a lot of things within this job. We would focus on fewer things to do them well and we will develop some new thoughts that we hope would prove interesting enough to keep us fired up. Today our co-workers call us Ching; tomorrow, hopefully, as you and I leave this job, they and all other people would regard us as Architect Kenneth Yap. We’ve been into a lot of places and changes, and this is the change that you as myself would surely welcome.