I've been eighteen years old for about three weeks now and somehow, I managed to celebrate it four times. First was with my college friends, second was on my real birthday, third was with my mother's side of my family and the last was with my father's side. I never really saw turning eighteen as a big event until how I saw the reactions of the people around me as they learn that I am turning eighteen. It was never a big deal to me because everyone turns eighteen. However, I can say that I finally saw the light at the end of the tunnel. I saw how important being eighteen means and how being eighteen can change you and your life. So, in this blog post, I would like to share with you the things I've learned for the past eighteen years.

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1.  Friendship is not measured by hours, minutes and seconds

 

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Two years in St. Scholastica's College was a breeze because I was able to meet a lot of great persons and fortunately, I met wonderful ladies who would stand by me even at my lowest time. I realized that friendship can blossom. It will take you by surprise and you will find yourself laughing with them, crying with them and longing for each others' company. I learned that friendship is not about molding yourself to fit a group. It is about molding each other to become a better person and it is about being yourself. It is about creating a distinct and separate personality from yourself because friendship is a partnership. It requires a fiduciary kind of relationship.

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Of course, friendship does not when friends are separated by external factors such as going to different colleges. I and my friends are the living and breathing example of that theory. For this year, we were able to be complete for only three times but whenever we get complete, it's like we were not separated at all for months. It's like coming home from a vacation and a day is not enough for catching up. Even though we are separated physically, we are together emotionally and spiritually and if you ask me if I miss them, yes, I do but I am happy that they are beginning their climb to achieve their dreams.

2. Family is family 

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Eighteen years in this world, I am pretty confident to say that our family has a strong bond and I am not only talking about our family. I am also talking about our extended families. I am lucky to have strong ties with my cousins from both sides and through the years, I learned that they are not just cousins, they are also my siblings because we are able to share everything with each other freely. Also, I am glad that our family manages to squeeze our way through problems and troubles. I can say that we've been through a lot, both positive and negative and in my opinion, the reason why we always overcome challenges is we look beyond ourselves. Having been living with my extended family made me realize that it is not always about me. Yes, I can be pretty selfish but when you are living with a lot people, you will learn that being happy is about making others happy too. It is about making your family happy despite us being dysfunctional and imperfect.

3. I don't give a damn what people think and neither should you -Sebastian Kydd of The Carrie Diaries

 

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Growing up, I am always conscious of how people think of me and how I am perceived. You can say that I am always conscious of my image but then I realized that confiding yourself in a so-called image is boring and somehow, incorrect. Letting yourself get dragged by the pressure of having a perfect image would just cause you so many trouble. It will just stress you out so finally, I gave up of living up an image. I just live the way I want to live. I live according to my principles and morals and that's it and I do not care if people think of me negatively because you can never please everybody. I am just living my life and I am just being me. I am Pia Angela. Suck it up.
So, that's it. That's all I can say to you right now and I am hoping to learn more about life as time goes on. I am hoping to be able to reach my dreams and become a better person. I don't know what the future holds for me but that's life. It's all about enjoying and screaming and crying. It's all a roller-coaster ride.