by: Nerbie

I feel nervous every time I leave home for work. The recent bombing incidents have made me think of how dangerous things are nowadays. Imagine, I ride the top three forms of public transportation in the metropolis: the Jeepney, the Bus and the MRT. With the recent bombing of the Bus in Balintawak, Quezon City, I sometimes think that the public utility vehicle where I’m riding might be the next target. Well, I can’t do anything about it because I still need to go to work and feed my family.

I don’t get why these terrorists are doing such evil acts. Killing innocent lives in one blow is not a joke. Millions of Filipinos still believe that life is precious and why the hell these terrorists think otherwise boggles the mind. I’m sure they have their own families also. If one of their family member, let say, dies don’t they mourn? Of course they do unless if they don’t have a heart at all. Don’t they realize that the victims of their bombings have families too, waiting for them at home?

Nobody’s is perfect in this world. I admit, I sometimes commit mistakes but then I’m just human but then killing innocent people is just too much. I just hope and pray that one day God will enlighten their minds and stop these fruitless actions.

by: yuga

I have been working for almost two and a half years now. Those two years passed by so fast I couldn’t even remember how many jobs I’ve been through all this time. Browsing at my most recently revised resumè refreshed my memory a bit. To think again, thirty months was so long ago already. Yet, I can’t still say I’ve progressed that much, or so I presume I haven’t.

I graduated from a prestigious school, thanks to my scholarship, with a double degree in Chemistry and Computer Engineering. I was a consistent honor student, if not on top, from my grade school to my high school. Though I didn’t have very good grades in college, I had more than a dozen extra-curricular activities then. That, coupled with an impressive degree and a diploma from a reputable university gave my resumè a striking glow & a veritable edge over all other new college graduates like me.

I didn’t had a hard time looking for a job. A week after graduation I already found a good-paying job at a start-up production company. Work was fairly easy. My work has no time and I can go to office late. I was happy and content. I crave for learning, for more responsibilities and more challenges.

I thought that was all I needed. Not until I saw the real world. It was bigger than I imagined, much bigger and more complicated than what was taught to us back in college or so I thought it was.

Then, I started cramming. I had to catch up. I had to start all over. I have to make a mark and be better each day; more valuable to the industry and more knowledgeable than your average office employee. It struck me, I thought I could sit down and just relax. Enjoy and have fun all the time. Well, at first I did. Went to bars and disco houses and whatnots in Malate, Ortigas and Makati almost every Friday night and sometimes even week nights if I get off from work early. Go places and went on vacations every now and then. It was fun and relaxing indeed.

But I felt that wasn’t all there was to all this. I felt a sense of urgency, a rush to get things done faster, to learn things I didn’t care to learn in college or even at all. I was perplexed at first, didn’t know what was happening or going on in my mind. What was this urgency?

Then I realized. I was not a teener anymore. This was a transition stage. I was transitioning from being a ‘padawan’ learner to a career professional. I was to face a different perspective in life, new environment and new people to deal and with more responsibilities and obligations. I have to be proactive and not just reactive. That must be it. Thus, the struggle began. Until now.

In a few more months, I’ll be turning 25. One can say that I have changed but it’s still there. The rush is still trickling in. I still want to do more things. One may call me short of a workaholic but that’s what I really am since decades ago. Doing many things at the same time makes my mind alert and always awake. I know I’m still young and have many more years ahead of me, pray hope I will. Still, I have this quandary I call the quarter-life crisis. Yeah, maybe I just invented that term but it’s sinking in. It’s like going to the comfort room to take a pee but having to wait for half a dozen people lining up to the door. You get what I mean?

Maybe I just needed a break from all these. City life is such a fast-paced life. Everyday passes by so fast I can’t even keep track of the date unless I check the calendar of my mobile phone. Maybe it’s just really me. I’ll just keep hanging on.

It’s already 3:30 on a Saturday morning. Now that I’m done with this article, I can sleep soundly.

And another day has passed…