When I was 22

It is Monica's 22nd birthday today. As I look at her, so beautiful and so confident about what she wants in life, I pray that she does not stop trying when she does not see her dreams happening. That she still holds life delicately when all she sees is greed, hunger and disappointment. That she never lets go the belief that all she can rely on is her conscience when important decisions have to be made.

She is 22. What was I when I was 22?

At 22, I already had a major heartbreak ... or so I thought. So BIG that I thought I would never love like that again. My hobby back then was to write "DOOM" as my ambition. Oh how youth magnifies issues big time! My Monica has yet to feel heartbreak. I know so because she invented the anti-falling-in-love pill. Sometimes, I am so afraid that she is passing up chances of feeling being loved. But I guess she knows better.

At 22, I was clueless on what I want in life. I had a comfortable life. I did not have to think of what I want. Things just happened. Right before graduation in college, I was instructed by our school guidance counselor to go to the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) at Padre Faura (just a block from St. Paul College) for a job interview. I went there, got interviewed by very young managers (one from La Salle and one from Ateneo!), and was told to report at the earliest date after my graduation! Later on, I found out that Tolitz, our Project Manager (Don't ask me why nicknames back then were said in reverse and spelled with a z or an h!), selected me to be interviewed among those submitted by my school because he liked the sound of my name. And he selected me to get the job because I closely resembled his ex-girfriend! Talk about stars aligning to give me this very good opportunity!!

My first job was with a small start-up project called TRA POLI, Transposrt Policies Formulation Study. It involved interviewing major transport companies all over the Philippines. PAL, PNR, Aboitiz, bus companies, freight companies. It also involved travel! And travel meant beaches galore!!! I travelled from Aparri to Jolo. From the damp, humid and bare Tuguegarao to the windy, colorful, dangerous Zamboanga. I wish digital cameras existed those days. 

I was 22 then. Young, impressionable, clueless. And weren't we all that way ...