Exceeding my expectations

Overwhelmed face

Photo by Chariz Tajo

Maybe I did expect. Top 5? Yes. Top 3? Yes. Top 1? That would be overconfidence for someone’s first time in entering the Division School’s Press Conference.

Technically, it wasn’t my first time I joined DSPC. I joined back in 6^th grade but I had a different category: News Writing. Does that count?

The thing about that time was, I wasn’t ready. I don’t know how to write a news article. And no one told me to listen to the rendered speeches and jot down important stuffs they wrote. That last sentence was my so-called downfall if I was still in the same mind as I was in 6^th grade.

Our topic was something about one of those speeches.  I didn’t know what to write. I could ad lib but I still didn’t have facts. My seatmate, probably sensing that I didn’t have any notes, tried to let me copy his. I’m not a fan of cheating. I declined him.

This time, I was ready. I read tons of newspapers and tabbed tons of sites about ‘Bangsamoro’, about ‘CyberCrime Law’ and about everything else that might come out. It was a bit disheartening that none of my ‘research’ came out but I was glad I won.

When the speaker was calling out the winners and it was down to the top 3. I felt like tearing up. My mind goes over the same thought: ‘I did not get in’. And finally, when it was down to top 1, our school paper adviser called me. I called him a liar because he’s the type of person who makes a joke out of things. The truth dawned to me when I heard my last name being called and my first name trashed with wrong pronounciation.

I’m happy that I won but I had a hard time trying to chase worry away after. I am a coward who would grab the chance I would get and run away or by some miracle swallowed by the ground during situations like these.

Bottom line is, I truly am happy winning. I don't care if it's just division and it's a lot lower than the asia-wide journalism award I got when I was in fifth grade. This time, I don't think I won by mere fluke but because I was actually passionate about writing.

What I wrote during the DSPC: Paradoxes of Technology and Internet