YOUNG VOICE
Big baby decides to board
“Reylan Garcia is fresh from her new boarding house. I think I will get used to it.” Just like any hormone-infested teen, I keep my Facebook status updated. And in five minutes time my need for social acceptance was satisfied with 10 likes and a landslide of comments.
Yudee ba.
Teh, nga-a subong ka lang imo ya nag-boarding house?
For seven years, I never considered unweaving myself from my comfort zone; of living far from home. Traveling 42 kilometers to and fro each day contributed to the daily hassles, but what is 42 kilometers when you have supper ready on the table, laundry and ironing of uniforms spontaneously done by the kindest mother in the universe and the comfort of sleeping soundly on your own bed. The rural town of San Miguel seemed two blocks away from my high school and presently, my university.
I could not sweep the indelible fears, of how I would fare living in a temporary residence. Would I be able to concentrate mulling over my lecture notes despite the screeching and booming sounds of Metro Iloilo traffic? Can I not overspend my weekly budget? Would I survive the tribulations of doing my own laundry and ironing? Will I get up on time even if I forgot to set-up my alarm clock? Will I go along well with my co-boarders? Anxiety seeped and remained drenching my systems and paralyzing my very intentions of boarding. And so for the past 19 years of my life, my idea of living far from home was as close to a three-day Girl Scout Jamboree.
I lived with the thought that peers consistently viewed me as a big baby, refusing to be independent. And somehow the child to adult transition left me with intermittent urges to try living on my own, far from my comforts, far from home. It was an unbearable itch that I had to soothe before it got worse. I do not want to wake up one day, in my 40’s, still dumb as an ass with the basic survival skills that I assumed, boarding would teach me.
My mother told me that sometime soon I should start learning how to live on my own, special mentions of doing my laundry and ironing. And here’s my slap-on-the-face-worthy answer: “Okay lang na Nay, mangita lang ko kabulig, bayaran ko lang.” But, what if despite the abounding cash to pay for a househelp, no labor was available? I had to prepare myself for the worst. Besides, I don’t want to be coined as “big baby” for the rest of my life. So, I told my parents that I wanted to be independent.
Teh Rey, kamusta ang experience?
Wala ka man nanimag-o?
Two weeks. It seemed I can write a novelette of realizations for those two weeks. I hope this enumeration of insights would also influence other would-be-boarders to pursue their plans. It’s actually healthy to try bitter discomforts once in a while rather than smother yourself constantly in sweet comforts. It will leave your adaptation capacities rusted with dependence and ungreased from responsibility.
1. Better scheduling of activities. Better prioritization. I have learned to eat dinner in a carenderia, fix my bed, iron my uniform for tomorrow and still have an eternity to study my lessons. Back home, I pity my parents who were deafened by my usual clamors of not having enough time to study.
2. Respect and Sensitiveness. I am boarding with two amazing roommates, my classmate Tracy and Nang Lorcia, a post graduate intern. We are literally on the same boat with the daily heavy-weight requirements. I usually study loud. Now, I have learned to study silently and become more adaptive to extraneous nuisances.
3. Greater appreciation of what I had. My parents lead the list of the things I take for granted, and now that I only see them on weekends, I begin to realize how flightless I am without them. Other members of the list include the shower, WiFi connection and the ultimate freedom to fart wherever and whenever I want and even how loudly I want it to be without anyone disgusted.
Two weeks. In just two weeks I was inspired to write a column article. What more can a year do? This is my journey towards independence. This is my quest onwards self-discovery. I guess, you really need to be far from home, far from the things that keep you comfortable in order to actually live life. I said it once in a previous article and I’ll say it again. Life is both sweet and bitter. So we have to face the bitterness and savor the sweetness while it lasts.
Seek to be independent.
Render yourself equipped.
I ain’t a big baby.
Huo friends, sadya guid mag-board, promise.
(Reactions to reylangarcia@yahoo.com; Add me on Facebook and find out how I fare with ironing my uniforms for the rest of the year.)
