Reflecting on choices

make sense in the end.

As I reflect on my life choices, I can’t help but replay the scenes on how I ultimately got to where I am today. I never imagined working for tourism; it was not even appealing to me when I completed college.

I am a teacher by profession; I taught English to foreigners while studying, I taught business communications, literature, and political science to college students after, and became a trainer for various seminars and workshops. I really thought that I will spend the rest of my life standing in front of classrooms and grading papers.

Then, I became disillusioned; I tested my fate and applied for work in different government agencies like PNP, PDEA, and DFA, I even run for public office. Eventually, though I would have been qualified to join the other government agencies, I chose to serve as a barangay councilman while pursuing my other passions in the private sector. That is when I realized that my real interest is in the public service area.

After some years, our Municipal Government opened new positions and invited young leaders to join their force. By some stroke of luck or coincidence, I got inside to work for the Tourism Industry of Benguet’s capital. I never expected to be that person until I signed the papers three years ago.

Sometimes, we wonder if our choices were consciously made, or maybe it was already steered that way by some powerful force...with or without our consent.

“I guess you are really where you are supposed to be...”concluded my friend. “We still do not know that though” I gawked at her with a chuckle, “In these times when a sexy star can turn into a high ranking government official or an actor can become the highest leader of the land, or when our most idealist and principled advisers/teachers can make a 360 turn and throw all those away for money and position... we do not really know” – the disheartening tone cut the conversation so soon.

As a learner, I have long accepted that there is no exact science to success. That is why despite our sufficient knowledge, hard work, motivation, and skills, our teachers will always tell us to pray and have faith – anything that will aid us in what we desire to achieve.

That is why college dropouts can change the world like Gates, Jobs, and Zuckerberg, and the highlyeducated people can become the most hated scums of the earth.

Whatever happens in our lives, we can only hope and wish that it would be meaningful and always, of course, for the greater good.