ateneo personal essay rating 🙏

hi can someone rate my ADMU personal essay hehe...

“Sacrifices For the Future”

Screams, cries, and shouts. Those are the daily sounds I hear as I wake up in the morning. Without knowing who is the culprit of the sounds, I automatically know it’s my brothers fighting about the TV remote. The truth is, my father is not present at our home— sacrificing for my brothers’ and my future. The household I grew up in only consists of my mother, my siblings, and our household helper. I am the unica hija and the oldest of my siblings. I was and am expected to manage chores and maintain a positive attitude so that I can be a role model to three of my brothers. From daily breakfasts to early dinners, this household has taught me about handling daily chores with competence and speed. Moreover, it has taught me to support my siblings' emotional well-being in these changing times through offering them helpful insights that will be with them as they grow older. All of these without needing to request for something in exchange.

I always wondered what life was like if I were in my father’s position; once you look outside in his place of work there is no sight of buildings, plants, and transportation. Hence, a vast amount of ocean water surrounding the boat with no island to be seen is the daily reality of my father’s job. My father works as a seafarer in a company located in Metro Manila. In fact, my parents met in that office. However, the daily realities that became my standard as a child were not to expect both my parents to be there on any educational occasion; my mother still tries but I would not expect my father to be there. 

During my 7th birthday party, the hostess of the party delivered a speech that claimed to be from my father. My eyes suddenly turned blurry. I did not know why but a second later I burst into tears crying in front of everyone at my birthday party. “Why child?,” my mother told me. I know for sure it was not because of the sweet and thoughtful message; it was because my father was not present on my special day. However, my father does spend his vacation here in the Philippines every 6 months. I always admire how he stays in the present whenever he is bonding with my mother and siblings. And I believe that my ability to be present, organized, and hardworking comes from my father. 

I look up to my father’s sincerity and passion for drawing. I myself am not good in art and drawing specifically. But I would always plead with my father to draw for me for a school project. Moving forward, the lockdown came. Masks, face shields, and hand sanitizers were the average sightings once you step outside. My father was stranded in the Philippines due to health protocols getting stricter than ever. In total, he spent more than a year here in the Philippines during that time. That’s how my perspective of him changed. I was so happy he got to spend most of his vacation here because I never got to bond that long with him. We repainted some parts of our house, made DIY grillers and even tried to sell them. If there was one word to describe the experience, it was “eye-opening.” Now I realize most of my values as a child came from his own. I aspire to be organized, helpful, and strong in my own sense of self.

In that way, my values did not come from myself, it came from the influence of my dad who I wanted to be so badly. Through deep reflection, knowing the right and efficient ways to stay in the present as much as possible, and listening to podcasts about life— I gained insights that shaped me as a person. My nostalgia, humor, and grit to accomplish my goals every year does not come from the desire to make myself great, but it comes from the desire to pay back the sacrifices my father made for my brothers and me.   
  
But the story does not end here, since I will face challenges and hurdles as I enter college. That resilience won’t stop there, it will continue through carrying out my father’s words in my heart and reflecting on them every time I face a challenge. At seventeen years old, I am more than ready to offer a sacrificial act in honor of my father through my journey in Ateneo. Now I realize that it is not the daily balikbayans that made me proud— it was the sacrifices made for the future.