We found joy in simple things—'law-oy' and ginamos were feasts in our eyes.
Today, I fully embrace adulthood—not just by age, but by heart, spirit, and understanding. I come from a life of poverty and hardship, where survival was a daily challenge. Yet, despite the struggles, our father taught us to move forward, to dream bigger, and to never lose hope. We found joy in simple things—'law-oy' and ginamos were feasts in our eyes. We didn’t have much, sometimes just one or five pesos for school, and I often skipped recess, choosing instead to train my mind and imagine possibilities beyond our reality. I studied not just what's in the books, but even those topics that no one paid attention to—because I knew knowledge would someday be my way out. Poverty made me shy, made me feel like an outcast, and turned academic success into a far-fetched dream. But today, I realize: despite it all, I have arrived. Not yet at the finish line, but far from where I started. This is adulthood—with scars, wisdom, and unshakable resilience. Christian Jay Laya currently s...