Rain and Ramblings

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*I wrote this on Saturday, June 9. I remember mentioning in my previous blog entries on how I just couldn't wait for summer to be over because of the heat. But then just last week, we were greeted by the onset of the rainy season. Weather forecasters have officially announced that summer is over.

It's raining at the moment as I write down my thoughts. I usually hate the rain, most especially if I'm outside. It's always a hassle to get your shoes and socks wet, and it sucks to commute too because of the long lines. But then I guess I can say that I actually appreciate the rain at times when I'm just at home. Waking up to the sound of rain tapping your window, the still sleepy skies looking down on you as you struggle to get up from bed.. but you can't. Or simply, you don't want to. Because it's warm and comfy under the sheets and you don't want to move at all. 

Thank God it's Saturday. 

I slept late last night because I was on the phone with one of my closest friends. I couldn't meet up with her today because I have a couple of responsibilities I needed to prioritize. We do keep in touch a lot, although nothing could compare to meeting in person and speaking our minds in front of each other. But then since we acknowledge the fact that we are adults and we have our own priorities now, we settled for a long conversation on the phone. 

It's different now compared to college. I always thought that it would be easy to catch up and hang out with friends even after college, but that not always the case. While we as humans have this constant habit of reminiscing and wanting to go back to the times when we were a bit more carefree, there's also this part of us that knows that we need to accept where we are right now in life and face our struggles head on. Having less time to see each other is one of them. I'm just blessed to have friends who understand. 

Although there were some things I wish I did differently. Allow me to ramble about them, as I don't think I've rambled on about these thoughts here on the blog. My friend and I agreed that people around us may have been in too much of a hurry in graduating on time. I do remember whenever I would bump into my coursemates, they would ask me how many terms I had left, or if I'm following the flowchart. Our Psychology department emphasized as well on the importance of following our flowchart. It was deeply ingrained in us as students that graduating on time meant being successful with college.

Being 'delayed' was a an unpleasant term to hear. Whenever students hear of someone being delayed, they suddenly take a quick judgment and show a bit of concern (genuine or not, although I'd like to think it was the former) and ask 'why'? We tend to forget that college is actually the time to explore, the time to figure out what we really want, the time to make mistakes until we get it right. But instead I saw people conforming to standards, and if those standards were not met, it meant failure. 

It was only when I graduated and started with my full time job that I realized it didn't matter whether you've graduated "on time" or not. What's really going to matter is what you've learned during your time in college and what you can do with your skills so you can make an impact with your contributions, no matter what kind of job you have right now. I think people placed too much importance on graduating on time which somehow became a race, a competition, or a kind of subtle pressure to finish right away. I think I was one of those people. 

If I could do it all differently, I think I should've taken my time. I shouldn't have limited myself with what was on my flowchart. I should've taken extra units or extra classes from different colleges so I can expand my knowledge and not be limited to my course. I should've taken language classes or even business classes. 

Another would be that I should've taken more internships. It was a whole new different experience for me when I had my first internship, but only because it was a requirement for us to pass the course. We had to render a total of 200 hours with the company of our choice (or the company that decides to take us in, rather). I remember feeling a new sense of independence and autonomy, commuting from Taft to Makati, and vice versa. 

After my internship, I wanted to go on more, but I didn't do it. I was too focused on my other extra-curricular activities and organizations that I wasn't able to apply any longer. But I can definitely say that there's much to learn, and it's a good way to prepare oneself for the corporate world, through internships. I could've decided to take the minimum course load for a term and squeeze in a few more internships.. but that just didn't happen. Yet again, I was like one of those people who stuck religiously to their flowcharts.

In the end, we have our own timelines. As cliche as it sounds, it is true. If there is one thing I learned, it would be that I want to take my time and soak it all in, I want to know my options, and I want to make out the most of every opportunity however seemingly small or big. Delays don't equate to failure. There are some who like to take their time, and then some who like to hurry. But we all have our own reasons. Maybe some learn and work slower than others, maybe there are some who want to figure it all out slowly. Maybe there are some who need to become breadwinners in the family, maybe there are some who still have siblings that needs to be sent off to school. There will always be reasons behind everything. It's so easy to be clouded by judgment.

Take your time, but be sure to be working on your goals one step at a time. Taking your time does not equate to being lazy. 

This entry has gotten much longer than I intended it to be. Hope you're doing well :-)

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