25...

I am a quarter of a century old today.


To my Sanggumay Diyosa family, thank you so much...
Makahilak man sad ta ninyo, oi.

********

For my 25th birthday entry, I shall list down (top) 25 things I want to do or achieve in my lifetime. The list is in no particular order.


1. Go to Hajj (pilgrimage).

2. Go study or work for a while in Japan.

3. Watch my favorite soccer team (Juventus) play in person and see my biggest crush, the love of my life David Trezeguet, in action.

4. Teach at the Mindanao State University (Marawi Campus) and try to make a difference in young people's lives the way some of my teachers did.

5. Train and develop young Meranao people in every field I have knowledge and skills/talent in.

6. Watch the APO Hiking Society perform in person.

7. Learn at least eight different languages. By this, I mean really know the languges in the sense that I'd be able to read, write, understand and speak the languges fluently. (At present, I know four languages - Meranao, Bisaya, Tagalog and English. I'm learning/studying Nihongo, Ilokano, Tausug and Arabic. I'm planning to learn more.)

8. Get married and have at least two children.

9. Build or buy my own house.

10. Be able to have my parents go to second-time Hajj or go on vacation in another country (all expense paid by me).

11. Go around and visit every single city and municipality in the Philippines (Mindanao first).

12. Go see and visit other countries and learn about different cultures. (Top 5 countries I want to visit are: Cambodia, England, India, Greece, and China!)

13. Do volunteer work for better education of the underpriveleged, the indigenous peoples and the Muslims in the Philippines.

14. Read the whole Qur'an and the Hadith.

15. Write a book and have it published.

16. Read all Literary classics and Philippine Literry Canon books.

17. Learn to play the piano.

18. Be able to give my sister something that she really wants, but can't get herself.

19. Meet and talk to Arundhati Roy.

20. Be a lawyer (as promised to my grand uncle who passed away earlier this year).

21. Watch some Broadway Musical(s).

22. Take up photography.

23. Win a writing award.

24. Have my own library and/or bookstore that has a huge Filipiniana section.

25. Be MSU System President!


These dreams keep me going. I know that I might not be able to do or achieve some of them or that some of these dreams may change, but that won't stop me from going. Dreams, after all, are the life of our lives. I know, deep in my heart, that I will get there... wherever there may be. :)

I'd like to share my motto (courtesy of my mom):
"One broken dream is not the end of dreaming."