The good news... is here!
It was an ordinary last day of February.. not.
That dreaded Friday was our scheduled appointment with the Research Department of Manila Bulletin in their office at Intramuros. We were eight from our class who were called to come, and we did, despite that the rest of the class will be having a coverage/field trip to a coastal barangay in Hagonoy.
That morning, the Research Team made the eight of us, together with other applicants from various universities, took battery of written exercises. They gave us an hour of lunchbreak and proceeded with the interview afterwards. Each applicant will be grilled by the team for about an hour, so yes, imagine us killing time battling with nervousness at the MB lobby while waiting for our turn.
I won't detail each and every single thing that had transpired, because 1) I may not be allowed to and 2) if ever you shall apply, I don't want to be a spoiler. There is only two things that I can tell you: YOU HAVE TO BE YOURSELF, AND NEVER EVER BE LATE. :)
After my interview, I ordered a coffee from a nearby stall where other MB employees hang out. I badly needed a shot of caffeine after the four-hour-wait and because of the very low temperature inside the establishment. Good thing, I brought a blazer with me.
I decided to witness an Intramuros sunset while waiting for others to finish their interviews, so I brought several of my classmates with me and took some souvenir photos with our cameras and iPads. It was my very first time to spend a sunset in the Walled City after a couple of years, and I wasn't disappointed. There is something really special in Intramuros, perhaps the walls, that makes me want to go back -- if I would be given the chance to go back.
It was at 7 PM when the eight of us were all done, and we finally bid the team goodbye. We descended and went out of Manila Bulletin, and as I savor every moment before stepping out of their gates, I was thinking, "It was my dream to work here when I was a freshman, I hope you will give me a chance to show you that I deserve to.."
We battled the nonstop rush of people going home inside the LRT and went home.
Five days after, I received a text message Manila Bulletin, summoning me at the end of March for orientation.
I look forward to spend half of my internship days with them. It will take a few adjustments, from commuting from here to there, budgeting my money and time to the load of work that will be given to me as a part of a national broadsheet, but I know it will be worth it.
Everything will be worth it.
Labels: college, internship, Ojt
The last letter
To the one who was once the dearest, but never was and will be forgotten,
I heard a song today while I was on my way home. It's not just a song, it's our song. Yes, the one that we used to sing to a couple of years ago.
I wrote to you just to say that I have already let go. The hatred, the sadness and all of the remorse, I have let them all go.
However, I haven't forget you. There are still times, like right now at 3:44AM on a Monday, that I remember you. It is not my intention for that to happen, but sometimes memories of you just pop up out of nowhere, and I couldn't help but smile.
Don't get me wrong. I know I've told you that I have let go. I did. You know I did. I wouldn't be very happy with what and whom I am with now if I didn't. But I only let go of the painful things. Our memories? I can never erase it. I couldn't help but smile, because apart from all of the hurtful things we have done to each other, these memories, positive memories of you are the ones that I don't regret. And never will I regret.
You have become a huge part of me. So huge that I have chosen to treasure and learn from our memories when we were still together. In those years after we parted ways, once in a while, I get flashbacks. The songs, the flowers, the guitar chords, the petrichor of the rain, and other random things that I previously associate you with. But since then, everytime I get those things, I realize, it doesn't feel the same way anymore. My chest doesn't hurt, and I don't blink by the sound of your name any longer. Maybe, this was it.
Maybe, I finally got the closure that I wanted— the one that you never gave me a couple of years ago, and the one that was supposed to let us be friends again. I know that when our paths cross once again, we can finally look into each other's eyes and greet each other hello. It has come, at last, despite its somehow late arrival. Better late than never.
After all, if it weren't for you letting me go, I wouldn't figure out how to love myself more, which eventually led me to the one who deserves the best of me, for seeing the worst that I have gone through back then. Besides, you have foreseen his identity before, right?
Wherever you are, I wish you the best. You deserve to be happy, and you deserved to be loved. Remember that.
See you whenever,
F.
In black and white
Every so often, I allot a couple of hours to let myself roam around my second home to appreciate its beauty.There are a couple of times when I regret not bringing my camera with me, because Malolos is such a beautiful city. Don't get me wrong, it has its own flaws. But these flaws, sometimes, are what makes it even more interesting.
I am hopeful that there will be more hours like these before I finally flee from it after graduation.
Labels: photography
