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What in Dante’s nine circles of hell have I been doing with my life? That’s the question I asked myself sometime last December. You see, I’m the kind of person you’d see slacking off, bumming, wolfing down three plates a meal, and generally doing nothing productive at all. But now, I try (repeat, try) to use time more productively. It’s all thanks to this collective of events that can be described as one huge momentous event that leads to an even larger epiphany–College.

It all started on June twelve (or thirteen?), year two-thousand and seven. It was the first day of classes, the first day of the series of events that will lead to the three greatest epiphanies of my seventeen year life. For your own benefit, let’s skip to the good parts, since recounting every day of my almost over freshman life is not something anyone (even me) would like to do. If you compare my life to movie, you’d probably say the first semester was the draggy part, and the second semester is where things got interesting in music, sports, and even studies (back to drag here).

The first epiphany I got during my freshman year. Let’s call this the study epiphany. You see. I was the slacker who gets good enough grades in high school. I thought college was going to be a tough, but still easy to get good grades. I was in for one rude awakening. It happened at the end of the first semester, when we got our final grades. My grades were the lowest in the whole block! I got an average of 2.7, while my blockmates’ grades were pretty much on the B level. That was so lame! I vowed that I will change for the better, to say no to bumming, slacking, procrastinating, and all other forms of laziness. I was going to make sure that I do. Failure was not an option. I now study harder, although not hard enough, I am trying my best, and that counts. Hopefully, my hard work will be reflected in my final marks.

The second epiphany is my musical epiphany was brought about by an artist named Andy McKee (Sounds like Nanny McPhee). As a fledgling guitarist, hearing and seeing him on YouTube was really inspiring. In addition to that, AMP or Ateneo Musicians Pool even organized a program called guitar 101, in which the AMP members teach you how to play the guitar. Seeing this as a sign, I signed up straight away. I had two teachers then, since I joined an intermediate program and a beginner one. Seeing them play made me want to pick up a guitar and practice day and night. It’s wonderful, the feeling of being able to play music. What more if it’s music as great as a masterpiece? By the way, if haven’t seen Andy McKee on YouTube, I suggest you do. More power to the guitar!

The final epiphany was my sports epiphany. I was taking Arnis as my PE then and I’m not a very sporty person, which means I’m pretty much fodder when it comes to sparring. But I didn’t want to be. As a kid, I took Taekwondo, I kind of sucked at it, although I did become better before I quit. I was sick of contact sports then; it was creepy, the way people look at you with their murderous eyes. (Yes, that and the head kicks) I wanted to change that, and so I did. I practiced a lot, like an hour a day for six days a week, since I’m not really naturally gifted, although I wasn’t a klutz either (If you don’t count me tripping on my own feet). Luckily, I got the silver medal on the culmination tournament at the end of the sem, Plus a bruise the size of a fist on my arm. It simply showed me the difference frequency can really make in any sport, and that hard work really does manifest itself when the time comes. In my case, it was the time when I was being thwacked, ka-powed, clobbered, and oofed.

I’ve always wanted to do many, many things. Playing the guitar and striving to get good grades and trying to get better in sports are just a few them, literally. In this world, there are so many things that we, as people can do. I don’t want myself to be limited by what I have to be and what I have to know, but by what I want to be and what I want to know.

At the end, looking back on all of these things that happened to me makes me remember how much I’ve changed for the better. It’s all thanks to the small motivations from my friends, family, rivals, and the three big shoves I needed to get my ass in gear. Today, I look forward to seeing what I’ll be after this summer; as long as I keep on trying to be better than whom I was yesterday.