At times, it is disheartening to see or observe how people put too much pressure on themselves based solely on the labels that society may have imposed upon them. Yes, this is a bold claim from my end knowing how I have experienced it way back when I was a child – “ay To, third ka lang?”, “hindi gid ikaw gali maalam kay nag number three lang ikaw”. The mediocrity that emanates from these statements coming from my relatives makes me question myself – I will never be good for everyone am I?
Then came college, when getting a score of 60 over 100 is more of a relief than a burden. That was freshman year, then by sophomore, I started to realize, there is more to life here in the university than just burying my self in books and photocopied readings. But wait, I chanced upon mediocrity when, in one of the usual family gatherings, I was asked, “kabudlay sang UP no?”, “pabay-e sila na a, anhon mo na kay amo lang na masarangan mo.” Since then, it was a nonstop grind for me to balance my acads and org work – simply to prove a point, I will never accept mediocrity in my life – AGAIN.
It was an uphill climb as I find my self in a pressure cooker from junior to senior high – there is no other end goal but to finish my university life with latin honors. Did I ever get what I wanted? NO. It was a huge slap of realization as a wave of regret struck me – why did I ever pushed my self too hard to the point that I shoved my self to well – NOTHINGNESS. It was not worth it, I tell you.
And, as I look back, from this day to the day that I cried non stop for more than 5 hours after being told that the latin honors will never be for me – I realized, I molded myself out of a label that I cannot conform. In fact, it is not a question of conformity, but an issue of REALNESS – is it the real me or it was someone else who made me so obsessed with the label that success is equivalent to latin honors – something which, at the onset, was not me.
In today’s label climate, while for some, labels are becoming the norm, but, I strongly believe that the realness of the persona is what matters most. Inclusivity speaking – WE simply cannot allow every label ascribed to us to get in our way of molding our selves into a person that truly, innately believe as – WHO WE ARE.
Remember, LABELS LANG NA.
- Jude Vincent E. Parcon
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