#LearningTwentyFour

My old iPod’s latest downloaded song reverberates in my head and I can’t stop mimicking T.S.’ eccentric portrayal in “Blank Space’s” music video. Aside from the fact that the crazy-inside-her persona is the ultimate subject, she definitely proves that her being a story-teller can go beyond art. Apparently, I am one huge fan and admittedly, I am so much envious of how she lives her life to the fullest. And while she has been around crafting her own masterpieces, here is a young man hashtagging #LearningTwentyFour.

It was four years ago when I marched down the aisle wearing the University of the Philippines’ distinctive sablay across my chest, to celebrate the culmination of my college life—the graduation ceremony. The idea then was that the next step I need to pursue will be much easier, as I have earned a degree.

But as a new entrant in the corporate world, I struggled to hone skills to increase my value as a professional. In between episodes of pleasing myself and my bosses with good metrics in my first “formal” job, there were realizations, such as I could have done far better if only I had the ideal career I was dreaming of. The bad thing is, I knew that all along I didn’t know what I really wanted. Or maybe I did. Somehow. This is just a part of quarter-life crisis, I guess.

Confusion happens when the desire to succeed becomes an obsession. We think of the world as a glittery kingdom and we are supposed to get a fair share of its shimmers. Some of us resort to unhealthy competition just to advance in life. Others remain mediocre. The remaining ones are exhausting their energy to create a vision and eventually realize it. I voluntarily joined the latter club for there is no luxury of time to waste the opportunity. One day, I think, I will totally unleash my potential and it will burst forth into sparkling pieces.

After playing the song for the nth time, now I have a blank space occupied by a couple of paragraphs written on a boring weekday, which have turned into a little sentiment about my life choices.

Time check: It’s 3 in the afternoon and I have to be up by 7 to prepare for a 9 p.m. shift. I have three financial reports due my American managers. Oh, yeah, this is not a perfect job, but there is a choice to make it my career. And I am starting to love the profession.

Jake C. Salvosa, 24, a graduate of UP Tacloban, is a financial reporting analyst.