7 years old - I’m still at the height of my childhood where wishful thinking was dominant. A fanatic of Barbie doll, Sesame Street and Disney Sunday Cartoon Parade. Such a normal thing for a growing school age girl like me. The inputs that i have received has given me the courage to dream and become highly ambitious. Although, at that time i didn’t knew what’s it literally meant but leaves me no choice to just daydream for awhile.
12 years old - I achieved what others expected. I applied a scholarship and eventually passed the test. I grabbed the opportunity to have a better education by seriously using almost all of what’s inside between my Grey Matter(i guess). It was the start of every hope and making it happened. As usual, i dreamt about big houses, cars, a career in banking business and of course a chance to travel abroad. As i look back now, only the career aspect went off another path.
16 years old 
- My confused years. I was merely confused of what i wanted to be. That time, Computer Engineering was the “in” thing. Even though, i had less knowledge in the digital world but i let myself plunged in. My first semester ended a disaster with all my passing grades(75% yuck!). I realized, I’m not a math fanatic at all whom i thought i was! I find the course very boring and uninteresting. Solving all mathematical problems everyday made me felt dizzy. I was frustrated with what’s happening with my life and adding to the fact that my dad was furious(first time at my grades!). So, i resolved on seeking advices from my friends. Almost all of them took up nursing, the course my dad wants me to try. My kababata(Vangie) told me that the course suits me since I’m a science freak.
17 years old - Although I’m one year ahead of my nursing classmates in terms of age, i wasn’t intimidated. A second courser didn’t meant anything to them. From then on, i was happy. My new peers didn’t judged me right away, to later which i realized that all of them became my closest friends that’s why i embraced nursing with full arms and the next 4 years was history…..
21 years old - As i prepared myself for the nurse licensure exam, i was in the midst of a financial difficulties. But it didn’t stop me from achieving my goal….to be a registered nurse. It was just a piece of cake! Self-reliant and goal-oriented as i am, i promised to myself to be financially abundant someday at least before reaching age 30. I refused to give up. And so, i started out as a volunteer in a district hospital and lasted for 9 months before i transferred into a bigger hospital. I endured 2 fruitful years in that hospital. It serves as my training ground before i decided it was time to explore a greener pasture abroad.
25 years old - I wasn’t sure with what might be my fate in Saudi Arabia yet i have no choice that time since my family’s financial drought was still evident. I just ignored my apprehension in exchange for a better life. Even though, i knew it all along that going to Saudi Arabia was a bad idea. I lasted 10 and a half months there! The contradicting Saudi culture was not the kind of thing i could stand for. I told myself, there were lots of opportunities in the Philippines that awaits me.
26 years old - I spent 3 weeks at home then decided to return to Manila to try my luck again abroad. 4 months after i came back from Saudi Arabia, i eventually got a job offer for HMC in Qatar. The initial salary offer was bigger than Saudi, i grabbed the offer right then and there since my bank account was already diminishing and my London application was still pending.
And on mid-May 2003 i was officially a resident of Qatar. A place who occupies a quarter of my heart. In the future, my HMC experience will be valuable in my curriculum vitae. A sign that i might be exploring my way to any part of the world!
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