2012 in words and pics

An unexamined life, Socrates says, is not worth living. Hence, it has always been a tradition for newspaper, TV, magazine and other media organizations to run a list of what have been, for reminiscing, reflecting, perhaps wishing sake, that the incoming year will be better than the outgoing. My 2012 has been memorable, groundbreaking, rollercoaster-ish.

My friends, classmates and I savor the last few months of being carefree students last January and February before claiming our togas and graduation rites. Who says it’s easy to juggle things when your plate is full: academics, extracurricular, thesis, and love life for some. 

After four years, eight semesters, and a number of weekends spent for school projects and assignments, the most rewarding day for senior students has finally come on the last day of March. Wearing our togas and tassels, we stride on the aisle (some, towing their parents) towards the stage to claim our right to enter the “real world.” 

Come summer, April-May, some have taken their time off to travel, try new things, and bum around. But in essence, it’s job-hunting that spelled crucial, excruciating, and exciting at the same time. The two months of supposedly summer break served as a platform for finding our souls, wants, voices, and paths. Some have stayed on their first jobs, many still somber from being a bummer, while others constantly ‘job hop.’ Welcome to the real world, it is!

My real employment (I have been hopping and choosing back then hehe) simultaneously started on the opening of new school year. Reminiscing though I was still in my college days, I faced a tough yet stirring five-month stint last June to November in a publishing company as an Editorial Assistant, which developed, honed, and improved my editing skills, where I learned that every day is two words! I would also never forget the friendship and camaraderie I made with my officemates. 

I’d like to think that the biggest Christmas gift I received so far came last December (3, to be exact) when I got what I’ve always wanted— to be a writer in a national newspaper. And I’m loving it. My current (and hopefully, my last) employment turns my table full circle. I’ve been used to writing fast yet fastidious news reporting that I find it amusing, challenging, and rousing to write soft news. Life is a constant learning indeed, as I am seemingly taking a new course: features writing 101.