It's all coming back to me

       Do you remember that time in high school when you have to meet up with your guidance counselor and discuss your potential college course?

       My daughter is now a junior high school student. She's a bit confused. She loves music but she is afraid that if she pursues this passion, she'll end up playing her violin in the sidewalks or the subway stations of some big city to earn a meager income. She's looking up to us to push her into some direction, but my husband and I promised ourselves that we will never do that. We will guide and support her to pursue the work vocation that God has destined for her. Easier said than done. This brought me back to my past.

       My father is a doctor and my mother a nurse. So back then, it was automatic that my siblings and I would either become a doctor or a nurse. I remembered taking an exam and I was offered a full tuition scholarship by IBM to take up Computer Science in Cebu City. I turned that down. My English teacher, on the other hand, encouraged me to take up Journalism in UP Manila, having worked with me in the editorial staff of our high school paper. I, personally, would have taken Fine Arts major in advertising because of my artistic inclination (having won in many poster-making and art contests) but my father would not hear of any of these. In terms of aptitude, I had it in me to become a doctor and take up nursing as a pre-med course. That was his thought. His one practical reason --- in case I don't end up proceeding to medicine, I have a decent degree which I can use even as a housewife. I can take care of the kids without getting into panic mode when they get sick. That was pretty logical and practical so I heeded his advice. And that was how I ended up with a BS in Nursing degree and got into medicine after two years of soul-searching.

       Now, my past is haunting me. I feel I have neglected that artistic side of me and now it's back with a vengeance.

       After writing and publishing my book, "Running the Millionaire Lane," a memoir of sort, I knew I wanted to spend the rest of my life pursuing a writing career. It has been literally just that -- an endless pursuit. I didn't realize it would be a steep mountain to climb. I've had a lot of hiccups along the way. One writing course after another only served to confuse me. From non-fiction to literally works, technical to medical writing, online health articles to inspirational, now, I got lured to copywriting and grantwriting.

       It's not until I enrolled in this free online course offered by UC Berkeley at Edx.org that I realized I've been trying to pursue journalism all along. The past that has been haunting me has finally caught up. Have I finally found the right mountain to climb?