I was born on a hot summer day, when even time seemed to stand

still, in my native San Pedro, Laguna specifically at Divine Mercy

Hospital on August 8 2001. As time passed by, my parents made
this humor in which they claimed that I’m only an adopted child
and that it was a stroke of luck that they chose me among the
other four babies in the nursery. I certainly do not remember a
thing when I was an infant, no one does. Needless to say, security
in this stage is a necessity in order for me to properly develop both
physically and emotionally. I could say my parents did not lack
anything to meet my needs, with that, I learned to trust and bond
with them as I developed physically. The moment I was born, my
parents saw ten little fingers, ten perfect toes, then it filled their
hearts with love that overflows, so I was told.
As far as I am concerned, my early childhood stage
turned out great. I had the perfect parents and perfect
neighbors as well as an ideal home. Unbeknownst to me,
I was told by my parents that I was an explorer; I would
travel around the house on my hands and knees
tirelessly the entire day. My mother was lucky enough to
capture one of those moments especially with a smile on
my face. During this stage, I learned to cope with my
environment and learned the basic mechanisms of basic
tools such as using the mini toilet, hiding in safe corners,
climbing upon almost everything, etc. This was also the
stage I uttered my first words.
My sister was my best friend. My parents told
me that I was the most introverted kid they
knew. I had difficulty getting along with the
other kids. Another thing I could recall is how
my mom scolds at me whenever I do wrong and
my father is my only ally and my only comfort.
My mom really hated my rebellious attitude as a
product of my guilt. I was unaware of flaunting
such behavior. Nevertheless, I find delight and
happiness whenever I was recognized for doing
something satisfactory.
One of the major turning point stage in the social aspect of
myself. It was a stage of acquaintance and learning. My
school became my centralized facet. I even thought that
the purpose of living is complying for a complete
attendance in school. Moreover, Jesus was introduced to
my life; I knew Him as an omnipotent great God and He
was the Son of God. The Trinity confused me and left a big
gap in my faith. This was also the stage I imagined things a
lot more often and became a really competitive kid. I
started dreaming the impossible; being one of the world’s
greatest leader, discovering a major breakthrough, saving
a lot of people’s lives and even more. I always took every
effort to perform a task and succeed, then develop self-
confidence. However, failure tends to make me feel a
useless individual.
This is where I am now, currently focusing on my academics
and starting to embark on my plans for college. I discover
myself more and still continue to uncover my true purpose. I
seldom experience identity crisis because this I belie is the
result of the transition from childhood to adulthood. My
philosophy in life is being developed and more questions arise
as I unravel the secrets of life. I always try hard enough to
conform by everyone’s expectation from, especially that of my
parents. My thirst for knowledge intensifies and I became
dreadfully passionate about mathematics. This passion helped
me gain profound knowledge in lots of areas, up to the extent
that I was be able to represent our country in various
international and local mathematics competition. In addition, I
involve myself in a lot of things as far as I am concerned such
as politics.
I can’t really assure of what I would become for these latter
stages. Rather, I only see a vision of my future based on my
preliminary plans I had in my adolescence. But I believe I’ll be
in college and graduate just to find a great job. I am
planning to pursue Electronics and Communication
Engineering in college and I am certain that the degree I’ll
achieve will become my ticket to a better tomorrow. I want
to become a renowned engineer so I could serve my country
well by providing services associated with
telecommunications. I study hard and devote my free time
to reading scholarly reviews and watching interviews with
recognized specialists in the field. I still hope I find the right
partner. However, if I fail to do so, I might have to spend the
rest of my life alone.
Of course, I understand that life is not just a bed of roses,
and challenges and hardships are an integral element of life.
I would expect that during adulthood, I would have
established my spiritual life and live according to my calling.
And the success I have been anticipating is truly
questionable. I have come to believe that two main factors
determine success. First of all is a person’s own
determination and will to succeed. Are you ready to make
sacrifices to achieve your goal, like working and studying at
the same time? Are you prepared to recover after failure and
proceed to your goal again? Without strong internal
motivation, it is nearly impossible to become successful.
I believe I will retire during these days. But I must evaluate
the things I did in the course of my whole journey. I will start
to look back and find content because I believe I have lived
my life to the fullest. I will just devote the rest of my days
being a loyal and strenuous servant of God and dedicate all
my leftover strength as a worker in our church. In this way, it
would ease the sense of despair in myself if ever I haven’t
done much in my past life.
 PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT

Journey to a Milestone
BASED ON ERIK ERIKSON’S
8 STAGES OF DEVELOPMENT

HAZEL MAE D. GADIAZA

11 - QUISUMBING