“Who would you be 10 years from now?” was the theme of our Values Education writing activity under Mrs. Bernardino (III-Rizal) sometime in 2001. Of course life-altering questions could only be brought up by Values Education teachers back then.

To be honest, I forgot what I wrote and hid in that brown envelop yet Madeline Piloton said she could still remember what I put on the paper (I was hardly aware she was peeking at my lengthy composition). Probably I thought everyone else was as preoccupied as I was narrowing down to a few words our own rosy, and lofty dreams. Mrs. Bernardino said we could come back after 10 years and open those dream cases (our brown envelops) to surprise ourselves.

The quicksand timer halted. Who would have thought time could be this quick and strict? Perhaps, my third year classmates, and batch mates, who have done the same activity, are also wondering what they have written and hidden in those brown, maybe dusty, envelops.

We are certain not to see a perfect match between our composition and the real fate that overtook us. If you do find the life path you crafted (back in third year high school) unfolding into your real life now, you truly make a great fortune-teller!

Do you crave to know how you used to think? Whether you have taken this task seriously, or not, you would still be curious to know who you “were” back then. So here’s a challenge to Mrs. Bernardino: can you still hand in those envelops we’ve lent to you for ten long years?

(A Trial Post for my High School Alma Mater: Lagro High School – Payatas Annex)