09/13/2025
Five Years Ago: A Chapter of Comfort and Quiet Longing
This photo was taken five years ago in my own classroom adorned beautifully, I was still with the Department of Education in the Philippines, a public school teacher deeply rooted in the classroom for nearly 16 years. Teaching had become second nature, a rhythm I had grown comfortable with. I knew the system, the daily routines, the familiar faces of colleagues and students that came and went through the years. It was my second home – stable, dependable, and, in many ways, safe.
But behind the comfort was a quiet longing I rarely admitted, even to myself. There were moments when I’d pause amidst the paperwork, the lessons, and the crowded classrooms and wonder, "Is this all there is for me?" I had given so much to the profession, to my students, to the school. And though there was pride in that, there was also a growing sense of exhaustion. Not just physically but financially, emotionally, and mentally.
Two years later, that quiet voice became louder. The exhaustion deepened, not only from the endless responsibilities but from the realization that I had begun to outgrow the space I was in. I craved for something more, not just in terms of income, but in meaning, in challenge, and in the opportunity to discover who I could still become beyond the walls of my classroom.
It was then that I made a decision that changed the course of my life: to choose myself.
I wasn’t running away from the career I had. I was walking toward growth. For once, I allowed myself to dream beyond duty. To explore the world beyond my comfort zone. To take a bold step toward opportunities abroad, not just for a better future materially, but for personal fulfillment, for the growth I knew I deserved.
Leaving wasn't easy. Nearly sixteen years of service doesn’t just fade. But what pushed me forward was the belief that it was finally time to invest in me, in who I was becoming and the life I still had yet to live.
And so I leapt, not because I was fearless, but because I was finally ready to put myself first.
