31/08/2026
AKO YUNG BATANG NANGARAP NOON PERO DI PINALAD
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I was introduced to basketball when I was a kid, and somehow, it became a part of my childhood.
I got my first real opportunity to take it seriously during junior high school. In my final year, I finally got my break and joined a school league. I thought maybe that was the beginning of something bigger, but eventually, that chapter ended, and I thought basketball was already behind me.
Then, during senior high school, UE Cal opened a women’s basketball league, and basketball found its way back to me. At that time, I honestly thought this could finally be my way in. UE was already a university competing in the UAAP, and to me, that felt like a step closer to the level of basketball I had always dreamed of reaching. I thought maybe this was my chance to eventually become a college varsity player and see how far I could really go.
But it stopped there.
I started losing faith in myself. I became afraid that pursuing basketball while juggling academics would only become a hindrance to finishing college on time. And deep down, I never really saw myself as someone exceptional. I thought I was just mediocre.
I watched people I knew from the past continue their basketball journeys and eventually get their moment in the spotlight. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t envious. Sometimes, I wondered what could’ve happened if I had believed in myself a little more, or if I had been brave enough to take that chance.
Eventually, I accepted that maybe basketball was no longer part of my story.
Until adulthood.
Years later, my current company unexpectedly gave me another chance to step back onto the court. Through CHIP, I got to experience, even just for a moment, what it felt like to be in the environment I once dreamed of—to feel the energy, the discipline, and the kind of experience that made me wonder what it would’ve been like to pursue basketball professionally.
For a moment, I got to experience the version of myself I once thought I had missed.
