why am i saying this?

education. and how one values it.

one of the many things i'd want to pass on to "my children" is that valuable lesson my dear parents taught me, value your education.
"we worked hard to achieve what we have now. and we owe it all to the fact that we finished school, our parents did their best to give us the best."

(I never failed to forget that since...)

my parents were raised from different social backgrounds. my mom seemingly came from a "well-to-do" family (well, at some point they did seem that they were). and my dad, had to work out in the field to help sustain their family needs. since they lost their father at a very young age, everyone decided to put a stake to help with finances. though different, they both were very determined to achieve their personal goals...

finish school. get a good-paying job. build valuable work experience. earn enough money. build a family.

sounds easy? i sure know that the journey wasn't. and they never failed to remind us that.

i'm grateful at how our parents reared us. they've opened our eyes to life's (harsh) realities. treated us as adults even during childhood. involved us in discussions that were serious and even consulted our opinions to decision-making that involves the family.

of course, they did treat us as their little ones. but they made us see that life isn't always about things that are pink and rosy.

and all these paid off.

but even if they did open our eyes to those crude facts. there were still some things that i took forgranted. little things that didn't feel significant. until now...

as i was doing one of my last few tasks at work, a sudden rush of "contemplation" came to me...

as i was there. seated. at the frontrow of a local mini-bus. staring out the window.
i saw flocks of kids traversing meters and meters of distance in their small rugged feet.
just to get to school. and beat the 8:00 am buzzer.

i suddenly remembered my gradeschool days... when i used some sortof delaying tactic just so i won't get to ride the first trip in our school bus. OR how i'd lazily get up from bed, do my morning routine before the bus beeps for my trip to school.

if only i've seen how these kids were. maybe i'd have a different take towards preppin (for school). i was so blessed to even have that (school)bus take me to and fro'. while these kids tire themselves even before classes start. that scenario made me heave a grateful sigh.

but altogether, what they did was some sort of sacrifice.
traversing meters just to earn the day's lessons.
put tiny investments into their (mind)banks.
get educated to push themselves out of poverty.

but why do they have to exert much effort to attain their right?

if only...
(sigh. what's gonna come out of me after that would create a lengthy discourse. if you know what i mean...)


et cetera: i so wanted to capture that "sight"... but rats, i forgot to bring my cam with me.
so much for evidence right there.