On June of this year, a month short of my second anniversary with the company, I resigned from my job. The pay was good, the benefits were more than any employee could ask for, and the co-workers were not only friendly but brilliant at what they did. It was the perfect office setup and, in these uncertain times where jobs are scarce, I gave it all up.

Just a few days before the September edition of Halfway Magazine goes online, a cousin of mine will have attended her first day of school as a freshman at a large public university in a neighboring state.

A few weeks ago, I entertained the idea of giving my graduation speech. I thought that it may come in handy in case I get requested (more like forced) by my classmates to give a few words. Yes, an impromptu speech.

When I was younger, I didn’t question my parents’ faith. Among my earliest memories are those of Sunday school, the church building and the scary bathroom in the basement. I remember frilly dresses on Easter and getting in trouble when my grandmother caught me running through a sprinkler in the dress.

On normal afternoons, Vivi and I dreaded the 40-minute drive home from school; and to pass the time we usually role-played, with me as a princess and her as my prince (I always forced her to be the male) and sometimes we’d end up arguing about the way the story should go, which would, in turn, become a kicking competition.

Summer of 1992. I was about to spend my 7th birthday in China, a remote and distant place that I was to visit for the very first time in my life. Little could I foresee what this country held.

In the Philippines, where the temperature can go as high as 38 degrees Celsius, people have only one goal in the summer months of March to May: cool down. Back in the ‘80s, the lucky ones got to spend a week in what is considered the Summer Capital, Baguio City, or a few days in the 2nd Summer Capital, Tagaytay City. Some went to their respective provinces, which may or may not be much cooler than Manila but at least guaranteed new surroundings to explore and the presence of relatives to entertain bored city folk.

The last week of school is a breeze, filled with games and movies and parties. Teachers pass out assignments to keep the students busy but have no intention of grading them. As a middle school teacher once confided, the final grades are already locked in, the students are just doing busy work now.

To define pen pals, it is more than just the correspondence of letter via the post from your address to the addressee, but could be an exchange of something great to come. Writing to a pen pal could lead to composing love letters and creating new friendships both which I have experienced in the past.

It all started when I was about five, during a cold winter. I had just come home from Kindergarten and ran to my fluffy black miniature poodle, lovingly named Cocoa, to embrace him after a long day of scribbling alphabets and throwing sand in girls’ faces.