I would like to begin my narration with a simple "𝙊𝙣𝙘𝙚 𝙪𝙥𝙤𝙣 𝙖 𝙩𝙞𝙢𝙚," but life is not always as sweet as our childhood fairytale, so instead I'll introduce myself in my very own humble way I can.
I mean... I could use the line but I would say it is narrated like the famous opening scene of Shrek during 2010, and you know the rest that happened.
I am certain I am introducing myself with the other brilliant newbies here today, and I am in question if I will ever make it to your recognition. Regardless, I will tell who I am today and let the rest do its glory.
Hello, I am Aldwynne. I was born half-baked but now I am striving for success through my experiences and dreams.
I live in a peaceful town I could not imagine living in—the Bogo City—a city in Northern Cebu that is known for its landscape and grandeur. I was born exactly in its land and the dust that lingers in my body speaks for my history, as well as my origin.
I was born in a family with no generational wealth and our only humblest offering to the world is the kindness my great-grandparents have passed on to us. We are eight in the family and I rank 6th in the siblings' order, and we are all male, supposedly, but life took another turn and then we had our princess—the flower in our home who is our only sister.
Despite being born in poor wealth and with expensive rice, we were able to rise again and left our old living. It took persistence and determination to clinch the fairness and life quality that we were dreaming of as a family. I am grateful to have parents who were willing to struggle and champion the unfairness for us children.
Even before we knew no currency in money, we still had our education at the right age and now I am currently in my final year in high school. My older brother and sister are already in college, and next year is another turning point for me as I enter a university.
I am under the Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics strand, and it is, in our school's culture, the highest among intellects and among all strands in education. It is our identity as brilliant and performing individuals because we belong to the said strand, but I strongly believe it is of the students' potential that ranking should consider, not by strand. Little did the students know we all share the same history: of not expecting to make it to the list of STEM passers, and like them, we struggle in academics too. I was just influenced by my friends albeit not having interest in the strand, and the pressure of making ends meet in the academy was out of my grip. I turned the pressure into an opportunity to grow and now I have my own wings.
At this age, I discovered lots of characteristics that make up who I am now. For instance, I give attention to almost everything in my surroundings, but I am trying to learn to focus only on certain things. Although I am trying to develop it far healthier than it was, I honestly enjoyed having this trait since it helped me when writing about an idea. The ideas I write mimic the sensation I experience firsthand. Additionally, one of my best traits is that I am one of those people who developed empathy at an early stage of their life, and possessing this thing helps me understand the world more in various situations or experiences. But it also has a con. But anyway…
Moving on, I am not the kind of person who has a lot of hobbies or interests, but I have a few that, for me, are enough to enjoy my life. I also believe these are fluid, so I would expect I’ll have more or even less in the future.
I have learned at a very early stage of life the glorious chess sport and even competed in contests held in our school. I couldn’t get rid of this hobby of playing chess that whenever my eyes contact a chessboard, my brain and childhood years create a loop of strategies. Alongside chess, I also enjoy playing badminton with my neighborhood friends. I hope to play it once in the school’s sports event, but I believe I need more practice before joining. I did badminton during the pandemic; at that time it was just a pastime activity, but it continued until it became my hobby. The chessboard and the net ground became my arena and my battlefield for years and years of making sense of my life. Until now, I battle to be better and more skilled.
Apart from sports, I make sure my daily life gives time for sketching/drawing. If writing makes me express my emotions and thoughts, drawing makes them alive and real. I am grateful I have these two channels where my expression can grow. Of course, we find ways as to how to tend things we learned as we grow, so to keep my drawing and writing sane and honed, I hoard books and read them under an eclipse and summon the gods of wisdom. Just kidding. But yes, I read books to sharpen my writing and drawing by using the ideas and styles I read from books. I also read because it is the only travel I can afford as of now.
Lastly, about my interests, I often watch movies and films, especially those that discuss social and mental issues. One of my favorite movies is Beautiful Boy where Timothée Chalamet starred. I also watch animes, like ones from Ghibli, and K-dramas. My weekends are spent with these interests, while trying to do my hobbies more often than usual, even if busyness comes with a greater portion at my age now.
So who introduced the Hive platform to me and how did I learn that writing flourishes here? The simple answer is because of my brother who is a Hiver here. @whosee would always talk about the platform nonstop and all of us get annoyed, especially when he talks about the platform at the dinner table. But later, I became interested and he kept on convincing me more. My brother has influenced me in many ways as I grew up, and he even taught me writing, and my writing style is a direct imitation of him because I idolized him. I am happy to get to know about the platform and more happy to know I have an immediate person who can teach me as I navigate into the rules and activities of Hive.
I decided to ask my brother when I could join the platform and he immediately searched for an onboarder. Luckily, Mr. @intoybugoy didn’t hesitate to hold an orientation, together with the newbies my brother also invited. I am thankful for his passion in blogging that it helped a lot of people, and I am one of them now.
I have this calling to join Hive and I believe it is because it would help me improve my writing and discover different writing styles from the users here. This is an opportunity for me to develop, grow, and help empower myself, as well as the others I will meet soon as I learn thoroughly in Hive. Also, I learned this platform is composed of various communities, like photography and traveling, which would be a training ground for my writing as I try to cover different topics and target various audiences. Lastly, I have always enjoyed meeting new people, personally or virtually, and becoming a newbie in Hive gives me new opportunities to connect with more people around the globe.
Just writing this introduction makes me excited to learn more inside the platform, as well as to give wisdom to my readers. I cannot end this post without stating how I could contribute to Hive, which is very hard to think of since I don’t have any experience yet. Regardless, for now, I believe I can contribute by covering different, new, and relevant topics in different communities and try to give wisdom that would inspire my readers. I am also in extreme hope to be like my brother, who was once a stranger about Hive, but now brings interested people to this brilliant community to connect, learn, and inspire. Through this journey, I can help people and readers in the long run and discover what should be discovered.
This might be a long introduction but I hope I did introduce myself enough. I am thrilled to know this blog starts my journey here in Hive, and I cannot wait to know what will happen in the next days, weeks, and years.
I didn’t start the blog with a Once upon a time tagline, so I am not ending this either with a happy ever after. I don’t have a life like in Disney movies nor have the greatest wisdom to teach the whole mankind. But I promise to inspire you in ways that I can and give life lessons that could help you live a meaningful life. Dear friend, the journey starts right now.