Passion-Driven
A short anecdote of my dream

Imagine. Believe. Achieve.
You might think that these simple words are meaningless and impossible. You might think that
it’s just a little play by an imaginative, creative 12-year-old girl who just think of any word or
catchy phrase that I can add on to my bio on Facebook or Instagram.

But these three words bear a lot of meanings. These words have made me who I am today and
who I want to be in the future.

I am a young campus journalist who is greatly inspired by those three simple words because
without these, I would have never imagined that I can accomplish all that I’ve dreamed of when
I was just in Grade three.

The support and mentoring from my coaches who guided me every time I take the challenges
of competing against other schools is a very big factor, too. They taught me discipline, one of the
most important things that I needed. Having that discipline, I managed to go and compete in
different places and meet different people like in Pangasinan where the last National Schools’
Press Conference was held at and we finished as among the best three teams in Collaborative
Publishing.

Most of the time when I am doing an article, I get stuck in one paragraph. But that did not
stop me from doing what I want which is journalism. In fact, it even pushed me to do better. It is
my passion and it helps me take my mind off many problems. I am always trying even if I am
sometimes struggling to continue the journey that I have started. Every time that I struggle, I
put in mind that life is never easy for those who dream. Because those who dream, they will
suffer the pain and will sacrifice their time to be better than they were yesterday.

In the times that my coach gets angry because of my work, I put those mistakes in my mind
and I try to never do those again. I put these mistakes as a platform to broaden my horizons so I
can see to it that I will get better and better. I admit that sometimes I do have mistakes in my
work. But it is better to fail in originality than to succeed in imitation. And that is something
which I have learned from journalism which I think I could apply in my whole life.

It opened my mind to many things. The first thing is honesty and truthfulness. Being honest is a
thing that should be applied in journalism – no lies, no fake news. Journalism is truthful.
Journalism can never be silence. It must speak immediately while the echoes of wonder, the
claims of triumph and the signs of horror are still in the air. If you want to change the world,
journalism can be your weapon.

With the great power that journalists possess to give news and information to people, should
come great responsibility. Because journalism is the faith of the future, it can change the world if
people start acting now. It serves as a bridge to empower the people as we dig deeper to the
stories that must be heard by many. We should not be deprived of what we deserve such as our
rights. We can do something for the people and that journalism will be able to serve as the
catalyst of change. Journalism shows people’s right and fights for it. The world will never be
free without it.

Being with the people that I know motivated me to continue doing journalism. At first, I was
not sure of what I was doing, but with putting of much patience and hard work, I managed to
come this far. Journalism is not a thing that I only do for nothing, it is not only for fun. It
enlightens my soul, lights up my world, and open my eyes. It becomes the hope of our world.
We, journalists are needed by the world. It is our task to let them know the truth. We have to
write what is worth reading, and do what is worth writing. As someone said, writing is a struggle
against silence.

By Janine Kyle P. Timado
San Miguel South District
Editor-in-Chief, The Junior Mayumo