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As of the year 2025, I officially became a retired taekwondo blackbelt.

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I will always be grateful for everything that this sport taught me; it shaped my character and made me a stronger and more resilient person. Balancing sports and academics was difficult, but the friendships and lifelong bonds made it all worthwhile.

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Taekwondo gave me so many good memories, but despite that, I did not find it worth continuing, especially because I am now in senior high school, embracing a new chapter of my life, in a new city.

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Before you ask who Frances is, I’d like to introduce you to who I was when I was as cute as a pea.

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P.S: I only have a few solo pictures so for the rest of the photos, I will be using family pictures ^-^

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When I was in pre-school, we travelled a lot since we originally lived in Quezon City, and my dad and his family always wanted to see me. I barely attended school during this stage of my life, and it was all worth it!

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During this early stage, I couldn't remember anything, all I knew was that my parents loved me.

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We really loved swimming! This was where I poured my energy every weekend and summer. It helped me sleep early too. ^-^

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My dad came from a big family; he has three sisters and is the only boy! I felt like the luckiest little girl since my titas treated me like a doll. Like a literal DOLL.

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Qualities: Physically, I could walk and run quickly, even going as far as climbing cabinets, shelves, and tables. Emotionally, I cried a lot when I wanted things but couldn't express in in words.

Memorable Experience: I don't remember much but my mom told me that I loved dressing up!

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I don't remember much at this stage, but specific memories did stand out, and I am lucky to have remembered them. I have always taken pride in learning how to do a backflip and handstand at a young age.

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This is Tita Ella, who loved buying me cute clothes and accessories. I didn't talk much back then, but I loved everything about dressing up. I discovered my love for fashion because of tita!

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Qualities: Physically, I was pretty tall for my age with really tan skin because I loved swimming and playing under the sun. Socially, I made friends with kids with whom I swam. Emotionally, I would cry when my parents stopped me from swimming.

Memorable Experience: Learning how to do a handstand and front flip in the pool.

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I couldn't find pictures of me as a baby since they're kept in an album in Luzon. But fortunately, I found this picture of me when I was 1 year old. As a normal kid, I cried a lot since I couldn't express my emotions through words. I also didn't remember a single thing at this age. But based on this one picture alone, I believe that my parents already knew how "arte" I was

Fun Fact: I was 7 months old when I first started walking. My mom told me she was amazed at how I crawled, sat up, and walked at a young age.

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I may look sweet, but don't let those cute curls and chubby cheeks fool you! Since I started walking at 7 months, by 2 years old, I had already started running. According to my mom and yayas, I was FAST! Like really fast! I think I got that from my athletic parents🤣

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This is my kuya! He's my cousin, but we're like siblings. He is 6 years older than I am. I used to annoy him by pulling his hair or getting his iPad. Despite annoying him, it always saddened him whenever I had to leave Butuan.

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As a little girl, I also grew up with my lola! She was the best. Whenever I would tell her I wanted to eat something, she would already have it prepared the next day. My lola and lolo protected me whenever my mom would get mad at me. I miss them so much! 🕊️

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My parents and I travelled A LOT! I wish we had the time to travel again.

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These moments of my life were filled with love and scolding🤣. Everyone around me always called me "hyper" since I would run, climb, and do all sorts of stuff, and in the process, I would accidentally break things. Sorry hehe.

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Qualities: Physically, I was active in school activities and other adventurous activities; socially, I made friends with my classmates, even though I was shy; emotionally, I learned how to comfort my classmates whenever they would cry in class; mentally, I developed study habits, with the guidance of my mom.

Memorable Experience: Doing fun and adventurous activities with my parents, such as zip lining, wall climbing, and rappelling. I wanted to do more but they had age and height requirements for the more thrilling activities.

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I wanted to do all sorts of stuff, and I was really happy because my parents supported me! We even travelled to different places so I could experience things

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2015 - My parents did their best to help me adjust to the new place by always bonding with me

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June 2015 - The first day of school in Enfant Cheri

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A few years after my grandfather died, in 2015, we decided to move to Butuan City. The change was difficult despite constantly visiting, mainly because of the language barrier. I was born in a household that only spoke in Filipino and English, so learning Bisaya was difficult. In addition, I also had to transfer to a new school, but luckily, my parents enrolled me in an English school. That ruled out the language barrier; making friends was the only difficult thing for me. As a 7-year-old, I felt extremely left out.

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In Quezon, I was happy and contented. I lived with my mom and grandma, but something felt missing; my mom and I were away from my dad. After dealing with everything in Quezon, we flew to Butuan City. Saying goodbye to my cousins and playmates was hard, but now, I am happy that we moved, it brought my family and I closer.

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As I mentioned before, I loved swimming, so my parents decided to enroll me in a swimming clinic over the summer. And as you can see from the picture above, I enjoyed it a lot since I became SUPER TAN! Based on my memory, it got so bad that I had circular tan lines on my eyes because of my goggles.

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Fun Fact: During the culmination of our clinic, I was scouted by a swimming coach since he said that I was a fast swimmer.

I was excited about it at first, but then I did not want to be pressured to swim. I treated swimming as a relaxing thing to do, and I realized that if I made it my sport, I would have to take it seriously. In short, I did not grab the opportunity to be able to train for swim tournaments.

My parents wholeheartedly supported my decision. I'm so lucky!

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If I had to choose between being sporty or maarte as a personality, I would not be able to decide because I am both. My parents are so lucky to have me as their child 🤭.

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As an "Asian kid" pro max, I experienced all of those. These were the years wherein my parents did not take "no" for an answer, since they said those classes would help me in the future. The only thing keeping me sane was my 2 hours of screen time, playing Roblox.

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This picture was taken after I had won my first out-of-town medal. I started Taekwondo in 2016, so by early 2017, I was already ready to compete in Mindanao wide tournaments as a yellow belt.

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My mom did Taekwondo with me, too! This picture was taken during the mixed culmination of my dance and taekwondo classes. Dancing was fun, but my body is way too stiff, so I didn't continue it. It was a "one summer" thing.

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2018 - I can't find pictures so I guess this will do

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Something that interested me a lot was art. I always used to paint and draw, so my parents enrolled me in an art class to enhance my skills. I no longer have pictures of my work from when I was in elementary school, but I had four canvas paintings that my dad hung up in his office. I took pride in seeing those; it boosted my confidence a lot. My artworks, along with others, were also displayed in an art exhibition in the mall.

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As grade school graduates of 2019, our graduation ceremony was cancelled due to the pandemic. I graduated with high honors. I was excited for the upcoming graduation; I even had my gown made, but sadly, it was cancelled. In the end, I had no pictures in my beautiful gown.

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Qualities: Physically, I became more conscious of my appearance, but as I entered senior high school, I only cared about taking a bath and going to school since I prioritized sleep over doing my hair or makeup; socially, I valued friendships. I never cared about having many friends; I only cared about creating and maintaining true bonds and relationships. Emotionally, I experienced mood swings, but also deeper self-awareness; mentally, Everything felt overwhelming, from the shock of finding out I was going to be a big sister to being completely separated from my friend(during the pandemic).

Memorable Experience: Going to Baguio and Manila with my friends. Travelling a lot with my Taekwondo team

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I decided to play Call of Duty Mobile(CoDM) to cope with the loneliness. This "era" was interesting because I interacted with people from different places. I had a great time playing and making new friends.

I went by the name "Akira" or "Aki" in game.

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This little guy taught me how to love someone gently. He is the softest and cutest baby ever! My heart melts whenever he calls me "ate" and says, "I love you".

Being an older sister is the best feeling ever!

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My little brother is a big part of my development and maturity. I have been an only child for 12 years, so I did not have to share my parents' love, attention, and gifts. It's not something to be proud of, but looking back, I was a spoiled brat, and having a little sibling humbled me in a good way.

I learned how to soothe him, make him laugh, annoy, and tease him. At first, I didn't want a sibling, but now, I would love and protect him with everything I have.

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Meet Bonifacio III, my little brother. On May 20, 2020, my little brother was born. We are 12 years apart, and at first, I never wanted another sibling; in fact, I actually got sick when I found out that we were expecting a new baby.

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Starting junior high school with a completely new learning modality was difficult. In the year 2021, the online learning modality was implemented because of the pandemic, and honestly, I thought it was a joke at first. I did not expect to spend the first two years of my high school journey at home.

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For 2 years, my point of view was Google Classroom and Zoom. It was hard to focus, mainly because of the distractions and temptations surrounding me(ex: bed, phone, and tv)

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During online classes, my grades were okay, JUST okay, and a part of me was disappointed because I knew I could do better. My parents were understanding, but looking back, I could have done better.

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This was the most memorable moment of my junior high school years, when everything slowly returned to normal, we had our class trip to Manila and Baguio. Spending a week with my classmates was fun; there were many smiles and laughs. This trip showed us who we were, outside the four corners of our classrooms.

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After grade 10, I decided to study in Davao, 8 hours away from home. The thought of living alone and away from home was exciting at that time. I wanted "freedom", but now, as time passed by, I often feel homesick

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Moved here with my classmate and friend since grade 2!

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As of now, I am rethinking my life choices because grade 12 is BRUTAL. On the brighter side, it is preparing me for even more difficult experiences in my academic and professional life.