Poor and sad. That's how my younger version view my life. Scarce food and resources. Never-ending struggle and tears.

There's my mother, Linda Deguma Montebon, and my father, Rodulfo Abella Mataverde. They fell in love and they had me. Hi, I'm Niño Niel and my life is kind of crazy. This might sound familiar to you but my life doesn't. I love TikTok but it barely shows my life.

I was born on August 3, 2003 in our humble home. Don't ask me why I was not born at the hospital. The explanation is the first thing I ever mentioned. I am the youngest of six siblings. In case you don't know them, let me introduce them to you. I have four elder sisters namely: Charity, Irene, Ana Grace, and Ma. Isabel, and there's my brother Rollyn, and me, the last man standing.

I am family-oriented person who loves spending my time with my family, relatives, and friends. I admit, I am not a good son all the time but I will do anything for my family. They are everything to me. They have always been my anchor and lighthouse in every storm that I encountered in life.

A family that bonds together, stays together. According to Lola Carmen, we should let love, respect, and forgiveness prosper in the family, especially when she leaves.

I am from Jagbuaya, Tuburan, Cebu. I was born, raised, and lived here since I was small. I know I am still small today but you know what I mean. I grow up in an ordinary and unfinished house, built by an ordinary man I called Papa. We have limited resources so I cannot complain that I grew up in that house. In case you're wondering why I am not calling it home, let me tell you why.

Personally, I would not call the house as my home if my family is not in it. Home makes you feel warm, loved, and safe. I feel these emotions when I am with my family, including those times we were sleeping on the forest floors, guarding the woods my parents burned to be sold as charcoals. I experienced the lowest point of my life when I was young but I survived it because I have a strong foundation, which is my family.

I grow up in a place full of love, hope, care, belongingness, and forgiveness. My maternal grandparents, Roque Tenebroso Montebon and Carmen Candelosa Deguma, always taught us how to be contented in life and work hard to achieve what we want. They taught us humility and patience while growing up and it makes me sad but happy that I am actually living up to their lessons. I always told myself that I should grow up one day with these values instilled to us by my family.

I will not quit, I will not give up. As long as I live, I will never stop.

I studied my primary days in Jagbuaya Elementary School. I met wonderful people in my community and I thought the world is too big and I have so much to explore. I had fantastic teachers who still suffered from stress caused by a chaotic group of children in a small barangay. I thought I would be done studying when I graduated in Grade 6 but I was wrong.

Oh before I forgot, I was not an academic achiever like my sisters. However, I am still happy that I graduated with good grades and morals. Also, I cannot forget how ecstatic I was when I was awarded as Best in Religion in Grade 1. It was a minor award for some but it was a huge reward for me already.

Next stop, I enrolled at Tuburan National High School in my secondary years.

I enrolled in primary school a year later than those children around my age. Writing my name was a real struggle for me back then and it was too much of a hassle to write the alphabet repeatedly. I hated spending hours with my sisters who used to teach me the basics. All I wanted back then was to play and go to our neighbors' houses to either play with their children or watch TV since we did not have one.

A few years later, I became fascinated with badminton. It gives me the adrenaline I always crave as a young boy. It distracts me temporarily from the reality. I used to play badminton for leisure with my relatives and cousins. However, during our school sports meet, I won a game and my former teacher saw a potential in me. The school principal at that time was a sports enthusiast so he gave us a chance to compete in the district. Fortunately, I won in the district sports meet and I got to compete again in the Municipal Sports Meet held in District 1.

My hobby has led me to new opportunities I could never fathom as a young Mama's boy. I did not win the Municipal Sports Meet but I got to meet amazing and talented people who became acquaintances and some became friends.

Aside from playing badminton, I also like listening to music most of the time. I love singing OPM songs in karaoke with my family. We are not a family of singers but we love singing. Singing is a common interest in our family. I also love to dance, but only when I am around my friends and family. Dancing in my comfort zone is nostalgic for me. Additionally, I love making artworks, like drawing and calligraphy, since I was very inspired by my older sisters skills in art.

I was born in a family whose foundations have no enough education. My father was a high school undergraduate while my mother finished elementary only. My father's education was highly affected by his parents' separation and living situation. He had to live from one house to another every after a few years. He struggled with his personal issues caused by the situation he experienced as a young boy. Those issues surfaced the most when he was in high school and it led him quitting in his sophomore year.

My mother, on the other hand, belongs to a patriarchal family. The women in the family only finished elementary while the men had the most privilege of going to secondary and tertiary school. No matter how hard my grandmother asked my grandfather to send them to high school for better knowledge, he would always say "No" and reason out that they did not have enough resources to send them to secondary school. Misogyny ran in my grandfather's family and his siblings hated my grandmother's guts about educating her children.

One of my proudest achievements is being born and raised in this family. My parents did not have enough education but the values and morals I learned from them helped me become a better and sensible person. They always advised me to keep my feet on the ground whatever success I achieve in life. I should not become conceited and treat others bad just to make myself feel good. I learned humility from my parents, respect, and kindness to everyone.

Secondly, graduating in secondary school with good moral and flying colors was something I am also proud of. I survived those years of academic struggle and I thank God for never leaving my side all throughout. Lastly, entering in college and surviving until now is another achievement in my life. Hopefully, in God's will, I will have another achievement two years from now.

Secondly, academics is very challenging to me. I always wonder how my sisters handled it and made it somehow to succeed in that field. I would consider myself as an average learner. I don't excel in the academic field because I don't have much confidence in myself to be good at it. I try my best but if I am tasked something challenging by my teacher, I would always opt for the practical option. I don't have high expectations nor impossible ambitions. Having good grades is challenging enough for me so I would consider being on the dean's list as an ambition I could only achieve if I do my best everyday. However, that would put too much pressure on me and myself. I could not even imagine how my elder sister did it but I am happy for her.

Lastly, our limited financial resources is also considered a challenging aspect of my life. There were times where I had to ask my friend for a free ride so I could still go to school, especially if my parents do not receive their salary yet. Indeed, I have siblings who have jobs but we cannot ask them for financial support every month because they have their expenses to pay too. Money is a bit stingy for us that is why I always save something when I have extra coins or some cash.

Even though life is challenging for me, I still strive and hustle harder every day. I believe in blessings and miracles. Life may give me tons of challenges but I will always find the light and courage to fight back every day. One day, when I achieve my own success, I would be able to say how worthwhile a challenging life is.

After some retrospection, I taught myself to be optimistic in life and see challenges as opportunities to learn and grow. For without hardship, there is no sweet fruit of success. I am fond of sweet things like success; therefore, I should work hard everyday and do my best to achieve my goals. The challenges I faced are considered mundane and ordinary to many but I will now take them as stepping stones to improve myself and be better.

By breaking these boundaries I constantly faced in life, I will grow. By overcoming these barriers, I will become a much better person.

Bachelor of Industrial Technology major in Electrical Technology.

Getting that degree is one my future goals. I wanted to experience what my elder sisters experienced. I wanted to achieve something for myself and make my parents happy. This is not only a goal for me but a dream come true for my parents. They worked harder than I have ever seen people do and I wanted to repay it by getting that degree and hand my diploma to them.

I wanted to graduate with flying colors, too. I may not be the best student but experiencing this is my inner self's dream come true. I was ecstatic when I knew my sister would graduate with flying colors and I am so proud of her for that. In return, I wanted to also experience that and make my family proud.

Moreover, I aspire to be as resilient and strong-minded as my father so that I would survive the future awaiting for me. I aspire, too, to be as resourceful and hopeful as my mother so that I could always look for the good in life and keep a positive outlook. I aspire to be as wise and competent as my sisters so that I could achieve things I used to believe as impossible and open more opportunities in life.

I am usually seen in photos with my friends who are drinking liquor. But the funny thing is that I only dance with them, not drink with them. I only drink soda, juice, and tuba.

I don't smoke.

While most of my friends are smoking either cigarettes or vapes, I don't. I prefer keeping my teeth and lungs healthy. I don't intend on dying early so cheers to a healthy life.

I hate gumbo.

Vegetables are good for our body. However, this kind icks me in the worst way. Whenever I see this mixed in the boiled vegetables, I would always imagine how similar it is to snot. Whenever I see people eating it, I would divert my eyes to something else and imagine that all is well. Gumbo is just disgusting for me.

I hate garlics.

Garlics might be good in regulating our blood pressure and sugar but it is never good for me. Whenever my mother cooks spaghetti, I would always ask her to not put garlic in the seasoning because it makes me nauseous. But my sisters would always trick me and mince the garlics into the smallest pieces so I would think that the dish I ate has no garlic at all. Sometimes, when I eat delicious dishes with garlic, I would always look for it first before eating. Garlics can disrupt my meals and appetite.

Octopus is a scary sea food.

Don't get me wrong. I love sea food. Even though I was raised near the mountains, I still love eating fish and shrimps. I also love to ravish vinegar-braised squids and buttered shrimp. Whenever my mother buys squid, I would always rejoice and sleep with a round belly. On the other hand, octopus is frightening. I don't like watching its tentacles. I always imagine they're alive and moving. My mind always direct me to Squidward being abducted from his home. It's sad.

I am not a morning person.

I don't like waking up in the wee hours of the morning. If you wake me up early, you would see the worst of me. I am grumpy and snobby in the morning so please do not wake me up early on weekends unless its important.

Those are some fun facts about me. I won't divulge more because if I do, I will no longer be interesting and mysterious in her eyes.

Change is inevitable. We have to accept it and keep moving forward.

Change is something out of our control. Who we used to be won't live until we become who we want to be. Change is scary but it has its own beauty.

Moving out from your childhood house is scary because it would mean that you have to leave the good memories behind. When my puberty hits and my voice got deeper, I was sad because I could no longer sing high notes like I used to. When we have no food to eat because no store would allow my mother to purchase rice in credit, I was scared and hopeless. I was imagining that we would die of hunger but we did not.

People changed like I do. Seasons change like how our situation. We are no longer the same people we were. We are changed into someone better. This change has proven something good to us. Even though our lives changed after my sister left us, we still found a way to live and survive. We were starving before but we found a way to earn money so we can eat.

Just because I was born unfortunate does not mean that I would die as one. Change is scary but once you find its purpose, there is always a beauty. The challenges I faced in life made me a changed man. But this changed man has a lot of moral lessons learned that will benefit him in life and in the future. I can no longer step into the same river twice because the tides have changed. If I step into another river, then I am already the changed man I aspired to be.

My biggest influences and inspirations reside in the same house that I live.

Firstly, my parents have the most influence in my life. Obviously, they have an influence in my looks and character. Their constant advice impacted the way I think about life and the way I live. They do not show biases to their children. They always show us the importance of fairness that's why if my "younger siblings" batch (Isabel, Rollyn, and I) had a fight, all of us would receive a beating of father's belt, guava stick, fire wood, bamboo stick, and much more. I could not count how many beatings we received together but it disciplined us and made us sensible people when we grow up. No matter how hurt we were when we get punished, we still love and respect our parents. I could see the pain in their eyes when we are hurt but they have to teach us valuable lessons so that we would grow up as respectful, compassionate, and better people.

My grandmother has a great influence in my life too. Don't ask me for my grandfather. I only remember how terror he was before he died. I heard that he is a good person to many but when you are the receiving end of his glares, you would also have the same thoughts like me. He died when I was five so I don't have much to recall. My grandmother is like my second mother who always rescued us in times of need. She showed us unconditional love and care. We are not her responsibility but because she valued her family so much, she always helped us with what she could. She used to stash some money for emergency and my mother would borrow from her back then because we hadn't sold our charcoal or fire wood yet. Life was that hard to us but I saw light and hope between my mother and grandmother's interaction. It made me see the beauty of life, the unconditional love of a mother, and the light in the darkness.

There are only two sons in our family, including me. My elder sisters influenced my academics, hobbies, and interests. They have nice handwritings and I am always inspired to keep my notes clean and avoid as much erasures as I can. It keeps my mind clear seeing a neat handwriting even if the paper being written on is crumpled. They always got perfect or almost perfect scores for their projects, portfolios, and artworks. Because of that, I became inspired to do the same and do my best when I have a task or project to accomplish. Aside from looking up to them as their youngest sibling, I am truly inspired by how resilient they were in overcoming their battles. Their achievements paved way for me to set my goals and dream high.