I never thought that I would
be a full-fledged English writer. I don't even dream of becoming one.
Like some of my fellow
coursemates in Coursera's Writing II: Rhetorical Composing, writing was just an
outlet and a hobby. But through the years of my struggle both in life and my
career, writing became a constant companion. It's now became a big part of me.
It gives me joy and comfort as well as provides me a sense of fulfillment and,
yes, even money.
I remembered when I was in
primary school, my favorite subjects were science and math. I already memorized
the multiplication table at a tender age of nine, and had a good grasp of the
periodic table of elements at the age of 10. In high school, I always had my
good grades in Physics and Algebra.
No wonder, my parents were
expecting me to take up medicine or engineering course in college. Out of
filial piety, I would just simply nodded whenever my parents would ask me to
take this course or take that course when I graduate. But the truth is, I
wasn't sure where I was heading after high school. Like fellow Coursera
coursemate Tukura John Daniel, the thought of becoming a soldier had became a
childhood wish. Thanks partly to my favorite superheroes, Superman and Iron
Man, for they somewhat instilled in me some sense of patriotism.
But my lack of direction in
life had contributed much to my dilemma. After high school graduation, I
eventually ended up enrolling in a course meant for "undecided
students", i.e., Bachelor of Arts. I took AB in the oldest school in Asia,
the University of Santo Tomas. In this course, I was
introduced a great deal in those fields that were entirely not my interest.
Those subjects that, for me, were too boring, like Literature, History,
Philosophy, Economics, and Theology.
Whenever I'm attending those subjects, I always felt that the "Law of
Relativity" was catching up with me, i.e., an hour of lecture
session seemed like a few minutes whenever I was attending my favorite advanced
Algebra and Physics subjects, but an hour of lecture seemed like forever
whenever I was in my boring subjects.
Hence, I couldn't help
myself but to admire the sense of direction of another fellow coursemate
Maewest Dias. The moment she stepped into the university, she already knew
where she was heading. No wonder this lovely writer, who hails from a remote
railway town of Bhuwasal in India, is now an accomplished professor of World
Literature in the United States.
After a semester of whiling
away my time, I discontinued studying in the AB course. I transferred to another
college and shifted course from AB to BSBA, major in Computer Management. No,
I've never chosen the course because I've already made up my mind. I just chose
it because computer technology was the trend then way back in the 90's.
Like most trends, my
interest in the course had faded fast. After barely two years, I saw myself
again in the same situation—transferring to another college, this time to a
business school, and shifting to another course, this time, I took up business
management.
The learner-centered
teaching methodology of the De La Salle University - College of Saint Benilde,
a reputable business school in the Philippines, made me decide to stay in the
course. I could say that the teaching methodology was so effective for it made
me appreciate those "boring subjects" that I used to despise before.
Moreso, I learned to explore
new fields. In this situation, I can't help myself but to relate my experience
with fellow coursemate Alex Owen-Hill. In one of his course write-ups entitled
"A Fresh Pair of Eyes", he confessed, "I’m addicted to the
process of learning. There are only a few times in my life that I can bring to
mind, when I haven’t been enthusiastically engaged in learning some new skill
or other." Like Alex, I'm also addicted to learn new things. My quest for
more knowledge had led me to attend a seminar-workshop on creative writing.
The Palanca Creative Writing
Workshop became instrumental in discovering and shaping the writer in me. In
this workshop, I produced my very first "technical" poetry. I
considered it technical because it was composed with meters vis-a-vis
rhymes—very much different from those monotonous rhyming poems I wrote during
my elementary and secondary English classes. In fact, the said poem was
published in the literary folio Shades of Gray under the title
"The Old Temple".
It was quite a fulfilling
experience to see your own composition on print. Nevertheless, I didn't
consider myself a writer yet. I merely considered my perennial feat as an
opportune accomplishment.
After college graduation, I
worked for some reputable companies handling various positions of
responsibility. As for writing, "it was nothing more than escapism",
to quote coursemate Tukura John Daniel.
In 2000, another publication ensued. This time my sonnet "Beggars and Cars" was published by the International Library of Poetry in the coffee table book "Ballads of Our Lives".
Writing, indeed, became my
outlet to express my emotions. I used to keep a Moleskine a la Ernest Hemingway
to record my spur-of-the-moment ideas, positive reflections, personal notes,
business agenda, doodles and sketches, among others. Like Tukura, "writing
was something I did either for fun or to lighten up my heart when burdened. The
notion of becoming a writer at that stage of my life appeared far fetched and
bluntly impossible."
I'm thankful, however, that
my talent in writing is giving me an edge in my management career. I was
able to make my business proposals more enticing, and my internal
correspondences more compelling.
In spite of my stable
career, there seems to be a missing factor. It feels like my life would not be
complete without this—and this is the joy of writing. My feeling toward writing
is best described by coursemate Alex Owen-Hill: "Writing has been a
continuous force throughout. It has provided me an outlet, both to organize my
disparate daily thoughts and to create brand new connections between whichever
area of knowledge I’m currently interested in and those which have come
before."
Again like Alex, "I
can’t remember specifically how my writing started, it’s been a sort of
continuously layered process for as long as I can remember."
Due to my ability to write
vis-a-vis my eclectic knowledge in various industries, I was able to penetrate
the advertising world by sheer conviction. I was in a real estate conference
when I met this advertiser, who happened to read my industry write-ups. He
asked me if I could write a copy for his firm. Without hesitation, I said
"yes" eventhough deep inside I was taken aback for my swift response.
But risk-taking is sometimes
needed to level up in one's career. This copywriting engagement had opened the
door for me to work on several more projects until I bagged the editorial
position in Archikonst—the Philippines' longest-running architecture and
construction magazine.
Until today, I'm still
enjoying my post as the chief editor of the said magazine, yet my quest for
knowledge never stops there because I know, in the words of fellow coursemate
Maewest Dias, "something bigger still awaits me."
Coursera - Writing II: Rhetorical Composing
The Ohio State University
Assignment 1: Getting to Know One Another
By Ludwig Ritchel A. Kalambacal
12 May 2013
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