To the world I close my

eyes to see

ARTICLE: Shaira Mae Gabornes AND Marvin Cabalhin | december 16, 2023.

We know you dreamed of becoming a doctor to save lives, a lawyer to defend victims of injustices, and an engineer to build stronger foundations of houses for families. These dreams fuel your heart as a kid.

As time passes, we can't deny the changes in our dreams and goals in life brought by certain situations, sometimes due to people's influence, and sometimes due to our practical decisions.

It led us to ponder, “What if I pursued my childhood dream? how will things be different from where I am now?”

Discover how some Gen Z students dealt with their childhood dreams and how the world changed their perspectives on achieving their dream careers.

Food and Politics

Technological University of the Philippines (TUP) senior student Skaila Dizon’s interest in the food industry was ignited by watching the American cooking reality show MasterChef. Skaila initially dreamt of becoming a pastry chef but now pursuing a degree in food technology.

Skaila proved that “when there’s a will, there’s a way” as she proudly shared with Twinkle how she completed her training at the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA), in which she received a National Certificate II.

Despite pursuing a career in the food industry, Skaila is now serving as a chairwoman for her community’s youth council in Malabon.

“Life is not a race basta masaya ka sa ginagawa mo. Katulad ko, food technology [major] ako pero pumasok ako sa politics at masaya ako sa ginagawa ko,” she said.

Wanted: Big Break

Before pursuing pharmacy as her academic program, Adamson University third-year college student Shalysa Marie Aves once dreamed of becoming a child star.

However, Shalysa's family believed that a career in the spotlight was ‘unrealistic,’ so she had to pursue a medical profession rather than pursuing her dream of being in front of the cameras.

“I thought that it would be nice if I also followed their [relatives’] paths, and they told me that med courses are definitely not easy and it’s very stressful but they believed that I can survive it, [but] no. They influenced me with their not-so-inspiring advice,” she expressed.

Shalysa emphasized the importance of pursuing childhood dreams for both parents and children to avoid regrets later in life, balancing financial considerations with personal fulfillment.

“Don’t let other people influence your decisions. Just follow what you truly want and what makes you happy so that you’ll live your life with no regrets. Life may give you challenges that will make you question your decisions in life, but those will surely benefit you upon reaching your dreams,” she said.

Reporting Off Air

For Grace Silva, her childhood dream of becoming a news reporter had to still be a dream as she grew up.

Raised in Batangas, she constantly wants to move to the metro and pursue her childhood aspirations. However, her parents stereotypically feared that she might not take her studies seriously or that she might get pregnant before getting her degree in the city.

Grace had no choice but to follow her parents as she had to enroll in Polytechnic University of the Philippines (PUP) Sto. Tomas’ accountancy program. After being accepted, she eventually had to embrace the fact that becoming a news reporter would only remain a childhood dream to her.

“After you pursue your parents’ desire for your career, the time will come that you can also pursue your dreams,” she said.

Childhood dreams keep us twinkling

Life may be bad as it does not let most of us pursue our childhood dreams due to several reasons such as people’s influence, changing our track to fit in the wide, and lastly the dark reality of the world.

However, it’s always the magic of our inner child that lets us carry on those childhood dreams and never let go.

Those dreams fueled us to strive in life, do better, and find something good amid the bad. Carry on! We’ll close our eyes to see the world where we can be free, while we keep the doors of possibilities to our childhood dreams open.