The next phase

Years ago way back 2011, I was at a high having scaled new heights in my young life. I lived abroad, travelled to Australia, and then suddenly my life just plummeted by the year end. The complete opposite of what my 2010 year was like. I never publicly talked about what happened, but just to give an idea to whoever reads this, I had issues with my ex-girlfriend. We never talked since. I tried mending the tattered edges, but it was a mess and I failed. Anyway, after that terrible year-ender, I stood back up and carried on despite the heavy atmosphere I was living in. I managed to finish college by March of 2012 with decent grades. Looking back at that time of my life, I didn't know what I was doing. I was lost, but I managed to keep it to myself and show a different face to the people around me. I found work immediately not even a month after graduating. And you know what? It was the dream job I had when I was a wee little boy in Dumaguete. I grew up on the island and lived my entire life there. Island living is just a different kind of thing, a different kind of lifestyle goes along with it that makes for endless entertainment and fun with your peers. If you live on an island, you'll know what I'm talking about. I was exposed to all sorts of experiences on land and in the water. So I knew way back about the local marine lab and how cool it must be to spend all day looking at sea creatures, playing with them, going out on excursion trips to wonderful, untouched areas. Growing up, I wanted to work there. I wanted soo bad that unconsciously, all the things I've been doing up to this point was to realize that dream. I had other goals in life as I matured but that dream was still there - it held the base for all my other plans in life. So when I got the job, It felt just right. It wasn't a "whoop whoop! i'm living the dream!" kind of thing. It was just a quiet, moment. I occupied the space I knew was there for me.

All that was good. I got involved in many areas of research, but specialized in marine mammals. I eventually got so wrapped up in what I was doing that I just forgot about what happened the previous year. It seemed like it was a lifetime ago. I felt I have moved on and was ecstatic at that. I continued working part-time at the lab, saved enough to travel with my sister to Bangkok - both our first time there. I worked up until about June of 2013. 2012 was a low year for me. Nothing exciting happened at all. It was just meh. But I wanted to turn my life at that point around. 2013 came. I got to attend my first international conference in Malaysia last March. I got to cross the Pacific for the first time just this June. I presented at another conference in Costa Rica my thesis. I got to travel in California. While I was there, an interesting email came. It was from a colleague I met in Bohol where I worked on dolphins in the Bohol sea. I got offered the same work but with his lab. So I took it right then and there.

I moved to Hong Kong August first. I will be based here from now on until about spring next year. Then I will know if I'm doing a PhD here or not. God knows how much I want to.

This year began quite just right. I got to do what I wanted to do. It just sucks that I have to leave behind friends and family every time I move away but I guess this time i'm not too far away. I've got tons of stuff still to do before I can truly let go of trying so hard and say I've accomplished what I want in life. This space might be static for days but I will try to fill it up the way I filled it up in 2010. No more issues with the ex to deal with so I should be good. I hope.