this is one of my most memorable day of my life not just a birthday.
before the day even start so the day before 11th, i was preparing to do something bold and scary i was planning ahead actually because i had been on the apartment for a long time building a startup from a scratch.
and when the day comes i couldsnt sleep, i made pitch deck, i was so anxious of doing this, i slept off doing it partly because i was so anxious but my sister and i actually go to market and bought supplies and it was heavy to carry and remember i was at the apartment for a long time it was a lot of stretch for me. but it was fun, we go to church and ate out, ahhhhhh its fun and worrying at the same time because my mind is at the house imagining doing the task but anxious what to do.
when we came back home i took a bath then slept, ahhhhh you cant imagine what im feeling right now writing this and knowing what there is to come. ahhhhhhh you just cant.
so i still finished the pitch deck, looked at the app and website if its still working, i end up sleeping 4/5 am, my mind, i just couldnt turn it off or say stop playing horrible imagined stuff.
The day August 11
i wake up at 10 am. i plan to go to DICT at 1/2 pm. Right away when i go to the first floor of the apartment my little sister and mom greeted me (I honestly couldnt do the same for her, since i dont know her happiness was material stuff, mine is much bigger but everyone could give it to me, warm and genuine appreciation, yes that i was alive so greet me for it i have added a year to my life and it was official now, what a survival skill).
Noon comes and my favorite sis greeted me with bigger energy its funny.
When preparing to go out, i dont know mom notice and i do too even without my own judgement i could see my self shaking and my words stumbling, i dont know, because this is quite intrusive what ill do, you know they didnt plan this but i did but i plan it as somehow still acceptable because ill go to this 2 places DICT and TESDA accredited school, to do something different but related stuff that they expected so i wasnt really going to this places without anything or any relevance because i do have it and it was planned ahead of time.
On my way out mom ask me to buy medicines, she can feel my nervousness and excitement as we have go through this since yesterday i was cracking informations for them but not giving it all in just keeping it myseterious because i have to ahhhhhhhhhhhh, i couldnt disclose why though yet. i promise in the later time ill open everything up in the clear right now that everythings in under construction one stranger even if theyre a family member could mess things up.
So there i was, i almost forgot to print out the pitch deck, you know i dont have a tablet to properly demonstrate or show them the slides so i just whenever i have to show people somethings i print them, first i bought the medicine mom told me to buy then i went to commute which is illogical since i still have to go to print the stuff i made for likely 3 hours or so and poured all my emotional energy into. so even when im already inside the jeepney man i go down, didnt even bother to refund my fare, i go out and its funny its raining and i was disoriented i didnt know where to print the stuff, this was my first fuck up alright and also the last.
After printing the stuff i needed, i rode the jeepney for the second time and dropped off near lto, theres a small road there that leads to DICT, i walked that, it was a short walk, i see DOT and LTO was really close to each other and DICT as well. Ive been near this places before tho i really didnt go through here and this road, there was a jeepney station nearby so thats where i go whenever i go near these place before its a long story.
When im inside DICT man im scared, i started by first asking the program that i had signed up for and received email from, then other programs from DICT, then after knowing those stuff i get to the stuff i was really here for ahhhhhhhhhhh you dont know how happy i was when she started by saying they dont have event platform, DOST has their own which is btw im aware, then i started discussing my startup, an event discovery,creation and management platform. I couldnt get to the details, but it was a fun experience as well, i was so happy to learn a few more things here and there from her perspective about events shes been to and how they do event bussinsess.
At the end i toured her through the wesbite and app and she was impressed at how i all developed it, 20 (which is the age i told her i also forgot that it was my birthday and i shouldve added a year to that my bad)and didnt go to college, she called it a talent i call it, immense help with LLM tools(CGPT and Claude ai lol). We exchanged contact information, she directed me to a program that they currently have and even tho i wasnt a team i was a solo founder she encouraged me to join and maybe ask them a favor to include me since the deadline was already over i dont know if i understood things clearly from there but she was definitely very helpful.
Then comes this walk through TESDA school, ahhhhhhhhhh, man i didnt expect ill have such a great time in there, it was hilarious, energizing, a little bit of knowledge gaining, mentally stimulating and i didnt expect rapport could build up that fast. It was a memory to kept it was partly the biggest reason why i want to write this.
So i walked up near the entrance sprayed my hand and back with alcohol by the time i got here i was sweating bullets, i just walked a half a mile and my shoes is kinda uncomfortable since i didnt wear thicker socks and the top of the shoes was really hard whenever i step i feel a pain.
I entered the school and right away i asked to go to the comfort room. (as i did on DICT, i always feel like urinating whenever i go out becuase i drink a lot of water even at home i often pee.) Then after urinating, I first ask the instructor, what are the activities i missed, what about the times i didnt time in on tesda system because of the fault in the system which affected all of us in the batch including him, on the projects if there which there are and so on. So you get me i didnt just started to ask about what do they think of startups and gotten aggressive i gauge people. I always do lol.
It gotten to parts where i was really interested, like concept-y stuff, like how are curriculums developed, why are there such courses offered, how TESDA is interconnected with DOLE and NEDA and to PSA. He even gave me his idea because i was that understanding he know ill get his idea immediately even tho it deals with economy and job market. It shows how much he trust me and he knows his limitations and the app idea he had i gave him suggestions.
Then after that exchange it went smoothly and i introduced my startup and told him thats why im late i arrive there at 5pm and time in at 5pm right when i was in the building lol. Immediately after i told him whats missing and simultaneously showing him the website we has in agreement with me and impressed with the website, he ask if that was a template no i said have you ever seen a website this complex and dynamic, this cannot be templated because it has specific purpose and wasnt designed to cater to a market of users to use it as it is, its used to demonstrate he agreed, then i show him the app and hes even more amused and ask to be a part of this, he want to join me, he could promote it to he say 2000 students. I ignored that but he was really into the app. The design the functionality the market that it serves. And all that stuff that comes after.
When we finally catch our breath after all initial excitement, we settled with asking just personal stuff, like what i did before, why am i here i(lmao), ask about my family and stuff.
It was one of the most remarkable conversations i ever had. we were laughing, we were laughing mostly on his experience and his views and his expereince, its like we were friends, he told why hes there how long hes been teaching where he had been to and anytime we laugh i dont know but my body just slaps his arms a little i always do it whoever im with its just my body reacting and nothing my mind consiously control. It was hilarious because i can relate to him so much and understand why things have been this way.
After all, I said my goodbye at 8:15pm my stomach was already rumbling and so was his lol, so i just go home, im still expecting something, There was this letter that i waited for 2 days to arrive. and we with sister was expeecting it to come from someone extremely special for me. Hes the first and best person who understood my feelings and did i mention he was also the first man that i talked to with my deepest feelings?.
When i got home it was raining lightly i dont know what superstition there are when you come home feeling victorious and it was raining so lightly. I walked back home again from TESDA school, it was a walk from the market to the apartment in total plus all the back and forths to CR while im in the school :) It was very tiring physically i immediately turn off the fan and directed it to my sweaty body when i got home. After cooling down a little i heated the water that ill use, after some time i finally took a bath, and just when i had it i immediately go up and open my phone to see read his letter. It wasnt quite what i was expecting but still i feel something strange about this person letter even tho its only a suspicion that it was the person we were expecting i still feel like it was him under another disguise. And the rest is history so thats how my birthday went.
Im so happy to record all of this and maybe after sometime/months/years i could still reread this and remember what i felt and what ive gone thrugh especially that this was my bithday. I thank god for making this happen and not letting me get derailed into something and somewhere else. This feeling i feel like crying and smiling widely at the same time.