A Filipino kid's dream........

I used to remember those days when I was in grade school. During class, our teacher usually asked us what do we want to be when we grow up? Some will say, " I want to be a doctor!", " a nurse!", "a dentist and so on... In my case I always said "I wanted to be a priest someday!", and I remember myself joining the Knights of the Altar as a sacristan in our parish- in my opinion a stepping stone to my dream. But that was just a dream, a mere dream that never materializes. Well maybe because of the financial constraint, maybe I didn't received any support from my family, maybe I lost my focus on it or maybe I really don't know what I'm talking about that time. Well I may sound sour graping with feeling of regrets,nah... of course not. Not at all, I am happy with whats going on with my life. Not contented because there are still room for improvement, but happy. Though, I am still trying to seek answers to so many questions bugging in my mind.

I have this short reminisce of my childhood days because of what I've experienced a few day ago. While going to my Mom's place one day, I passed by a group of kid's playing while discussing pertinent matter regarding their future. Well they are discussing about their dreams, what they want to be when they grow up. One kid said " Me , I wanted to be a doctor!", another kid replied, "My mom said it's hard to be a doctor nowadays, cause you'll end up being a nurse or caregiver abroad after a few months working as a doctor here!" Then he said "My mom told me to be a dentist, but I don't like it! Instead I'll be a boxer someday like Manny Pacquioa!", The third kid joined them and said "Me, I wanted to be a billiard cue artist like Efren or Diango!"
Some kid said caregiver, some said singer and dancer so they go to Japan. And what fascinate me most, is this kid who said "Me I wanted to be a call center agent, so I can have a big salary someday!"

No offense and discrimination meant, I once worked in Dubai as a waiter and been involved in a call center industry for four years, but I was just amazed to the level or urged of their ambition in life. Do these kids knew what their saying, do they really knew how to dream? Or don't they know how to dream big? As our national hero Dr. Jose P. Rizal once said (" Ang kabataan ang pag asa ng bayan!") The youths are the hope of our nation!". But if this kids first step in planning their future is mess up with idolizing TV characters and personalities, and imitating people- I guess it will be hard in attaining that future. Is it the responsibilities of the parents and these TV characters and personalities to teach these kids to do good. Isn't it right that they should act as a role model. I believe it is more important to tell our kids to study hard, focus and dream big.

Or are we really contented (again no offense meant to concern parties) to let our kids wash and clean the butts of foreign people in their country? Are we contented in letting them do household chores for others? Are we contented in letting them receive curses over the phone? Or are we contented in letting them be an eye sores in our community? Did you ask your child recently what he or she wanted to be when he or she grows up? You might be surprise on their answer..

In Shala!