Autobiography

“Always strive to be the better version of yourself.”

That is what I tell myself every day. You can call that my motto. You may have heard the original ‘Strive
to be the best version of yourself.’ When I first read that, I immediately liked the quote. However, once I
thought about it for a second, I concluded that that sentiment is just impossible to happen—or maybe
just really hard to do.

When I was a child, I was very fat. Like really fat. I was always the fattest and largest person in the class.
As a consequence, I always got bullied and teased on, so elementary wasn’t a pleasant experience for
me. It was really hard; I was tormented by my classmates every day. And I couldn’t find any friends
because of my appearance. Every night, I would cry myself to sleep. As days went on, I learned to handle
their bullying better. I didn’t break down very often, and soon, I just got used to it. But a part of me was
still hurt whenever they mock me, then I got really conscious about my body. On the last year of
elementary, I decided to lose weight. I was no longer happy when I look at myself. I didn’t want to
change because of my bullies. I wanted to change because I didn’t feel great with my body. Before
graduation, I lost about 13 kilograms. And many people liked it but especially, I liked the new version of
me.

In the first year of high school, for the very first time, I was one of the top achievers in my class. I
realized that this was the phase of my life when monumental changes happened. There were no bullies,
I found my best friends, and I was greatly improving academically. In elementary, I didn’t really care
about my grades just as long as I don’t have failing scores. But at that year, I cared. My father had to pay
for my education, so I figured that I needed to make the most out of it. And this time, I wanted to be
serious about school because I wanted to have a better future. I just didn’t expect that I would be so
much more. My family was proud of me, and I felt proud of myself. In our moving up, I was the top five
in our batch—and got the higher honor. Five years ago, I wouldn’t even think about being an achiever,
let alone, go up to the stage and receive two medals.

I even found my very first real friend when I was a freshman. And soon, I got more close friends that
genuinely liked me and accepted me as who I am. Friends that I could always go to whenever I want to
rant about my family, scream about crushes, or copy their homeworks when I forgot there was one.
Friends that would help me, want me by their side and lend me their shoulders when I cry. And two
years ago, I even got a little brother. Last March, my tito finally got married and there was another
addition to our family. All of these started since I found the courage in myself to change and be better.

And soon, I found myself improving every day. I got better in taking care of my body, in studying, and
handling myself in relationships. I even learned how to socialize more, and to not be afraid that I would
always get judged. I learned to be a better person every day and matured. I strived to be the better
version of myself, even in the little things. Other people may not see it, but I greatly value all of my
achievements because of hardwork.

And as I go through the journey of being a Senior high school and soon as a college student, there is still
room for many improvements and achievements. Where I would face a new world soon, that would
lead me to be a better individual.