What Belongs to Me [COMPLETE]

Chapter 26 "The Big Break"

2010-2012

I was now finally seeing myself on the blueprint of my plans, doing the things I was supposed to do, that I was destined to do. Had tried working for six long months to learn the basics in design, feeding my needs and satisfying my wants with my own hard earned money and that for me was an achievement already, not being a burden to my parents. I want to have proper knowledge in the actual world of interior designing and a devoted review so that I would feel more at ease taking the board exam. And so with a firm decision, I resigned from my work and enrolled myself at CDEP review center, located at Quezon city, then I moved out from my condo for a couple of months only, to stay with my classmates who are also going to take the review.

The review was very stressful and grounding with the pile of papers that we needed to read plus our constant manual drafting activity and practices every weekends. It feels like I was back in college again, I told myself before that I would never torture myself again in drafting after graduating but I was back at it. Despite my frustrations in my drafting skills, I still managed to persuade myself to devote my three months of earnest review so that I could get the license that I was aiming. One of my professor said that we have to endure the short period of time, giving all our energy so that at the end, we
will gain the thing that we wanted to fall on our hands. I rather gained weight after lots of stress eating and not having the time to work out because my attention was all on the pile of reviewers on my table. There were times when my mood was just so gloomy, causing me to get all lazy but thanks to my one roommate who was so driven and inspired to focus. He was like a teacher making too much visual aids on a manila paper and gluing it all over the wall and even to the ceiling, we sometimes joked at him to lay something on the floor as well. With the words and drawings all over and everywhere I lay my eyes on, who wouldn’t be convinced to read them, he even glued some at the back of the cabinet doors.

With so much craziness I did with my roommates while reviewing, like drinking beer while studying- throwing questions at each other in dizziness, arguing and when we wake up, we would forget everything that we had review. Leaving our hairs uncut because of the superstition that it’s effective in order to pass the board, even though we know how pathetic it is. Eating non-stop while reading almost stress-eating and going to the review center on our pajama- just brushing our teeth and we’re fine. Taking care of a flower on a pot putting my fate on it, telling my roommates that if the flower lives then I passed the board but if it dies then I lose. All those things that made me obsessed while reviewing.

After going to the review center every day with random students from different elite schools in the country; going to school taking one-hundred steps from our apartment with our classmates on their private cars not knowing where to park because the parking lot of the building was not enough for all their sports car and all. Entering the classroom leaving us intimidated with their straight English language as if we are conversing with American kids. Making us speechless, because of their knowledge in the latest design trends, probably because of their exposure to the metro while we are in a city in the far north. On the other hand, they were intimidated with our drafting and painting skills, because the northern students were known as inborn artist, well except for me. Finally, after mixing and blending ourselves with these students that has different personalities, it’s time for the real battle; the day of the board exam has now come. The time that will decide who was better, because it’s not about our lifestyle anymore; it’s about the knowledge that we had accumulated while reviewing.

The week before the board exam came and stress crept through me for real, insomnia was torturing me, I could barely get enough sleep that’s why I was giving all my time in reviewing big time. When the night before the first day of board exam came, I tried my best to at least have a little sleep so that my mind could be active in the morning. I woke up with a strong pounding inside my chest, my heart was beating rapidly. I didn’t even have my breakfast because I was shivering with nervousness. Luckily when we enter the building wherein we’re taking the exam, the dotting line in taking boards for the manual drafting was very long, that’s why my anxiousness was lessened. When I had read the design problem of our exam, my mind was blocked because I didn’t know some terms that was written on it, it says that we needed to design a “chalet” and I don’t have a lot of ideas about it. What’s funny was, I was always going to the comfort room because of the tension, and because of it, I got the idea on what I’m seeing on other examinees drafting boards as I was passing them. After composing myself, I began doing all the requirements; from a detailed concept, floorplan, reflected ceiling plan, wall elevations and perspective with details. I reminded myself that even though I couldn’t do it perfectly, at least I have to complete all the sheets and put a detailed description on everything. When the clock strikes five o’clock, it means that our eight hours’ time for only one subject was over, I was sad because I wasn’t able to do it perfectly. And so I told myself that I’m not belong to the list of topnotcher anymore, although I remained positive that I could pass the board.

Three subjects for the second day, ethics which was very difficult because the questions were very tricky and were all situational. History was also difficult because we had read a very thick reviewer but the questions that popped out were very rare from what we have read. My favorite subject was furniture design and so I enjoyed doing all the details despite the level of hardness because I really love furniture and industrial design ever since. On the third day, it wasn’t that stressful already because the thought of surviving the first two days was comforting me. After finishing the third day, I donated all the pencils and other materials that I had used because I want to believe that I could pass the exam and that I will never use the pencils again, and I left the room without looking back because I also believed that I’m never going back inside again.

After the boards while waiting for the result to be released in two weeks, I decided to stay in Manila because I don’t want to go home and finding out the result later that I had failed. I came back to my condo, I got bored and anxious while waiting and what I did was that I asked Jumar to have a collaboration with me in doing an interior design freelancing, we found a client who wants to redesign her bedroom on her condo unit. I rendered all my time in preparing all the design documents for our client, two weeks had passed already but the result wasn’t in yet. I didn’t check anymore the website because the releasing date wasn’t precise, and so one evening, I was inside the MRT and I was very exhausted from the site visit and client meeting. My phone inside my pocket started ringing non-stop causing the other passengers to look at me in irritation, that’s why I slides my hand to my pocket and I took my phone. It was Jumar on the screen, I wasn’t answering him because I was sure that it was about our project, and so I put my phone on vibrate mode. He wouldn’t stop calling that’s why I eventually decided to answer his fifth call,
“Hey, OMG Lheam!!!” he was freaking out, “You passed the board exam!” I couldn’t speak in disbelief and he wouldn’t stop talking, “I’m so proud of you best! I knew it! I told you that you can do it! I’m so happy for you, this needs a big celebration!” I came back to my senses and realized that my jaw was already dropping and I was stifled, and then I suddenly gasped,
“Yes…!” and the people look at me frowning and some rolling their eyes. “Are you serious?” I continue.
“Of course! It just came out and I was checking it right now! Wait I’ll send you a screenshot” I was now getting emotional.
“Really? I passed the board exam?” I said causing the people to look at me again, now with their judgmental reaction earlier shifted to a proud parents look, I just smiled at them. Jumar sent me the picture but I couldn’t open it because my phone battery was now zero percent. I waited till I arrived home and then charged my phone and sat on the terrace calming myself because I was very overwhelmed.

My roommates came home and were all freaking out because the news had already reached them. I opened my phone after thirty minutes and the first person I informed was my parents, I called Mama and she was sobbing when I told her, she couldn’t stop thanking and praising God because of my successful exam. And then I called Papa, for the first time in so many years I could hear again his happy laugh while talking to me, just how he laughed when he is proud of me when I was still a kid. He was so proud of me and I could hear his voice trembling and I can guess that he was crying. Suddenly, notifications on my Facebook were rolling in non-stop, I opened them and tons of greetings and congratulations were popping on my timeline. But I was taken aback when I saw this one distinct screenshot from the other pictures where my name was among the roll names of passers. It was posted by my best friend, LJ, fresh from South Korea because she was now working there. The highlighted part of the screenshot says that “Lheam D. Lamarca” and on top of my name was written “TOP 09” and under my name was the name of my university, along with the other few names of topnotchers. My jaw almost dropped for real, my knees were weakened causing me to anchor on my bed, my eyes bulging darting on my trembling hands holding my phone. And soon another set of notifications came in attacking my timeline, everyone was now congratulating me on being a topnotcher and I was left speechless.

My parents called me again freaking out even more, the circles  also called me saying how proud they are, LJ was shouting with happiness when I answered her call. Jumar, Dharyl and Sir Jaime also called me exploding in happiness and everyone who are close to me extended their congratulations, even the ones who aren’t really close to me were also posting on my timeline, students from my university kept sharing the article on our university web page about me. I couldn’t think off, of a person who didn’t congratulated me with my success, except for this one person that was a big part of my success, if he hadn’t let me go and pursue my destiny, I wouldn’t have been where I am, this person who sacrifices for me. I didn’t receive any word from him, and I decided to not seek it, because I have something else on my plan that I needed to achieve first.

My oath taking was held at “Manila Hotel” wherein my Papa and Bro escorted me, Mama couldn’t come home because of work issue and so we just planned to visit her at Hong Kong when everyone of us are finally free. Papa and my Bro changed into a black relax fit tuxedo with sharp front pleats, a logical choice for a man of noir giving them the elegance ease look. And I snaz up in an intricately tooled hand crafted modern style “barong tagalog” with decadent open collar and a handsomely tailored red pattern detail on the chest part. I sat on the aligned top ten chairs in front of everyone looking indispensable and traditionally well groomed. Everyone in the room was glammed and glitzed up in an eccentric designs outfits with delicate and lacy details making the program sparkle and dazzle. After the event, we went home to celebrate my success with the family and friends and we also went to my school for the home coming party with the other board passers.

After being set under the spotlight because of topping the board exam, opportunities became bounteous and openhanded to me. That every design firm which I would have chosen to send my resume would have accepted me favorably. But I didn’t apply to any company; I guess everything could really change whatever Mr. Destiny pitch on your way. If ever I didn’t top the board, I would have returned to my old company to be with my friends again or applied to a better company wherein my qualifications are needed. But because I topped the board, I chose to widen my range, I decided to enroll for one-year course in furniture design at SoFA Design Institute in Makati city to get a certificate and to hone my skills in furniture making and marketing. And I also enrolled few units about drawing at Ateneo de Manila University in the department of fine arts, to further hone my talent in drawing so that I could create a presentable portfolio for my next big step after.

I used the money I’ve got from my university and from the review center for topping the board as my tuition fee on this two school that I went into, because the amount that I needed was no joke, it costs a fortune. It became easy for me studying at SoFA because I already had my personal collections of furniture that I designed during college. My design style was using indigenous materials which are found only in the Philippines. It might be common when compared to renowned industrial designers such as Kenneth Cobonpue and Vito Selma who are based on Cebu city. But I was using native patterns and clothing of the different tribes in Cordillera, at my hometown but with a twist in mixing materials. While studying drawing with proper proportion for my furniture design in AdMU, when it comes to painting, I was using only one person as subject. Using his face, his body, and everything about him, I was using him as my subject because everything about his feature was precisely etched on my mind. Which made my classmates and professors asked me if who was it, and I was just telling them that he was nothing, that it was just my imagination, my other half that I really want to be and be with.

A year passed very quickly without me noticing that my skills both in interior design, furniture designing, drawing perfectly and painting in all media was already flawless, accurate and outstanding. I didn’t notice that my furniture designs portfolio became as thick as an encyclopedia already. That I had already participated in tons of small art exhibitions around the metro and outside, some for competition and others was design for a cause. I haven’t observed that I had already made partnership with small design firms in supplying their furniture and collaborations with interior designers in doing residential and commercial projects. I attended seminars and workshops everywhere in the country and even overseas to add on my credentials. I got my certificates on SoFA and AdMU, fixed everything, my portfolio, school papers, experiences, actual furniture collections and pack my belongings for my next big step where Mr. Destiny is sending me next.