What if I did do it?
About a month and a half ago, they asked and I said no. It was an instant decision I made; I had to say no to an experience that had the possibility of changing everything, like me being able to ride the train everyday with no apprehension.
Two weeks later, they called again and I asked for a few days to decide. Talked to my family, thought about it a hundred times. 50% crazy, 50% brave, I said yes. The next few days were a whirlwind; we shot the photos for the opening billboard, we shot at school, me in front of the Oblation, me playing Rug, me rolling on the Sunken grass, me eating isaw, tapsilog at Rodics, etc. These were all being done to build up my nametag in the show as “Cool na Iskolar ng Bayan,” which is really funny and sad at the same time. 'Di ba? Hahaha.
Then a week later, I backed out. Maybe it's just 'cause I'm afraid of the whole invasion of privacy shat, or the fact that nobody goes through unscathed on the show.
Then the night before the show began, that was last Saturday, the guy who replaced me backed out due to a family emergency. They called again and I asked for an hour to decide. First I asked friends what they thought I should do, then I talked to family members if they were fine with it. In the end, the friends said yes, the family said no. I had to follow my family.
Fortunately, they were able to find a guy to replace me that midnight, and they were able to shoot all the necessary clips just in time for the opening. All these thanks to the amazing efforts of two cameramen who I truly admire.
I was only able to catch the last half of yesterday's pilot, and in a way I do feel na parang sayang, I should've done it, nothing to lose.
My aim in joining the show is for my family to be proud of me. And I wanted older people to see that we kiddos aren't as screwed up as they think we are. But I guess making that decision of declining made my fam extremely happy, knowing that in the end, I'll stay with what they think is good for me.
No regrets.
This of course means that I still have summer school! Nge!
