Finding Wonderland

This is the speech I delivered as guest speaker during Antique National School's Alice in Wonderland-themed Junior-Senior Prom 2014.

Finding Wonderland

By Maxinne Marie Belo Sentina

 

To the visionary Principal of Antique National School, Mr. Gaudencio Riego, dynamic teachers and staff, Juniors and Seniors, ladies and gentlemen, I hope you’re having a truly wonderful evening. 

Have you ever wondered what lies behind the looking-glass? Have you ever thought of going down the rabbit hole and finding your own Wonderland? I’ll let you in on a secret - I have been to Wonderland and back. And the great thing about it is that I can choose to go there whenever I want. You see, when I sing and act onstage, when I take photos, and when I write a poem or story, I get transported to a different world full of beauty, danger and mystery. 

Thinking back to my high school days, I was given the task of writing our class prophecy, and for that, my imagination went out of the box. It was not the typical story of what the students had become after 10 years. The title I gave it was “Starfall: The Prophecy” and I incorporated highly impossible fantasy elements into it. In this work of fiction, it’s the year 2016. I and my batch-mates were highly successful in our careers and it was a typical day in our future lives. But then, something magical happened that changed the world as we know it. We were transformed into warriors and became so-called “Protectors of the Earth”. Think heroes in World of Warcraft and League of Legends - that’s what I imagined us to look like. The gist of it was that there was a prophecy that when lights fall from the sky, an event called the Starfall, forces of darkness were to rise underneath our old high school; and our whole batch, the Centennial class of ANS, was chosen to save our alma mater and therefore, save the world. I guess I just wanted it to be unique, but the message behind it was that no matter where we end up, if ANS needs us and they call, we would be there. 

When I was in college, the Class Prophecy and Class Will and Testament were publicly read at Prom Night. I think it’s the same in other schools but it’s not the case here in ANS since there are hundreds of students mentioned in these, so it would be a drag. Thus, we usually leave those compositions to be read in our yearbooks later on. 

A few days ago, I found my yearbook and read the class prophecy again. It’s both funny and sad at the same time as I realized two things: first, class prophecies are exaggerated stories of what we could be in the future; second, fantasy elements aside, class prophecies usually don’t come true. 

In the futuristic story I wrote, someone has become a world-famous fashion designer. In reality, that person is now a nurse, and instead of creating clothes, he is saving lives in a hospital’s emergency room. There’s a guy who is a world-class lawyer in the prophecy, but today, he’s also a nurse, about to take up Medicine to become a physician. A friend of mine wanted to be an architect, so that’s what she is in the story. Right now, she’s probably taking care of patients in a hospital. The class couples back in high school who were supposed to be married in the story are no longer together in real life. It’s 2016 in the class prophecy and a lot of us are supposedly living and working in other countries. But hey, it’s already 2014 and look at that, most of us are still here in the Philippines. 

Sure, it’s fun to read. It’s kind of nice to know that your future self is a super spy, or an international rock star, or the new vice-president of Apple, or a Wimbledon champion. But then you realize that what you wanted to be when you were in high school is not what you’re going to become. It doesn’t always work that way. It just goes to show that nothing ever stays the same. 

People change. Dreams change. The ambitions we used to write on our friends’ autograph books were not definite. As we grow up, our choices grow as well. Sometimes, life just doesn’t make it happen, forcing us to take a different path and eventually become people we did not expect to be. But you know what? That’s okay, because it’s not going to define you for the rest of your life. 

If you don’t reach the exact same dream, or the degree of success you visualized in the past, so what, right? You will still be fulfilled because you tried, and you would have achieved something that is as close as you can get to that vision. It's usually working toward your goal and loving what you do that bring true satisfaction. Even if you decide to go on a different direction, you will eventually reach a point where what you do and the people who love you make you feel like you’re the luckiest person in the world. Life will never be meaningless because you have a purpose. In the end, the important thing is to be happy. 

Besides, a class prophecy is just what somebody else wrote about you. It’s never going to be accurate. You were born to write your own story. You were meant to discover your own Wonderland. 

On the other hand, our class prophecies usually depict our greatest aspirations. And the good news is, it’s never too late to fulfill them - if you really want to. Who knows? You might be the next Secretary-General of the United Nations, or a Nobel Prize winner for a breakthrough in Science. You could be one of the Filipino athletes who will make it to the Olympics, or the next Filipino astronaut to travel into space. You could be an award-winning film director, or the next Filipino to perform on Broadway. The important thing is to keep your dream alive. 

My dad once told me that if you have a dream, you have to work hard for it. And he was right; life will not just throw it in front of your doorstep. You can’t expect something big to just happen out of nowhere if you don’t make it happen yourself. I haven’t even reached my own dream yet, but nobody said it would be easy. As Charles Du Bos said, “The important thing is this: To be able at any moment to sacrifice what we are for what we could become.” So, do not limit yourself. Believe that you are capable of great things. Discover your potentials. Nurture your talents. If you’re passionate about something, do it, because it will play a huge part in defining who you are. 

In the words of my favorite author, Paulo Coelho, in his book The Alchemist: Before a dream is realized, the Soul of the World tests everything that was learned along the way, so that, in addition to realizing our dreams, we can master the lessons. That’s the point where most people give up. Every search begins with beginner’s luck. And every search ends with the victor’s being severely tested. The darkest hour of the night comes just before the dawn. 

It’s a mad world out there. Reality is not so different from Wonderland after all. There will be a time when we’re going to fall down the rabbit hole and wake up in a world that seems so different from the one we lived in back in our childhood. Everything we experience there will seem rather strange and even scary. There will pop out many doors and we don’t know which one to open. There will be many roads and we haven’t the slightest idea which way to go. We might wind up in a labyrinth and it’ll be difficult to find our way out. So what do we do?  If we find ourselves lost in the real version of Wonderland, we always have a choice. We can either sit in a corner waiting to be rescued, or we can be brave and choose to go on an adventure. We all know what Alice did. She chose to be her own hero.

Reviews

[Pax]

Dear kabayan,

It was really an inspiring write from what I assume to be a successful speech. You know I never knew I can have skills in writing, nor in creative literature. It was just in the brief moments in your grayscale life that you’ll able to put a certain feelings into poetry – and that happens to me. They say poetry has/have its cathartic effect on us when we are feeling down – I on which have too many of those moments.

This piece really have taken me back on how I became what I am today. Writing never comes to me as a hobby nor a form of work but I was always into something like art. I believed that I am an amateur artist, I always have this urge to create something creative. It was just one of my hobbies, animation was the second who brought me to art, the first was I was influence by my uncle on which we are in the same age, about him – long story short, my grandfather remarried in his late years, that is why I have aunts that is younger than me. So my childhood uncle was really good at drawing, that was the time I gain much interest in colors, and in later years I taught myself how to paint. So that’s it, I am a self-taught not so good amateur artist. To hone that skill was on hold, for now.

Right now I am far away from our dear mother land working my a*s out in a country that is really strict. For now I don’t have a proper place for me to paint, but I do have more time to write whatever I want. Since I came here last two years ago, I was really bad or terrible in grammar and in my rhymes as well – for now I think I did improve a bit. I just came to realized last year that I have learned so much in writing by just reading, reviewing, looking deep in the ocean of my thoughts and by knowing myself. It was an awesome ride, it’s like I found my voice and learn to write them down – so I could say I also found my own wonderland.

You know when you talk about dreams, we all have list we leave behind in our childhood years. Mine was I wanted to become a doctor or scientist or lawyer somehow or a businessman or even I wanted to be an air force pilot and the list goes on… but somehow our dreams remained uncheck for some reasons that are too many to explain, like you said :

“It doesn’t always work that way. It just goes to show that nothing ever stays the same. People change. Dreams change. The ambitions we used to write on our friends’ autograph books were not definite. As we grow up, our choices grow as well. Sometimes, life just doesn’t make it happen, forcing us to take a different path and eventually become people we did not expect to be”

You were right, we become people we did not expect to be. More often our dreams changes its course and head another road. We can never change what is already done, what we do is focus in the long run for the future or just focus of what’s now and head on what makes us really happy.
There is an uplifting value in this piece, that “so what” really take me to a positive drive. So what If I haven’t achieved something yet, but in the future someday I will. I have this quote I created that I put inside my heart and head that says:

“Being a true artist it’s not all about talent
It’s all in the art of loving your craft”

You may not have much talent but as long as you love what you do, no matter what your craft is/are, you’ll definitely achieved something in return. The great message I found in this piece is that never give up, dreams may pile up, but never stop dreaming, never lose hope for that someday in the near future, we never know what our WiLL, will takes us through in each challenges life throws at us.

I like what you said here:

“Nurture your talents. If you’re passionate about something, do it, because it will play a huge part in defining who you are.”

I can imagine how powerful that speech you must had given to them. I wish you did inspire many in that time.

Somehow I created a long essay about this piece, and about me as well. It is nice to know such inspirational person you are kabayan. I am glad I stumble upon on one of your piece. Paulo Coelho, is a very inspirational writer to me, I had an audio book on the alchemist, now I want to buy a copy of that someday.

“It’s a mad world out there. Reality is not so different from Wonderland after all.”

It is indeed not so different. It is a matter of perspective and vast view in our lives. We just have to open up our mind and that dreamy perspective, believe that we are capable and unique in our own different ways.

An inspiring piece, save to faves.