Have you ever felt homesick? The feeling when we’re longing for someone, for people we used to be with all the time; when we miss our home, the place and the people we grew up with? This was what I felt when I first went to Lagoon with only my mom and my dad.
A lot of first times have happened to me since I’ve lived in Utah. One was Lagoon. Since we arrived from Philippines, we had never gone to any other places in the state.
It was last summer when we went to Lagoon for the first time. I was all excited, because I was finally at this amazing place where everybody in Utah wants to go to once the summer hits. I was only with my mom and my dad, right? So, this obviously means I had no friends with me. In the three of us, I was the only kid—the young one. I mean, not to sound rude, but my parents are not as young as me and as my friends are, who could just go and enjoy all the rides at Lagoon. And plus, we don’t have any serious health problems yet with this age, do we? I don’t think so.
I had some favorite rides, but Wicked was the best of all. At first, though, when I was looking from down below and seeing it moving so fast, I was not really sure if I was going to go or not. Just the thought of it, I felt a pang of fear crept all over my body. I mean, on the other rides that I’d been to, I was quick and sure to say Yes, I’m trying this ride and that ride, but with the exception of Wicked.
After my dad had convinced me to try it, because he said, I might regret it if I had not tried it, but at least, when I was done riding on it, I would know if I was going to try it again or not the next time I go to Lagoon.
I gave in, thanks to my dad’s persuasive speech, although my mom was quite worried about me riding the Wicked. I gave it a try once, then twice, and guess what—it ended up my most favorite ride of all.
So my dad was right. I would have regret it if I didn’t give it a shot.
Every one of us has this—at least—one ride that really makes us sick after being on it. Mine was Colossus. I hated it, especially the two loops where I went upside down. I came out of that ride not feeling too good. I thought Colossus was going to ruin my fun day that had just barely started. But thank goodness, the weird and sick feeling didn’t really hit me. I decided I was not going to try it ever again.
While I was riding those fun rides—sure, I was having a lot of fun—, I was thinking of my friends back home. I wished they were there with me. I wished they could experience what I’d experienced at Lagoon. Because I was thinking that time that riding those rides would have been more enjoyable if they were on those, too. It’s sad to admit, but most of the rides I’d been on, I was alone—not that I was the only one riding this ride and that ride. What I mean was my parents couldn’t always join me. I was saying to myself: I bet all of my friends would enjoy all of these rides, and I bet I could be happier if they were there also. Sad, I know.
I realized that being homesick is…normal—based on my experience—especially for a person like me. I feel it every now and then. So every time I feel homesick, I just always put in mind that I could always go back in the place where I come from. Philippines will always be there to welcome me home. Don’t get me wrong but I love Utah—the people, the place, everything—but let’s admit it, there is really no place like home.

(Source: khaegallo)

“The secrets of this earth are not for all men to see, but only for those who will seek them.” -Anthem

When we don’t have the courage to seek and find knowledge, people will always look down on us—not just them but even in our own self—and sometimes it makes us feel small, and that was Ayn Rand has taught me with this quote. Because what use can we give to others—especially on one’s self—if we don’t have any piece of knowledge in our head? How could we give help to others if we don’t know anything about this world? And most especially, how could we help our own self first? Courage is the answer. Courage makes us do things we haven’t thought we could do. It gives us a great boost of confidence, and this is the start of making a difference into this world. We should learn things we want to learn without minding other people’s opinion. We don’t have to follow other people’s footsteps just to satisfy ourselves. We should follow our own—what our heart and mind say. We should not just sit back and give not a care to this world we live in. Because we people make this world, we live in this world. We should learn to discover the secrets unknown to all men. We might never know, when we don’t give a care to our world, we could miss out everything. Nobody wants to be left behind. How about when our world is suffering from things that are unlikely to happen we do not desire; how could we help solve the problems our world is facing if we don’t even have any knowledge on how are we going to help prevent it? How could we help with the problems our world is suffering from if we ourselves don’t even know what is happening in the world we live in? How could we make a difference if at first we don’t have the courage to do so? We should make this world a better place and that could start in you, in us. One could make a difference and secrets unveiled could save this earth and make our world free.

(Source: khaegallo)