Barefoot and Brave: Growing Up in the Hills

🌄 Barefoot and Brave: Growing Up in the Hills

When I look back on my childhood in the mountains, I remember a life full of simple struggles and unforgettable adventures.

Every day, we walked long distances along dusty barangay roads to reach school. By the time we arrived, our slippers were often broken or worn thin. If a strap snapped, we had no choice but to walk barefoot until we got home. There, we would repair them by melting the ends over fire and fusing them together. Later, when Spartan slippers wore out too quickly, we turned to the legendary MattTruck sandals—crafted from rugged old truck tires, tough enough to endure the roughest paths.

But the most unforgettable part of those walks was the fear. In the dusks, as we headed home, as shadows crept in and the road grew quiet and eerie. Whenever we heard the rumble of a vehicle approaching, we would panic and hide in the bushes. The elders had warned us: “Cars might be driven by people who kidnap children and feed them to the TERONG (ogre)!”

We believed them. Our imaginations turned headlights into monsters. Even at home, if we cried too loudly, adults would hush us with threats: “Stop, or the police will come catch you!” or “The terong will eat you!”

Now, I laugh at those memories. Children today are braver, even cheeky. If you try to scare them with monsters, they’ll answer: “Where is it? I’ll eat it myself!”

✨ Lesson Learned

This story reminds us that fear is often born from imagination, not reality. As children, we believed every tale the elders told us. But growing up teaches us that courage comes from questioning, from facing the unknown instead of hiding from it.

What once terrified us now makes us smile. The lesson is simple: don’t let fear control your journey—walk barefoot if you must, but keep moving forward.

The Great Escape: A Childhood Adventure

🌟 The Great Escape: A Childhood Adventure

I don’t know why I can never forget certain events from my childhood—perhaps because they nailed me to the past, shaping who I am today.

One vivid memory takes me back to Grade 4. It was vaccination season, and the older students had filled our heads with terrifying tales: the needles were enormous, they said, and the pain unbearable. Fear spread like wildfire among us, and when our teacher locked the classroom door to keep us from running away, our panic only grew.

Our classroom was in the old Aguinaldo-style building, slightly elevated, with tall windows. A few of us—too scared to face the dreaded injection—hatched a daring plan. We jumped out of the window and sprinted behind the school, hiding in bushes, hearts pounding with both terror and excitement.

But our escape didn’t last long. Grade 6 students chased us down and dragged us back to class. Luckily, the vaccination was postponed that day, and we went home relieved, laughing at our adventure.

Of course, the day eventually came when there was no escape. The doors were locked, the windows guarded, and the shots were given. Tears flowed, but we had no choice but to face it.

✨ Lesson Learned

That childhood episode taught me something I carry to this day: running away from fear only delays the inevitable. Facing it head-on makes us stronger.

Needles may have terrified us then, but the real sting was in our imagination. Courage is not the absence of fear—it is the decision to stand firm even when fear surrounds us.