Lost? Or just blind?

Last year, I endured one whole year in law school to fulfill my parents’ wishes. When I graduated from college, I had this heavy feeling in my heart that law was not for me but I didn’t want to completely turn it down. Also, I didn’t have the courage to tell my parents that I didn’t want it. Besides, I didn’t know where I was going so there was no harm in trying it out.

But in that one whole year in law school, that heavy feeling in my heart was just proven. Law school was definitely not for me. I felt like a young bird stuck in the nest. I wanted so much to fly and be free but my wings weren’t strong enough. Don’t get me wrong, I did my best to try to like it. As a matter of fact, I found everything we studied interesting and I loved my classmates and professors but I just couldn’t see myself as a lawyer. It was a path that I could never see myself taking.

And so, after the year ended, after the bucket of tears I’ve spilled, after the many sleepless nights of studying cases and laws for exams and oral recitations, I built up the courage to tell my parents that I wanted out.

Sure, they were disappointed, but like any other loving parent, they couldn’t help but set me free. Then, there was the question….WHAT WAS I GONNA DO? I couldn’t answer them and I told them honestly that I still had no idea what I wanted to do. Luckily for me they were gracious and understanding enough not to force me to answer that question on the spot. Instead, they gave me a year to think about it. So here we are.

My year’s almost up but I still have no idea what to do with my life. All I’ve done so far was dance and teach here in Balletcenter. We were so busy preparing for our Director’s swan song, Romeo and Juliet, that I completely forgot about it. Actually, I didn’t ask myself that until now because after our show, there were so many other things we had to do. We performed excerpts in schools, joined the cast of Benjie Diola’s musical, “The Wiz”, and flew to Malaysia to perform in a charity dance concert that we were invited to. Even now, I’m busy. I choreographed dances for 3 classes and learned and taught Nutcracker excerpts to 2 classes while learning and dancing my own dance for our Christmas concert.

With my friends graduating and getting jobs, they asked me if I was gonna stay here in Balletcenter, find another job, or go back to law school. I couldn’t answer them because I haven’t exactly gone out and looked for other options. This one year given to me to figure things out just flew by so fast. However, I was pretty sure law school was out of the picture. Some of my friends said that ballet was my calling. But is it really? I for one know that there are way more better dancers than me. They’re younger too. Even my parents told me straight out that I couldn’t have ballet as my career because of my technique and my age. It might have hurt hearing that but I do agree with them. I don’t exactly suck, but I’m not that great either. Plus, I’m 22. There are 13-year-olds who can dance far better than me. But, just because I can’t compete with the ones out there, doesn’t entirely mean it’s not for me either. I love teaching my students. I love choreographing for them and I love dancing. Am I too blind to see that this could be the path chosen for me? Or is there something even greater for me out there that I still haven’t discovered?

Reaching The Dream Of A Dancing Model

Reaching The Dream Of A Dancing Model

by Rollaine Nuez

Every little girl dreams to become a princess and find their prince charming and live happily ever after just like the Disney classics, Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, and Cinderella that we see on TV. When they reach the age of 10, they start to dream of something else, something more reachable, like becoming a prima ballerina. But it doesn’t stop there because when they hit 13 and start flipping through those magazines, checking out the latest trends, hot gossips, and everything else, they would then envy the girls on those pages and dream to become a model. Well, for Maria Christine Morden, the dream of becoming a model is something she has already attained.

Christine, as she is commonly known, joined FTV’s model school last 2006. There, she was discovered by the manager of MAZE (located at the 2^nd floor of Ayala Center Cebu) who was scouting for “Cebu’s 12 Prettiest Teens”. To her amazement, she became one of the lucky 12 and there, her modeling career began. She’s done countless shoots and fashion shows ever since. If you head to the 2^nd floor of the department store of Ayala Center Cebu, you can even find a photo of her posted on the ladies department under the label, Mirabella.

However, this isn’t the only dream she fulfilled. Christine isn’t just a pretty face with the tall and slender body. She’s also very talented. Other than being a model, she’s also a ballerina under Cebu’s most famous ballet school, Balletcenter. As a matter of fact, Christine started dancing way before she started modeling. She’s been dancing for 13 years now and is currently a company member of their school. For those who don’t know, company is the highest level a ballerina can attain.

Being a model and a ballerina, not to mention, a third year DHM student of the University of San Carlos, most of her friends would call her “Superwoman”. After all, how can one manage their time to do all that at once?

“It’s hard managing my time, especially with a lot of things to do. Sometimes, I just have to sacrifice one thing to do the other. (It needs) A lot of decision making. But as much as possible, I try to manage my time and fit all my extracurricular activities.” Christine says.

“I dance ballet simply because basically it’s already a part of me. I’m in love with it. And I definitely miss (it) whenever I can’t dance. As for modeling, I decided to model because I know that I have what it takes. I have the confidence and the posture I got from dancing. So, it really feels natural and I find it really fun!” she adds.

Christine made both of her dreams come true since she didn’t let anything stop her. It just goes to show that with a lot of perseverance and dedication, anyone can get to what and where they want to be in life. Like what this 20-year old model said, “Go for wherever your heart is and once you’re there, never back down.”