I don't even know how to define myself.
I'm a person who writes. It's something I enjoy,
and hopefully people enjoy it as well.
-Macaulay Culkin

Most of us often think that introducing one’s self is an easy job. However, for me, it is one of the most difficult task in the world. It is like taking all of your clothes off in front of everybody while you allow them to scrutinize your every flaws. It is like offering what you can do for them and let them judge you according to what you cannot do.

So, I will take the easy route and just do what everybody expects from someone new from the Steemit community. Steemit is a welcoming community afterall according to my sister, @valerie15 who convinced me to join. There really is nothing much to tell but I will try to tell you what is necessary.

Me and What Makes Me “ME”

You guys can just call me Michael, 17 years old from Bukidnon. I an the youngest in the family, my two older sisters @valerie15 and Feloche are both done with college and are working. I will be in college this June. So, @valerie15 told me to join Steemit because she does not want to sponsor my school allowance, haha!

To grow up with two girl siblings is one of the most difficult and confusing thing a guy could ever experience. It is like having two girlfriends and you will always be the one in between during cat fights. Believe me, my Ate (older sister) @valerie15 is the silent one. She does not want to mind other people’s lives and is always trapped in her own world writing, watching TV series or just reading. She is the total opposite of Feloche who is loud, a party person and always out. So, you see these two are total opposites and growing up with them totally confuses me as to who should be the best role model.

The two girls on the right side are Feloche and Ate Val

My Greatest Influencers
Warning: I may talk about a lot of people in my introduction post but rest assured that by knowing them, you would know me better.

Ate Valerie

Ate Val (@valerie15) and I are the closest since I would help her out during fights with Feloche, of course that is after she treats me with my favorite food (she is good at bribing people too). She has greatly influenced me when it comes to studies and about being independent. She managed to graduate college without asking anything from our parents. Our parents wanted a successful career for all of us and I am quite positive that they are capable of providing our needs.

However, my Ate is different. Once her mind is set to a goal, she would do it without asking for anyone’s help even if it means she has to spend sleepless nights just to ace her exams and maintain her scholarship which requires her to get a grade of at least B+ in ALL SUBJECTS. You have heard it right, including PE and religion subjects. Well, she slayed college with flying colors.

Now, she is currently working while in Law School and I am very happy to see her try new things out of her comfort zone. In law school, she get to mingle with people who lives a different life than her usual friends. I actually pictured her to be more bookish than she ever was while in law school but now, she is more relaxed. She is also a part of the school’s law society debate team (I am still waiting for her to represent her school in ANC’s Debate). I always wonder how she is able to fit everything she does in her schedule.

I would like to believe that I got my study habit from her. We are also home buddies as we do not like going out. She doesn’t like cooking so I do the cooking for her as long as she help me out with my school projects. She would always frown whenever I would ask her to do that while telling me, “I did not ask any help when I was still in elementary until college. I would do all my projects by myself.” I have heard her say that a couple of times. So, I ask her to do my projects for me after cooking her favorite spaghetti. I got the bribing skills from her though.

Mama and Papa are also a big part in my life. They are always there to support me and provide all my needs. They are already at their 50’s and I would like to give them the life that they wanted. My two sisters already finished college and my parents are only left to support me. Since my two sisters are already working in two different places, I am left with my parents at home. There really is nothing remarkable about our family as we are not the sweet type but I am pretty sure that no matter what happens, family is family.

My Own Battle
As you can see, most of my life are spent at home and school only. I have a lot of friends but I don’t like staying out that much. I prefer to stay at home and just watch TV and ransack our fridge.

However, within the four corners of our home the greatest battle that I am trying to fight with other people and even with my own self is meeting the standards set by my older sister. In our society nowadays, comparison among bloodlines is such a thing and as my older sister has set the bar high, the words thrown at me by other people is beyond painful.

It is very painful not to meet my parents’ expectations of me. It is very hard to admit to myself that I could not be better than my Ate but to hear it straight from other people is a total heartbreak. I know I could not be better than her. I am not as smart as she is or as organized as she is but I would like to believe that I am molded to be a better “me.”

We live in a small town where everybody knows everybody. So, I am immune to them saying,

You should be like your Ate!

Why can’t you be like her?

My Challenge to Myself

My Ate would just shrug off whenever she would hear people comparing us. She would jokingly tell everyone that people has their own path to take and I would like to listen to her words. Although it is very difficult to do live my life away from her shadows but if it is not a big deal to her, then maybe I should start creating my own path just like what she said.

My Ate is good in writing. I am into photography. She may be good in a lot of things but there are things that she cannot do that I am good at (cooking is one of them), I can enumerate a lot of things that I can do better than her but it would still not matter as the battle and longing to be just like her is an inner one. So, it is a challenge to myself to know myself better and to never compare her achievement to mine. She sure is a great sister, daughter and a person in general but I also have my own ways of adding flavor into this confusing world. After all, regardless of what I do or what path to take, people will always have something to say. So, I rather live my life my way.

I know, this is not your ordinary introduce yourself post but this is my way of introducing the real me to the Steemit community. I have to embrace my own self and I have to set myself from all the boundaries this world has given me.

So, to the entire Steemit community, this is me, Michael, 17 years old and an aspiring photographer from Bukidnon. I know I am still young and I still have to figure out my strengths and my best contributions for the entire Steemit community. What I can assure you though is that I am here to learn new things, discover more and be a part of an accepting community.

Thank you all especially to @steemitfamilyph for taking care of my Ate and for recognizing her as a writer and as person. Thank you for being her stress reliever and for giving her a community that she can call home.

You might want to check out the photos below to understand my interests.

Feloche and my version of Seafood Island, made with the help of my mother

We party hard at home. That's my uncle's band set

An amateur photographer

An amateur photographer