Communication Arts...

My dad and I were talking about the Martial Law on our way home from Patrizia's birthday dinner at Somethin' Fishy, Eastwood (HAPPY BIRTHDAY, BUDING!). He was telling me how their life was during those times.

Obviously, it was hard but it was especially hard for their family since his dad, my lolo, was a journalist then. He was then part of the journalists who wrote as ghost writers against Ferdinand Marcos so he got death threats everyday and was stabbed twice on duty. He got bodyguards for the family and for himself. My dad and my titas were escorted on their way to school and the bodyguards would stay there 'til classes were finished and escort them back home. The same goes with my lolo and lola. Even our house in Sucat had bodyguards then.

I asked him how my lola reacted then, knowing her husband's life was always on the line. He said that my lola was almost always with the journalists so the fear was nothing to her.

We would always talk about this. He's a frustrated journalist himself. I'm a Communication Arts graduate who's thinking of going into broadcasting. He idolizes his dad so much, I can hear it in his voice. The way he talks about him and puts him on the pedestal. Plus, the look on his face when he talks about his dad. It's so visible on his face, you could literally record it.

Anyway, I really didn't know the reason behind my taking the college degree I took. I knew that I wanted to take it up because I wanted to touch people's lives and at the same time, I wanted to make change. But to be honest, the thrill and the spontaneity the job entails and the love for adventure probably pulled me towards this direction, too. The story about my grandfather in the Martial Law era adds up to the mix. Whatever had the biggest influence on me, I don't know up to now.

I honestly want to be a part of those journalists who wrote about the real deal during the Marcos regime. It would be awesome.