It's been a long time since I updated my journal in Deviantart.
I've been planning on updating since the 1st semester started.
But for some reasons I can't explain, i haven't been able to.

Many things happened during the first semester that made me change
my perspective about life. Things happened very fast. But I felt that
the past semester was the longest semester in my college life, so far.

My life before the 1st semester was a bit monotonous. My life was all
about drawing, work, and... drawing. I thought that because I'm an artist,
I should always be the way I was. I only cared about finishing my studies,
and improving my skills. That was my life. I didn't want to do anything
else.

Before the start of the 1st semester, my mother recommended me to live with
the son of her friend. Her friend, who's a prominent figure in the political
scene in our place, offered his help. He said I can live with Jonas, who's
living in a dormitory near the University. That would help us reduce our expenses.

At first, i was hesitant. I was afraid that I might not get along with him,
due to my personality. I only wanted to focus on being an artist. Some of
you might not agree with me, but a lot of artists think they're special.
We think we're different. We think that people won't understand us. We think
that only fellow artists can understand us. We only want to hang out with other artists. That was my way of thinking.

Because of our financial status, i agreed to live with him anyway. My life then started to turn around. Jonas and my fellow dorm-mates taught me lots of things. I experienced things I thought i wouldn't enjoy doing (like partying at the club). Little by little, I realized that there is more to life than just drawing and studying.

I'm a bit different now, I think. My mother told me, "Hindi ka naman nagsasalita masyado dati. Ngayon ang daldal-daldal mo na." (You don't speak much then. But now you talk too much). I can now tell them about my problems more freely, which I found very hard to do back then.

I'm very happy with myself now. I'm very thankful that I got to live with my dorm-mates. The first semester has been a very big eye-opener for me. With my experiences, I can now say that I'm a better artist than I was.

It's now the start of the second semester. New classmates, new friends. We'll go through many hardships along the way. More exciting things will happen. I look forward to it.