Oh look, a pizza store”—I remembered my dad say when we randomly decided to eat out. I am not ashamed to say that that day served as my taste buds’ baptismal of fire when it comes to eating Hawaiian Pizza at Pizza Hut. It was love at first bite; I remembered the dancing of flavours in my mouth as I eat away the pizza slice- it was sweet, salty, spicy (not to mention hot). The cheese was perfect and everything seems to go right in place. Now, I know that you are wondering why this (simple) moment will soon define the kind of environment I grew up. Well, my parents are rule breakers. No, not the negative one, but they like to look beyond the status quo of things and look at things pass its surface details. In that moment, I knew my mom was thinking of a way that she can put her own twist in the pizza so that she can serve it at home (and of course, claim it as her signature recipe). While my mom was busy editing her cook book in her mind, my dad of course is busy mentally calculating the expense. My dad is economical; he likes to compare prices of things to ensure that we get our money’s worth. How about me you ask? Well, I was simply enjoying my moment with my pizza slice.
Growing up with my parents instilled within me a great ordeal of curiosity. They taught me that there is nothing wrong in asking questions because that is the only (and obvious) way to get answers. At that defining pizza moment, I wanted to know what created such masterpiece and of course how can I eat it again. At a very young age, my parents took off my lease and let me experience freedom (with moderation). When I was 9 years old, they allowed me to have my own phone which was a Nokia Flip Phone. I learned the basic use of phones because I had a method to reach my parents and ask them to pick me up after school. I developed my problem solving skills because of that because I knew what I need to do in case of emergencies.
I questioned whether my parents gave me too much freedom that time because I go the luxury of doing what I please. They allowed me to do trial and error with my phone (which eventually ended in a disaster). I led my phone to its distraction by exploring its batteries. What I learned from that experience is that it’s okay to make mistakes but it is also important to learn from them. Now, my new phone is functional and intact.
After every crazy things I have done in the past, I thank my parents for allowing me to discover and learn on my own. They did not spoon-fed me with information but rather taught me to be curios and innovative. In the future, I would still love to explore new horizons and open new doors of possibilities. Although there are struggles that will come my way I know that I can make it through because I will learn each time as I pick myself up. Learning remains my main fuel in everyday life, I will push myself to great heights because of my sheer dedication towards discovering.
