“What was the most memorable achievement that you have so far?”
“I used to seek validation from other people, a lot. Who doesn’t seek validation din naman at times, pero I was seeking validation before on an unhealthy degree. But realizing na music ang passion ko despite all the negative reactions from other people, kahit ano pa ‘yung shortcomings ko noon, was an achievement kasi now I’m sure, alam ko na kung saan ang drive ng buhay ko.”
“What is success for you?”
“Success is when dumating ka sa past mo and you’re given the opportunity to change it, you’ll say, ‘No, I don’t want to change anything, kasi masaya na ako kung nasaan ako ngayon.’ Success is accepting both the past and what holds in the future, and kung matanggap mo iyon, you’re successful or on your way to be successful. Well, that is the first step for me.”
“What life lessons did you learn that motivate you to achieve success?”
“’Wag mahiyang magtanong,’ joke lang. Pero really, wag kang mahiya kasi opportunity doesn’t come; you take or make that opportunity. I used to wait around and see kung anong mangyayari sa akin, pero I realized that I need to make big steps to get the opportunities I want. All those risks, all those decisions, you need to be firm, you have to be sure sa pag-take [noon].”
– Kenneth, 20, musician and busker
Interview by MARK JOSEPH B. FERNANDEZ
Photo by MIKAELA CECILLE S. SILVERIO
