By: Jeimee Franchesca De Guzman of Grade 10D – Hooke
If you asked me back in 2025, I would’ve said, “Be me” this year.
But what is Me?
I did not know that answer. I thought I knew—who wouldn’t? Everyone is content with how they are in life. Everyone thrived. Everyone knew. Everyone used their life. Was I doing that in my life? I thought I knew—who wouldn’t? 2025? Really? Was that a “Fresh Start”? I thought I knew… who wouldn’t? And that’s what I thought I knew. I did everything to show, to present, to… “Be Me.”
Yet the more I live my life, the more I… questioned it. Why was I unsure? Why did I question? Everyone was being who they presented.
That was their goal for this year, right? And everyone was doing a great job—achieving goals that made a place and statement for the new year. That was their fresh start! They all knew! Who wouldn’t?! I was falling behind already. I couldn’t present the side I wanted to show. I messed up conversations that I thought I had planned. I did my best showing up. I curated a Me that knew what she was doing!
She sacrificed her voice that could never be heard—that IS me.
She gave way to paths others took to thrive—that IS me.
She played safe to never offend over breathing—that IS me.
She never asked for help to never look weak—that IS me…?
She carried the heaviest pressure just to walk up stairs—that… IS me?
She apologized for existing… because she didn’t know if she knew.
Was that even Me? I asked that question. Didn’t I? I thought I knew… I thought… Because who wouldn’t?
Me.
I stopped questioning if I knew… because in reality? I didn’t know. I didn’t know how everyone was thriving. Knowing what that “Be Me” is. They fit in, they did not struggle! They knew… they knew what that “Me” is to them. And for once? I didn’t answer. I thought, Was I really… Me?
And after that question? I thought more. And everything I thought I knew that I did, that I thought I knew what I was doing…
That wasn’t… Me.
So, who IS Me? I thought I knew—who wouldn’t? Well, definitely not invisible, forgettable, or a ghost. That wasn’t me. That wasn’t my start. And I couldn’t use that as my start. So I restarted.
I didn’t answer anymore questions. Because who wouldn’t? No—who would have that answer? And that I did not know. And that felt like an answer already.
I did become Me when I realized the discomfort of not knowing was the peace I needed. I wouldn’t know. And that’s when I really lived my life.
Because my question was not, “How to BE Me?” when I have the answer of “I thought I knew, who wouldn’t.” It really was, “How to live MY LIFE, as Me?” And my answer to that? “I wouldn’t know. Who would?”
And that’s how I really started my new start—a fresh start with the knowledge of finding out… finding ME out. And finding how I want to live my life.
So if you ask me what my goal for 2026 is? It’s… “To live my life as Me.”
“One of the selected writers for January, highlighting the theme: New Beginning, New Voices.”