It was decided: I didn’t want to be successful when I became an adult.
I wanted success the same time most teenagers wanted success–right at that very moment. I had decided, setting my sights as high as I could, that 2015 was going to be the year I revive print. A tall order for any established publication, let alone a 17-year-old, but I didn’t let that stop me. While people of far-off generations tried to figure out what to call us (Gen Zs? Millennials? A bunch of entitled kids?), we busied ourselves trying to achieve “success” or rather, success as we perceived it: reviving a “dying” industry.
The realization dawned on me when I visited a decade-old magazine stand in a popular Makati mall, one that I went to every month during high school. There I bought new issues of print mags I swore by, and I was amazed with every flip of a page. I called it my regular weekend routine; the thought of holding a new copy always sent me to the moon and back. The middle-aged woman who sold them was thoughtful enough to remember my favorites.
The old “ding!” of Facebook Messenger marked what I thought was the start of my success story. “Something Spectacular,” I named the PowerPoint presentation I sent to our high school barkada group chat. No hints, no warnings. Just the thrill of having them open it made me want to jump out of my rusty computer chair. Seen by three people. Let the clickbait work.
It was 2015. The presentation I sent came with a formal message that looked weird for a group of friends who always banter and tease each other: “I have a proposal. Why don’t we make an online magazine?”
Denne historien er fra January - March 2020-utgaven av Scout.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent ? Logg på
Denne historien er fra January - March 2020-utgaven av Scout.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
Girl of the year
After years on hiatus, 17-year-old Ylona Garciaa has found her way back to her first love: music
Walking on a Tightrope
The Binisaya Film Festival grew from pop-up screenings in beaches, rooftops, basements and basketball courts. How did founder Keith Deligero go against the tide?
URBAN DISRUPTION
As street art falls into the trap of commercialism, collectives like koloWn of Cebu reclaim urban spaces through works that dare to disrupt
Take no prisoners
At 13 years old, Alex Bruce has already built a name for herself in the local hip-hop scene
Paperback dreams
As print was beginning its decline, we were passionate, young creatives who wanted to resuscitate publishing—even if it meant making our own magazines
Putting the spotlight on the South
Run by DJs, MCs and dancers, Laguna Hip-hop is ready to break borders with their growing community
Bekiand the great Gay language
Our local gay lingo is radical in nature
Baybayin: a renewal through art
Filipino-American Baybayin artist Kristian Kabuay talks about Baybayin as a didactic art form that bridges past and present
Wild card
Marco Gallo never dreamt of becoming an actor, so why is he working hard to be the best one out there?
Postcards after the drug war
It went from promises to end illegal drugs in three to six months, to countless protests from human rights activists, and a vice president appointed and (eventually fired) to head the government’s campaign on illegal drugs.
