Not Left Behind

The Celebration Before the Answered Prayer

- Alyssa Marie Ilagan

I am a storyteller. Since I was young, I have been writing different kinds of stories.

I’ve always wanted to be a scriptwriter, but apparently, I was called to do a different kind of storytelling. I wasn’t able to get into any of my desired universities and study anything related to media. Instead, I took Bachelor of Arts in English and graduated with honors in 2017.

That same year, I worked as an English-as-Second-Language (ESL) teacher and fell in love with teaching. It was like storytelling, only I mostly told them nonfiction stories.

In 2018, I took a post-baccalaureate certificate to take the licensure examination for teachers and pursue it as a career.

Not too long, during the first term, I left my job.

That was one hard season! I was twenty-two, jobless, and unsure of what to do in life. But I didn’t want to wallow in my negative thoughts! Every day, I would turn to God, studied my Bible, listened to preachings, and tried to know Jesus more. The Eucharist became my number one comforter. I finished twenty-four units with peace in my heart.