MY MEDIA AUTOBIOGRAPHY

UNEDITED SAMPLE FEATURE ARTICLE
By Karenina Isabel Apilado Lampa
IV-Michael Faraday


Back when I was much younger than I am now, I had already loved reading. My brother and sister would look at me weirdly, probably wondering why. The truth of the matter is, even I myself didn’t know. I just loved it. It was simply for the pleasure of it all. It was only when I aged over a few years did I realize that it was not all that I gained from it.

The 20th day of March 1993, I was able to have the opportunity to experience God’s greatest gift. During that time, things were so different. We used to live in an apartment, which was so crowded with people that all I could remember was when I was in the bedroom, together with my sister. That is probably the reason why I never liked the television that much. As a child, all I could do was watch what they had to watch in the apartment. So in other words, I never enjoyed it.

Two years after I was born, my little brother came. It was probably because of him that made our parents decide that living in that crowded apartment wasn’t going to work. We moved to a new house in Rizal, and up until now, this is where we reside. In my opinion, it was during this stage that I actually started developing myself more and more.

Because of the size of the new house, we were able to have a little library inside it. It’s not that big, but it’s a library nonetheless. I can still remember the first book I have ever read. It was that of “Cinderella”. Of course, as a kid, I didn’t understand it. I focused more on the pictures back then.

I also had the chance to finally hold a remote control for the television. The only channel that I had watched before was “Cartoon Network”. Any other channel got me throwing a fit. But due to the experience we’ve had in the apartment, my fit-throwing days didn’t last long. It all changed when I started to learn how to actually read.

From my little fairytale books, I progressed on to the Nancy Drew series. I was really amazed with how the stories start and end, and not long after that, I had a couple of notebooks lined in front of me, and I tried to write my own story.

I showed all of my works to my mother, and can you imagine what she did? She laughed at me. I was annoyed because I didn’t know why. I was about to burst into tears, but her next words struck me. “This is good, Karenina.” And from then on, reading and writing became my source of comfort.

There came a time wherein media reached its golden age in my life. Our parents bought me and my sister our own Hello Kitty radio during one Christmas. There was also the time wherein we finally got our own television in our room. I learned to love watching not only cartoons, but also some of the movies that would show up occasionally in HBO. I used to watch out for “Jawbreaker” and “My Girl” back then. And through this, we got more and more inclined towards technology. It definitely changed our life.
But the biggest change was when our parents noticed the three of us fighting over the computer. They decided that it wouldn’t work anymore. A few weeks later...or what seemed like months...or years...the three of us finally had our own computers.

The first thing that I remember doing in my own computer was to download the game “Ragnarok”. I had loved it so much back then and wasted too much for it. But despite what other people would say, I totally disagree with anyone who would say that we would gain nothing from it. “Ragnarok” was the first online game that I had ever played, and for me, it showed me the way of life in a different point of view.

But through all this, one thing remained the same. My love for reading and writing never wavered. In the midst of all these shows and games and media stuff, the books always came somewhere in between. Truth be told, it was because of the internet that my desire to write became more evident.

Through the internet, I discovered about ‘fan fiction’. I read the works of people around the world, and it inspired me to do the same. The first ‘fan fiction’ I ever wrote was a “Naruto” one. And yes, it sucked. But hey! I was young and foolish.
That, however, didn’t stop me. With a little more time, my writing improved and I received more and more reviews. I was thrilled.

I read more as I grew up. From the “Nancy Drew” series, to the “Sweet Valley High” series, to the “Harry Potter” series, to the “Lord of the Rings” series, to the “Shop-a-holic” series, and to the other books that I have come across in life, my love for these works of art didn’t change.

Right now, I am still living in this house where it all started for me. I’ve learned to watch more. This includes “Grey’s Anatomy”, “House” and “Heroes”, my top three favorite shows. But of course, the cartoons that I have been deprived of as child can never fail to satisfy my craving for enjoyment.

I now consider my computer my non-existent friend. I use it for chatting, for watching videos, and for playing online games. But the greatest use that it offers me is an online blog. Have you ever wondered why I never wrote about a diary despite my love for writing? That is because of the fact that I was never able to make a diary last for a week. Need I say more? Online blogs technically work better for me.

And lastly, I always make it a point to finish one non-school book a week. Despite the fact that reading calms me despite the stress that I experience during school, I know that through it, I start improving myself more.

Even though my life didn’t quite start the way I would have liked it, I always keep this thing in mind. What if I had never lived in that apartment? Maybe...just maybe, I wouldn’t be as devoted as I am now to reading and writing. Because experiencing deprivation of anything remotely fun in that apartment, it made me hunger more and more for the feeling of satisfaction.

I am happy of the way my life has turned out. And from this point on, I know...If I had never learned to appreciate the television...the internet...the books in this world...I would be living a very incomplete life.