okay,kahapon nangarap akong magsubmit ng entry para sa 2bu ng inquirer (oo,yung dyaryo) kaya gumawa ako ng essay.masaya na sana kaya lang tapos na yung contest kung contest man siya kaya ipopost ko na lang dito.siguro parang ganun na din yun.so eto na yung dapat sana'y entry ko sa dove chuchu contest.

The Chronicles of a Nognog

Have you ever wondered how it’s like to live in the dark side, or should I say the dark shade? Then read along to find out exactly how we, the dark ones, do it.

Negrita, baluga, and nognog. These are just some of the nicknames I’ve earned because of my skin color. I’ve been a morena for as long as I can remember, though my baby pictures say otherwise. The old me had milky white complexion and big, round eyes which is a far cry from the present me who has dark skin and slit eyes. Whenever I show people my baby pictures, they never fail to ask me where my fair skin had gone. I jokingly answer back that it has gone on a vacation. A very long vacation, if you ask me. Blame it on my family’s love of out-of-town trips and beaches. My mom used to tell me that when I was younger and whiter, we’d always go to Batangas during the weekends and go basking in the sun. Kids usually don’t have a problem when it comes to getting dark after a trip to the beach since they peel their dark skin off easily. But I was different. It takes me weeks before I return to my normal complexion, but since we go to the beach every week, my skin never really had the opportunity to return to its normal shade, thus the dark me was born.

I didn’t really have a problem with being dark since most of the people I see also have dark skin. All of these changed when I went to school. We all know how kids can be judgmental during this stage and I wasn’t spared from it. Most of them would call me names associated with being dark. I would often get pikon and cry but what can I do? I really am dark. There are also the frequently asked questions like “Nagbeach ka ba? Umitim ka eh.”, even if I haven’t gone to the beach in ages or the most common “Kung maputi ka dati, bakit ka umitim?”, which usually ends up in a long story telling session. In high school, I hated the one thing I loved the most when I was younger: swimming. It was required that we attend swimming classes and unfortunately for the not-so-gifted ones in the white skin department, our pool didn’t have roof to protect us from the sun’s skin darkening rays. So I, along with the other members of the nognog club, had to endure pe class and darker skin.

But my take on the dark side changed when my dad told me that there is nothing wrong with being dark. He was conversing with an uncle during a trip to the beach when he said his piece about my having a dark skin. His exact words were:
“E ano naman kung maitim ka? Nasa kulay ba yun? Maganda nga yung maitim e, tipid sa pera kasi para kang laging galing sa beach kahit hindi.”

Though he said it in a joking manner, he was right. My skin color doesn’t really matter. It’s not much of a deal that I’m not as white as Snow White. It’s the inside that counts. Cliché, I know, but it’s true. If you’re a nice, fun to be with person, people wouldn’t really care if you’re a morena or a mestisa simply because it’s not as important as being a genuinely nice person.

So there, that’s my side of the story. I can now say with conviction that yes, I am a nognog and if being one means that I get to enjoy life without caring too much about my color, then so be it. Ü

yown.sorry medyo mahaba at english pa siya.wahoo!Ü