Passion? What Passion?

Have you ever wondered what kind of thing will you get yourself into and be passionate about?

During my childhood years, my family and I used to play badminton at the nearby plaza, kind of considering it a “family sport” since we played almost every Sunday back then. I actually liked badminton but I never had the chance to give it a shot, like getting someone to train me just like sporty kids do, not even joining a school tournament because the schools (I had two since I transferred to another school when I was in grade 5) I attended back in elementary didn’t have sports events. And also, I think papa didn’t feel the need to hone our sporty side. But when I was in grade 5, some grade 6 girls invited me to hang with them and play volleyball; that was when I got interested with the sport.

High school came. Every intramurals, I got to play volleyball; I played for 4 years and it was all fun. When I got into college, when I was in the first program that I enrolled myself into (I was a shiftee), I tried-out for the college intramurals. I remember the tryouts were held at the school covered court, and I also remember that I was too intimidated with the girls who also took the shot at it. Too intimidated that out of 4 to 5 tryouts, I only attended the first 2 of them and I backed out. I realized that what we had in high school were all fun and games, we didn’t have trainings just like the other girls who were present during the tryouts. I never had the skills. I was too ashamed of the fact that I didn’t know some of the basics of volleyball so I considered I won’t be getting a slot in the team.

After that realization, I thought that maybe I’m just not the sporty type. Deep down I want to be involved in sports but at the same time I was too shy because I thought it was too late to try.

When I was in my third course/program, which is BS Agriculture, I got introduced to this sport called rodeo. In our college, we had this annual celebration called Manresa Days where playing rodeo is part of the event. Teachers will encourage all agriculture students to play to gain points in addition to their grades, so it’s a win-win situation for both the staff and the students.

That was when I learned that rodeo exists.

So that was it! That was when I thought that I wanted to know more about rodeo, I wanted to play the sport even after Manresa Days. By then, I started joining a rodeo team and true enough, I became part of it, and I still am (as an alumna, though).

I never thought that I would be playing this extreme sport. A lot of my friends would say that I’m too thin to wrestle a cattle. Well yeah, I get that a lot. But playing the sport doesn’t require you to be huge, it needs you to be bold enough to face your fears. Playing this sport made me realize so many things and brought me to places where I got to meet different people with different perspectives in life. My love for outdoor activities became extreme. I also learned horseback riding. I was able to join competitions twice and I couldn’t be happier about it!

You know, life is full of surprises, and I thank God that despite our being undeserving, He still lets us enjoy all these things. See, I almost gave up from finding which sport I will be getting myself into, but then here I am, writing about my love for rodeo. I couldn’t even imagine how 4 years have passed so fast—yep, I played for 4 years straight and I must say that’s way too much for someone like me who hadn’t tried committing into a sport before.

If you are reading this and maybe you’re still wondering what’s really your sport, or anything you want to know that you’re capable of doing, I want to tell you this: Wait. Don’t force things to happen. Don’t get pressured with anything or anyone, and most of all, don’t be too hard on yourself. You may have no idea what you want exactly, but one day you will, and God will give you the fulfillment that you are searching. Sometimes it will be the least thing that you expect to happen to you by the moment. So right now, just enjoy, be happy and content with what you have right now because someday, everything will fall into place if you are patient enough to wait.

As for me, right now since I have already graduated in college, getting invites from rodeo competitions will be the least thing that I could receive because rodeo-playing women don’t have as much opportunities as men do after college, which ideally means I have to wait for something—this time, job opportunities to grab.

Waiting is not just a one-time thing, it will occur to you from time to time and we have to deal with it, that waiting is part of the whole process in this life. So if you think you’ve had all the time waiting for something to happen, don’t worry, you’re not alone.

By the way, our organization is called Xavier University Rodeo Enthusiast Organization or XU-RODEO.

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