OF TWIST AND DREAMS

The Normalite Times|Miss A

Once upon a time, there was this young man who dreamed to become successful in life; he tried his best to be the person he wanted to be. He strived hard for his dream and loved ones. Then a twisted opportunity came and grabbed it without hesitation. No matter how hard the consequence was, he never gave up and chose to be positive. Time come, and he was blessed from heaven to be the person he didn’t expect he will become. Hardships came into his life but he wasn’t shaken by these. He remained who he is and that man was Andro Rey Piencenaves, an Arnis athlete, once a dreamer but now a champion.

The Beginning of Everything

Andro Rey Piencevanes is a third year Tourism student, an Arnis athlete and the fourth of the five children. He lives at Laguerta, Lahug Cebu City with his loving and supportive family. He grew up as a non-athletic boy because of being malnourished and unhealthy. He was even diagnosed with dengue fever three times when he was still a child. As a result, he was called by his friends “Daot” because of his state of being.

But everything changed, when he met his life: He was in his first year in highschool when he was encouraged to join Arnis, but before in happened he was still a basketball player who didn’t have any idea what Arnis is all about. When the coach of Arnis in UC-Main offered him a 25% discount in the tuition fee scholarship, he grabbed the opportunity and preferred to play Arnis because it would be a huge help for him and for his parents.

During his first time playing, he really found it difficult because he didn’t even have a slightest idea what that game was but he keep on joining the training program served for them: There was even a time when he thought the he couldn’t make it because it really required physical coordination of his body and he was not a healthy-kind-of-a-guy at that time. Fortunately, he was able to overcome it because upon learning the sport, it pushed him to explore more in martial arts. He tried to learn Karate, Judo, Taekwonoo and Yaw-Yan which makes his body figure looks like Adonis-- lean and masculine. He was so grateful that he joined because who would have thought that the child who was once called as “Daot” would turn into a demigod?

Andro was then chosen to play at the Cebu City Olympic: He was feeling nervous at that time because it was his first attempt to compete in that particular event and his competitors were some of them were even a players in Palarong Pambansa.

He was able to attain victory considering that he was just a first timer. He still kept his feet on the ground even if he won and said, “Pero, lisod gyud kaayo to sa una kay imung lawas, niya dili na gani used to sa bunal ug bun-og kay imung lawas, naa man gyud na sa martial arts.” Everytime Andro played the game, his mom was his inspiration and motivation.

As new chapters of his life continued to unfold as an athlete, he also played in National games like Palarong Pambansa, wherein their team brought home a gold medal. Their victory was historical in Region 7 because it was the first time winning in Palarong Pambansa.

Another one was the Philippine National Games where he won two silver medals and in the World Tournament where he brought home one gold and one silver medal. Recently, he also brought two gold medals in the National SCUAA held in Tugegaro which is also a first in Region 7.

Because of their victory, the CNU President arranged a homecoming and congratulatory in the CNU campus.

Aside from all the triumphant parts of his life, he also experienced losing twice in the second and third Palarong Pambansa. In this loss, he felt disappointed and hurt. He explained it with this words: “Kung gaano kataas ang nilipad ko, yun din kababa ang binagsakan ko.”

No matter what happened, he never remorsed that he joined their team. He’s happy because they were like his second and he considered mos of his teammates as his brothers. Also if ever he has a problem that he can’t share with his parents, he finds comfort in his teammates who will always be there for him.

As a Student

If you contribute a lot in the place you live in, you can never stop being the talk of the town or a popular guy. Some people might be like that feeling or idea but to Andro it’s different. He doesn’t like the attention of the people directing him. For Andro he was just a normal student who attends school, mingle with friends and plays sports.

Whenever he plays Arnis, he often thinks that he’s not that popular. He’s just a typical guy who knows hot to play that sport and doesn’t want to get attention. He explained, “Actually, if mag play kog game dili gyud ko ganahan na daghan kaayo mag idolize nako, kay the more daghan magtan-aw nimo kay gamay ra gani na sayop nimo daghan na kaayo mo react. Simple mistake nimo kay daghan kay mulibak. Unya I just want to be an ordinary student lang ba, typical student lang ba kay wala raman nakuan man. But dili lang muana na sikat ko, di sad ko ganahan ingnag famous kay daghan kaayog mag sige ug tan-aw nako. Mao nay number one nako kay muana kag daghan kay mutan-aw nimo unya simple mistake nimo daghan na kaayo mo bash nimo.”

Dark Stages in College

During his second year in college, Andro almost gave up playing because of his grades failing due to missed activities and quizes during the SCUAA Olympics. Yet, all of them were excused in terms of attendance issue but it was still a struggle for them to catch up to all of the activities given by their professors.

“Dili man guro na namo sala na kami mo’y gipada sa school diba? So, we’re bringing the name of the school and then pagbalik namo kay unexpectedly ang among grade kay gamay na kaayo unya ang kanang... Kung student gyud ka kay conscious baya kaayo ka sa imung grade, dili ka ganahan ug naa’y mga simang and dili kaayo ka used to sa ing-anang mga grade. Mausab lang siya kay tungod lang you’re playing that particular of sports and you’re bringing the name of the school and to think ba na naa gani kay gihatag na name sa school niya, naa bitaw kay nahatag, naka gold ka pero imung grade nang-gamay sad. So mao to, we’ve decided unta na di nalang mu play sa SCUAA pero naa may nag push namo na magduwa gyud ba, so mao to ang time na muundang na unta ko, so mao to studies gyud ang naka conflict,” he said, expressing his part as a student athlete.

As a Son and a Brother

Andro is the fourth of five children in their family. He was very close with his father that simple spicy words from him makes him cry. His father is an engineer and support them in their studies while her mother is a housewife. Among the five children, he was the only one who had a very affordable amount of tuition fee. He chose Cebu Normal University because he didn’t want to hear the words: “Pagtarong ug skwela kay mahal baya imuhang tuition.”

His father’s hardword and care for the family were his inspiration. There was even a time that he pitied him because his siblings seemed to neglect his sacrifice.There was also a moment when he had the urge to confront his big brother when he failed all his subjects, but chose not to because he’s still younger than him.

He is close with his father in a sense that he’s always there to comfort him everytime he has a problem and chose to sulk in his room. His father would lie beside and comfort him through patting to let him know that he will always be there for Andro even if he doesn’t know what’s the problem.

For him, his father is like a comfort zone where he can freely shed his sorrows and tears because his father never produces judgments and understands him no matter what.

“Insultoha lang tanan, hilabti lang ang tanan ayaw lang gyud akong papa,” he said as he shared his moment with his father.

Dreams and Future Plans

When Andro was still young, his dream was to become an engineer like his father, but he ended up thinking that he was not that good in math when he reached the stage of maturity.

After taking up Tourism, he plans to work in a cruise ship and take up Safety Of Life At Sea (SOLAS). Afterwards, he will let his brother study Accountancy or Business Administration so that in the future if they will be able to build a business, his brother will be in charge of the management while he will be in the financing. This is a promising plan because they are blood related.

Love+Life

For those who are excited to know about his relationship status, well, lucky you, because, he’s single. He’s been single for four years and his last relationship was when he was still in his junior year in highschool.

The longest relationship he had was three days only, because according to him, he thinks that he developed a phobia from his past relationship. But not because he has that phobia thing means it was his greatest love. “Uhm, no, because we’ve been together for only three days, so wala lang,” he said.

Andro is not a collect-then-select kind of guy in terms of winning someone’s heart. He really chooses well by using not just the eyes but also the heart and mind. The longest courtships he ever did was one month. If he doesn’t like the attitude of the girl then he will immediately stop the courtship.

Inspiring Words in Reaching His Dreams

In every achievement he obtain, every trials he face, he always makes sure that he really gives his all. As he continue to build his dream, he always follow his motto, “You cannot reach the top unless you start climbing.” No matter how hard your day is, how cruel the world is, how difficult to deal with everything or everyone is, never ever stop trying to be who you want to be. Walk as long as you want to, run an extra mile if you have to because that will only be the best thing to do to achieve your goals in life.

He also shared their team’s motto for his fellow athletes who want to be successful, ‘Vision without action is just only an illusion,’ explaining, “If kana lang ka (passive), like studies for example, I want to have a 1.0 or high grades, but imung gibuhat kay wala ra, relax raka. So, how can you achieve that grade kung wala man ka naglihok diba?”

The Beginning of an End

Everything in life have its own pathway, a guideline and a right time. So if you want to achieve something in life, you should do it step by step, you should believe in yourselves and you should always remember that there is no shortcut to a successful living. You have to go through a lot of storms and floods to be who you want to be. Always bear this in your mind that the hardest battle you will ever have to fight is between who you are right now and who you want to be in the future.