“Dad? Where are we going right now?” I asked dad. Binihisan ako ni dad habang si mom naman ay nasa kwarto nilang dalawa at naghahanda sa mga gamit namin. Lumapit si dad sa akin at lumuhod sa harap ko. Ngumiti siya at ginulo ang mahaba kong buhok. “We’ll go on a vacation first.” He said smiling. What? Vacation? Why? And where? “Vacation? But my school isn’t over yet. Shouldn’t mom be the one telling you that school is much more important than anything?” A nine year old girl said— yep, it’s me. It’s still early in the afternoon and dad told me that we’ll be going somewhere. I did not expect it to be a vacation for us. It’s not yet summer! And I have important classes to attend. At a very young age, I was taught to make education be the first priority. Family is important, yes that’s

