Tenacity in a Firefighter’s Heart

WRITTEN BY KORINA AURELIO

T“The future does not belong to the fainthearted; it belongs to the brave.” – Ronald Reagan Growing up, every one of us has an inkling of a dream. A blueprint of how our lives would play out as soon as we reach our desired goals, a driving force that pushes us to constantly work with everything that we got. A dream is a manifestation, a visual representation within the mind, which presents countless possibilities of what we’re capable of achieving in the future. Just like how light presents itself at the end of a dark tunnel and the way metals are attracted to magnets, a dream is what motivates us to keep on reaching for the end despite the difficulties throughout the long journey. It is what keeps us enthralled; the thought of being able to get to the finish line is more than enough to put someone in a state of euphoria.

The heroine in our story went through a series of unfortunate events growing up. She faced losses, discouragement, and was led astray from the path she originally wanted to trudge down. It’s her courageous heart, her tenacity, and her down-to-earth personality that made her far in life. She wouldn’t be the resilient firefighter that she is today.

Micah Trishia E. Alojado is the third child out of four siblings. She, together with her siblings, grew up and lived most of their lives without their parents by their sides.

“My father was a seaman and my mother was a high school teacher. They died early because of stroke; my father died in 1997 while I was only seven years old and my mother in the year 2003. I was thirteen back then.”

Without the aid and the financial support of her parents, the thought of going to any of the existing prestigious universities at the time was out of the line. They were like ripe fruits blossoming on unimaginably tall trees; beautiful to look at yet impossible to reach. “We had relatives residing in Sibalom. After our parents died, our uncle [which happens to be my mom’s brother] took us in and decided that we should go to the University of Antique.”

All seemed to farewell at that point yet another tragedy presented itself; déjà vu of sorts.

“In the year 2007, when I was only in my first year, my uncle died due to stroke as well. Because of that, our aunt [who is my father’s sister] ended up being the one who helped us continue and finish our studies.”

A dream often shifts its course in the long run; yesterday’s dream may dissipate into a cloud of nothingness as another dream manifests itself. We dream of different things and we aspire to reach a certain profession. However, external factors and hindrances cannot be avoided. This is what Micah had to face as she was choosing a course suitable for her.

“Actually, my first choice was nursing but UA didn’t offer the said course. So I decided to go with my second choice, which was Criminology. I wanted to be a policewoman because my ex of seven years was a policeman and I was influenced by him. But my aunt was against this idea and told me to pursue Bachelor of Science in Hotel and Restaurant Management (BSHRM) instead since it was easy to go abroad.”

wasn’t her dream at all. Though it wasn’t her plan in the first place, she was left with no other alternatives; her only way was to pursue BSHRM.

Despite not being able to spend her four years of college under a course she didn’t expect to take, there was another challenge that awaited her within the campus.

“There were students who were making up issues about me. They were far from the truth yet they kept at it. If I were any weaker, I think would’ve quit studying. If I listened to them rather than focusing on myself, I really think it would have been game over for me.”

There is a quotation from the novel Slasher Girls and Monster Boys that states, “It took courage to let other people’s cruelty bounce right off of you”. Which is correct; Micah set an example for that. Harsh words and untrue stories can cut right through our hearts, shards of unspoken pain engraved in them. But instead of crumbling into a helpless state, she braved through these negativities with her head held high.

After she graduated from college, she applied to become a policewoman. Yet fate wasn’t on her side. It wasn’t until she met her distant relative who was also a graduate from the University of Antique. They made a decision to apply for the Bureau of Fire Protection. Another decision made, meant she had to face another train of negative criticisms.

It took Micah five attempts to be able to qualify to undergo training. During the times when she faced rejection from her application and examination, she had best friends who were working as a pharmacist and a nurse respectively. Instead of showering her with encouraging words, they kept on throwing discouraging statements at her. They advised her to stop pursuing that path and simply give it a rest. With a persistent attitude, she kept moving forward.

“It was painful for me to face one rejection after another. I also had to deal with my best friends’ constant nagging about how I should just give it all up. It was a lot to handle but I managed, eventually.”

Hearing your best friends belittle you and being the ones that are hindering you from pursuing the dream you have wanted to reach is a different kind of pain. But even if they didn’t believe in her at that time, she had enough strength to believe in herself. She didn’t look at her rejections in a negative light. She took this as a sign that maybe it wasn’t her time yet. That someday, all the waiting and all the expenses she had made would be worth it. And they were.

Pursuing the path of a firefighter became her passion. Yes, this was not the dream she had in the first place but eventually, it grew on her. The Bureau of Fire Protection provided her the opportunity to be able to go out to the operation instead of just being barricaded within the walls of the office.

“The last time that I applied for the Philippine National Police, they were assigning female officers to offices instead of sending them out to operations. It felt unfair to me since we went through the same training yet we don’t get to experience the same things when it comes to our assignments.”

Micah is currently assigned at the Leon Fire Station in Iloilo City. After the countless struggles she had the misfortune to experience, her years at the University of Antique kept her grounded. The people who believed in her, especially her beloved significant other, were also the source of her strength and encouragement. She reached the dream she had worked so hard for without losing herself in the process.

“If there is anything that my alma mater has taught me, it’s to remain strong despite the adversities that you encounter and to always remain humble. My boyfriend also taught me that I have to always thank the Lord for the blessings that He showers me with.”

Just like Micah, we aslo face many difficulties and walk down challenging paths in life. It takes bravery to get up on your feet. It takes determination to constantly try and try again until you finally reach what you are aiming for. It takes strength to face the world and grab opportunities when they present themselves to you. Her experiences made her the strong woman that she is today. They tried to tear her down but she always fought back; she knew she was capable and she believed in herself more than the negativities that encircled her and tried to drown her.

She didn’t succumb to her demons but fought them and emerged victorious. The fire that crackled within the chambers of her heart grew larger until her demons could extinguish them no more. She took chances and made sacrifices throughout her journey in order to reach her dream.