April Joy C.

Santiago
1M LEGRES & WRI
KASHMERE TAME PELIAS DURAN:
THE WAR FOUGHT FOR THE REST OF YOUR LIFE
The Calm before the storm a saying attune to the essence of
childhood. One never figures out what they would turn out after fastforwarding 20 years into the unknown. Little Mere was a good quiet and
obedient child, never resisted commends too much, and was perfectly happy
being left alone at the house. There was not much to say for a child that was
always curious on how to be more mundane than any other person. Perhaps
its best to start this story a few years later, when Little Mere goes from
being the kind quiet chinky-eyed toddler to the expressive, bold and
passionate Filipino that aims to alleviate the rampant poverty in the
Philippines.
There is no war of greater precedence than that of The Career Choice
For the Rest of Your Life. How many fights and issues were brought upon
children and the persons that forced upon them such College Courses? It is
that universal fight that every senior high school student goes through,
rivaling teams and shots fired during the World Wars. Mom takes the
practical and monetarily supported side; Daughter takes to the idealistic and
risky side; and Dad, he takes the neutral post of siding to whoever would
consider his voice of actual importance. Mom would barricade herself with
many emotional attacks of being a mother; and retaliation takes form of
sneaky blitzkrieg strategy of parinig-during-dinner time. However, like the

fall of Germany; Mom would take a vital shoot at the very heart of that bright
idealistic taintless dream, and shatter it to bits with that one sentence:
Theres no money in that! The shot would render their children powerless,
and hastily panic for their future and conform to the original plan.
Kashmere Mere Tame Pelias Duran, one of the latest casualties of this
war. She is 21, a licensed Nurse, with a Bachelors Degree in Nursing. She
graduated with a high average grade, impeccably good morale from her
school, and an apparently bright future ahead of her as a nurse. Truly,
someones dreams were being attained and realized, however, in a
convoluted twist, it was not hersand she was powerless to change it. Every
day that passed was a strand of her life yanked away; yet, her silence kept
on. How could she stand to be the reason for the heartache that her number
one fan and ever-oh-so-proud-mother would feel, when she breaks the
medical dream and say: I want to be a lawyer. I want to be like Dad. It was
another act of war, and she could not find it in herself to hold the mallet and
fight with her again. After all, she thought, Im still young, maybe shes
right, and maybe being a lawyer is a mistake.
Days were passing, and the more she tried to accept the fate of
stoicism for her mothers happiness in lieu of her own; the more the finality
of her chain decisions were dawning on her. Life was passing by, and she sat
still to make sense of her path and weigh consequences that would haunt
her psychologically and emotionally. Choosing her path took time, it took
strength, and overwhelming willpower to decide and be honest to herself,

and the people she loved. She had to once again, take up the arms of being
truthful and faithful with what she has thought from the very first day of her
nursing course: I dont want to be herethis is not what I want, and wage
another war for her life.
Time for childish whims and dreams were over. Fueled by watching
everyone she knew pass by, with each a step closer to what they love to do
to what their heart was burning forjealousy took a jab at her, that is it,
this is the final straw!
It was time to make a wining strategy and ally herself with the only
power that will really stand toe-to-toe with her Mom. Seeking the help of the
previously neutral party to the fight, her Dad was keen to listening. Divulging
that through the years of going into a pre-med Course was torturous; and
that the Medical field was not her plan in life, it was not the Endgame she
envisioned. Her Dad was her last hope, maybe this time she does not have to
fight for herself. Maybe this time, she would win. Her Dad took a pause that
seemed louder than life, and after told her to simply: Tell your Mom.
It was betrayal at the highest stakes. Of course she will not just go to
her Mom that has already perfectly painted the picture of a Doctor Daughter,
and just say Hi, Mom, I was talking to dad and Im going to be a lawyer
instead! and then, throw all that her Mom spent in her undergrad and the
hopes she has lifted so high and then drop them like it didnt mean anything
to her. There must be some other way to tell her that will not pit them

against each other, the deliberate and hack and slash strategy from her sole
ally was a let down.
The following day, right before she strode towards her Mom, she
practiced in front of a mirror. Explaining this, expounding thatwishing that
all would go well, and shed be able to usurp the control of her life from her
Mom, completely this time around. She starts her way, again, to her mom;
taking deep breaths before officially calling out to her. She prepared a spiel,
points, arguments, and carefully constructed reasons to become a lawyer.
She was not going to tell her yes, that was a long shot. She reeled in her
worry, and started what seems to bethe longest conversation of her life.
She said, I dont want to go to Med School, I wanna take up law.
Her mom glanced at her, a little shock and bewildered, and said:
Okay.