- By Keith Brandon Cari-an
(Author’s Note: This week, we had a virtual chat with Karla Panganiban, a former journalist in Bacolod City and a treasured friend of Negros Weekly. She recounts her days with her family and friends and how returning to her roots anchors her life as a professional living in Taiwan.)
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Hiking the beaten paths and crossing a river in Isabela, Karla can still vividly remember how kind her parents Grace and Gideon were to farmers and their children.
“My parents influenced me a lot growing up,” Karla shares as she likened the days her parents brought her to the farmlands and boondocks of her hometown to an immersion of their family with the community.
Last December, Karla relived these memories as she traversed the same familiar highlands to bring the joy of the Yuletide season to the families in Hacienda Valera.
“My family helped me with all the planning and wrapping gifts,” she said. “The only twist was, we had to cross a river and the weather was windy.”
Even with this, Karla said the afternoon was filled with songs, dances, and laughter. She and her family shared gifts of school supplies and spaghetti for snacks.
When one of the kids told her their gifts will be very useful for school, all her fatigue was lifted.
“Crossing the river was worth it after all.”
MISSING HOME
One thing that Karla misses the most is home-cooked meals. In a few months, it will be seven years since she began to live in Taiwan to study, and later on, find a career as an executive in a technology company.
“While I am grateful for the opportunity to grow and explore, sometimes I just miss home,” she shares, adding that she feels less homesick after a convenient video call with her family and friends. She also whips up her Pinoy favorites when cravings linger.
Nowadays, she often sees her loved ones, thanks to the frequent business trips to the Philippines because of her work.
Last year, she was able to finally celebrate Christmas with her family and friends after six years. In the past, Karla would be actively occupied, either by exams and her job, or hindered by the pandemic.
“I became more inspired and motivated when I went back here to Taiwan.”
LOOKING BACK
“Returning to my roots completes me,” Karla said. She credits her wins, whether big or small, to her parents’ upbringing, teachers’ guidance, love from family and friends, and encouragement from the people she’s encountered over the past 28 years.
It’s like literally being a plant, she said.
“You will not bloom or bear fruit if you aren’t tied to your roots.”
Aside from her parents, her greatest influences were the people she met at La Consolacion College-Isabela and at the University of St. La Salle. The Augustinian and Lasallian education taught her to be empathetic.
Karla reminisced about her time on Suyac Island in Sagay City, where she and her classmates had their service-learning experience way back in 2014.
“I returned there on several occasions and brought my friends with me. One of them was even encouraged to fund-raise to build a mini library on the island.”
She also took in serving others while learning values and life-long lessons from them.
2023 excites Karla as it will be another opportunity to explore, learn, reflect, give back, and realize goals. Karla wraps up our quick chat with a Chinese saying, “Huo dao lao, xue dao lao”.
“Never stop learning.” ||
