15 Minutes of MAT fame

My ringing cellphone woke me up today.

"Hello?", I murmurred groggily, but trying to steady my voice so it wouldn't sound like I just woke up.

"We're in Manila Bulletin!", a team mate from MAT greeted me.

"Talaga? Galeng!"

"Astig interview mo ah..."

I woke up and tried to check Manila Bulletin online. Wala naman online eh. Baka wala na akong mabiling newspaper, almost noon na eh. Another friend texted me, meron din daw article sa Philippine Star. Quickly checking Philstar Online, wala ring article na naka-post sa web. Naku, dalawang dyaryo na ang kailangan kong bilhin -- Philippine Star at Manila Bulletin.

Then another batchmate from MAT emailed: "-see A27 of the SPORTS section of THE PHILIPPINE DAILY INQUIRER - APRIL 28, 2005". Yahoo! Ayun, meron kaming Inquirer! And yes, nandun ako. Meron akong maliiit na picture kasama ng mga sponsor ng event. Balang araw, ibubuo ko yung blog entry ko tungkol sa MAT...pero for now, ito na muna.

15 minutes of fame daw eh. Ito na yun. =p

I checked the news article in Inquirer, and I was quoted as saying: "When I saw that we were only a few women in the national finals, I felt that slim lang ang chance ko to make it," said Lim, the only female who earned a trip to Utah. "Being a part of this, it'll take a while before it sinks in."

Hehe, you know what, I barely recall saying those things, but hey, maybe it hasn't really sunk in yet. The whole adventure was fun, but there will always be more difficult and challenging things ahead. But somehow, deep down inside, I acknowledge that this is one gift and opportunity that does not happen easily to everyone. I am here, not because I was gifted or was capable, but just because I got lucky*. And for that, I am very thankful.

MAT finalists 2005, the All-Terrain-Vehicle (aka quad bike), bonding in a tent party, waiting to drive the 4x4 jeep

*From 300,000 applicants who handed in their application forms, 2000 applications were randomly chosen (bunutan system). From the 2000 applications, initial screening narrowed the field down to 500, then phone interviews narrowed it down to the 50 participants who camped at Tagaytay from April 12 - 16.