Whenever I worked on my writing or practiced singing or basically anything, I always asked myself, “Will my goal be easier if I had no harsh work? ”

My answer? Nope, we have to go through a hard process to achieve a certain goal or a reward. 

Everything may sound easy, but you have to go through the tough experiences to say it’s simple.  

I learned this the hard way. You may ask how or even why. Let me explain it to you from my Grade 7 Franklin singing experience….

I still remember my first attempt in singing for school purposes. It was the second quarter. I applied to do singing for my MAPEH activity for music. I don’t remember what made me choose the song, but I do recall choosing to sing “You’ll Be Safe Here.” The original song was sung by Rico Blanco of Rivermaya. However, the song I chose was a cover sung by Moira Dela Torre. It was used in the soundtrack of ABS CBN’s Can’t Buy Me Love. 

Anyway, when I chose the song, I had no complete formal training in singing. I had no idea how difficult it would be. I thought I didn’t have to do extra practice, as I thought my singing was fine. In the previous assignment, I should have learned about breathing properly when singing, but no lesson of that occurred to me. I recorded the song with one take and breath. 

In the end, I submitted the song without double-checking on how it sounded. You could imagine how it felt for me when I told two of my trusted friends to rate my singing. My guy friend said how off-key I had sounded, while my best friend said the same. 

At first, I did not mind. Well, I thought I just needed more practice and vocal control. Later on, I decided to cover another song, “Mean Girls” by KATSEYE. Upon recording, I realized I didn’t exactly sound the way the singers would sing it. It wasn’t my vocal range yet. “You’ll Be Safe Here” wasn’t either. 

The truth hit me harder than I had thought, but I didn’t give up. The tone and pitch may sound bad; however, I knew if I truly wanted to sing, for either personal or career reasons, I had to practice and practice. 

I considered that humiliating singing experience as a life lesson. I had unconsciously learned that even when you think everything fails or isn’t working, you should continue the path to your goal.

Right now, I may have no formal training, but I still try to sing if I have time. I had tried singing songs from EPIC: The Musical this year (2026), which, by the way, are hard to sing with the high notes and all. I eventually noticed my singing had improved from last year’s singing. I could match the tone and pitch of most of the songs. 

Sure, some of them still need improvement, just like that one high-note song or fast song, but it’s not an instant failure. It just means you have to give more effort and get out of your comfort zone.

Aside from my opinion changing, I had noticed that after all those events, I was happier and even livelier than I was. I was shy, afraid, and quiet before trying to sing. It meant to me after getting out of my comfort zone, that I could take on new challenges without expecting failure to damage me. 

When it comes to writing and perseverance, it’s pretty much the same thing. I don’t usually proofread everything when drafting, and I usually forget about punctuation marks. However, with BUBOTS and Casa Del Libro Inc. (which is my school), I get feedback on my writing. I also noticed improvements when it comes to personal writing as well. The feedback doesn’t tell me that I did bad, but it helps me understand what I did wrong and what to do to improve it.

In short, everything may be easy, but sometimes it isn’t. It doesn’t need to be perfect. You have to go forward, not backward if something goes wrong. Failure shouldn’t stop you from trying to do something you need or want, but it should encourage you to keep trying. You may find out about the surprising effect of perseverance. It could help you go faster on what you want to achieve, just like that singing experience.

As Maya Angelou once said, “You may encounter defeats, but you must not be defeated.”

About the Author

Hi! I’m Neskeila Jean Ducusin, but you can call me NJ!  (pronouns she/her) I’m from La Union, Ilocos Region, Philippines. Since grade 2, I have been homeschooled, and I’m still doing that now. I’m a shy ambivert. My favorite comfort food is cookies. I mostly read books, listen to K-pop music, and make up stories. I read a lot of books like the Harry Potter series and some Nancy Drew books to get some inspiration for life.