This is a response to Being Single Is Not Synonymous With Being Unhappy.

I'm never afraid to admit that I've never been in a relationship for almost 26 years that I've been living. I know people are surprised that I've been single but I'm not fazed by their reactions to my single status. Looking back at my younger years, I'm so glad I didn't end up in relationships with the wrong people and knew my worth it. Everything happens for a reason and me being single happened for a reason.

Being single allowed me to focus on myself more and figure out who I am as a person as I continue to get older. I did have a few crushes in the past but none of them ended up liking me back, which is fine and in the long run, it was for the better. The last person I had a crush on ended up breaking my heart by ghosting me and I used to be close friends with that said person. Yes, I was devastated at first but as I was focusing on other stuff overtime, my feelings of sadness went away. I started to focus more on volunteering, modeling, pageantry, and of course, writing. Plus, I further progress in my career, there's still a lot of stuff I want to learn and gain skills in. Alongside with my career, I do plan to go back to school to pursue a business law certificate with Cornell University online and do a second master's degree in either policy, law, journalism, or communications. With my first national pageant and first runway show coming within the next couple of months, I have so much more to look forward to in life, and having a partner is not one of them.

So why it's okay to be single that you've asked again? One word is growth. From my personal experiences, you can't always rely on one person to do all of the dirty work for you. You have to do the work yourself and also, figure out who you are actually without relying on one person. There's no guaranteed a relationship will last forever. You can be in a relationship with the same persona and all of the sudden, you and your person broke up in your 20s. What are you going to do then? Well, you have to figure out who you are exactly without that person and what you mean to other people as only yourself. My advice is try something new that you haven't done before or attend events so you can meet new people who think the same as you. Plus, reevaluate what's your purpose in life besides working a 9-5 of course.

As a single almost 26 year old without a partner, I do not and will not rely on anyone else to pay my own bills. Especially when I move out when the time comes. My mom pretty much want me to never rely on anyone when it comes to money. The money I earned is mine alone. I don't want to waste my money on someone who I won't be with forever. And watching Tik Tok videos pretty much convinced me to do that along with the fact that many women on there were actually happier being single (not surprised).

Moral of the story? Focus on yourself and have fun in this short life that we all have. Never focus on one person. If something like true love happens, it'll happen at the right place at the right time. Everything happens for a reason. And the reason for me being single is that I have a lot to offer to this world as a Gen Z Filipina American who is breaking barriers in government, modeling, pageantry, writing, and hopefully so much more. Me being in a relationship and settling down for marriage and having kids is not for me and not my purposes in life. And that's okay. I ended up embracing who I am more as a result of knowing my worth. I'm hoping you know your worth to as you continue to find yourself in life.