TOM PETTIT THANKSGIVING ESSAY COMPETITION WINNER

Having a unique perspective on the society in which one lives is something to be thankful for, but to have a unique perspective on two societies is extra special. CedarBridge Academy student, Falconeri Bacabac, winner of this year's Tom Pettit Thanksgiving Essay Competition, moves between two worlds, the high-tech life in Bermuda, and the simple rural life of his native Panay, in Tinigbas Province, in the Philippines.

He came to Bermuda with his parents, a chef and a housekeeper, when he was four years old, and after a year returned to the Philippines.

Four years later he was back in Bermuda and has been here ever since. His prize-winning essay, printed below, reveals how he is able to see the best of both worlds, and to appreciate the opportunities he has in Bermuda that might not be available in a rural village.

Why I am Thankful

by Falconeri Bacabac

They say you can better understand a person by looking at the world from their perspective. I am thankful for the fact that I can look at the world through two different perspectives.

As a person who comes from a small town, I have a better appreciation for the commodities city life has to offer. As a young boy living in a rural place, life seemed as normal as it could be.

It was not until I moved to another country that I could fully comprehend how hard life really was back home. We had to go without many things that I now take for granted. There really is a difference between city life and a farmer's life.

In the old country the dirt road town consists of wooden thatched roofs and houses, proclaiming the peacefulness and tranquillity of life. Here the paved roads give way to cars and other vehicles exclaiming noise and pollution.

We have had to go without electricity and all of its modern uses until just recently. Here the electricity used by one house could probably supply a whole village's use. I had never even heard of cable or satellite until I came here. All we had was a simple electric generator and TV antenna which had to be moved and twisted this way and that every time the generator was turned on so we could see the nightly news.

On the short occasions that I do return to my country of origin, I find that I am more knowledgeable than my friends and most of the adults. In Bermuda I receive a better education and actually have a chance to go to a college.

In the home country you actually had to pay for a high school education that taught you meagre information that is at this moment being learned by local middle schoolers.

I am now technologically more advanced than my peers, not that my peers in the rural village have computers or video game systems. But a simple $20 plug-and play-system would excite my friends and cousins from the rural town no end.

The cell phone revolution has reached my home town, although land lines are still unheard of. Most families only have cell phones because of the younger generation who are more accepting of modern ways. As a whole the country is mostly modernised, but there are those few places left tucked away in their own little piece of the world. It is like a haven or paradise for peacefulness and tranquillity seekers

In conclusion, seeing the world in two perspectives is a great advantage and privilege. You can comprehend and look at information from two different views. You can have two different solutions for a problem.

This natural empathy will be of great use in my future as I grow and learn. I am very thankful for my opportunity to experience two intertwined lives in one lifetime.