_{In case you were wondering, I didn't buy this bouquet to celebrate my third month here on Steemit, I'm thinking of buying myself cake, though!}

Today marks the third month of my Steemit journey. While we can debate over the relative length of time of my being active on this platform over everyone else's, allow me to personally see this as a milestone. With this, I'd like to share with all of you a reassessment of what I can offer this promising platform. You can treat this post as a sort of reintroduction. I'd be lying if I said that I joined Steemit to grow as a person. I wanted to grow as a writer, sure, but more importantly, I wanted to grow my incoming cash flow. Admit it, you guys did too! No? Well, only you can attest to the truthfulness of your answer. Oooooh, tension...

Pushing the tension aside, I never expected to learn about the essence of being a community here on Steemit. The seeds of this idea were planted by @ybanezkim26's post, What It Means To Be In A Community. Perhaps I've grown too calloused with the bad experiences that I've had with a bunch of friends back then. It was the first betrayal that made a really big impact on me. That experience made me too afraid to trust people. I appeared as a friendly face to everyone I meet, but I couldn't take the risk to trust wholeheartedly again. Needless to say, I thought of myself most of the time. I think that this also caused my heart to grow selfish. I never really learned to sincerely give myself without expectations that I'll be extended the same courtesy. I read once that people only learn to give when they have fully grasped the thought that they have been given enough.

Steemit has given me more than enough - gifts that transcend money and recognition. From now on, I will be contributing contents that concern these areas:

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CHEMICAL ENGINEERING _{from a chemical engineer}

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My story: I graduated BS of Chemical Engineering last 2016 and I got my license just last year. If I were to ask my 12-year old self what she was thinking when she wanted to become a chemical engineer, she'll probably tell you that she wanted to make her own shampoo. I wasn't a big bookworm back then, I wanted to make things! It came as no surprise that I had a hard time grasping scientific concepts because I didn't expose myself to scientific books as a kid. I was overwhelmed with the heavy technicalities I had to read on a frequent basis. My favorite scientific references were those that explained things simply. To this day, "Organic Chemistry for Dummies" remains as the most delightful read I've ever had. Another author that I look up to is Dr. Octave Levenspiel. His approach to Chemical Reaction Engineering is something that I've always enjoyed studying as well.

The problem: An observation that always take chemical engineers by surprise, and sometimes causes irritation, is that a lot of people can't seem to tell the difference between a chemical engineer and a chemist. I don't blame people for not being able to know the difference, I take this to mean that our discipline isn't as well-understood as it should be. I also notice that not a lot of people are trying chemical engineering out for themselves - with the fear of it being difficult and all.

My search for the solution: With this, I would like to write about chemical engineering in my own words. I will explain it as simply as I can. I will give time and effort to writing posts that will, in a way, clear out how interesting this field is. With the right mindset, you can gain a deeper understanding of our world just through appreciating chemical engineering. I will be posting a series here in my blog anytime soon. I hope you guys keep an eye out for this.

_{Your friendly neighborhood chemical engineer}

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FINANCIAL LITERACY _{from a financial advisor}

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My story: I firmly believe that I can work my way to becoming financially free. With this belief, my passion for learning all about the world of money led me to a Mutual Funds Seminar organized by First Metro Asset Management Inc. The seminar was held somewhere in the city of Cebu. Even if I was born and raised in another big city, I didn't go out that much. I didn't find my way to the venue right away, so I went in late. I thought to myself, "I'm already here anyway, I'll just make the most of the remaining time." I sat in and I thanked my lucky stars that the moderator didn't shoo me away. I'm still thanking my lucky starts until today because Ma'am Sonia, the moderator, paved the way to the world of financial advising for me. It was one of those moments, you know, when being late led to a more interesting turn of events.

The problem: The financial system, unfortunately, is inherently unfair. It is designed to make the rich grow richer, and the poor, poorer. Thankfully, cryptocurrency is about to break that cycle. Or at least, change the dynamics of the financial game. Aside from these, a lot of people still have negative mindsets about financial products that could prove be strategic moves toward attaining financial stability. Don't get me started with the negative reputation that precedes the innovation brought about by cryptocurrency! Well, I'm not going to wash my hands and say that I've believed in crypto from the start, I still have my reservations. But I'm now shifting my focus from its inherent volatility to its promising potential.

My search for the solution: As I make my way into the world of finance, I will be chronicling some of the principles that I've been taught. I will be posting a series about financial planning principles on my blog. I will be integrating all of the little things that I learn from my readings and experiences. Hope you are as excited for this as I am!

_{The keynote speaker in my company's recent event was Anthony Pangilinan. I'll be sharing some of the things that I've learned from his talk soon!}

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WRITING _{from a self-proclaimed writer}

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My story: I was a quiet kid, that doesn't mean I didn't have anything to say. Just that, before, I felt like nobody was willing to listen to me. When my head was too full of thoughts, I had a notebook where I would jot them all down. I didn't think that I was competent enough to take part in my high school's publication. My teacher thought I was, so, I decided to give it a shot in college. My organization, the University of San Carlos Chemical Engineering Society (USC ChES), had planned on reviving its paper. I thought that it was the perfect opportunity for the writer in me to finally come out! To my dismay, the publication didn't push through. I did not give up! I applied for a freelance platform as a creative and technical writer. Then again, my profile wasn't approved.

The problems: These string of events would've made anyone sane to just give up. I didn't, perhaps I'm not sane or whatever. I continued to write on my blog. People were reaching out to me to say that they loved my content! I realized that I was better off writing for myself. But as I've joined Steemit and here, community is held in top priority, I fear that I may lose readership if I only wrote for myself. Another problem that I foresee is if I get too caught up in creating quality content, I would confine myself to my own thoughts.

My search for the solution: With these, I will schedule time for writing for myself and for my audience. In these posts, I will seek criticism from other Steemian writers. As an effort to encourage interaction, I will also post thoughtful comments in other people's blogs.

_{I am forever in love with the art of writing}

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INSPIRATION _{from a luminary}

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My story: I've made a promise to myself that I will be the best Ms. TC I can be. Ms. TC was the very first pageant that I've won. I took the title seriously and I really wanted to embody the role of being an inspiration to everyone I meet. While my term had ended 4 years ago, this role kind of stuck with me.

_{Rooting for your improvement}

The problem: The world gives us our share of problems and challenges. Sometimes we get past them, other times we have a hard time solving and beating them. During these times, it's tempting to not give them a fair fight. Inspiration during these hard times can influence what you do next. There will also be times when you have no choice but to be your own cheerleader.

My search for the solution: I've always believed that everyone can be their own source of light, when need be. I plan to remind my readers of that by putting up a monthly inspirational series in my blog. I started last month with You Got This: Inspiration for January. I also plan to write about the initiatives and community outreach programs that I take part in, in hopes that I attract like-minded individuals to join in the causes as well. Allow me to share with you some of the initiatives that my team has already started:

The Confidence Project
With the second takeaway coming up, @jsmalila and I can't wait to have more Steemians to hop in on board with us! As I've mentioned in our project manifesto, we're not psychologists but we're lovers of the crafts of writing and blogging. We are chemical engineers by profession who wish to have outlets for our creative expression. At the very least, we'd also like to help ourselves to become more confident individuals. On a personal level, this project is important to me because it embodies my principle of not excluding any person out. Everybody is special, everybody needs to know that. We can be successful in our own ways. The earnings we get from our Takeaway posts will proceed to the participants of the challenges.

Project L.I.B.R.O
As mentioned by @ybanezkim26 in his post A Review of What Has Been and An Anticipation of What Is to Be, this is an initiative by USC ChES, an organization where the three of us (@legendarryll, @ybanezkim26 and myself) are members. This initiative aims to help schools in far-flung barangays to construct their own libraries. So far, the organization has adopted three schools: Tabla Elementary School in Brgy. Tabla, Liloan, Cebu; Amancion Primary School in Brgy. Amancion, Catmon, Cebu and Calbasaan Elementary School in Brgy. Calbasaan, Minglanilla, Cebu. The earnings we get from these posts will directly proceed to the funding of the libraries.

Wrapping it all up,

I have always intended for Steemit to bring out the risk-taker in me. I never expected this platform to witness my growth as a person too. I've been more social, less self-absorbed and more competent. I like who I'm becoming because of Steemit, so far. I am choosing to focus on the good things that this platform has afforded us, Steemians.

_{Awesome people I've met through Steemit}

_{Steemit provided an opportunity for me to enrich my old friendships as well}

_{I'm getting to know these old acquaintances again, this time, as close friends}

_{Steemit initiated for this friendship to happen by chance}

Here's to hopeful tomorrows,
@thegaillery

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_{I am forever thankful to @ybanezkim26 and @legendarryll for believing in me, and for sharing Steemit with me, too. I am thankful to @themanualbot for his never-ending support. I would like to thank @wandergirl for sharing Steemit's technicalities to us when we were just starting. Thank you to @brokemancode and @babybear for your equally strong supports as well, together, we make a really great team! I have really high hopes for you @honeyletsgo and @jsmalila, I can't wait for you both to have your first curie posts! And of course, to you, dear reader, thank you for stopping by!}