The Courage Of Sharing My Untold Stories: My Hive Introduction

"She was a writer in love with her pen,
refusing to be a character, she hustled to write 'til ten,
I used to envy the way she backs then,
where are your literatures now, my dear friend?"

Back then, I always made sure that I had a pen and a piece of paper in my bag or pocket. It was a must for me. My imagination is crazy or let's say, it used to be.

Hi folks! My name's Abegail Macalintal Cueto but I prefer to be called as "Abbie." It sounds friendlier and easier to say. I'm an ESL teacher and I teach students from countries like Poland and China. I was a frustrated writer, too. I'm glad that I have found this platform where I could pour the words and ideas running in my mind. It's too much and it would be nice to finally release it... again. This online space will be my new sanctuary, but I won't be alone because you'll be here with me. Together, let's uncover the deep thoughts, crazy stories, and painful events I was trying to bury.

Glimpse of me

"Are you happy?" This is a question that I stuttered to answer six years ago. My aunt was very proud of me because I was graduating with latin honors. But her friend slowly smiled at me and asked if I was happy. I blinked and thought twice. "Come on Abbie, of course you are!" my mind shouted. I returned her smile and answered yes. But that question lingered on me up until now.

In my 27 years of existence, my life is like a drama series. Unfortunately, the actress that will portray me is going to be crazy. Kidding aside, life is not always about rainbow and sunshine. That's the lesson I learned while surviving.

I grew up in a big family. My parents have five children and I'm the only daughter. If you think that I'm a princess because of it, it's a big no because I'm the oldest. Being the eldest in Filipino families is like carrying the Earth if you come from a poor family. Life will throw you punches and you have no choice but to face it.

This is me when I was in high school. My classmates asked me to join them in the picture and I felt really happy that time. There was a sense of belonging. People say that high school life is the best days of their studying journey, but not for me. I learned to motivate myself to keep going despite of the hindrances — lack of money and classmate bullies. Good thing I met some good friends that helped me get by.

In 2015, I started writing on my diary. I had to since I had nothing else to do. My parents couldn't afford to send me to college so I had to stop for a year. But I'm thankful to that, I met my awesome friends who made my college days special and worthy to remember. I met good friends, learned to ride the bus on my own because I needed to apply for scholarships, joined the school publication, and had my own ATM card! Well, that ATM card was for scholarship but it was really awesome for me. Oh, I learned drinking in college too!

I finished Bachelor in Elementary Education in 2019 and passed the licensure examination for teachers on the same year. I also landed my first job in a private school. I taught first graders but students weren't too many. It was a nice beginning until January 2020 when the Taal Volcano in Batangas erupted. The smoke coming out was mesmerizing and terrifying view. Little did we know that it was a sign of unimaginable events. Coronavirus happened and we were locked down. My parents had no income and so was I. Whenever I recall those lockdown days, I realized that it was a miracle for us to survive it.

I had no choice but to apply for a new job and that's how I learned about ESL Teaching. I met great people who helped me to start and learn it. My accent was too thick and I was not energetic enough based on my manager's feedback. I needed the job so I really worked hard to be good at it. I followed his advice to watch American series and install dating apps and talked to native speakers to adopt their accents. Now, it's my fifth year of being an ESL Teacher and I have been working from home since 2022!

But dating apps wasn't for me, however I'm crazy about American Series now. Let's talk about Modern Family and The Big Bang Theory!

Life is good all the time. Sadly, this isn't true for me. In 2022, I started paying off my parents debts. I was almost done with it in 2024 when my mom got sick. She could hardly walk due to her back problems. We had to go back and forth to the hospital. I thought she'll had to undergo an operation but she didn't. We found a skilled doctor and she recovered. I was really thankful for that.

Also, I made a bold decision in 2025 to travel abroad with my friend. It was a great experience to ride a plane and we were able to take few pictures in the flight deck. I love my life!

However, life got bored and decided to hit me with another problem. My mom's sick again, she has a breast cancer. I thought 2025 will be a better year. But I'm wrong. How can we survive this? I have no time to always cry and be sad about it. I need to be optimistic for the sake of my family. Hence, I hope to write about this in the future and write in caps lock that my mom is cancer free! This shall too pass. I know it will.

In addition, I use different social media accounts, most often is X. Why? Because hot news are there, whether it's about celebrities or worldwide news. Most importantly, I can write anything about there. I write about my bad days, my most memorable days, and the stories I can't tell to my families and friends. But as I stumble upon @antonette post about this chance to write again, I asked for her help and guidance on how to use this platform. I'm thrilled that me, the frustrated writer before, can finally write again. I have a new sanctuary and safe haven. She patiently explained to me about the rules and policies of posting. Given that, I fully understand that using AI is strongly prohibited and I promise to abide. She also shared the significance of engaging within the community and I can't wait for it!

Thus, my posts are all my own intellectual properly. In addition, I took my photos personally and some were taken from my personal Facebook and Instagram account but enhanced through the help of Canva.

So, let's enjoy this oasis, be prepared to smile, and travel through this cyber space. Come with me and let's keep the fire burning! Thank you and enjoy reading!