At home, Boso’s world is woven in , interspersed with Cebuano from a maternal aunt who visits often, and the occasional English phrase that drifts in from her father’s radio. In school, the medium of instruction shifts to English for most subjects, a vestige of the American colonial legacy that still colors Filipino education. This multilingual environment forces Boso to constantly translate—not just words, but values and expectations—between spaces that sometimes contradict one another.
*“When I was ten, I watched the sky turn black as a storm rolled in, and the river that used to be a gentle ribbon turned into a roaring beast. My mother clutched my hand, whispering, ‘We will get through this, anak.’ That night, I promised myself I would learn how to keep water clean, so no child would have to watch the same fear in their eyes. Pinay Highschool Student Boso Nagfifinger S