Girl from behind-the-scenes

Don't judge me because I'm quiet. No one plans a murder out loud. — Darynda Jones

Bang! Bang!

A lady named Mary Grace gave birth to a healthy baby in the late afternoon of the 13th day of August, year 1998. Grace and her husband, Lawrence, named their baby, "Clarenz".

Later on, at her young age, she discovered that her father had a mistress and two other children with her. She didn't care and just stayed with her mom because she was too young to understand it all.

Growing up without a father is an everyday struggle not only for Clarenz, but also for her mother. But thanks to her grandfather Manuel for filling that vacancy. He was the one who taught her how to ride a bike, he was her shield whenever she was about to be spanked by her mother and sometimes, her grandmother Majorita.

But we all know that everything and everyone has their end. Her grandfather died when she was 10 years old and that was the most painful thing that happened to her. But as a kid, she managed to move on easily because she's still a child, too young to understand it all.

Bang! Bang!

Here she comes, with her small body bag and everything she needs in it, especially, her digital camera. She loves to capture picture perfect memories. She captures whatever she wants to, may it be fun moments or wacky faces of her classmates. Her digital camera is one of her weapons and she couldn't live without it.

Bang! Bang!

The biggest "bang" in her life is her entering high school. At first, she was afraid because she got separated with her friends in elementary during her freshman year. She had a hard time dealing with troublesome people. They voted her as their class president and impeached her after two quarters because of her being so strict with them. They thought that she was not doing something for the class but for her, she already gave her all. She does everything without telling her classmates, that’s why they thought that she was not good enough.

Second and third year came and all that she can say is those years were the best ones for her, mainly because she is with her friends, and she would not be dealing with troublesome people anymore. But most of all, she can be herself being with those people.

Fourth year came and she struggled again. Expectations with her in the class are too high because she came from the star section. Another thing is she lost interest in school because she’s attached with the class she’s with the past two years, and for the last year of high school she had to deal again with different people. It really was a struggle but in the end, she learned to accept and love them the best way she can, though not as much as she accepts and love her old classmates from the star section.

Bang! Bang!

She got a bigger weapon now, her DSLR; her dream camera. Since she was in 3rd grade, she's been dreaming of having one.

Now, she's getting invites to cover events in school, events of the St. Augustine Church like Live Way of the Cross and events of youth in The Feast like camps and hang-outs.
And she realized, she’s getting better each day.

Bang! Bang!

All she really wants is to be a filmmaker someday, that is why she really wanted to pass the UPCAT exam because UP (University of the Philippines) is way cheaper than CSB (College of Saint Benilde); too bad that she wasn’t able to make it to the cut. So she decided to take an entrance examination in BulSU (Bulacan State University) with a preferred course of Journalism and Library Science for she was left with no choice. She passed her examination and pursued journalism.

Bang! Bang!

She already finished her first year; she got good grades and everything. But still, she wants to pursue her dream to be a filmmaker. That’s why she contacted right away her friend who’s studying in UPD (University of the Philippines – Diliman) and asked about the requirements for transferees. She went to UPD, everything was settled except for her mind and heart. Her mind was in chaos that time because she can’t figure out if she really wanted to continue the process or not. She only needed to pass the requirements to the office and wait for the interview but she didn’t do it. Even she did not have any idea why she didn’t continue, despite knowing that she was so close to fulfilling her dreams that time.

Bang! Bang!

It was her childhood bestfriend, K-ann, who asked her to attend with her The Feast, a Catholic prayer gathering founded by Bro. Bo Sanchez with listeners all over the world. The Feast Baliwag, brought out the best in her. That was where Clarenz started to discover that she can layout posters. The Feast also served as a vessel for her to be able to pursue her hobby, photography.

As time flew for her being a behind-the-scene worker, she was asked to join the dance ministry. Dancing was really her first love until one of her friends thought she couldn’t do it just because she was fat.

Now, she continues to serve in The Feast in SM Manila every Friday with three sessions. She is serving there as a dance minister and she is also part of the media ministry in the whole TFSMM and in the LOJYSMM (Light of Jesus Youth SM Manila). She layouts ads/posters for the posts on the respective pages. Recently, she did a primetime post entitled, “Sabi mo, Sabi Niya (You said, He said)” that reached 60, 031K shares on Facebook. Even though the people won’t recognize her as the maker of that post, still, she is very happy and blessed to see those people feeling blessed just by reading what she made.

Bang! Bang!

All the things that had happened to her made her who she is today; the girl who loves to work from behind the scene. The girl who would rather take you photos than be your model. The girl who, as they, has the full potential but chose not to work in the front act. And, the girl who has done a lot of things but won't even acknowledge her works -- a silent worker.

Bang! Bang!

She may be a silent worker, but that doesn’t mean that she’s just a “just that” girl. She can do more things than she can imagine, if only she has the guts to do it. But whatever she may be, as long as she’s comfortable with what she’s doing, with her passion and her heart with it, everything will be in its rightful place for her. There is no successful murder that was announced before it was done.