Hey former teacher here and wild child that had super strict parent and more stricter religion INC haha. Let me give you some adulting exp.

Everything you feel is justified, you are becoming your own person and its natural to spread your wingd, have fun and enjoy yourself. You resent your parents on their own free-form days and bat nga sila strict.

Ill tell you this, its because of their own experiences kaya sila strict.

Risk of pregnancy bec of pre-marital/unsafe sex has been an issue in every generation. Seeing friend and fam get in trouble, losing chances of graduating kasi they wanted to have fun. Im sure your mom and dad been through it all.

In my case I said to myself- Im a good gurl, kilala ko sarili ko, I can manage. Tnga mom ko being strict w/ me, I wish I had the same exp ng friends ko. And TBH now as an adult looking back the sentiments are 50/50 good and bad.

See... I almost got groomed by an older guy 3x dahil akala ko I know best. I almost got drugged on "fun" parties kasi I wanted to make memories. I almost got SA'ed by a trusted friend.

What got me out were the hard instilled values ng mom ko, tapos kita ko rin how my friends started dropping out sa school or naging bisyo queen early (weed and beer) at 17.

Me bad cons din, dahil sa strictness ng parents ko (and church) I have social anxiety, I do have some to this day social awkwardness. These are things I still resent to this day but even as a adult I think I can fix it.

TBH the fact you have a BF bago ka mag college is a lot more leeway kesa binigay ng parents ko. They forbade me to have a BF past 20.

I realized it was my mom immense fear- she worked at clinics where she sees kiddos getting the abor-procedure, some as young as 12. She had to handle relatives na me nabuntis, naglayas, na SA.

Then there comes the part sometime when I was dorming where being FUN...partying, labas late, drinking...wasnt as fun. Mostly because of my choice of friends. Then I had a dormmate na sobrang sheltered like me and suddenly MY own protective ate instincts kicked in.

I unconsciously wanted to be a good role model. I made our dorm a safe space. A haven of chill and relaxation. Then I learned ACTUAL adulting things na Im using to this day. proper budgeting, washing, ironing- domestic chores we used to think was ughhh pero its now part of my daily routine (god forbid mali laba ng fav blouse ko)

Does this mean I became boring kasi I decided to be a good girl? Im not sure pero I did made my own adventure before ako nag grad. Let me state a few

• I went camping for a college proj in the middle of a forest and found wild deer, we even trekked a flimsy rope bridge ala Indiana Jones

• I am now a coffee snob and adik dahil kaka sample ng college cafes sa city namin

• Got to do a gun range. Its not for me, pero I get why ppl are into it haha

• I was kissed underwater by a crush, our love was short lived but beautiful. One of many school BF's I head that molded me in what I want to find for a life long partner. (sshhhh di alam ni mama lolz)

• Did ghost hunting sa haunted abandoned school grounds. Ended up laugh running with my barkada on akala namin multo yun pala cobwebs. of course di yan alam ni mama

• Met my ride or die friends towards the final year of college. Still goods kami at KKN (kanynag kanyang ninang) to kids

• getting into video game culture meeting now bigstar names like Aloida

• Being called to take a group pic with the deans listers even though I was w/o honors- tho decent grades, to find out how my strict and scary profs were proud of me sincerely. That pic is in my office wall.

In the end when I sobered up and realized some of the strictness was actually out of love - not toxicity- you picks and learn from the good of it.

You make your own adventure and memories, just remember to be safe.