A tall chinito guy, wearing white shirt, blue jeans, and thick-framed eyeglasses, would enter. The space was of white-painted walls smudged with colored light traces and dodges of shadows. It was heck busy. I was trying to man a Powerbook and an iBook at the same time, on top of getting phone calls and making sure the clients on the other room's gonna have a perfect, satisfying dinner.

The guy looked around, trying to make himself familiar then went inside the studio. I immediately thought he was among the junior creatives or probably an accounts person – "with the client." A few minutes more, it was dinner time. He joined us.

He casually sat beside me and said: "Hey, you're the one from Xander's Talk, right? Alam mo bang palagi kang nasa kuwento ko?"

>> He's an ME (Management Eng'g) graduate from Ateneo.

>> Immediately landed on a lucrative-and-great-sounding job at IBM.

>> Hated what he had been doing because he's always been dreaming of doing something else – photography.

>> Attended Xander's Talk on Digital Photography at the Loft in Rockwell.

>> Learned about the concept of apprenticeship – because Xander highlighted the crazy little idea of a UP fresh grad to just tag along shoots instead of looking for a practical means to earn a living, and converted this crazy little idea into what he (and I used to) call passion and pursuing a dream.

>> Quit his job.

>> Decided to be as crazy as me to just tag along shoots. Because we defined such craziness as passion and pursuing a dream.

Roughly more than two years after, He's now among the pool of youngest fashion and advertising photographers with the freshest and boldest ideas – by the industry's standards and labels. He had his first cover in July last year – barely a year after he made The Choice to risk everything for his dream. For the life that he's always imagined.

While I – am now caught up in a corporate environment. I now deal with vectors and graphics and types (typography is another special love though). I still do some photography when my work would require it. It's not the kind of photography, though, as what I used to dream of and define way back in school and even on that night of Xander's Talk (which was my very first day as a, supposedly, apprentice). I think I sort of got lost inside that space of white walls smudged with colored light traces and dodges of shadows.

Staying inside that space, however, is not all about getting lost. It's also about finding a sense of fulfillment in inspiring another person to pursue a dream, no matter how crazy it may seem. What he said to me on his first day at the studio will forever be one of the best compliments I can receive.

And during these lost times, remembering that He is able to do it is one of things that truly help me keep believing that, in God's perfect time, I will find my way again.

Looks like he's returning the inspiration to me this time.