facingfea facingfears

Fear consumed us when we learned that what seemed to be only a domestic virus had developed into a global health phenomenon. Fear consumed me even more when I gradually understood that what seemed to be a one-week break from school because of the transgression of that virus might relatively mean a month, or two, or, if not fortunate enough, a year. Truth be told, it stole two years of our lives, forcing us to stay at home, forbearing, and quarantined. And that same fear did not once falter, but rather fragmented into tinier and smaller pieces that never once diminished, but rather augmented into sections of apprehensions that tempt us to back off and allow fear to devour us completely.

On The Recession Of Exponential Wails

Regardless of where you were during the height of the pandemic, you were for sure worried, fed up, and bored looking through your window seeing nothing but a scenery of loneliness while hearing the news of swelling cases of deaths, depression, and bleakness. I myself lived through this; a student who was barely surviving his studies and feeling blank in everything.

The Philippines could have definitely done better if those who have powers did not turn a blind eye to what was really happening back then. The scenery of loneliness could have been stopped promptly, and for the most part, students could have not been put in plateau. Imagine this happening amidst people crying for help when the budget could be reallocated to ameliorate the situation in the country.

No words can absolutely explain how sickening the setup of distance learning was for students. The transitioning of the faceto-face classes to online classes was indeed an alien system for most Filipino youngsters. As a third-world country, we are more accustomed to the traditional in-person way of schooling; hence, the supposed 2-week suspension of classes that turned to actual 2 to 3 years of pandemic and goggling at laptop and phone screens made the students just dead, figuratively.

Everything was merely for compliance. The essence of learning had been doused by the unforeseen aftermath of the covid-19. But, eventually and as luck would have it, the enervating road that the students were traversing is now slowly coming back to life. The traditional face-to-face classes that the youngsters yearned for are now again commencing. Safety and health protocols are now voluntary and not a requirement. Sure, the menace that cost millions of lives, burned numerous opportunities, and stole students’ fun and experiences, may now be curtained and gone, but the real fiends are still out there slithering and silently wreaking havoc to the country.

We never want these perpetrators to disparage their own countrymen again. Today, as I look through my windows, I see no loneliness but a silver lining in these movements that set one’s sights on achieving true peace and justice for all. And now I decided, I won’t just look but I will walk through my doors to help begin the recession of exponential wails.