It is possible, just hard

It is possible, just hard

by Yves Joey P. Flores

You know you have to start it. Otherwise, you’re not graduating on time. Before finally becoming a cool college student, you imagined yourself doing it. You would research in the library for hours with some nerd glasses on, sleepover at your rich kid partner’s crib for productive work, and defend in front of an intimidating panel without a sweat because you’re just a pro—like how a college student who’s about to earn his/her degree is supposed to be. But now that you have to do it, it doesn’t really feel like anything you had imagined, does it? Add the pandemic into the equation, and it just becomes worse. You know what it is, no matter how in denial you may be. Yep, thesis. No one can possibly accomplish a thesis over online class and amidst the pandemic. Like hello, you can’t meet with your partners, interview experts, and conduct tests whenever because of Corona. The school admin, the professors, CHED—they just can’t empathize! Were they never a student once in their lifetime? The truth is, it’s time to pull your big boy or big girl pants. This is the college, a training room before anyone is sent to the Hunger Games arena that is adulting for most of us. Besides, you know in yourself that it is possible, just hard. It is possible, just hard, if the professors were more lenient, supportive, and gave constructive feedback. Nope, not professors that are too considerate—that’s too much—but ones that actually take their job with earnestness to share the fruits of their years of study and experience and that respect their students enough to give them a humanity break sometimes. Kahit isa lang. “What salt is to food, passion is to teaching.” AdZU teachers aren’t that bland, are they? It is possible, just hard, with existing online and open-source resources dedicated to research such as Zotero, Google Scholars, ResearchGate—and even Wikipedia (but charot not advisable). C’mon, there’s no pride in mere Tiktok-ing. The elders look at us in awe because we can create a Facebook account for them as if our digital fingers are embedded with some kind of runic magic. But that’s not the end of our awesomeness, is it? What’s awesome is when we can use our grasp of technology to utilize free resources for research writing. The internet is a vast realm of doors to knowledge and accumulated wisdom; we got the key to most of the doors—use it. It is possible, just hard, if you had faith in yourself more. Faith is blind, knowing without knowing that you'll make it no matter what. But writer, the topic is thesis-making and you are talking about something as illogical as faith, where's the consistency gosh? You see, the crazy thing about faith is it’s crazy. You just gotta believe no matter how unreasonable it may seem, and things will happen if you do your part. As Jim Carrey said, "I don't believe in hope. Hope is a beggar. Hope walks through the fire and Faith leaps over it." Would you rather beg? A thesis is possible, just hard. A little cooperation from the teachers, proper allocation of technological grasp to actual useful online resources, and a dash of faith on top of it all will allow any college student to complete his/her thesis even over online learning and with Madam Corona around. As much as you wish to not have to do it, this is college; this is reality. Toughen up like the college student you once dreamed of being. You know what it is, what to need, and you want to graduate on time. You know what to do—start it.