"How Hope is Spread" by Crudo

How Hope is Spread

Miguel Jose P. Crudo Victory Christian International School

Living in a country where poverty, corruption, and inefficiency is plenteous, it can be difficult to look on the brightside. It’s been a long standing pattern in our country to have these issues and it seems like they're going to be there for a really long time. As I said, it can be really difficult to look on the brightside. Difficult, but not impossible. But that's where hope comes in. That little speck of hope. It’s not what the whole country has but it’s definitely there. Those who have it know what to do in order to make the future of the Philippines bright. For those who don't, it’s our job to give it to them.

The Philippines isn't the only country that has issues surrounding the nation. Every country has issues. Some more intense than others. But since we live in this wonderful little archipelago, I will use this country's current state as a basis on how we can share hope.

In 1884, a Filipino writer by the name of Jose Rizal met up with his colleagues in a reunion. He proposed that they write a book unmasking all of the flaws in the society of the Philippines during his time. Of course, he ended up writing the book by himself. He also wrote the sequel to those book. They would be entitled: Noli me Tangere and El Filibusterismo, respectively. At first, the books would seem like obnoxious tales of Spaniards and Filipinos. But if one were to analyze the actual meaning of these books,

they would understand what the author wanted them to realize. Upon realization, these two books would help Filipinos during that time to fight against the oppression of the Spaniards. It’s amazing to note that Rizal didn't even shoot a gun to start this revolt. He simply wrote with his pen and people reacted accordingly. From this reaction though, his simple gesture of writing a novel became the brilliant spark for a revolution that ensued.

Another place where hope is abundant: the youth. Teenagers everywhere have a common ground placing their hope--love. It’s no surprise that teenagers tend to be hopeful in falling in love especially with people they know won't love them back. This is because they are full of promises. They think that the world is a wish-granting factory; it really isn't. What happens, happens; and if you don't like it, that's life. If you can imagine how much they place their hope in love, what more when they mature into adults and learn about the more pressing issues of the world. Sure it isn't the same fuel as when you fall in love but they get invigorated and pumped up with a different kind of adrenaline by the thought of waking up to a great and beautiful country. That's how I think the youth can also help in creating a better country for the future generations.

Everyone deserves a better future. Not just me or you, everyone. Even your children's children. It’s not a question of whether or not we could do it, we need to do it. It has to happen. We need to spread hope like a wildfire. It wouldn't only help the nations of the world individually, but it can help how our planet survives for the next million years or so. I am not the only one who has thought of this. Our forefathers who fought for this nation also wanted us to have a good future. What is happening today surely isn't what

they had in mind but we can still do something about it. I surely hope we start the change we want to see because otherwise, the great martyrs of our nation would have died for nothing at all.

The world’s still revolving. The birds are still flying. We're still living. The human race as a species has accomplished so many amazing feats. From creating machines to walking on the moon. We as humans are quite intelligent. Sooner or later it will happen.

It’s just a matter of people realizing they have had enough of the same mediocrity that's been going around the world. When they get that hope inside of them, that's when it will start. When they find hope, it will be enough to fuel their passion to make a better world.

So what do we do in the meantime? We share what we feel. We share what we think.

Because when we share our feelings and opinions, the feelings and opinions that you originally had as your own, become theirs. And if what you think about is hope, then you've unknowingly just started to spread it.