To My Fallen Comrades, Cheers To My Fallen Comrades, Cheers To My Fallen Comrades, Cheers

AsIcommemoratemythirdyear as an SM Foundation Scholar, the usual gratitude and optimism take the lead in my emotional lane. I, from the circumstance where I was duringtheyear2020,amstillinawe when I reminisce about the mere fact that I was granted to study at my 'dream school' amid the paralyzing effect of the pandemic, especially in the finance department Albeit a story painted with glow and colors, this has been a distantviewfromthemanystoriesof my fellow batchmates and the rest oftheschoolingyouthwhowerenot affordedthesameprivilegeasmine

Beyond the happiness that I felt soon as I was awarded a scholarship, the polarizing guilt and resentment toward the neoliberal system of education transpired no later than the former. I felt as if theplayingfield for an aspiring college student like me to enter an institution can be likened to someone crossing through a tightrope except that someone has no harness or any safetynetstofallon.

Asthepandemic-inducedcollege admissions exams draw near, people who do not have the same destiny as mine, pitiful hundreds of thousandsofthem,weresecuredof a fate: to discontinue their studies and find a fortune somewhere else Laughable in itself, education is not on their side as the latter has claimed otherwise Traversing throughmycollegeeducation,Iam most shocked that these 'comrades,' whom I will quote dearly as such, are the people who would greet me with all smiles on my Facebook post whenever I achieve academic success. WhenI

In a profession like journalism, where new media has disrupted the traditional practice which most were trained in and have been practicing for years, the need to be alert to new developments is necessary to avoid becoming a relic It is no longer enough to know how to write content, which is very important Journalists of the 21st century and beyond must know other meansofpresentingthantext

Despite all these problems, there is still a good future ahead to see Not all campus journalists are shallow and confused Advisers areeagertosendtheir‘kids’toworkshopsand conferences,notjusttocompete,buttolearn Campus journalists share their experiences in using new tools: blogs, smart phones, and social media to accomplish their work All hope is not lost Journalists act as informants, watchdogs, and storytellers They tell the stories people want to hear and, more often, thestoriestheydon’t Theyaretaughttowrite truthfullyandtactfully,withoutbiasorlibel;to do otherwise would be to taint the title of a “journalist”

Journalists are the common man’s connectiontotheworldoutsidehiswindow In short, journalists are important because they influence the way we see the world We are journalists and if that is not a passion dictating ustoworkinthefieldwelove,thenmaybeit’sa calling-adestiny

BY YANCY MORON

see such praise from them, my mind would eventually return to thatmoment.

To me, these comrades are supermarket cashiers who could have become CPAs They are call center agents who could have become licensed professional teachers, communication practitioners, or even IT experts. To me, these comrades are people who settledforwhattheyonlyhaveover a loss that could not have been the case, if people who brandish the power of educational funding are notgreatlyconcernedovermoney.

Reachingmysenioryear,Itoast with you, my comrades, as my victory over this oppressive, antipoor education that I contended with comes to fruition You may becontentalreadywiththe money that you gain from your jobs but imagining how education in its purest form can change your life, my guilt just grew larger This is for youall