By Joshua Corcuera
As I write this article, I am already busy dealing with my university’s final examination week. It has been three long years since I first entered college, August 6, 2019, if my mind serves me right.
Back then, the pandemic was not yet around, and everything was normal. As customary for a new student in a certain educational institution, I met new blockmates, made new friends, dealt with new professors—including terrorizing ones—had a new school uniform, and so on and so forth. I performed well during my first semester, especially that I managed to maintain my academic scholarship back then. Actually, I still maintained such scholarship until now, and hopefully until graduation. Otherwise, I will have to search for new scholarships or sponsors.
Aside from academics, I enjoyed—and still am enjoying—the company of the friends I have made back in late 2019. As an accountancy student, this is also very useful as far as studies are concerned. My degree program is both challenging and demanding—so much so that I now have almost 40 thick books concerning accounting subjects, this does not yet include books from general education courses. (e.g. mathematics, purposive communication, theology, etc.) Hence, I am grateful to the connections I have made for they lessen the heavy burden of meeting academic requirements. This also made me realize that, inevitably, you have to increase your connections and maximize such connections if you want to progress further in your studies or in work.
By March 2020, the pandemic came and forced students to learn from home. In my case, I am still studying from home—though there is a huge possibility that our university will finally hold face-to-face classes next school year this coming August. Finally, after two long years, students like me can return to school which is helpful to those students who do not have the privilege of a conducive study environment at home.
As I have written in previous articles, online learning is a burden to many Filipino students—I personally encountered stories of struggles first-hand. Some of my blockmates have to deal with slow internet connections in their home provinces. During the transition to online classes, professors themselves have to familiarize themselves on how to use laptops or computers and how to teach using such devices. This is particularly problematic to older professors who tend to have a lot of things to learn about technology.
Thus, this approaching new school year, I am grateful that education can be made more accessible and easier to many students. Sure, face-to-face classes would still have some problems especially as far as health safety is concerned, but it is good that we made remarkable progress this year. It is imperative for students and educators to be mindful of health protocols to prevent contracting and spreading COVID-19, which is why wearing face masks is a must this coming school year. My last desire for this coming school year—to maintain my scholarship—is something that can be attained through diligence and persistence. For the past three years, I have realized that values, such as hardwork, remain important regardless of the set-up we find ourselves in—whether online classes or face-to-face classes.
