COVID-19 Pandemic: Graduation Core memory
I acquired COVID-19 twice that I got a near-death experience before I graduate college.
To study in the top university of my country is a privilege but to graduate in the University of the Philippines is a combination of luck and resilience. I have not seen a single person who left UP the same as the way they entered the campus. Personally I believe that to discover one’s self through the hardest exams and toughest courses is a fortuitous event as most people never gained the maturity to authenticity.
When people start tagging us as the “cream of the crop”, the “center of excellence”, and the “bastion of democracy” especially in the South East Asian Region, we mature early than most university students. Recognizing that we represent the country in places that require excellence and integrity, we needed to work double either by heading community services, winning debate championships, publishing academic research, speaking at international and local conference, all while we study our undergraduate readings and prepare for our exams or work 9–5.
During my time of taking UPCAT, only 14% passed over the hundred thousands who did not qualify for the exam. To be graduating in my first degree is a feat undeniably and quite literally breath taking.
While the word “COVID-19 pandemic” would be a distant history and memory for many, to UP students like me who lost family members, who got delayed because they got sick and locked down, who got left behind in dormitories that they were not able to bid farewell to their dying families, and who lost friends because of state red-tagging, the pandemic is the tragedy that taught us to be more than who we were before we chose to enroll in UP. It is the education unlike any other.
The picture above is one of my favorite undergraduate events because in this International Conference we discussed about SDG 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth of the United Nations. I am one of the youngest Filipino delegates who were lucky to present their research. To read the whole News about this conference from our University report please tap this link .
