12/01/2026
๐ถ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐จ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐บ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ป๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ฉ๐๐๐๐
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๐ณ๐๐r๐๐๐๐: ๐พ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐ญ2๐ญ ๐น๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐ด๐๐๐ ๐ช๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐
By:Trisha Anne Iglesia
We close a door to open another.
Now, January 12, 2026, we tuck in our crisped uniforms feeling neat, fresh, and beautiful again. We hid it for months, maybe did the laundry just yesterday, ironed the creases today, or we simply lost the skirt or slacks. Nonetheless, we condition ourselves for another fight---the fight for that degree despite the aftershocks anxiously seeking for attention. This is the second semester where we must prove ourselves guilty of being ambitious, to crawl back on top after the 2.1 grade, and to go berserk if anyone dares to stop us from achieving the goal---to graduate dignified and humbled.
Last semester was wild, but we're even wilder; we go rampage mode because we know how the survival of the fittest works. We went through remote learning during the pandemic, and have to go through it again last year. Tino and company came after a dormant earth awakened last September, as some joked, from PHIVOLCS to PAG-ASA. Those disasters were basically disruptions in our barely surviving learning during those uncertain times. Of which, thank God, most of us made it! We went through different dilemmas that demotivated us in our college journey, but such circumstances are not strong enough to shatter our resolves. We want the diploma that bad---and we mean bad enough to kill; kill depression, kill trauma, kill everything hindering us from a sane self!
We hate the past for breaking us and shattering the opportunities that could've been held last semester. It felt as if the rapture was about to happen and the Lord's glorious return will take over. We were devastated and online classes just felt off. It felt off because we were bombarded with many assignments and due dates; surprised with oral recitations while feeling sleepy during the lecture; being cut off with our weekly allowance through which we planned to pay for our parcels ; and being forced to be distant from the people who's been spicing up our college life---our classmates and instructors. We, as humans, simply missed the supposed-life-of-a-college-ranter which was about to take place during the new, year level. But here we are in our second semester, although missed the face-to-face fun of the first one, we are grateful for managing to be versatile and relentless against the odds. (Admit it though, we enjoyed the free time during the online learning.)
However, from what we, and our school went through, we should be proud for making it---we made a name, and we had a legacy that will continue on. Moving forward, we have the experiences strengthening us and increasing our adaptability skills for our present and future use. It turns out, the past did not completely break us, but made us into human beings capable of being resilient, adaptive, and initiative. We had our regrets, mistakes, and losses that we coped up as we endured those shaky and stormy times. But we also had our lessons, realizations, and epiphanies to hold us through this another unraveled chapter we enrolled ourselves into.
Banzai, CRMCians! May the odds be ever in our favor.