Reflections

Quarantine Reflections

Hope Amidst a Pandemic

By Ella Shaina Solima

In March 2020, the world completely changed because of the virus known as COVID-19. Since the previous months we have been wearing masks, staying in our houses, and have been practicing social distancing. It hasn’t been easy for everyone. I was Grade 4 at the time, and everything had been going fine until that afternoon, the school announced that classes would not be held the next day. At first, I was really happy because I did not need to wake up early. Then online school took place. The teachers posted tasks on our Facebook group, online school then ended in May. Eventually, our online school still resumed in August even though a lot of people talked about academic freeze. I was feeling excited because I could see my classmates again. During the vacation when online classes ended, I was not easily bored because I got to spend time with my family. We played board games, and we also played outside in our garden. We also walked our dogs regularly. We spent the majority of the quarantine baking. We baked everything from breads to cakes and pastries. We even opened a home-based business which is going very strong. We also had movie nights often. It was through experiences and moments like these, as well as, through constant prayer that kept me hopeful that things would turn out okay, that we would stay safe, and that this pandemic would end. For me, quarantine was one of the toughest moments of my life. I couldn’t go anywhere. But then I learned that it wasn’t so bad. I got to spend time with my family and I also got to know them more. And despite all of the awful and discouraging headlines daily, in the future when I grow old, I will surely remember everything differently. I found hope amidst the pandemic by always remembering to stay positive in hope that God will soon put an end to all this and bring a smile back to our faces.

And what I’m trying to tell and convince you is start helping, it may be small, but helping is a good choice to choose than doing nothing and ignoring all of the things that are happening. Amidst of this pandemic, we must try and help in our own small ways too. And we refIect that we’re not too grateful of what we have, we always think that we have less and we need something bigger, but then we refIect. Other people lost their jobs and sometimes goes home feeling hungry, while you never felt that; other people who are less fortunate that they have to live in the streets and the devastating part, is that there’s a virus and they have to worry about and they don’t even get a chance to sleep in a bed, while we have a comfy bed and a place we call home, with no worries. What we realize and refIect on this, is that we have to be grateful no matter what, things we think that are less are things other people think that are enough and wish they had that too, so we always have to be grateful and put ourselves on other people’s shoes. And remember it’s okay if you don’t have what other people have you just have to be grateful. And in these times, we have to be patient and understanding. We have to understand that sometimes our parents can’t give us other things, in this pandemic our loving parents work hard to earn money just to give us opportunities and better education. We sometimes envy things and want it right away but we can’t have everything so we have to be patient. Who knows, our parents might be suffering from financial issues and they’re trying to balance their savings. We have to be patient and understanding, we have to understand that we can’t own everything in this world and we can only own a few things, and we need to be sensible in this world to at least help our parents through this newlywed pandemic, and to fight together to survive all this mess and to hope for a better life and to stop this pandemic. Hence, in these trying times we can survive if we grow into a helping manner together as one faithful community for all of the people in our country and for all the people of this earth. We have to be strong and faithful for this pandemic to end and may we pray for all those who have been affected by the COVID-19 and to all front liners who work hard everyday to give people one more day to live. We think, pray, and hope for the gleeful day to come. Amidst these trying times, we must hope for the better.

Realizations in this Pandemic

By Lorraine E. Co

In this newlywed pandemic, I had seen and heard a lot of unhappy and devastating news, from COVID-19 cases growing into massive numbers, from innocent people dying because of a deadly disease, from millions of people losing their jobs because of this pandemic. We have realizations, refIections, and doubts. And in that realization, we learned to be thankful, thousands of frontliners sacrificed their lives and time, to care and save people who had been infected by the virus, they work countless hours to save lives, even though how they wish they could go and visit their families for a short time, they can’t. And in this realization, we realize to be thankful, we need to look back and see the sacrifices of our generous and hardworking frontliners, we need to shout “Thank You , Heroes!” And when we realize this, we also think of something, we think of the word “Help”. We help these frontliners by following COVID-19 protocols, you might be thinking it’s a small action and it won’t help, but there was a saying, “A small helpful action will change the whole world”.

Layout By Kenn Zyndryx Y. Subrado

Quarantine Reflections

My Reflection in this Time of Pandemic

Reflection by Andrea Clarisse A. Parojinog

The year 2019 was a beautiful year but when the world entered 2020, it was like the world suddenly stopped. COVID-19 Virus appeared out of nowhere. No one knew what was happening, no one knew what to do. We were forced to stay in our homes and to wear masks all for our safety. Deaths in other parts of the world continued to rise. This pandemic has led us to so many hardships that we might not be able to conquer or to face.

For students like me, we weren’t able to see our classmates or teachers. We all had our classes online. I miss my friends and classmates. I miss playing and talking to them. Before the pandemic, I got to hug them and feel closer to them. Now, we could only see them during our synchronous sessions.

I love going to malls and eating delicious food. I love to travel to new places every year. But everything stopped. Many people think this is the worst year ever, but for me as an A.R.M.Y it was the best year ever. You call a person an A.R.M.Y., if he/she loves the K-pop boy band, BTS. It’s what they call their fandom. I had a lot of fun listening to their music and watching their performances. This is how I have coped while the pandemic is going on.

I have learned how to do household chores like a little bit of cooking and fold clothes properly. I am trying to learn how to be independent and to rely on myself. My mom tells me this all the time. I have learned to have fun even if I cannot go out of the house. It’s just like what they say, “Life is short”. I have also learned to always think positively and to work hard for anything I want to achieve.

A lot of people think this is the end of the world already. As for me, I don’t think it is. It’s just like what the song BTS tells us that “Life Goes On”. The important thing now is that I am still alive, my parents and loved ones and everyone I care about like my classmates and teachers are in good health and that I am thankful for a lot of things I took for granted before this pandemic. COVID-19 is not what we expected to happen. This pandemic affected the world and the way we live. I feel lonely and isolated in this time because I can’t see my extended family, relatives, and friends. The COVID-19 pandemic made me feel scared of death and losing the people that I love. But I was able to learn important life lessons and realizations. I was also able to recognize the good things in life that I am truly grateful for. Through this pandemic, I was reminded about God and His great love for each and every one of us. I realized that He gives us enlightenment and strength to overcome this fear and uncertainty as long as we trust Him. Even though this pandemic can make us experience negative emotions, it teaches us to value and appreciate life more and simple things in it. I learned to pray to God and thank Him for all the blessings and for everything He has given us. We all have to adjust and adapt to this pandemic.

I have a great fear and confusion when COVID-19 break-out all over the world I have relatives who are in the medical field in America and London who are at high risk and the whole family are worried about them, and thanks to God, they are doing fine. I also fear for all of mankind especially those frontliners who risked their lives to keep us safe and help those people who are unfortunately, victims of this pandemic. We should thank the scientists for looking for the vaccine of COVID-19. Even though we are experiencing this pandemic, life goes on. Even if we lose our freedom to go out during this pandemic we should stay strong and HOPE, as the saying goes…“there’s a rainbow after every storm”. I believe that we can go through this nightmare and we’ll come out stronger and united as one nation. We can fight this together hand in hand.

My family and relatives are apart for a long time now and I miss them so much. This Christmas all I want and wish for is that the pandemic will end and life will soon be normalized. I salute the frontliners and the volunteers who are willing to help in order to conquer this pandemic. We are all in this together! We can make the world a better place! Yes, we can and we will.

My New Normal life

Reflection by Nathan Robben Sia Tan

Layout by Niko Sam R. Go

Silent Christmas, Holy ChristmasReflection By Fr. Aidan V. Zaballero, LRMS

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas, everywhere you go. Take a look at the five and ten, it’s glistening once again, with candy canes and silver lanes that glow… Every time I hear this song, it always brings me back to some beautiful memories of the past Christmases I had where smiles were everywhere without face masks and face shields, where gifts and cards were being sent to every family around the world without any fear of contamination and where simple parties and family gatherings were allowed without any anxiety that lola or lolo might get infected by the deadly virus. The Christmas season is the most anticipated season all over the world. Not to mention, that here in our country, we always begin this season unofficially at the very start of September. Undeniably, we love to celebrate this season. We have a lot of exciting memories about it. But, we are still now in the middle of this pandemic. We cannot do the things that we used to do. But the question is, Tuloy na tuloy pa rin ba ang pasko? To answer this question, let us turn our gaze in the pages of the Sacred Scripture, in particular the very first Christmas in Bethlehem. What did the first Christmas look like?

The gospel of St. Luke tells us about the unique birth of this baby Jesus. When the time came, his parents, Mary and Joseph, were helpless as they were looking for an inn. To no avail, they found none. Mary wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger because there was no room for them at the inn. (2:7c) The long awaited Messiah, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords was born not in a majestic palace but in a simple manger. The baby Jesus was greeted not with the smiles of the leaders and kings of this world but with the smiles of the shepherds who heard the news of great joy from the angel. In other words, the birth of the child Jesus was filled with simplicity and profound joy for those people who were there. The child was born without extravagance, luxury and even superfluity. It was a humble and modest event. If that was the case, then what is the first Christmas telling us today?

First of all, the first Christmas challenges us to reevaluate and to reclaim the real meaning of Christmas. Christmas trees, Christmas parties, Christmas bonuses, candy canes, and silver lanes are not and cannot be the center of our celebration. It is Jesus and it will be always the birth of this child. Secondly, the first Christmas would like us to imitate the shepherds who hurried away to see the child Jesus. This season of Christmas is an opportunity for us to cherish the quiet moments, to stop and gaze at the baby in the manger. We were so exhausted with the hustle and bustle of our life; so, let us give ourselves the gift of silence to gaze at the face of God in the face of Jesus. Lastly, the first Christmas asks us to treasure and to ponder the mystery of Incarnation into our hearts. Just like Mary, she was exhausted with everything that happened. But at the end of the narrative of the birth of Jesus, Mary treasured all these words and pondered them in her heart (2:19).

Tuloy pa rin ba ang Pasko? Certainly yes! Remember, the first Christmas is best described with the lyrics of this famous Christmas song: ‘Silent night, holy night, all is calm, all is bright. Round yon virgin Mother and Child, Holy infant so tender and mild. Sleep in heavenly peace. Sleep in heavenly peace’. Jesus is the reason for this season! Have a Silent and Holy Christmas to all! Amen.

CaMpUS OBSERVER’S COMIKHS