Changing lives with love and a hearty show

By Lance Crisostomo

"We did not regret the things that we did. We only regret the things that we did not do.”

Love is a double-edged decision and emotion at the same time. When we enter the dome of admitting our feelings to someone, there are only two possible outcomes: either they accept and it blooms to a happy relationship or they politely deny us. The number of people crying over rejection, the number of people celebrating over fulfillment in the name of love, and the number of people trying to move on – all of these are the testaments to the unpredictable results that could be extracted from loving. The biggest words that fill the air afterwards? – Regrets, What ifs, and chances. With all that is happening in this world, we are truly in need of an avenue that will stand as sources of guidance and wisdom on love.

Every February, it has been a tradition for the Lasallian Rheims to host a Valentine’s special event that would be focusing on love in the students’ context. Rheims, after months of work and preparation, hosted the LCM: Love, Courtship, and Marriage last February 18. LCM is a gametalk show that featured ASJ teachers as players in the “Teachers’ Feud” and as advisors in the talk show proper. Rooting from the purpose of providing Lasallian guidance on love for the ASJ students, this project was envisioned by the Rheims team under the leadership of Atasia Pineda, the Event Director, backed up by Lance Crisostomo and John Czar Salaguinto, pillars of the Editorial Board for Sy 2021 – 2022. Undeniably, LCM is one of the projects that is “for the students, by the students” which echoes the passion for service of the Rheims team and our love for our craft. Through the efforts of the Rheims TWG, Rheims made things that seemed impossible to be possible.

LCM was not only about the Rheims TWG, but also the School Council who supported the team ever since the beginning. The School Council headed by Mr. Richard Pineda (Principal), Ms. Vicky Gallardo (Vice Principal), Mr. Joel Pascual (Finance Head), and Ms. Daisy Romero (School Consultant) did not only approve the proposal, but they also provided ideas, insights, and much support that helped the team elevate the show from a simple talk show to a gametalk show. Their full support and trust to the team because the boost of confidence that the Rheims TWG needed to overcome all obstacles and challenges along the way.

For the Teachers’ Feud, three male teachers named “Team Mister Left” and three female teachers named “Team Miss Right” competitively answered three questions that inquired on 1) what are the gifts that couples usually give each other during Valentine’s Day and 2) what are the qualities that people look into in picking their partners. Teachers Feud served as the cool, light portion of the show before diving into serious business. After the grueling exchange of answers, team Mister Left with Mr. Al Mojica, Mr. JM Malangis, and Mr. Mervince Fortuno aced the game, 2-0.

After some time, LCM shifted into serious business when the talk show proper commenced. For this year, our “Duo-Tagapayo”, Mr. Cris Dulutan and Ms. Cyril Mamaril, and our hosts explored love on the level of what students normally experience in these times. To be specific, two contemporary love concepts were highlighted in the talk show proper – Unrequited love and Long-Distance Relationships (LDR). But the question is, why unrequited love and LDR? For starters, these two topics were the central themes of the stories sent by anonymous students who reached out to the LCM team. Also, Dr. Dianne Grande Ph.D. in her article about unrequited love showed that 98% of the worldwide population has experienced unrequited love (either as the one who did not give the love back or the one on the receiving end) and millions of people are experiencing or have experienced LDR especially in this pandemic time. However,

Changing lives with love and a hearty show

By Lance Crisostomo

the trail does not stop there as researches revealed that 40% of all LDR relationships fall apart after 4-5 months. With all the negative turnouts that these two topics provide, it can surely break people into a million pieces.

As the discussion between the hosts and guests, two golden questions rose to the occasion: 1) What are the important factors in an LDR or in love in general? And 2) Should all chances be taken?

Communication, Commitment, Consistency, Trust, and Time – these are the five fundamental factors emphasized by our tagapayos that will solidify the foundation of every relationship. Our tagapayos stated that all these five factors must be present since it builds the solid foundation for every relationship to stay strong. “It is through communication, commitment, and consistency that we build the framework for our relationships while it is through trust and time that this relationship blossoms to something greater and stronger,” as the summary of their advices implied.

On the question regarding chances, our tagapayos agreed that we should take all the chances that we have but we must also be ready for what may happen after. Mr. Cris and Ms. Cyril said that we must ensure ourselves that we are ready to commit and to stay consistent once we

PHOTO SOURCE | FILE, RENZ BAUTISTA, ANDRE MOJICA

grab these chances. Once you take the chance, it will already involve the feelings of others (which we may hurt with one wrong actions). Yes, taking these chances may be “high risk, high reward” but at the end of it all, either we become successful in committing or we learn something which will help us mature to be better individuals for the right person that awaits us in the future.

LCM was definitely a success. The Rheims TWG has succeeded in providing the Lasallian guidance that our co-students needed in this time and age. The show has definitely helped the ASJ community understand the complex idea of loving. More than that, the Rheims TWG proved their commitment to their call of service. Four weeks of sleepless nights, technical preparations, editing, and program making were nothing compared to the joy and feedback that the ASJ community had for the show.

Here are some of the comments and feedbacks from our ASJ Community:

Lemmor Lataza, Grade 8 student – “I really liked the show. Everyone who was a part of it did a great job. I was struck by the message - if you love a person, you will endure hardships with him/her, and you will be happy for him/her when happy times come.” “I felt much love during the talk show because there were so many concepts and ideas that I discovered from it making my understanding of love to deepen.”

Faime Sulat, Grade 12 student – “I really enjoyed the talkshow because it is interesting and there are a lot of learnings not only about love, but also about life.”

Life is definitely short so we must take the chances that presents itself right in front of us. As the saying goes, “We did not regret the things that we did. We only regret the things that we did not do”. The Rheims hope that through LCM, the organization has contributed to the growth and development of the ASJ Community that will make them ready to commit, to be consistent, and to build an everlasting relationship with not just a special someone, but to the special people in their lives. [R]

"Undeniably, LCM is one of the projects that is “for the students, by the students” which echoes the passion for service of the Rheims team and our love for our craft."