2020, on the contrary

2020, on the contrary

by: Trixie Ann C. Bautista

The year 2020 greeted us with a shock of events – breakups of our favorite loveteams, death of some legendary artists, natural calamities, and the Covid-19 pandemic. At some point, the year is considered to be a depressing point for our economy, for social events, and for other goals, we plan to achieve. But on the contrary, 2020 is also the beginning of something new and something good, even in this problematic year.

Tourists’ spots

You can imagine how our tourist spots like our famous beaches and cities were dumped during our normal era. According to Rappler and CNN Philippines, Boracay was already reopened to Western Visayas tourists on June 16. Bohol and Baguio City are also the same as Boracay’s situation. Let’s get nearer. Tondaligan beach at Bonuan Gueset Dagupan City is no longer a slum for this pandemic may be sad, it helped the environment to heal and to be cleaner. Tourist spots are ready to mingle with the people of the Philippines as we wait for the end of this pandemic. It may be our lonely year for limited outings and travel with friends, it is a year for environmental healing.

The Rising Artists of PHINMA-UPang

2020 is the year of the students like Anthony Fernandez and as they lighted up their flames on social media.

Anthony Fernandez is a 3rd Year Bachelor of Science in Information and Technology student, also a singer-songwriter, who just released his singles “Hangin” on November 4, 2020, and “Dolor” recently, January 8, 2021.

The year of struggle is a year of determination, like what Anthony shares during the interview, “So bale mahirap sa una ang magpursue kasi aminado ako na I'm not a good singer, many people find my voice common, I'm not also a singer na puwede mong ipanglaban sa contest. I started pursuing it dahil nakakamiss tumugtog dahil part ako ng Life's Sound Society (LSS) and I'm just a guitarist. So last August 2019,triny kong magsulat

Photo sources: Facebook; Twitter

and then itinuluy-tuloy ko lang dahil why not? Baka may mangyari and gusto kong may mapatunayan.” And he proved it! He was also invited to Bombo Radyo Dagupan on November 19, 2020, and featured by Mendira.net. “My message to people who are pursuing their dreams: Don't let yourself fooled by others' decisions, love what you do, and enjoy it. Be proud of what you do, and most importantly, learn to accept your flaws and be humble!”

You will encounter a lot of successful stories, and the key for you to be one is to just simply do it. Check out his singles on all music platforms!

Rose Salucio is a 3rd Year Political Science Student, who is now a rising TikTok star, and a You- Tuber, who also started posting her videos and contents online in May 2020, all because of her love for her passion.

“It is a dream of mine to become an actress or perform but as I grew older singing, acting and dancing just became a habit and not a career. It’s because I wasn’t given the privilege to pursue these things. I stopped practicing and just focused on another goal. But then everything changed.

The platform gave me a chance to share my talent and thoughts with other people. Because of this, I started practicing again and it gave me hope. My family, friends, and the people who are continuously supporting me are my inspiration. I once thought of quitting, but they gave me hope.

To be honest, it’s really hard to film and think of content because of the pandemic. At first, I wanted to film travel vlogs or funny vlogs with my friends but this became impossible because of the situation. But instead of focusing on the things that I cannot do, I came up with content that can be done at home.

I shared my life experiences and the things that I do to cope with the pandemic. Because of YouTube, I was able to practice my speaking and boost my confidence.”

Rose shared her experiences on how she started to pursue her passion in singing, dancing, and acting by posting her content on social media platforms. “Start now. Don’t aim for perfection because each day we’ll get better. The quote that inspired me the most is “The key to creating success is partly the willingness to be bad at something.” Again, start NOW and have a growth mindset. YOU CAN DO IT. " You can check out her Youtube Channel at Rose Salucio.

Aim high, dream big. Learn from our rising stars to take advantage of every situation we face. The world may not be in a better place now, but who knows that your passion might just turn into your career as we adapt to the transition of the virtual world!

Alternative Learning to Modernized Learning

It’s hard to think of ways on how to learn and continue the education of the youth because inside the four corners of the classroom are academics, friendships, bonds, and life lessons. This is very hard for a lot of people especially those people who are not used to independent learning. But thanks to technology and modernization that we manage to adapt to during the normal times, it became our instrument to learning a lot of things.

On the other side, not all people are luxurious to afford the necessities in online learning, they do have some quiet time to read their books and to use their creativity to do some kinds of stuff through arts and crafts. Dear people, learning will never die. Learning new ways on how to learn during these problematic times is a milestone level of learning.

Trends

A lot of trends were scattered on social media like Tiktok, Dalgona Coffee, and Plantsman (person who loves plants) to divert their interest that was lost because of the pandemic. Partying, road trips, swimming, going to malls and cafes are some of the things that were lost because of the safety measures that were set to avoid the spread of the virus.

But as this pandemic strikes and new trends hit on social media, talents were discovered, creativity is glamour, and nature is loved. Indoor plants are everywhere on social media that contribute to the betterment of your environment. Take note that your little steps to your beautiful surroundings are a steppingstone to the bigger, cleaner, and greener nature.

Family Bonds

We face the fact that Filipinos have an unideal set of a family but we value our family members biologically or otherwise. You can see how parents bond with their children on social media like daily vlogs on You- Tube, how they dance on TikTok, how they celebrate birthdays posted on Facebook.

At this moment of the year, children talk to their parents, and parents trust their children more. Let the pessimism be outshined by optimism. Evaluate your relationships with people who are real to you and spend more time with them.

Politically Inclined Citizens

Since we have a lot of time in our homes, we tend to know everything that is happening to Philippine Politics. One bad thing is how we project ourselves on social media as we express our political opinions. Our political participation will never be as perfect as our fictional world says but one participation awakens the participation of others. We lost our apathy and we became wiser.

We have our strong beliefs with regards to our Filipino Politicians’ actions, especially towards this covid-19 pandemic. When 2022 comes, Filipinos are now wiser and will never believe the magic of the envelope and the power of noodles anymore. Political participation is important and it is a good thing that we are more participative than ever.

If you are to make a portrait of the year 2020, it might be an abstract mixture of dark colors, but as you try to take a moment staring at it, it’s mesmerizing seeing successful stories that are not hindered by time, and situation we have right now. Be encourage and never stick to thoughts of discouragement.