Hope and Change

    

 By: Antonio Emmanuel A. Dino

                 Today is February 23, 2021,  almost a year into our nationwide lockdown , almost a year since our lives seemingly changed overnight. Initially, I rejoiced at the news of classes getting called off for two weeks. I treated it as if it was a mini-summer break. A time to be carefree and push school work aside and got that much needed time off from school, especially since we just came from having midterms the week before. Then, before I knew it, that two weeks off school, which I thought really was a blessing in disguise at the time,  would turn into several months of lonely isolation. 

        “We have to work to make things better” 

This line immediately struck me as I was watching former president Barack Obama’s commencement speech addressed to the Class of 2020, as it reminded me how my life looked like the first 6 months of lockdown. I never changed my attitude ever since classes were called off back in March. I kept telling myself that I didn’t need to be productive, I didn’t need to work and pressure myself, and all that mattered to me was that I was comfortable. For 6 whole months I did nothing but neglect my goals and aspirations for 2020, slowly I began to notice my mental health taking a toll. I wouldn’t have the energy to eat, socialize with friends, and it even took me losing my girlfriend of two years to realize what had happened to me. That’s exactly where I went wrong, for six whole months, I didn’t even at least try to better myself by any means, amidst all the free time we had.

Then, as if waking up from a 6 month coma, I snapped out of it. I started learning new skills, whether it was something as small as learning how to do photoshop to something big that was aligned with my goals for 2020, such as learning how to do stocks and finally turning my concepts and ideas into an actual working business. I spent more time being outside of my comfort zone and focused on rebuilding myself and reestablishing connections with my friends. So yes, President Obama was right, we really do have to work in order to make things better. For the first time this whole lockdown, I was actually happy I was stuck at home the whole day.  

The former president’s words rang true for every student, whether graduating or not. We were absolutely going into the unknown, experiencing something so different, to the point where it was borderline terrifying. But his words were comforting yet phrased in a way wherein he seemingly challenges us to tackle this pandemic head on. To become better versions of ourselves and use all this free time to our advantage. 

Towards the end of his speech, President Obama leaves us with this quote: 

        “Hope is not a lottery ticket; it’s a hammer for us to use in a national emergency -- to break the glass, sound the alarm and sprint into action”

Photo from: Pin by 𝓖 4 𝓖𝓸𝓵𝓭𝓮𝓷𝓗𝓪𝓿𝓮𝓷 ✨ on color | Yellow aesthetic, Yellow aesthetic pastel, Neon quotes (pinterest.ph)