Life Is a Journey

Life is a journey. In reflection to this, I see myself as a traveler in this world of ours. My journey started from the day that I was born up to this date. I existed in this world for 16 years already. In my sixteenth year in earth, it is the time when I have to decide what course I should take and what school to spend my college life with. Finally, I reached into a conclusion that I will take up Bachelor of Science in Accountancy in San Beda College-Manila. At present, I am in the second semester of my first year in San Beda. To be honest, my parents were able to send me in this school because of the scholarship that was granted to me for being a high school valedictorian in my former alma mater, Puerto Galera Academy.

Indeed our life is a never-ending learning process. We learn from our day to day activities, such as reading, watching, observing and listening among others. We also learn from the person we encounter everyday like our parents, schoolmates, classmates, professors, neighbors, teachers and friends. In short, our life is a learning process.
In relation to what had been said earlier that life is a learning process, I have learned many things in life. I had a lot of learning, realizations and reflections but I will limit my sharing on the first year of my stay here in San Beda. In my first year as a red lion, there are numerous number of things that I have learned, reflected and realized in life.
First of all, I learned how to adapt from a rural area (Puerto Galera, Oriental Mindoro) into an urban place like here in Manila. Being independent and being a decision maker for me are included here. I learned that I am in the full control of my life and I am responsible for what I will become in the future. I realized that being a kind, jolly, polite, humble and a friendly person can help to accumulate and gain friends. Being as such helped me to interact with my fellow bedans, classmates, neighbors and professors.
Secondly, San Beda College being a Catholic School and being founded by the Benedictines is such a religious school. Bedans are really prayerful. San Beda College through the Campus Ministry gave me time with God and to know more about Him through a peace retreat in Antipolo. The motto of the school is “ora et labora” which means prayer and work is really seen in the Bedan Community. The classes always start and end with a prayer. I learned here that prayer can really help in times of problems and examination. There are units of theology to be taken which aims to strengthen the faith and to improve one’s knowledge about God. I really applied that in everything I do including my studies I always ask guidance from God. Just like the saying goes, “DO YOUR BEST AND GOD WILL DO THE REST”, I do my best in everything I do especially in my studies and ask for guidance and protection from the Almighty Father. Devotion to the patron St. Benedict, St. Bede, Our Lady of Monserrat and to the Santo Nino de Praga arises within me when I became a Bedan by spirit. It is also here in San Beda that I learned this simple quotation but meaningful which is the concluding quotation of all the Bedans. “That in all things God may be glorified”.
When the first semester ended, I learned that there are other persons who are far better than me. Those persons inspire me to do my best in my studies and to excel. I also realized that I have to survive the four year course of BS Accountancy in order for me to achieve my goal and become a Certified Public Accountant someday. Being a scholar, I should maintain my scholarship so that the burden of my parents in paying my tuition fees is lessened. Accountancy is a very tough course and it takes a long time for studying and mastering it. Because of that, I have proven that time is really gold and I can’t get back even a second of the time I wasted. I learned how to manage my time and to give extra effort for studying accounting and all of the subjects I enrolled to. I learned how to persevere, to be organized and responsible person. I also aim to work harder in order to meet the requirements of such a tough course.
There is always a question in my mind on how to be a true Filipino even if I was born in the age of globalization wherein western language and cultures dominated other countries including our beloved country which is the Philippines. That question was answered as my journey goes in San Beda. During the Linggo ng Wika, we were once required to wear a Philippine Barong for the male and a Maria Clara for the female. For the rest of the week, we had worn shirts with the Philippine concept such as the Ninoy Aquino Shirts, and other shirts from tourists’ spots like the Summer Capital of the Philippines in Baguio and beach resorts of Puerto Galera. Unlike other schools, it isn’t a mandatory requirement to speak English inside the campus which does respect the true Filipino spirit and there is flag a ceremony during the first day of the school week on which the singing of the National Anthem “Lupang Hinirang” and reciting the “Panatang Makabayan” at “Panunumpa sa Watawat ng Pilipinas” are done. All these things remind me that I should be a true Filipino. Being a Filipino doesn’t end in these things thus San Beda College’s NSTP program and Filipino Subject taught me how to become as such. In our NSTP program, we are required to offer service and help to our fellow countrymen especially the poor and the needy while in the Filipino Subject in San Beda we were encouraged to make study through research papers about the problems needed to be address and solve within our country. I learned here how to become a true Filipino by participating in these activities such as the flag ceremonies, community service, and doing such research about the social problems in our own community.
All my experiences and learning are not limited to these in my one year stay here in San Beda. There are such things like the happy moments during the intramurals, NCAA games, feasts and other celebrations. San Beda College does not only enable me in being a global competitive person especially in the field of Accountancy but also enable me to have friends, to be happy, to be wholly Christian and truly Filipino. With all these things, I can truly say that “in San Beda College, all amazing things happen”.