Divinians, How Are We?

by Nina Zacarias

How's the School Year Going? | Infographics by Arianne Santos and Nina Zacarias

The COVID-19 pandemic forced all schools to delay their opening of classes and made them implement online learning to continuously cater to their students’ education without risking their health. Did you know that it has been five months? Five months of staying at home, undergoing online classes, and catching up with friends only through texts, calls, and other forms of social media. So far, how have we been?

The entire month of August is always for the ‘Buwan ng Wika’. Divinians have gotten used to bringing their food-to-shares, wearing kasuotang pinoy, and doing performances that constantly reminded us of the history of the Philippines; however, celebrating it this year was different. Although it did not bring the same exciting sensation that it always did, with the help of Filipino teachers and subject area coordinators, students were able to be reminded of the importance of the Filipino language and its roles in the development of our rich history and culture through their lessons and activities.

Second, came the examinations. It initially was a question as to how the sessions for exams were to be executed especially for the students that were going to try it for the first time. Fortunately, the school had devised an organized plan and procedures that managed to give a similar feeling of what used to be in face-to-face classes—only with the call for integrity and honesty being stronger.

The start of October then marked the start of the Month of the Holy Rosary. Unfortunately, the usual altar set-up in each class may have not been observed anymore because of the people in a class being away from each other, yet students and teachers were still encouraged to pray the rosary before their online sessions in order to give honor and prayers to Mama Mary.

Did you thank your teachers last October 5? Students have always shown appreciation to their teachers on Teacher’s Day. Although the abundant flowers and gifts from before were substituted with virtual messages now, nothing could truly replace the sincere thought and appreciation you are to give to your teachers. Who knows? It could possibly be what the teachers always needed—a message of appreciation and expression of sincere emotions from their students—especially during this time of pandemic.

Next dawned the second quarterly examinations in the last week of October. Students and teachers have already gotten used to online learning and by this time, already have ideas about the procedures for the online examination, which made it easier for all to navigate through online softwares and allow the session to run smoothly—unless of course, there were internet or gadget interruptions; unfortunately, that may have been a very different story of inconvenience.

The most recent event was the Agape. As a way to end the Month of the Holy Rosary, it has been a practice in Divine Light Academy to celebrate Agape with a Holy Mass and a class session afterwards, wherein you can share the things that you are grateful for and proceed to an open forum with active sharing, along with the usual loaves of bread and a jug of grape juice. Unfortunately, the interaction may have been less brought by being separated physically; however, it’s a matter of the message that you are able to share and the emotions being conveyed that makes someone feel another’s presence.

2020 was a surprise. It was truly a ride of ups and downs, with mostly the downs being noticeable, yet it always serves us with a constant reminder that there will be no room for happiness if sadness did not exist. In order for this happiness to exist, it’s best to start within ourselves, to share small ‘how-are-yous’ with friends and converse a lot with our family, because oftentimes, the reasons for happiness involve our relationships with both others and ourselves. Constantly be reminded that you are loved, and that a lot of people are with you, undergoing similar hardships. At the same time, let us not allow the barriers of today to limit these relationships and the old normal that we want to protect and conserve, for with technology, almost anything is already possible.

We still have two months before the year ends, and five months before the academic year concludes. How has 2020 been to you, so far—and what are you to do to make it better?