DASALLA, ERA GRACE A.

BEED IV-B

‘We are the future’

We are the future of this nation because, in the most literal sense, we will one day
become the generation that leads this country. But we are also the future of this nation
because our actions today will shape the course of tomorrow. And although this has been
said to us countless times by our parents, professors, and mentors (who were once also told
this very same adage in their youth), allow me to emphasize that never has there been a
more exciting time to be a member of the youth sector. It has been said time and time again
that there is something different with the circumstances surrounding our generation. We
live in an era where our social impact is accelerated by the wealth of resources we have at
our disposal. In the age of the New Media and exponential technological advancements, we
have the capacity to do more, reach more people, and act earlier – but the caveat is that we
must use these resources responsibly.
And it is not only in the use of our resources that we must be responsible, but also in
the expression of our idealism. Although our youth is marked by our idealism, let us temper
our idealism with humility – in accepting the fact that we can only do so much, and that we
cannot solve all the problems of our nation overnight. Once we accept that we are
individually limited, it will be much easier to move forward, with the understanding that in
order to serve the nation, it is enough to do well in whatever we do, and trust that our
fellow youth will do the same. And once we accept that progress takes time, it will be much
easier to move forward, with the understanding that nation building is a lifelong
commitment, with its own ups and downs, that we share with like-minded fellows.
There will be times that it may indeed be tempting to simply leave and explore
greener pastures overseas, but please stay because our nation needs us. Our nation needs
our talents and skills, infectious idealism and irreverent refusal to accept social ills as all that
is and all that will ever be. But if we must go, wherever we go, let us take the dreams of our
people with us and hold them with reverence. After all, we are all allies in nation building.
As an archipelagic country, it is easy to make the mistake of detaching ourselves from the
people beyond our line of sight, and even easier, to relegate the experiences of our
countrymen to something that is foreign to us because we were born under different
circumstances. But it is important to remember that we are all part of the same nation. And
once we come to terms with this and really understand it, it becomes easier to act in ways
that mirror the depth of human dignity, to deal with each other with empathy and
compassion.
Let us do away with crab mentality, an approach that is not at all underlying in our
native culture, but something we have acquired from our colonizers. Let us foster, instead,
our endemic sense of community, the spirit of bayanihan, in celebrating the successes of
our countrymen. At the end of the day, the success of one, is the success of everyone. And
we need all the good people that we can in order to change this nation for the better.
Perhaps out of equal parts frustration and hope, Jose Rizal asked: “Where are the youth
who will consecrate their golden hours, their illusions, and their enthusiasm to the welfare
of their native land?” Fast forward over 100 years later, we, the Filipino youth of today, cry
out: We are right here, on the cusp of greatness, brimming with idealism, and poised to
make the Philippines a better place.