Activity 6

Answer the following:

1. In chapter 17 of our textbook, Rizal related his misfortunes in life. Choose

2 and write your reflection in each of the misfortunes is.

a. 1st MISFORTUNE
Despite all the disappointments that he faced, I was really moved with the
way Rizal behaved. Here, even through the disappointments and hard times
in his life, he still made efforts to seek justice for the Calamba tenants and
also for his family. Rizal never gave up despite the challenges and problems
that he encountered in his life. He went as far as calling on the Minister of
Colonies who was Senor Fabie at that time, in order to protest on the
injustices committed by Governor General Valeriano Weyler and the
Dominicans against the Calamba folks. This incident brought out the caring
personality of Rizal. He doesn’t only care about his family but also
everyone.
More so, learning from Saturnina’s letter that their parent had been rejected
from their home and they were now staying in Narcisa’s house equally
broke Rizal's heart. These Rizal’s misfortunes has taught me a lot and one
of the lessons that I picked was that, in whatever situation you find yourself
in, you should never give up in this life.

b. 2nd MISFORTUNE
I was also very impressed with the way Rizal reacted towards Antonio Luna
and their immediate reconciliation afterwards. Rizal attended the social
reunion of the Filipino people in Madrid, and one of the guests was Antonio
Luna, who was drunk and became bitter because of his frustrated romance
with Nellie, and as such, he was jealous and blamed Rizal for his failure to
win Nellie. Because of this, Luna uttered some certain unpleasant remarks
about Nellie. Rizal felt angry after hearing what was saying, so he
challenged Antonio Luna and asked him for a duel.
When Luna became sober, he realized that he made a big mistake so he
immediately apologized for his bad remarks about Nellie and for everything
he had done and also to Rizal. Rizal on the other hand immediately
accepted Luna’s apologies and they both became good friends again. This
incident brought out the forgiving nature of Rizal, telling us how nice and
soft hearted he was. By protecting Nellie’s reputation and standing up for
her even when she wasn’t present shows how loyal Rizal was.
2. Relate also at 2 of your misfortunes in life and what are your realizations
out of it.
a. 1st Misfortune
One of my first misfortunate was losing my dad few years after the death of
my mother. I felt like there was no hope for me. At a very young age, I was
devastated and depressed. And again, growing up without your real parents
beside you is really frustrating. But as God has it and how he will always
make a way where there seems to be no way, my aunt took up the
responsibility of being my mum and father at the same time. She gave me
everything I wanted and was so nice to me. At some point I even forgot that
my parents were death because she treated me so good, with no
discrimination. When I became and adult and could reason well, I realized
how blessed I am. This was because I came in contact with so many
orphans who had lose both parents and how they suffered and struggled in
life, some barely ate 3 square meals a day, talk less of going to school, that
was when I appreciated my aunt(mum) more. Until this day, I still appreciate
her for everything she did and is still doing in my life. She is truly a God sent
and destiny helper.

b. 2nd Misfortune
Another misfortunate that I had was with the immigration here in Manila.
Before coming to Arellano to enroll, I had to first downgrade my student
visa, since I was transferring from another school to Arellano University. The
process of downgrading wasn’t an easy one for me; couple with the fact that
I also had financial difficulties at that time. Also, reopening day was fast
approaching and I was still walking up and down every day in Manila trying
to compile my documents for downgrading. When I finally succeeded to
downgrade, I had to move out of Philippines and come in again like a new
student, as the immigration policy applies. Because I didn’t want to go out
for visa exchange because it was very risky, I was advised to file for motion
of reconsideration, of which I did. School already started and I was still
waiting for the approval of the motion of reconsideration. During that time, I
was frustrated and restless, sometimes I would even cry in my room
because everything was just so slow on my side and again, Arellano
refused to admit me without me completing my document procedure at the
immigration. I was in the state of dilemma, and I couldn’t do anything either,
just had to sit and wait for the immigration. This situation made me strong
though it was so depressing; I learned never to give up. With all my
frustration, I would still wakeup almost every day during that period and go
and sit at the immigration hoping that I will collect my documents and bring
them to school for enrollment. And at the end, I succeeded because the
immigration finally granted my appeal for reconsideration and I enrolled
though I was 2 weeks late.