Education Remains A Right Of The Youth

“Education Remains a Right of the Youth“ By: Sheryl Ann T. Pillas Is the right for education still practiced these days? Everyday we see children walking around on streets, begging for money to buy something to eat, children raggedly clothed playing around on sidewalks when other children their age are at school. If it is their right to be at school, then who is to blame if they are not? Would it be their parents? But what if their parents can’t really send them to school because they’re not even able to give their children a healthy meal? Would it be the government? But what if they say that they are already working on the problem? Do we share a part of the responsibility of promoting education to the youth? We are lucky enough that we are able to attend school, our rights for education is fulfilled. But let’s look behind us, what about the rights of these children? Why do we need to be educated? Why do we have to be sent to school? This is not just about satisfying the rights to education, but also on facilitating our needs. Satisfying our needs to learn what we need to know and letting us discover for ourselves our abilities. Education is not just about learning how to read and write. It is also about teaching us of the bigger responsibility that we are facing for the future. Education does not depend on books alone, for in education, we are able to learn what’s right and not. We are given the chance to see things both on the good and bad side, yet, always settling on the good one. Sending the youth to school is also closing a close of prison to them, because children who don’t have the chance to go to school usually ends up in prison. They end up destroying their own life and wasting the chance to be good citizens. Why do we need to persuade the rights for education? Because this is the way to avoid doing the same mistakes. We need to learn from the mistakes of the past and think on how we can improve ourselves and the society, which we are going to have in the future. This is the best way to prepare us to the reality in the life that we are facing. This is a way to let us understand that we are holding a piece of the future in our hands. It all depends us, it’s either we will use the chance to take care of it, or waste and throw it away with our own lives. Education is like a mold. It will shape us to whomever and wherever we want to be. It will guide us to the right path. It will lead us to our goals. It will lessen our innocence. However, it will shield us from pride and fame. It will encourage us to aim for more and better things and it will make us not want to be enslaved by inefficiency anymore. Every youth has the right for education regardless of his background, regardless of his status in the society. Education should not only be given to the wealthy. Because sometimes it is the poor who is more eager and determined to learn. It should not be thought twice whom to give it to, because we all need to be educated. Anyone who is born deprived would wish to improve his life and one of the best ways to attain that is to have education. Education does make dreams come true. Education must not be a means of degrading those who are less and discriminating those who can’t have it. It should be fair. It should be given to all those who are willing to learn. No one can take away the rights to education from the youth, because at this point in our lives we need to be guided. These years are critical for us, because it is during these years that we are uncertain. These years we are curious. These years we discover the problems in our society but we don’t know how to face it, because we don’t know how to make changes. If the youth will remain uneducated then they will be victims for the rest of their lives. They won’t have the chance to improve with their own effort. They will just satisfy themselves with what is there in front of them. They will live their lives starving for knowledge and thirsty of learning. If our youth won’t be educated, then imagine who our next leaders will be. What kind of government will we have if our future leaders don’t even know the importance of education? How can we solve the problems in the future when we can’t face the problem of poverty now? Promoting the rights for education does not only fall on the rights of the youth; this is also a means of taking care of our future. Education should be given to the youth not only because it is their right, but also because they need it. They need education to have a better career in the

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future. Yes, some people succeed even though they didn’t finished school, but why will we settle on toss coin chances if we can do something to be sure of our future? All we need is time and effort to help the youth in getting their needs for education fulfilled. We must remember that the success of the youth in the future will impart the knowledge to those who will come after them, and from them shall live the importance of education. Satisfying the rights of the youth for education should be given more concern. Because who we are teaching them to be now is who they are going to be in the future. We should educate them to be better leaders. The rights of the youth for education cannot be set aside because the youth themselves are aware of what they need. They speak for themselves. They are determined. As long as the youth knows how to fight for their rights, then their rights for education will remain within them. As long as they are eager and willing to learn, no one will ever take away from them the fortitude to do better. As long as they know the importance of education in their lives, then the rights for education will live within them, they will keep their eyes opened to it and they won’t let anyone take it away from anyone of them. As long as we care for the future, then the rights for education will always be a concern. We are concerned for the rights on education… WE know what the problem is… what we don’t know is what to do about the problem. We don’t know how and when to start. We don’t know who is at fault. We don’t know who shall take the first action done. But let’s try to look at it… If we could only stop pinpointing on who is to blame. If we can only face the problem together… then we should be working on solutions by now. We all share a part of the responsibility on filling the rights to education. We should try to look at the youth now and realize where we are leading them… Education is not only learning about life… Education is life itself…

“Spell Life” By: Sheryl Ann T. Pillas

How do you define life? Is life really stranger than fiction? Life is uncertain. Each day of our lives is filled with adventures that we are bound to face. We live our lives as if we are waiting for something that we are unaware of. We can’t predict what tomorrow can bring; all we could do is vision our future. And in the end find our dreams false to reality. We have no idea of the things that are to come in the future; al we have at hand is a dream that life will bring us good things. But sometimes, we don’t get what we want. In life we have to expect the unexpected because nothing here is certain. The only fact that is definite in life is that we can’t get out of it alive. Everything in this world falls out of life… yet it will never fall out of meaning. Life being uncertain is not an advantage because it makes us believe. It helps us have a stronger faith to our Creator. And it prepares us to tougher battles that we are to battle. Life is full of surprises. This makes life more exciting. The fact that we do not know where tomorrow will lead to makes life worth living. WE do our best to reach a certain goal and sometimes we receive more than what we expected. On the contrary, sometimes we get disappointed because things don’t end up the way we wanted it to. Life will not be complete without experiences and failures that will make us better individuals. Experience is our teacher and all the lessons that life has to offer is our foundation to a better future. We may be down for a certain period in our life, but if we will do something about our situation then wewill expect that soon we will be more than who we are now. We make our own lives but somehow our lives are connected with each other. As we make decisions for ourselves we also affect these persons who cares about us. We make our own decisions and we stand on our own choices. But we can never escape from the bond that connects us to the life of these people around us for we are living in the same place. Our life depends on how we handle trials. It depends on whom we will share it with and how we look at life in general. Life is a journey. WE all are like travelers who are just passing by this lifetime. Thoguh we still don’t know where our destination is, we give importance to what we are facing along the way and the people we meet along this journey. In this trip we call life; we go places. We discover new things that we will need in the future.

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Then we meet people who become not just an acquaintance but also a part of our heart… a part of our being. From these people we learn to give importance not just to ourselves but also for others. They make us realize that it is worthwhile to live when you have someone who is your reason for life. And it feels good to know that you also are someone else’s reason for living. We live in a world of strangers. But the mystery of life unfolds when we get along these people we just have met. Life is more than a fairy tale. We used to daydream and make our own fantasies, but life is more than that. Because life gives s reasons to change and make our dreams come true. We play our own character. WE use our own strengths. We face even more devastating obstacles. We choose our own partner. We make our own ending. Whether it becomes a happy ending or tragedy, it all depends on how we handle life. Whether we make through every trial or not all depends on how we make decisions. Life is temporary. The life we have right now, we borrowed from God. Soon we will give it back to Him. That’s why we should not take each moment for granted because life is through before we know it. We should make the best out of it because we only pass this lifetime once. We should not waste not even a single second of our life; for every second of it is precious. It is just right to live our life the way God wanted us to, because He is the One who lent us this life. And He I also the One who has the right to take it back at His own righteous time. We all are destined to die. WE should not fear death for it would mean peace. And if we will be able to leave something in this world for us to be remembered, then death is not an issue of absence. If we do well to others then those who are still to come after us will always remember us. Life is real. Peculiar and strange things may happen to us but that is reality. The strange thing about life is that we don’t always celebrate. WE don’t always have a happy ending. For there are times when we seem to loose the will to go on with life. There are times when we think that life is too unfair to us. But the fact is, everything in life has its purpose. We all have a purpose that’s why we are given a chance to live. Fiction is something we make out of our dreams and fantasies… but life? It’s more than that. For in life, we don’t know what the next scene is unless we’re in it. In life, we don’t know who the significant characters are until we meet them. We don’t know when life will end… until we’ve come to meet the time when we need to give it back to Him. Indeed! Life is stranger than fiction.

“Estudyante Ka ba?” By: Sheryl Ann T. Pillas

Saang grupo ka kabilang? Ikaw ba ay nakapag-aral? O pumapasok lamang para masabing nag- aaral? Kapag wala si ma’am? Ikaw ba iyong tipong gagamitin ang oras para magbasa sa library? O ikaw yung tipong nagdidiwang sa ‘twing walang klase? Kapag maaga ang uwi? Ikaw ba yung tipong uuwi agad para maghanda sa exam kinabukasan? O ikaw yung tipong gagamitin ang oras para mag- Dota o di kaya’y gumala sa SM? Kapag may mga project o assignment? Ikaw ba iyong tipong, gagawin na ito habang maaga pa? O ikaw yung tipong aasa sa sagot ng kaklase? Sa oras ng klase, ikaw baiyong tipong nakikinig at iniintindi ang aralin? O ikaw yung tipong naghahanap ng pagkakamali ng iyong guro? Nahihirapan ka bang intindihin ang mga itinuturo ni sir sa Algebra? Hindi ka makahinga kapag Biyernes dahil pakiramdam mo, lumalabas na ang puso mo sa dibdib sa sobrang lakas ng kaba? Nagtatanong ka ba kung paano na kayo dahil madalas absent si Sir kapag Lunes ng umaga? Matanong nga kita, Estudyante ka ba? Nag- aaral tayo, para matuto. Nag- aaral tayo bilang paghahanda sa ating kinabukasan. Naririto tayo sa paaralan hindi para sa ibang tao, kundi para sa sarili natin mismo. Dito, ginagabayan tayo ng ating mga guro upang malaman natin ang tamang paraan ng pag- aaral. Ngunit hindi ito nangangahulugan na iaasa na natin ito lahat sa kanila. Hindi salahat ng pagkakataon ay susubuan na lamang tayo. Paano na lamang kug kulang ang isinusubo natin? Kung magkagayo’y magugutom tayo sa kaalaman. Dapat nating isaisip na hindi natin dapat iasa ang lahat sa ating mga guro. Hindi ibig sabihin na hinahayaan nila tayo, o binibigyan nila tayo ng laya ay pwede na nating gawin ang kahit na ano’ng ating gugustuhin. Kaya nila ito ginagawa dahil gusto nila tayong matuto. Sa paaralan, sila ang ating mga magulang at nais nilang makita tayong naglalakad sasarili nating kakayahan.

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Lahat ng desisyon na ginagawa natin sa ating buhay estudyante ay babablik lamang sa atin. At sa huli, tayo man ay maaari nitong ipahamak. Sino nga ba ang makakaita na may kodigo ka sa ilalim ng mesa mo? Sino nga ba ang makakaalam na kaya ka mataas sa exam kanina, ay dahil pinakopya ka ng katabi mo? Sino nga ba ang makakahalata na masama ang tingin mo kapag nakatalikod ang iyong guro? Naitanong mo na ba sa sarili mo kung sino ang talo sa mga ginagawa mo? Hanggang kailan ka pang ganyan? Iniisip mo sigurong bata ka pa naman at marami ka pang panahon para sa pag- aaral. Hindi naman masama ang maglibang paminsan minsan. Kailangan lamang ay isipin natin ang magiging epekto ng bawat bagay na ating ginagawa saating sarili. Hindi mo ba nakikita kung gaano karaming kabataan ngayon ang hidi nakapag-arar? Hindi mo ba nakikita kung gaano karaming Pilipino ang nahihirapang maghanap ng magandang trabaho, dahil sa hirap ng buhay? Hindi mo ba nakikita kung gaano karaming masasamang tao ang gumagala ngayon dahil lumaki silang hindi nalalaman ang tama at mali. Mga taong nagsusugal, naninigarilyo, umiinom, nanloloko, nananakit. Pumapasok ka sa eskwela di ba? Itinuturo sa iyo kung ano ang tama at mali, pero bakit may mga ginagawa kang hindi nalalayo sa mga ginagawa nila? Matanong nga kita. Kapag ba bumagsak ka, dadamayan ka ba ng bote ng alak na iyan? Kapag ba naghanap ka ng trabaho, ma-po-promote ka ba gamit yang kodigo sa bulsa mo? Kapag dumating ang araw na tuluyang masayang ang buhay mo, sino nga ba ang sisisihin mo? Hindi ka ba natatakot na mahirapan pati ang magiging pamilya mo sa hinaharap? Bilang estudyante, marami tayong respnonsibilidad. Hindi tayo pinag- aaral para lamang pumasok sa eskwela at magpa-check ng attendance. Pinag-aaral tayo upang maging edukadong mamamayan. Responsibilidad natin bilang estudyante na mag-aral, magbasa, at tulungan ang ating sarili na magkaroon ng kaalaman. At bilang isang estudyante, responsibilidad natin na igalang at irespeto ang ating mga guro. Nasasaktan ako kapag naririnig kitang sumasagot ng wala sa lugar sa oras ng klase. Nasasaktan ako kapag hindi ka pumapasok dahil inuuna mo ang pamamasyal sa kung saan- saang galaan. Nasasaktan ako kapag nakikita kong imbis na aklat ang hawak mo’y bote ang sinasaulo mo. Nasasaktan ako hindi para sa iyo. Nasasaktan ako para sa mga magulang mo na walang hinangad kundi mgkaroon ka ng magandang kinabukasan. Nasasaktan ako para sa guro mo na kahit nalalaman ang iyong ginagawa ay pilit ka pa ring iniintindi at nasasaktan ako para sa mga kabataang nais makapag- aral, ngunit hindi kaya dahil sa kahirapan. Sana sa susunod na hahawak ka ng bote ng alak, o magsisindi ka ng sigarilyo, isipin mo muna. Iyan lang ba ang nais mong matutunan? Magakkaroon ka ba ng magandang kinabukasan gamit ang mga iyan? At sa susunod na makaharap mo ang iyong guro, itanong mo sana sa sarili mo, ano nga ba ang maipagmamalaki mo sa kanya? “Estudyante ka. Alam mo kung ano ang tama at mali. Buksan mo sana ang mata mo sa maaaring kalabasan ng iyong mga ginagawa. Estudyante ka. Kung nakikirapan ka man ngayon sa dami ng pinapagawa sa iyo ng iyong mga guro, hindi nila iyon ginagawa para lamang pahirapan ka. Minsan kasi, naghahanap ka lang ng masisisi, pero ang totoo, ikaw rin ang dahilan kung bakit ka nahihirapan.”

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