CAN I? (EDS103 #2)

There was this particular air of excitement when I sent my application for the PTC program at the UPOU via LBC in the early part of 2020. Do you know that feeling that you feel goosebumps and your heart starts pounding like you are about to get the best news in your life? Maybe this thrill is because it has been more than a decade since I last enrolled in a university.

And now that the trimester has officially started and I have seen all the modules and activities I have to do each day, it has dawned on me that this is a serious matter. Reading all the discussions and comments from the 200+ students made me realize that what I know is just a drop of water in a bucket compared to these people.

Don’t get me wrong. I look at the situation as an opportunity to learn and grow. I have been in the same crowd for so many years that being with a diverse group of people is a breath of fresh air.

The first activity we had to do in one of the courses, aside from introducing ourselves, was to define what learning is. We didn’t have to look for its meaning in a dictionary, but it should be the first words that came into our minds. There were tons of impressive definitions given by other students, but here are the three that caught my attention (I wouldn’t divulge their names here for the privacy of identity).

1. Learning is Food

It is so simple, yet very meaningful on the way this student compared learning to food. Additionally, it is one of the best ways of saying that knowledge is an essential thing for our body, or mind, to grow and live. It made me think that we treat knowledge the same way as we treat our food.

It is just like when looking for a new book to read, if the title interests us, we pick it up. Then, we read the summary, which for me, just like smelling your “ulam” before having a taste. Next, we look at who the author is, the same way that we ask who cooked the food that we are about to it. Finally, if everything else falls in their proper places, we go and buy the book and read it as soon as we get home.

Since food is something we cannot live without, learning will be a “never-ending process” (another definition given by a different student). Seeking knowledge is something everyone does for the rest of our lives, even if we are unaware of it.

2. Trial and Error

I couldn’t agree more with this definition. For me, the best teacher in life is experience. If we fail, do it again, but this time, wearing the armor of what we have learned. The things experience teaches us cannot be found in any book. Each learning will be different for each person since we get to come across things in different time and situation. However, it all boils down to the same objective – knowledge.

3. Treasure

This idea I can never ignore. This reminds me of our late Mama. She used to say this to us, always! She said that education is the only treasure she could leave as her “pamana.” She also told us that education is a treasure that no one can take away from us. We can impart and share it, but nobody can take it and claim that as theirs.

So do you think I can survive this first trimester? I certainly hope so. Not because I want to brag about it, but because I want to get a glimpse of the discussion fora of new concepts and ideas in the next trimester. Although many ideas sometimes flood my brain that I do not know which one to digest first, it makes my mind feel 18 years old again, and I love the feeling!

Second post for EDS 103, September 22, 2020