The World Before Me, Now, and the World Tomorrow
Before…
Cory Aquino is elected as the first female president of Philippines, as well as for the entirety of Asia
When the talk of leadership comes up in conversation, one would picture a man with a great sense of authority, someone who can sway those beneath his position merely with the way he stands. That is, of course, if we were still living in the olden times. Having elected a woman to the presidency, especially in a highly patriarchal country, was a moment in Philippine history that one can’t just forget. It was a step towards change; more specifically in terms of how public office is typically run. Truly, as the country was finally freed from the iron fist of a dictator, having a woman in power served as a beacon of hope for the Filipino people, especially for those who fought for freedom with their lives at stake. When we as a society allow for women to be leaders, it is just one of the many good things that we can do to allow ourselves to move forward as well. As a woman myself, yeah, I am most certainly on board with the women-in-power movement.
Mount Pinatubo Eruption, 1991
As a kid, I’ve always only heard about the eruption from my mother. Sometimes, it was mentioned in my science or my history class.
A lot of people died from this tragedy and left thousands of them homeless. If I had already been born during that time, I honestly just wouldn’t know what to do — although I’ll probably just add that to the list of traumatic experiences or events that happened during the time that I’ve lived, whether it happened to me directly or not. This sort of hits a little close to home because my mom told me this story about how my aunt lost the baby she was carrying due to the effects of the eruption to the air. Occasionally, I get hit with realistic anxiety (a nonspecific feeling involving a possible danger, as described in psychology) that I could be having my morning coffee and suddenly an earthquake happens or worse, I see what looks to be volcanic ashes in the air as I’m holding my mug. Natural catastrophes scare me, and for good reason, of course.
Now…
Pope Francis and his statements regarding same-sex unions
I was born into a Roman Catholic family. Although now, I consider myself an agnostic. Ooh, fun fact: my mother idolized the previous pope, Pope Benedict XVI. When the Church’s new pope got elected, I saw it on the news but did not pay too much attention to it. I just think that it’s nice to have a pope who understands what inclusivity means, especially during this time where people are becoming more open about their true genders and/or sexual preferences. He has made several ones that concern the LGBTQ+ community, which were about showing support to the community and treating the people in it the same way heterosexual people are usually treated — like normal people who aren’t considered “broken” merely because of who they feel love and attraction to. I am all about this kind of love, and it is very good that the added support to LGBTQ+ is coming from a very important, very influential person.
Just think about all of the religious and homophobic parents out there who might have hurt the feelings of their children, eh? This is for those who have suffered. As a psychology major, I think that it is truly amazing that something as simple as this could help so many people have some peace of mind. Acceptance is everything for a lot of us.
Information in your hand — right in an instant!
If you have a smartphone, then the person next to you in the bus, train, or the one in front of you as you wait in line to pick up your takeout food probably has one. It’s everywhere now. Phones used to be just for texting, calling, and sometimes playing those cool snake games on the old Nokia. If you had the colored, newer models that were released in the 2010s, you probably played the bounce ball game as well.
Today, you’ve got everything in the palm of your hands. (Literally, but not like, totally everything.) It has a camera, a calendar, a notepad, calculator, books, tv, video, the internet — name anything you want to do on a desktop computer and on paper, it’s probably there. With the speed of information travelling from one place to basically anywhere around the world, our society has truly come so far. Digital processes that could take a while if done from maybe 80 years ago can be done today by thousands or a million times the speed faster. The invention of the smartphone truly changed the game of digital connectivity. I personally enjoy it. What am I gonna do without you, oh bright, thin brick of tech? When I’m older, hopefully these tech companies would become tenfold creative. Who knows, they might finally be able to make something that can transport food through our phones.
Tomorrow.
The Coronavirus Disease 2019
We’ve all had enough of this topic, but we’re going to talk about it — very unfortunate, I know — as long as it is out there without a cure or vaccine.
There will be many more pandemics to come, for sure. The world has already seen a lot of it before, and yet this one still caught us off-guard. The effects of the pandemic on my daily life involves in-real-life social interaction the most, among other things such as eating outside or just feeling the wind on my face whenever I go out. With my college life just starting, the lack of interaction with people takes away a huge part of the fun in college. It would be nice just to be able to whisper to my seatmate when I missed something that the professor said because I was busy writing down the stuff on the board or simply because I spaced out for a second. It would have been nice to experience meeting new people through dance or sports PE classes.
The most likely scenario that we will have face-to-face classes in 2022 sucks. I would be in my third year already, then! By that time, studying will become an even bigger priority because I will be working to finish my program on time. I feel like I wouldn’t have had as much time to play around and have fun, because the world outside the campus allows for fun just sometimes. (That’s what the ‘adults’ say, anyway.). With K-12, I’m technically having a ‘delayed’ college graduation as well. I worry about feeling too old for fun as a real adult, that’s all, since the pandemic had taken it from our generation.
The #MeToo Movement
The world had never been truly safe for women. Even little girls get harassed by their peers, the men in their life that they thought they could trust with their life. As a woman, you never know when it‘ll happen. The #MeToo movement is for the women. These girls, women, they are not “somebody’s wife,” “daughter,” “girlfriend,” “sister,” or “friend.” They are their own person, and they deserve to be treated more than someone you know or someone you are related to who just happens to be female.
This is for me as well.
This movement is just a continuation of the many fights for equality that all the other generations past have fought. This will affect my future the same way that previous rights movements have affected my present.