“Sayang,” my classmate said when I missed a class once. It was my first time joining a mobilization. They casually dismissed it, saying I neglected the chance to earn extra points by skipping class. To them, it was a total waste of time—spending my afternoon in Liwasan, sweating under the heat, rather than staying in the comfort of classrooms in UP.

Being told off for my so-called wasteful tendencies is now becoming routine. A friend teased me when they spotted me engrossed in an educational discussion at the CAL Building. And even my presence in Kulê has not been spared from lighthearted scrutiny. When my peers learned of my column, they could not believe that a grade-conscious student like me would choose to squander the little time I had left for something they deemed useless. If I had “too much time to waste,” they said, I would be better off pursuing internships and freelancing gigs—something that would look better on my resume.

“It's like fighting a losing game,” people say whenever I try to involve myself in mobilizations, educational discussions, and other outside-of-the-classroom activities. They know the state we are in is undesirable and the path toward genuine change demands a lot. Perhaps, they are indeed right. Maybe I am wasting my time fighting battles with no assurance of victory.

But it doesn’t matter if I stay in my own lane. Injustices we face as students will always find their way to affect us and force us to act. Regardless of our efforts in our studies, we will graduate and end up in a life we do not really dream of–multiple jobs for measly wages, the rising cost of education that only pushes some of us to drop out. 

The battles that we are fighting, the things that we pour our efforts into, may seem pointless in a bleak future. But whenever I delve into this angsty musing of mine, I have to remind myself of the “whys.”

My friends share the hardships born out of the system we are in. But I hope they understand what I and the people I met during these mobilizations share and hold. I hope they will see that they are included in the “whys” of these people who choose to organize, fight for rights, and demand long-overdue justice.

These narratives I have learned from educational discussions helped me realize the need to always continue. Their "whys" have now become my own. 

I might miss some of my classes again, yet I will not tire of explaining to my peers why. Especially for missing a class today; the 51st commemoration of Martial Law. I hope to see some familiar faces out in the street today. If not, I hope they get the chance to read this column. Maybe, after sparing their time to browse through this tabloid, they would also say “sayang” but in a different tone, in a different view. ●

First published in the September 21, 2023 print edition of the Collegian.