3:30: Kamusta ang quarantine anniversary?

Tin: Kala namin two weeks lang, tapos umabot ng ilang buwan, then anniversary na. 

Jello: We all are in a nostalgic mood, remembering Ube Cheese Pandesal and Dalgona Coffee.

4:46: Nasaan ka when ECQ was announced?

Tin: We were preparing for the next youth service series and natulala kami for a while. We didn’t know how to process the information. May mga students na natuwa kasi akala nila ilang weeks lang walang pasok, not knowing na matagal pala ‘to.

Dave: The Greenhills area was the first one na nagkaroon ng community transmission. One week before the announcement, naka-quarantine na kami. Na-double quarantine kami. 

Jello: Kagagaling lang namin sa Taal Eruption. A few weeks apart lang yun. Nung medyo nakakarecover na, dun na nagsimula yung scare sa COVID-19. Nung in-announce ang ECQ, tulala lang kami. Kala namin one month lang. We thought na masaya kasi one month lang, pero nandito pa din tayo. 

7:57: Ano ang mga bago niyo nadiscover during pandemic?

Jello: Grace of God and…Netflix!

Tin: Malaking tulong ang Netflix. Naging bonding namin ng mama ko ang K-drama. My greatest discovery ay “Start-Up.” I will never move on from that K-drama!

Jello: Ako Reply 1988! 

Dave: Aside from K-Movies, we discovered Sushi Bake. Nag-trend din ako sa TikTok!

Jello: Naging TikTokerist mga tao nitong pandemic!

11:30: What are the songs that helped you get through this pandemic?

Tin: Waymaker. Alam mo nalang talaga na si Lord nalang talaga ‘to. 

Jello: Waymaker din…and Dynamite by BTS! Na-introduce ako sa BTS, hindi ko alam kung anong nangyari, tapos pinaguusapan pa namin sa earlier episode na hindi ako Army, sabi ko after 10 months baka Army na ako, tapos after two days mahu-hook na pala ako.

Dave: So Will I, Overwhelmed by Royal and the Serpent na narinig ko sa TikTok, and House Party by Super Junior.

15:35: On personal realizations

Jello: I learned about the psychology of meaning-making–finding meaning in our affliction. By God’s grace, we can have the proper response. We also learned to  appreciate the current season that we are in. Life in general slowed down. We learned to appreciate the valuable things in life, like relationships, rest, and well-being. 

Tin: Everything was stripped off from us. We thought we can’t live without them, but we realized na kaya naman natin pala. Also, there’s a shift in perspective. We are forced to be with our family. Dati kasi we can escape eh. But now, we are forced to deal with the issues.

Dave: I learned to enjoy the small things. We appreciate the face-to-face meetings, the physical conversations outside. Simple pleasures are given value. 

20:09: On lessons learned last year and reflecting on our present situation

– The pandemic is not yet over. But now, we have a chance to do better. There are things beyond our control, and things within our control. Now, we find ourselves nearly in the same spot as last year, what are the learnings from last year that we can apply, now that we are facing a potentially new season of the pandemic?

– We feel like it’s the repeat of last year. This is not a happy second chance that we want, but since we are here, are we still going to respond  the same as last year when we were caught off guard? How can we respond differently this year?

– It may feel like March 2020 all over again, from social media, when our status and posts last year still seem to be relevant this year. From feeling frustrated and sad, this year is a chance for us to be gracious to ourselves, and to be kinder and more forgiving to ourselves, and allow God to work through us. It’s being in a posture of trusting God, instead of being all over the place and trying to take control of things.

– It’s okay to grieve. You don’t need to mask your pain. Make room for yourself to feel what you’re feeling now. We can cast our anxieties to the right Person–on Him who cares for us (1 Peter 5:7).

27:44: How do we face this adversity? 

– Overall, it’s moving forward, embracing the new normal. Developing grit.

– RECOGNIZE

We need to recognize where we are and what we feel. It’s getting in touch with your emotions. (Jello) Personally, I write my thoughts, I write what’s on my mind to declutter my thoughts. 

– GIVE ROOM

Give room for grief and all those negative emotions. 

– ACCEPTANCE

Trials and adversity are part of our human existence. We are never exempt from facing trials and tribulations since Jesus already talked about the brokenness of this world. Our hope is that we can take heart, for He has overcome the world (John 16:33).

– SWITCH

Switch the focus of your attention. This means, instead of magnifying the struggle, we magnify finding the good meaning of something that we are going through. It’s asking ourselves, Why are we in a better place, despite the odds? Why are we in a better place than before? When we switch our focus from bad things to benefits, we find the good in the situation. May hope pa, may reason pa for living.

– REFUSE

Refuse to be the victim. When you allow yourself to be a victim of the circumstance rather than the captain of your ship, you are taking on a defeated posture.

Dave: In 2 Samuel 5, instead of using the same approach for battle, God gave a different set of  instructions for David, but the same promise. This season, though it seems like it’s the same, we hope this will make us inquire of the Lord, and allow Him to bring us to the promise. 

Tin: It’s always in the posture of checking our hearts and surrendering it to the Lord. It’s asking,  Lord, secured pa ba ako sa inyo, or am I desensitized because we are going through this for one year already? 

Jello: Hindi pa tapos ang laban. There are so many opportunities to preach the gospel, encourage someone, to stand in the gap for the people. As we come to God and address our fears and anxiety, I hope that we will overflow with the message of hope because we are salt and light in this world. When people asked where God is, we are His representatives to tell people there is hope. This hope is set for eternity. Tayo magbibigay ng pag-asa as we point them to the source of hope and healing. 

May the learnings of 2020 be used this year to respond better and bring hope to the people around us. 

Today on Campus is hosted by Dave Estrera and Jello de los Reyes. In this episode, they are joined by Tin Molato.