Perceiving the ‘Real World’
By: Ray Matthew O. Lamzon
Graduation day. My final hours as a high school student. The culmination of all my hard work. According to my teachers, this is the day that I step out of my comfort zone and into the ‘real world’. Since my very first day in high school, my teachers have been rambling on and on about how they were preparing us for the ‘real world’. They were readying us for the unforgiving and challenging nature of the ‘real world’ and that they were shaping us to become the leaders of tomorrow. Back then, all of this seemed so true. I was just a young student. I was just a blip on the radar. I was but one small piece of the puzzle of Philippine society. Yet, as graduation day came, I felt no change. There was no stepping into the real world. There was no ‘coming-of-age moment.
There was only the realization that I was in the real world all along.
In that moment, it came to my attention that the things that my teachers said were only partly true. Yes, it was true that they were preparing us for our futures and it was also true that we are going to face more challenges and obstacles when we step out of our high school lives. However, saying that they were shaping the leaders of tomorrow was a mistake. This is because they were actually shaping the leaders of today. The youth of today simply has too much potential and power to be only limited and labeled as ‘leaders of tomorrow’. They should be encouraged to voice out their opinions and take action today instead of tomorrow.
Like many of my fellow Millenials, there have been too many times wherein I’ve been apathetic towards the issues of Philippine society. I blame myself for not seeing the importance of my voice in the problems that plague our beloved country. Now that I’m older and less ignorant, I want to change this mentality. I want to be more involved. I want to be more aware. To my fellow youth, I encourage you to do the same. Let us not allow our generation to be labeled as the ‘Selfie Generation’ that only thinks about self-importance and individual image. We are part of a larger community and it is our duty to work for its improvement.
We are already in the real world and we must face it with honor and dignity.
The author graduated Class Valedictorian of the Lourdes School of Mandaluyong High School Class of 2017. He is an incoming Business Administration freshman at the University of the Philippines
