Written By Kirstein Velasquez

Perhaps school, just like love, can be sweeter the second time around. Not sweet in its most romantic sense, but it is sweet in the same way we can always find solace in becoming the better versions of ourselves. 

But I must admit that even I still find it difficult to actually recognize the sweetness of attending college, especially in the middle of a pandemic. How can we know if this—this breathing, living being existing in this very plane of existence—is the improved version of ourselves when every day is a struggle to stay alive? How can we find college life sweet the second time around when every day we spend hunched in front of the computer has become so monotonous, so dull, so mundane that we cannot differentiate one day from another? 

Another thing that makes it hard for us to anticipate second chances in this remote learning setup is the idea of us going to school without actually going to school. We go to school without stepping foot on the long corridors leading up to the classrooms, without the familiar bustle of students familiarizing each other’s personalities and building relationships. This is not the funny irony we signed up for, but we still got it. 

But what are second chances, if not hope persevering?

I realized how semestral breaks are meant to heal and mend, before jumping right into the same cycle of attending Zoom lectures and finishing modules and requirements. The mere fact that one willingly chooses to endure a semester again and again until they graduate screams hope. 

However, I cannot fault anyone who rests longer than what is intended, those who rest long beyond the prescribed rest period of the university they belong in, and those who deemed the semester too overwhelming that they opted to just pause and rest. I cannot also fault those who completely stop and leave, those who deviated from their first path to pursue another one. These are the people who long for peace and they simply hope their departure from their current predicament will save them from future burnouts. 

I believe those who faced the second semester with open arms, those who paused for a while to rest, those who completely stopped, and those who left to pursue something new, are brave and hopeful. 

As I said in earlier parts of this article, what is a second chance, if not hope persevering? So long as we get to hope for new chances and new beginnings, and as long as we live to look forward to tomorrow, we allow hope to sprout from the dark recesses of our tired, weary souls.

Ultimately, hope pushes us to strive for excellence, in our own simple ways, in these trying times. Hope helps us be better. Perhaps hope, above all else, makes us welcome and believe in second chances. 

Header Image by Sai Escalante