By Jan Vicente B. Pekas
For students who had to learn under the rules and limits of online and distanced learning, deadlines, I’m sure is something they are all too familiar with. Luckily, I was fortunate enough to have an abundance of help surrounding me. As a result, I managed to get through another school year. Although I preferred a more direct setting to learn in high school, I did not come out completely devoid of valuable lessons.
One of which is the importance of deadlines. Usually, in a week, our teachers would expect us to submit what they had given before. Some projects may take more than a week, but thankfully, our teaches are not without mercy. It was not all too common for a student to still be able to pass their work even after the deadline. It was thanks to this mercy that I was able to receive grades not befitting of the effort I put in. High grades surprised me in the subjects I had so little expectations in. Still, the system was not all bad, with the many late submissions I had, it made sure that I felt the proper consequences. My grades did not get out completely unscathed, as life made sure to put some 7s in there.
Now, even vacation does not stop me from being plagued by deadlines. As every week, I am supposed to write something about anything. There hasn’t been much trouble so far, but my flaws are not that easy to erase. I still vividly remember the adrenaline released the night before a deadline. As I rush though an activity that had slipped my mind, or intentionally left behind. It is a feeling like no other, and I hope it is something I will not be too comfortable with in the future.
Just as I had trouble meeting the school deadlines before, I was not without hiccups in writing my pieces for this space. I had learned the importance of an early start. And just how easily our minds can be overburdened as trouble and worries come to us each passing day. It really is a whole lot easier when there is no pressure lying on our backs the whole night. Though, the nervous nights before deadlines still occur every now and then. I had found my current deadline to pale in comparison to the many requirements before.
As we go through life, each day is never short on lessons we can learn from. Whether we have good days and everything seems to go our way, or when nothing just seems to go right for us, there are surely some things to learn from. We are creatures that never stop learning, even after we pass exams or receive certificates. I believe each day is more fulfilling when we end up learning something, major or insignificant it may seem, we have been given the ability to become better versions of ourselves than yesterday.**
