By Jan Vicente B. Pekas
Going to college is a great way to meet all sorts of people. You get to meet some “strange” and “weird” students. For someone who only went to small schools filled with mostly Igorots, heading to university for the first time was overwhelming. Anyone who did not come from the same mountain range as me, I considered strange.
A few years down the line and I now find myself enjoying their company and even being influenced by them.
Walking in the hallways is exciting enough. You get to see different colors people put on their hair, the diverse fashion sense of students, and even piercings in places you rarely see them on. If I saw all these a few years ago, as a youth before going to college, I’d probably find myself staring at them for too long.
As a kid, I learned from those around me that piercings were only for women and only for the ears, hair color should only be black, and wear only what is necessary without thinking much of the overall look. University experience, from the start, had always been contradicting with what I had learned. I then had to relearn.
In school, I recently worked with someone who looked like the polar opposite of what I was taught a girl should look like. Her hair color was not black, she had piercings on different places, and it was clear she did not wear whatever she found in her closet and actually put some effort in it. I and many others who grew up here learned that good people had to look a certain way, they looked clean and proper, unlikely to have piercings, no tattoos and wore proper clothes.
Instead, She spoke in a soft tone and her kindness was even more delicate. She was respectful of everyone and made sure no one felt left out. Anyone who worked with her would agree she is a good person. What she looked like did not matter. There was only the truth, that she is a kind person.
Piercings on a person does not automatically make him suspicious. And his hair color does not have a say in whether he is a bad person.
Only the actions of a person should give him the treatment he deserves. Looks only deceive us, we must always try to pursue the truth instead. Which is why the 25th day of this month is not just any other work day. Though others may try to cover it up to be one, it is a special day to all Filipinos. The truth is all that matters, and the 25th is a day not to be treated lightly. Whatever something or someone was made to look like, the truth will outlast the lies and their real character will naturally show. Hence we can’t judge others, for judging others is judging too quickly and we end up letting the truth pass by. **
