A Message For All Students

If I were to frame all I want to say in an unforgiving page just before the relentless press time, what will I say to all students out there? Suddenly, my life and my world flashed before my eyes, so to speak. Much of what I feel is embedded in my life through work with disadvantaged communities & these embodied experiences inspire my university work.  

The first thing that stands out is the great divisions of all kinds: between the rich and poor, between the educated and uneducated, between genders or women and men, between the religious hierarchy and the church over a reproductive health measure, between the majority cultural group and the minority group, between politicians who are supposed to be public servants and their constituencies, etc, etc. Understanding our world or community and contributing our bit towards making this world a better place should be one task and promise of education.

Making this world a better place is not the monopoly of one discipline but the one discipline I know that makes us understand ourselves and the world are the social sciences. All the advances in science and technology have not made this world a better place. The vast mass of humanity is just going through all the motions and is not too bothered about the problems of the world. The university itself is a microcosm of the big society. Education, per se, reinforces the social class divisions in our society. So, how do we teach citizenship and love of country or community?       
                    
From the social sciences, we are exhorted that our history classes should have a theory of society and that our theory of society must have a sense of history. Looking back in my basic education I do not remember that a discussion of why there is so much social inequality was ever emphasized. Thus, the conclusion that I can make now is that indeed our education has reinforced the status quo much like the theory of equilibrium that society maintains itself through social inequality.  

So, in going to the classroom later, the task I have in mind is to inspire my students (who are so trapped in the age of information technology without purpose) that they have a big role to play in improving our society in their lifetime. The challenge is to convince them that there is a connection between their personal life and the texture and context of the kind of society that we are in by providing them with the glaring evidence of so much social inequality.  

I remember one student who seemed so blasé about the kind of poverty that we are in. I asked her if she has access to the books in my required reading list or if she can afford to buy the recommended textbook. Only then did she realize that she is in want.

That they do not have to look far to see this social inequality: across in malls we find sales ladies standing eight hours for just a couple of hundred of pesos or so, a few blocks from the university are thousands of urban poor making homes in coastal areas designated as parks and who are at the mercy of strong monsoon waves and storm surges that visit us with clockwork regularity, watch your car boys across the street who should be in school and one of these boys snatched my daughter’s cell phone when she was not looking, farmers who could use more income to keep body & soul together, etc, etc. Our incomes should be enough for all so that we can make both ends meet and enjoy a little bit of fine culture such as music and theater and books galore.  

I am glad that I work for a university whose mission is to be a person for others. I am glad that my university has social involvement coordinating programs for communities which can also mentor a successor generation of leaders whose social awareness and skills will make them work for the social and economic well being of our communities. This and the excitement of meeting new students warm my heart and fill me with much hope for the future.