Time and growth

By Joshua Corcuera

As I near my birthday, I felt that time went by quickly—probably because of the pandemic and the need to stay at home for most of the time.

The past two and a half years, to me, were plain and simple. Wake up, study, eat, play, sleep, wake up, study, eat, play, sleep, and repeat. This pattern turned out to be my daily routine for the most part during the pandemic. I cannot wait to welcome 2023 and be able to return to my university. Although I have returned to school occasionally these past few weeks, these visits are irregular and only for certain matters such as consultation with professors.

Speaking of which, the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) was reported by news outlets that, in the following semester, universities and colleges can no longer provide full online teaching setup. This means that higher educational institutions (HEIs) can either choose a full onsite teaching setup or a hybrid setup. This should not come as a surprise as we already saw and survived the worst of the pandemic and, as a result thereof, move on to a post-pandemic world.

“CHED said HEIs may choose to design and deliver their degree programs through onsite learning or hybrid learning modality starting the second semester of school year 2022-2023,” a news report from The Philippine Star said last Wednesday.

Moving back to my daily routine since the start of the pandemic, I realized that time went by quickly. It’s as if I blinked and suddenly saw that my birthday, Christmas, and 2023, are near and fast approaching. To be candid, I felt that I missed a lot of memorable experiences in college as online classes consumed roughly five semesters of my stay in university. Furthermore, I realized that time is crucial, it is something that must be spent wisely especially because it won’t be recovered. Likewise, it is important to be productive, to do meaningful things, to spend time with other people, to allocate a few hours for studying, and to get enough hours of sleep. By managing time wisely, growth can be realized sooner rather than later. We can spend our time doing great things which could render great outcomes for our personal growth in any aspect—mentally, academically, physically, spiritually.

Conversely speaking, what if someone did nothing in his or her spare time? Instead of being productive, what if someone wasted his or her time doing trivial things—matters of little to no significance? It would reasonably follow that there would be little to no growth because time was spent unwisely. After all, what would you expect to happen if all you have done from sunrise until bedtime is to play or sleep?

As I near my birthday, I realized that I won’t be able to recover my youth; as I grow older, I should spend more time with the things that genuinely matter—learning constantly, socializing with family and friends, gaining experiences crucial for holistic growth, staying physically active and healthy, doing noble acts to other people, and aspiring to always be a good person.