Last year I was tapped by the student government president of my alma matter in High School to give an inspirational message as part of the school's anniversary. The theme is “Opalescent Hope: Embracing the new normal, Building Resilience, Sustaining Excellence”
Sharing this here -
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Today is a very special day for all of us who is and has been part of this institution, so I want to extend my warmest greetings to all of you. Happy Anniversary, AlSci! It’s been 24 years since our school was founded; 24 years of producing some of the brightest minds in the country. In all these years, we have been recognized numerous times, not just in our region nor in the country alone, but also in the world! That’s a feat that not everyone can attain so you must be proud that you are all part of this history. We have been excellent ever since the beginning, and we will continue to be.
But you must be wondering right now, how do you continue to be excellent when the world is devastated by a pandemic? When you can’t even go to school and learn face-to-face, you can’t conduct your experiments in the lab, or you can’t immediately ask your teacher for a consultation on what went wrong with your research or your project?
Firstly, you must stay healthy. Not just physically, but most importantly mentally & spiritually healthy. In these trying times, the most important thing we should be doing is protecting ourselves, not just from the virus, but also from anxiety, from stress, from breakdowns. You may have heard a lot of people say “It’s okay not to be okay. We’re in the middle of the pandemic, no one is expecting you to be extra” and yep, that’s the simple truth. Eat healthy, get enough sleep, exercise, consume news moderately, talk to your family or friends about how you’re feeling, and of course, pray, it helps a lot to ease your anxiety.