Outreach Activity: Seniors for Seniors

During the tricycle ride towards our host school, Naga City Science High School, I once again experienced that moment when I'd pick my phone out of my pocket to check the time, put it back in my pocket, then pick it out for a second time to check the time again because during the first try I wasn't paying attention.

This usually happens when I'm in the state of over thinking stuff either because I've got a lot of tasks planned out for the day or because some kind of big event is gonna happen and I just wanna check if I'm gonna be late for it or not.

Weeks before the event I felt my share of, somehow, being a beneficiary of some kind of outreach as well. However it wasn't in the form of what we gave the NCSHS students.

SUPPORT /səˈpôrt/
1. (verb) Bear all or part of the weight of; hold up.
2.(noun) A thing that bears the weight of something or keeps it upright

With the way I allocate the time I have for a day - being at rest for the most part in the hope of recovering fully before February, It has become a routine to spend most of the hours away for my laptop as possible. This means that during weekdays, I usually would be at the common hall of our school, just sitting by the comfy corner of the hall populated by IT students due to the presence of electrical socket they need to use their laptops with.

This situation paved the way for me to be engaged in a genuine conversation with a friend, something, that I haven't had the chance or choice to do because for the past years, all I've been busy about was getting through college, and all I'm interacting with is my laptop, its battery issues, and the rust forming in the metal parts of its keyboard.

I can never deny that what sparks up conversations between guys are the ladies and any topic lady related. Commonly what happens is it starts with a joke as triggered by say a college girl that passes by, "Man, Check out those curves!!". The conversation dwells on that for a minute or two. We laugh and let the humor consume us. Then somebody would always deliver a reflective remark of some sort, "Those curves aren't gonna make me dinner". Then the dialogue becomes deep and guys reveal a different persona. Oftentimes when I witness this happen, either to myself or to the one I'm talking to, I feel unbound and humbled at the same time. It's quite amazing.

The conversation centered on getting support from the right people; and by 'right' we meant, from the people we want it to come from. With both of us being sentimentally faithful when it comes to relationships in general, It's wasn't difficult to agree on how wise it is to be exclusive as to the choosing of people we wanted to matter in our lives. That being agreed upon, it comes as a natural phenomenon for both of us, to expect some kind of support/thoughtful act/care from the people we chose to be part of our exclusive circle. However, getting support/thoughtful acts/care from the people we wanted it to come from does not always happen, and the possibility of it happening cannot be controlled. Worse is the reality that explicitly telling someone how he/she must care for you, in a way, diminishes the genuineness of the act especially when it is already during a time when you're in a hell hole. But then again, being two dudes who aren't served the dinner we most likely expected, we do what every single guy does as speculated in the unwritten code of conduct for the gentlemen, and that is to grow some balls and smile saying, "I got this". Of course with a guiding principle being a line taken from the internet - 'I thank everyone who didn't help me at that time. Because of you i learned to do it myself'.

The silence that took over after we reached the peak of our dialogue became a time for me to re-evaluate who among the persons I come in contact with, treasure the support when it comes from me. During that day I marinated in that thought. Part of me was saying I shouldn't rob them of the opportunity to grow, but I came to that conclusion wrongly since I mis-defined "giving support" from "facing their problems for them". Facing their problems for them is not a good idea. Both the person giving the help and the person being helped lose. Giving support however, does this amazing thing of invigorating the one being given support and making the giver of the support feel some kind of fulfillment because of what they just did. Both ends win, and that's amazing.

The conversation I just had with this friend;It was in a way a form of support. Though it surprised me that it came from somebody who I didn't know could provide me with such. He did not face the problem for me. He just signaled that his presence was there and that he takes part in my experiences too.

I'm in this tricycle ride towards the host school, together with my team mates; Humming the tune of Cristina Grimmie's rendition of, 'O, Holy Night'. It was then that I realized even though I may not be in the repertoire of people who these high school seniors want the support to come from, I still could give the effort of making my support matter. That is what I think would make the outreach activity special.

And I'm thankful that each member of the team I'm in is doing the same. I loved how there came a point sometime during the afternoon sessions when I observed that the feel of the whole program shifted from, "We are doing this because it's a requirement" to "I'm loving this, and we want to be here". It's not anymore visitors talking to kids who will graduate. It's about college seniors giving support to high school seniors; It's about people who wanna share in each others experiences; It's about giving them metaphorical hugs saying, "don't worry, you got this"; It's about us, giving a part of our present selves to our younger versions.

It's funny and awesome that when you give support, you gain some.

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