It has been over 10 months since physical classes were called off. Quarantine restrictions have significantly impacted our lives, forcing us to halt many routines and habits that once made up our daily lives on campus.
However, one of the most incredible qualities of human beings is our ability to adapt to even the most challenging of situations. With this, the Ateneo de Manila University community has tried their best to adjust to the new challenges that arose as school life and services shifted online.
Hearing mass at the Church of the Gesù was an incomparable experience that is regarded as a highlight of Atenean life. However, due to the restrictions brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic, the daily mass is now often streamed through Ateneo’s official Facebook pages and Radyo Katipunan 87.9.
As of January 2021, the Office of the University Chaplain has announced that the Church of the Gesù will be resuming their spiritual activities and establishing new protocols in order to ensure the community’s safety. Reservation through filling up the Campus Access Request form is required as the seating capacity is limited
Despite the online setting, Orientation Seminar (OrSem) Tuloy still kept the Ateneo culture alive through scheduled OrSem sessions and asynchronous activities with the freshmen. The lack of OrSem’s iconic explosive energy did not stop the organizers and volunteers from giving the freshies the warmest welcomes possible.
Ateneo RecWeek normally calls for booths and signages, coupled with the bustling noise of energetic Ateneans. This year, Recruitment Week (RecWeek) 2020 was reinvented to cater to the online setting’s demands. In an effort to maintain RecWeek’s inviting atmosphere, the Council of Organizations of the Ateneo and League of Independent Organizations RecWeek websites served as the main hub for information and student organization signups, while events such as workshops were held through Facebook Live or Zoom.
The academic year’s larger events aside, routine activities like studying have undergone a major shift as well. Prior to the class suspension, students would meet up in various places in the campus to work on group projects together. Now, amid the need for increased isolation and physical distancing, students are left with no choice but to stay in their homes. This has pushed many people, who long to be in the presence of others, to adapt and resort to video or voice calls via Zoom, Google Meet, and Discord. Although the medium of communication has changed, the bonds and the relationships persist.
Org-life continues to adapt to the challenges brought about by the pandemic. As the campus remains inaccessible, student organizations have no choice but to carry out their projects and events online. Daily activities that once took place inside org rooms have now been completely replaced by virtual interactions.
Beyond academics and org work, student activists continue to fill the streets in hopes that their voices grow louder than ever. Due to the ongoing quarantine, protesters don face masks and face shields while maintaining social distancing as they hold their placards and chant. Compared to the previous years, there are more limitations and hesitancy towards arranging and attending these mobilizations. Despite this, the emotional sentiments and the passion of these protesters remain evident, as efforts to uphold our country’s democracy seem unwavering.
Personal well-being has become more important than ever as well, as we experience social isolation in the time of this pandemic. Despite the inability to offer on-site wellness programs and consultations, the Loyola Schools Office of Guidance and Counseling (LSOGC) continues to provide its services online through various programs that students can sign up for.
As of January 2021, the office has launched an LSOGC Wellness Toolkit program with three sub-programs that aim to help students “Build Personal Strengths, Befriend Emotions, and Care for Relationships.” Students who are interested had until February 10 to sign up for either a subprogram of their choice or all three.
As we continue to navigate through these trying times while adjusting to drastic changes, remembering life before quarantine brings with it a sense of comfort. However, we still need to accept the realities at present. Reflecting on our successes and failures, our highs and lows, and our wins and losses of the last year may provide us with meaningful insights that can help us do better as individuals and as a community stepping into 2021.
While the campus remains nearly empty and inaccessible, the Ateneo community has been able to persevere through this prolonged quarantine and time spent apart. How these activities could be carried out online was hardly imaginable during the first few months of the pandemic, yet as the months passed, we found ourselves reinventing the different facets of the Atenean life.
