This piece was my entry to the 49th National Rizal Essay-Writing Contest held last December 11, 2011 at Teacher’s Camp, Baguio City. I got lucky and won first runner-up (Both the champion and the 2nd runner-up were from Visayas). To God be the glory!
My Response to Rizal’s Challenge: “What Will I Do?”
Dr. Jose P. Rizal and all the other heroes who fought for our motherland posed a noble challenge to us, the youth – to be the hope of the nation. At a time of social, political, and economic turmoil, it is best to respond to this great task by making a stand and doing what needs to be done. I accept this challenge with pride and confidence by accomplishing three important things: embrace courage and rationality, eliminate the social cancers within my reach, and encourage others to follow my lead.
I believe that nothing good is ever done without having courage as its main ingredient, and for this reason, I put courage on top of my to-do list. One may be excellent and have the resources to carry out a given mission, but he/she won’t be successful unless he/she overcome his/her fears and reservations. But being just plain courageous is not enough, as it may result to recklessness if not moderated. In order to beat the odds, I also need to embrace rationality – the ability to act correctly with a sound basis. With the synergy of these two salient traits, I would prevail over the initial barrier of my undertaking.
The next step involves the fighting of social cancers that plague our society and slow our progress as a nation. Being indifferent to these things – corruption, crab mentality, crime – only serves to empower their perpetrators. I would use my skills and formal education to put an end to all the problems that I can solve. Of course, it cannot start with a task as cumbersome as totally eradicating corruption in the country; rather, it can be initiated by doing simple things that are within the call of daily life. For instance, if I saw a vendor overpricing a child customer, I would muster the courage to confront the vendor and defend the customer. If I witnessed an act of cheating, I would be rational enough to report the incident to the instructor. These may be just little things, but they are not negligible; they would surely amount to a great thing when summed up together.
Finally, I would recruit others and encourage them to respond to Rizal’s challenge, too. Nation building, as we all know, is not a one-man job. To be successful in bringing change, I need the help of others – their expertise, skills, knowledge, and, above all, willingness to serve. If just everyone would inspire another one to take action, the amount of power that we can utilize would be tremendous – infinite, actually.
As a teenager, I know that I still have many roads to cross, dreams to fulfill, and goals to accomplish. Sometimes, I may even be completely absorbed in my own crises. But that doesn’t mean that I would forget my sublime duty as a youth which is to be the light amidst the darkness enveloping the nation. By doing these three important things, I can confidently face Rizal and all the other heroes who sacrificed their lives in battle and tell them that their efforts were not wasted in vain; that we, the youth, are starting the positive change the Philippines urgently needs.
My composition was also published in People’s Journal Tonight under Bro. Sorita’s column today:
Published Essay in People's Journal Tonight
Merry Christmas in advance! 
