Gabrielle Albertha C. Burgos March 12, 2013

PI 10 A-2R

A2R-04

Changing the course of your own history

I believe that people are born different: that each and every person has a unique

characteristic that makes him or her different from the rest. Dr. Jose Rizal believes so too. This is

why he said “The youth is the hope of the future”1. When I was a kid, I did not put much

attention on this statement. I thought that this was just a jargon to inspire children or just to say

that it was an act of nationalism. Of course, today, I thought differently.

As I read through Rizal’s writing, some of the things he said hit me.

Who to blame on our misfortunes?

One of the things I learned from Dr. Jose Rizal is that our misfortune is not only because

of the people who instill bad things to us, but also because of our own. In my POSC 1 subject,

one theoretical perspective was Bossism. John Sidel (1999) describes Bossism as acquisition of

the three G’s: Guns, goons and golds. The so called “Bosses” makes use of these 3 G’s to acquire

power and instill fear from the people. Maybe we are thinking that the citizens are innocent and

they have no fault. They can easily blame the Bosses but, Dr. Jose Rizal mentioned that the

Filipinos themselves are to blame from their misfortunes because one of the reason is that they

lack the initiative to excel or in this case, they lack the initiative to stand up and fight for their

rights.2 Jose Rizal wants the Filipinos to stand up and fight for their rights. If they let other

people to step on their pride, they too are guilty.

How to become a hero.

1 Quoted from Jose Rizal’s poem, To the Filipino youth2 The indolence of the Filipinos

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As we all know, Dr., Jose Rizal is the Philippine National Hero. He became a hero

because he stood up for what is right and fought for the independence of the Filipinos from the

rule of the Spaniards. In the text “Great individuals as agents of change” by Piotr Sztompka,

becoming a hero has many different ways. Some are born to be heroes and some people become

a hero by doing great things. Just as what have been mentioned, we Filipinos should have the

initiative to stand up and fight. To reason out and let our voices be heard. In this way, we too can

become heroes. Noynoy Aquino, one of our heroes, illustrated how to become a hero. Although

he came from a known family heritage, he did far greater things for him to be recognized.

Looking back at our history, we all know that Aquino was once exiled in America and was

warned not to go back to the Philippines. Knowing this, it did not stop Aquino to go back to his

mother land. Why did he do it? The answer is simple. He knew that the present administration is

not right and that the Martial Law should be stopped. He let his voice be heard this inspired

many people to protest. Benigno Aquino became the spark to start the fire.

Learning from Jose Rizal’s life

Jose Rizal has made great contribution to the country. His works were given recognition,

not only in the country but also in other parts of the world. His works have been an inspiration

and a mind-opener for most people. The writings he has made truly made its way in history,

furthermore, his life also became an inspiration. Knowing the life of Jose Rizal made me learn to

never give up.

A friend of mine once told me “Never let the things I can’t do interfere with the things I

can do”3. Often times I get discouraged. There is times that whenever I feel depressed or

irritated, my whole day would not be productive. Then these words hit me. It may be true that

you feel sad and irritated but this must not be a reason for you to not do your best in everything.

3 Kevin Magcalas

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When Rizal’s family was involved in the Calamba Hacienda case, where his family was thrown

out and was forced to re-locate, this for sure made Rizal mad. For other people, experiencing this

kind of treatment would make him/her get disoriented. In the case of Jose Rizal, he did not let his

madness against the Dominican friars interfere with his writing; nevertheless, he used his

madness and drifted into writing.

In my field of study, being an agriculturist majoring in swine production, giving up is a

big NO. Swine are very sensitive creatures. They are prone to diseases which are highly

contagious.4 Engaging in this kind of business, one should be extra careful. If in case that I

should fail, I should never give up. If I give up, I lose the chance of improving. Mistakes are

allowable since people learn from their mistakes.

Bibiliography

Agbisit, E. (2012). Animal Science 111 Lecture Notes. Institute of Animal Science, University of

the Philippines, Los Baños Laguna, Philippines.

Sidel, J. (1999). Capital, Coercion and Crime: Bossism in the Philippines.

Sztompka, P. Great individuals as agents of change.The Sociology of Social Change. Blackwell:

Oxford UK & Cambridge USA

4 Agbisit,2012

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