How I Hate Breaks and How I Love Them When They are Well Spent

I am not a fan of breaks – by breaks, I mean, semestral breaks, holiday breaks, and summer breaks. For one, breaks would mean having to bear with moments of not doing anything. Of course it would sound so boring for people who get to spend breaks abroad or vacation all over different islands in the Philippines. However, I belong to those people who do not really have sufficient funds to book flights, the moment they hear from the news, a long weekend or a holiday. In fact, not being a fan of vacation, the bottom line of all my goals back in college is this: I do not want to bum around. I would do anything for the sake of not bumming around. Fortunately, I had a job waiting even before graduation day.

I usually spend my breaks at home. I love spending time with my family but I do not really enjoy a month of break, without doing anything productive. One month is simply too long. Back in college, my semestral breaks and summer breaks were jampacked with seminars and other extracurricular activities. I made it a point to look for something to do during the break, at least a month before the break starts. It was insane I felt a bit paranoid with the thought of staring at the wall, thinking what to do next after several hours of not doing anything.

Things turned a bit different in law school. I would crave for breaks in the middle of the day, in the middle of a week, in the middle of everything. However, law school did not really turn me into a break-lover. Amazingly, I often get bored the first day I have my real freedom from a tough semester– i.e. after the last final exam. I would crave for actions, which does not necessarily mean that my hands were itching to hold highlighters back to my hand and read law school books. I realized things did not totally change. I am still the person who loathes breaks.

True to my usual self, a month before last semester ends, I applied for an internship program in the Ateneo Human Rights Center. I really wanted to get in for four reasons:

1.       I really wanted to be part of it because of the programs and advocacy.
2.       This is the closest thing to my college organization, in terms of vision-mission.
3.       I wanted to meet new friends.
4.       Last but not the least, I did not want to bum around.

The fourth one of wanting to do something productive without bumming around was almost 100% true. When I got in to the internship program and started with the activities related to it, I noticed that there were activities after activities. I found it fun although tiring. We had breaks, yes, which ranged from 2 to 10 minutes. At the very least, my criterion of not bumming around was satisfied.

But more to that, I also had my three other goals fulfilled. I would not discuss my numbers 1 and 2 here as they would be better part of another piece.

Number 3 says I wanted to meet new friends. AND I DID. My batch (we named it BULAN; which means moon) is composed of 9 of the most awesome people I have ever met in law school. I love meeting people who share the same passion as I do. I also met friends from upper batch. They were our facilitators. It feels inspiring enough to see how one person works hard for his success but it feels even more inspiring to see these facilitators work their best for the benefit of our batch. I could not have been more thankful. I saw the passion in the lawyers who were with us - the passion to serve and the genuine happiness shown by their actions. It was overwhelming. No wonder, people from the AHRC call the internship/immersion program as “kakaibang bakasyon.” This immersion experience made me learn that breaks can be loved and looked forward to.

Thanks Pau! You are an awesome friend!

Thanks Kiichi, my immersion partner! I will forever love you and I am always here for you, whatever!!!

Thank you to every person who were there with me and touched my heart. I just found a new inspiration to really do my best to make it until... (insert any desired telos here) =))

All pictures are (c) Jason Hernandez :) 

PS: More awesome and inspiring stories to come This one is poorly written but I felt it a sin not to post a single thing after what, 3 days? :))  <3 J