Just came back from Fr. Dacanay’s whole day seminar/plenary on Marriage as part of our Theo131 requirement. He hosts one and requires all his students to attend every semester. And I’m pretty sure than one sem after another, there will always be raves and positive comments about it.

Coming into Ateneo my freshman year and getting a hold of my 4-year curriculum, I was initially quite surprised by all the CORE subjects I had to take. More importantly, 4 Theology subjects and 4 Philosophy subjects as required courses were something that I wasn’t looking forward to, especially since my CORE subjects usually screw up my QPI at the end. Of course, finally having taken up 1 of each and currently taking both has debunked all those negative notions and made me incredibly thankful that I’m part of an institution that attempts to mold us holistically. Corny as it may sound, Philo and Theo has allowed me to be more contemplative than usual. And I think that’s putting it lightly. haha. There is joy and satisfaction from being able to study things that I can apply every day as I live my college life. It is even more worthwhile and enjoyable that I am able to share all these experiences with my fellow schoolmates and blockmates. Besides, it is definitely refreshing to have MWFs devoted to these subjects as I am also taking up three very, very demanding and mentally-draining Polsci majors.

But more on my post-seminar thoughts… Here’s a lowdown on what happened for those who have no idea what I’m talking about: It was a whole-day affair with basically 4 major parts. First, the entire class (basically 2 Fr. Dacanay classes) was divided into 4 groups that was each assigned a couple. Second part was the very fun all-boys/all-girls session. Third part was a plenary for the entire class with all the couples. And lastly, the fourth part was the processing and group reporting.

It was so informative, interesting and candid that I find myself very much enjoying and wanting more time to hear the couples speak and share their insights and experiences. It’s not that I am in a hurry to settle and get married, because that’s honestly something I can’t even imagine in the near future. And I guess wanting a career in law doesn’t help either.

However, the experience provided me with a lot more insights on relationships. I get the chance to witness how the articles and lessons we read in Theo131 manifests itself through the stories and experiences of those couples. While they were sharing, I couldn’t help but assess the relationships I am part or surrounded with. It is wonderful to be able to look at the relationships of my friends and family using a different lens this time. There is newfound appreciation and understanding that I believe would serve me well. And even if I’m currently (and happily! haha) single, I couldn’t help but feel very involved and connected. I say that probably because I’m at this point when I am aiming to continue to be a lot more self-sufficient. Honestly, explaining that merits a whole new entry. haha.

Weeks come by hella fast. And I can’t help but look forward to the next weekend. It’s all so overwhelming sometimes that getting through the day is truly a blessing in itself. For the mean time, I’m going to drown myself with more school work.