The Blessings that May Brings

By: Kayla Tejero

 

Hello, and Happy May. We are already halfway through this year! Oh, how fast the time flies. I am sure many of us are happy to feel the warm weather and to be able to enjoy it. More, I am sure that most of us are taking out our lawn mowers and preparing for the summer. Personally, I just wrapped up my first semester of Nursing school. I am now focusing on summer cleaning and working at my retail job. It will be so nice to have a break from school and to spend quality time with my friends and family. Reflecting on the pandemic, it is hard to believe that one year ago we were hit hard with the pandemic. I remember that the “stay at home” order was active where almost all businesses were closed except for essential businesses like grocery stores. The order meant that all of us had to stay home unless we had to go out. I am sure that most of us used this time to clean, spend time with our family, and find new hobbies, of course. With the amount of people getting vaccinated at this time and businesses slowly opening up, I feel like we are progressing more towards a sense of normalcy. Hopefully, we can reach a state where masks are no longer mandated and we can attend school normally. Let us hear from our four featured college students and what they hope to accomplish post-graduation. If you would like to be featured or know of someone who should be featured, please do not hesitate to email me at tejerokayla@gmail.com

JJ Rivera-Raguay says, “I am a Filipino-American college student in my second semester of my first year and an artist. While I’m in school, I want to learn everything I need to be a professional artist. After graduation, I will become that artist. By that time, I will have a performance degree in Music and Jazz Studies. By God’s will, I will be immersed into the music industry, taking on internships, and being blessed with an abundance of opportunities to make art for a living.”

Natalie Kassab says, “As a Filipino-American college student, I want to make my family proud and excel in my courses at Waubonsee. After graduating from Waubonsee, my goal is to transfer to a 4-year University and complete a bachelor’s degree. I hope to start my career somewhere that is not too far away from my family and to be successful in my career choice.”

Farah Calibugar says, “After I finish my general education classes at Harper, I hope to transfer to Loyola University. What I want to accomplish as a Filipino American college student is to earn a degree in education. I want to become a teacher and open up my own daycare one day. Also, I hope to keep and maintain the friendships with my two best friends and group of friends after graduation.”

Shaira Padilla says “As a Filipino American college student, there are multiple things that I would like to accomplish while in school and after graduation that puts focus on my success in becoming a future Doctor of Physical Therapy. As a Filipina, I value my culture as I would not be who I am today without it. With how society is playing out at the moment, I want to share my culture in my career and the relationships that I will be building throughout it. I hope one day that our world will be able to fully accept, cherish, and share all different cultures.”

JJ Rivera-Raguay, Sophomore
University of Illinois at Chicago
BM and Jazz Studies

Natalie Kassab, Sophomore
Waubonsee Community College – BS Diagnostic
Medical Sonography

Farah Calibugar, Senior
Harper College
BS Early Childhood
Education

Shaira Padilla, Senior
University of Illinois at Chicago
BS Kinesiology