Khier Cohina, 22, graduating student
CEBU CITY, Philippines — Khier Cohina, a member of the graduating class of 2022, breathed a sigh of relief when he heard the news that graduation rites this year could be done face-to-face.
After all, it has been two years that graduating students had to attend rites virtually due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“It was really satisfying to hear the news about face-to-face graduation because for the last two years, graduations were held online only. It’s a bit frustrating if our graduation will be done online,” explained Cohina, a 22-year-old student of the Cebu Normal University.
Cohina, a resident of Barangay Lusaran, a mountain area in Cebu City, is currently taking a degree in Bachelor of Arts in Communication major in Broadcast Journalism. Attending online classes for the past two years was just among the challenges he went through.
Having the possibility of marching on stage in person means a lot to him as he remembers the tough days during the height of the pandemic and the onslaught of Odette, how he was able to survive those trials. He said attending a physical graduation would make every challenge worth it.
“So when graduation is done online, lahi ra jud siya sa feeling, labi na if like me nga wala’y ika afford to have celebration or what nga ma feel nimo nga ning graduate ka,” Cohina said.
“Graduating online for me is like watching a movie. You’ll just be excited for that short period of time when someone calls your name, but after that, wala na. Though I haven’t experienced this, but it might be the same,” he added.
As he is also about to explore the real world outside school, Cohina said that the past two years they spent online taught him to be resilient and resourceful. For example, he learned to find ways to deal with his problems with internet connectivity. He also learned to accept and understand certain situations.
“Good thing nga nagpuyo ko sa bukid, so every time mahuman akong exams or tiresome ang classes, mag camping mi sa bungtod kauban akong mga cousins,” he said.
Cohina is part of the first batch of students of the K-12 curriculum. He also hopes they will be the first batch to experience in-person graduation rites again after two years.
“Dili siya nindot if online ra mo graduate. Mura ra’g wala nigraduate. Hopefully, we can have face-to-face graduation gyud,” he said.
/bmjo
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