By Hermes Joy Tunac
If today is just another typical weekday, I would have woken up at around seven in the morning, meditated for a good 10 to 15 minutes, depending on how much I feel I’d be needing to fuel the rest of my day, before getting up to prepare for work. After an hour and a cup of iced coffee later, I’d be most likely sitting behind my desk in our Makati office working on a story. But today is no typical day.
My last day with a seeming semblance of normalcy happened a little over a month ago before all this series of mind-numbing events unfolded—enhanced community quarantine or ECQ, curfew hours, social distancing, lesser trips to the grocery and suspended public transportation. In short, before the whole world came to terms with the coronavirus pandemic. Since then, the Philippines, like most of the rest of the world, has been under a state of calamity since March 17, mandating majority of its citizens, except those whose jobs are considered essential, to work from home or to stop working altogether to contain COVID-19’s spread. Again, the new normal, at least, for another couple of weeks or so.
As news becomes harder and harder to grasp each day, with COVID-19 cases in the country, including the number of deaths, continuing to rise, so do the aspirations and immediate as well as long-term plans of many young people today. As the crisis continues to deepen, not a few are starting to wonder when will we see an end to all this. Will this be what our typical day would be like from hereon?
As a journalist, my job is to go out there, meet people from different fields and walks of life, and tell their stories. Of course, it’s imperative for us to put everyone’s safety first, including our own. This we’ve done and continue to do by interviewing people remotely and telling their stories from home. Still, it breaks my heart not to be able to give it my all. You can only do so much, after all, from home with only the Internet and social media as your main sources of ideas and access. Nevertheless, I still feel grateful to be able to make a difference without putting anyone, including myself, in harm’s way.
During this time of crisis, Millennials, or those who were born between 1981 to 1996, also struggle in varying degrees within their respective fields. As what we’ve discovered through these respondents, they share almost the same sentiments—everything right now is on hold. Certainty is almost an alien state that’s nowhere to be found.
Get to know some of the go-getters of this outspoken generation and how the pandemic has affected their plans and derailed their goals for the first quarter of the new decade (if not the rest of their lives).
Gab Mejia is a 23-year-old nature conservation photographer and a National Geographic explorer.
These trying times have taken its toll on my career as a freelance photographer, with many plans and dreams being put aside for the time being. Different local and international projects supposedly happening in April have all been postponed later in the year. And without ongoing projects to work on, it also means a scarcity of work in the coming months. The looming uncertainty of yet another quarantine extension means there’s no way to guarantee continuity.
There was so much in store for me in the first quarter of this new decade, with many goals, from holding a photo exhibit to climbing new mountains. Alas, all of them have to wait a while longer. And for a career like mine that’s built on one’s drive and personal momentum, it’s truly challenging to redirect one’s energy and motivation if there is no work to focus on. – Gab
Beatrice Alyssandra Lat Luceno is a 24-year-old licensed physician in the Philippines.
I had a whole life and training residency planned out for this year already. I was supposed to take an additional licensure exam and take further steps to develop my starting career as a young MD. With our current situation, everything is on hold, medicine training-wise, as we focus more of our efforts into COVID-19 relief.
A lot of my plans have been delayed, and I’ve been forced to re-evaluate my priorities. It’s hard, as I’ve always been a planner, so I had the whole year mapped out in a timeline. Because of the virus, I’ve missed out on some of my goal points. – Alyssandra
Inna Francesca Gomez is a 24-year-old geologist and geological engineer.
I was about to close a job offer, then suddenly, this pandemic erupted, and the government mandated an ECQ. So, until now, that dream job stays on hold, and there’s no certainty towards it.
After studying for six years to finish my degrees, a year for my internship at United Nations Development Program and board exam review, I was excited to grow my career finally. But because of this crisis, my goals for the first quarter were put off. However, instead of stopping, with a privilege to stay at home and online courses available, I find it more reasonable to create new goals like getting certified for data science. — Inna
Rowielin Etheneille Santos is a 23-year-old Tourism graduate who’s now working as a consultant in a travel agency in Doha, Qatar.
As someone working in the travel industry in Doha, the pandemic has really affected my work in terms of sales of travel packages. Of course, with the recent happenings, people are not in the right headspace to think about traveling for leisure right now.
Some of my clients are actually asking for refunds due to panic that the COVID-19 will not go away soon enough, but it’s understandable. During times like this, we have to be understanding as we are all dealing and fighting with the same enemy that is the coronavirus. — Row
JP Talapian is a 24-year-old freelance photographer who has worked with multiple magazine titles in the Philippines.
During the first month of 2020, I’ve decided to leave my job for two years. Hoping for a fresh start, I was really excited to go back working freelance, have my own time working on producing my own shoots, and doing personal projects. More than that, one of my biggest goals for this year is to start my own business, which I already started planning out with a partner. Unfortunately, these plans have been pushed back due to the COVID-19 pandemic. As a freelancer, I’ve begun to miss out on a lot of job opportunities. Delays in getting a paycheck is also challenging since I also have a team who depends on me for their living. — JP
Despite all the uncertainties and disruptions unfolding within our midst, this set of Millennials remain surprisingly positive, well-informed and hopeful that this, too, shall pass. Eventually, we’ll all go back, sooner rather than later, to what used to be our normal lives, but with a better appreciation of life.
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