Proposed Solutions
​ 
    First, be intentional and proactive about spending time with your friends. Recently, Discord has been rising in popularity. It is a virtual hangout place where servers (think of it as group chats!) can be created. Under the servers, several channels can be made. These can be renamed and categorized into certain topics like rules, introductions, gaming, etc. You have the option to either make it into an audio/video conference or chat channel. Through this, it’s possible to set up bonding activities using Discord like studying together, playing together, watching a movie, and listening to music. This makes it easier to bond with friends who have similar interests. There is also the option to customize emojis, and some groups of friends have been making themselves memes or reaction pictures to liven up the chat.

    Here’s another tip: if you and your friends are gamers, then this is a good space to play and talk about strategies. After all, it’s really easy to talk with your friends here through voice channels. There are also games that welcome and recognize Discord, so the process of actually talking with your friends is much smoother and easier. People have also been playing multiplayer games to bond with each other. Some examples include Valorant, Call of Duty Mobile, Mobile Legends, Genshin Impact, etc.​

About the Author:
Ivy Manio is a graduating psychology major from the Ateneo de Manila University. She aspires to be a psychologist and advocates for mental health education.

In Touch Intern

​16...17...18…
Adolescence, the time to be young, the time to make mistakes, the time to go out there are to discover yourself.

20… Young adulthood, the time to find someone, the time to build a relationship, the time to give and receive romantic love.

The times as theorized by Erik Erikson (1950) stood corrected by the pandemic. At 20(20), the time stopped. Time was forced to stray off its natural course and therefore steer us from the direction we have been accustomed to. The time we are all in now is different.

​And the challenge is to be at par with this “new” time. Our daily challenge is to live as normally as possible, to do business as usual, to follow the routines we built. But, my problem with it is that it is difficult to pretend that everything is the same when everything is actually the complete opposite. 

In this present time, I am living the life antithetical to my optimal and absolute self. My mind stays in the city, but my body does not. I have grown to love the hustle and bustle of the city life: noisy and crowded streets, beautiful city lights, and the nightlife, but I had to go back to my hometown and settle in the quietness and stillness of life in the province. My heart beats for the outdoors; walking around and seeing malls and skyscrapers, sunlight hitting my cheeks, and doing activities that make my blood rush through my veins, but unfortunately, my immune system does not align with what I want to do since COVID is the one lurking around.

​With this mismatch, I raise the question:

How can I then live normally? How can I take back the time that was taken from me?
​ ​

​
How can I take back my youth?

The short answer is to.

TO.
/to͞o,tə/
infinitive marker
1. used with the base form of a verb to indicate that the verb is in the infinitive
2. used without a verb following when the missing verb is clearly understood.

The long answer is to create your own youth. 

Consider yourself. Your likes, your passions, your happiness, your goals. 
Realize your potential. Try new things and discover new skills and abilities.
Envision the thing/s you want to create.
Acknowledge and accept reality. This is what is happening in your life right now, and this is what you will do about it.
Take a breath. There is the constant inclination to be productive, but you have to keep in mind that resting and taking a break is also productive.
Enjoy. Afterall, to create being able to be your true self.

As for me, I best translate this built up energy for the world outside my home through art and writing. I create through journaling. 
​

​
​Each one of us has the capacity to create anything we want and the beauty of this is that you can never go wrong with creating. Nothing you create has ever existed and so, the rightness or wrongness of what you created cannot be determined. 

As the saying goes: Do whatever it is that you want as long as you are not hurting anybody and you are not doing it for the detriment of another person. This applies in creating as well. While creating is all about doing the things you want to do and making yourself feel in control in uncertain times such as this, there can still be the question of motivation. 

How do I get out of a downward spiral?

As you already know, the short answer is "to". 

The long answer for this is still to create. You just have to create a spiral that only goes up.  

Everyday is always a new swirl in your spiral. Each revolution around this spiral holds a lot of opportunities, chances, and possibilities to create. Creation does not always have to be something grand: you can create a new cup of coffee everyday, surely the water level is different or the amount of beans you put varies each day. You can simply create imagery in your head, create a vision of the future where we can all safely go outside, imagine the time going back in our favor. 

Until then, continue to.

About the Author:

Diandra Rengel is currently a 4th year BS Psychology student in Ateneo de Manila University.
​She aspires to serve in the medical field and become a practitioner that emphasizes on the importance of psychological and mental health in both prevention and cure of physiological diseases. With the motto, “It is what it is,” she always tries to make the most out of the present and be both thankful and understanding of the things that are happening around her. She believes that it is important to stay grounded and to continue to have hope.
​

Sources:
Erikson, E. (1950). Childhood and society. W. W. Norton & Company.
To. (n.d.). Oxford Languages. https://languages.oup.com/google-dictionary-en/.

Written by: Jonas Calimlim

Written and Researched by: Jonas Calimlim

A year into the COVID-19 Pandemic...and still counting.

    The pandemic has taken a toll on the lives of many people across the globe. Gone (at least for now) are the days where we could safely leave our homes, gather with friends and simply live life to the fullest without worrying about contracting the virus. Now, most of us are in our own “bubbles'', trying to make do with the situation we’re in right now. Most people have resorted to trying out new hobbies, like cooking more often or discovering the wonders of being a plantito/plantita, while others have resorted to picking up old hobbies. There are also people, especially the youth & adolescents, who turn to a place for ultimate comfort and excitement; somewhere that isn’t an actual place in our society to begin with: Video Games.​