This is the story behind #HugAPsychMajorDay, a day for those who braved and took the challenge of the board exam. A day for those who passed and those who failed. A day when we celebrate all psych majors. A day when we celebrate our love for Psychology.

“’Pag sinabi mong ‘eto na ako eh, tanggapin nyo ako’ isa lang ang ibig sabihin no’n: patay ka na. Kasi lahat tayo, we evolve, we change, we have a history at patay lang ang pwedeng magsabi na eto na ako.”

You will have to deal with people you don’t like. You would have to understand everyone, even when you come to the point that understanding is the hardest thing to do. At one point you will realize that when someone does something that hurts you, you stop asking for apologies and you seek answers to understand why they did hurt you. And sometimes, that, too, hurts. Just keep understanding.

I am not forcing you to stay in this field. I am not even asking to to stay. I am simply asking that you find your reason to stay. If you don’t find it, then I can only ask you to go for your dreams and do whatever makes you happy. But if you do choose to stay, please love it. Please love what you do. Please love psychology. Do not give up even when it seems to be hard. Fight, even when it seems there is nothing left to fight for.

It is an honor for a teacher when his students are proud of him, but the greatest honor for a teacher is when his students make him proud.

You are loved. Always. You are loved. Kung kailangan kong ulit-ulitin yang kataga na yan ay gagawin ko hanggang sa makumbinsi kitang marami ang tunay na nagmamahal sayo.

Patawarin mo ako na minahal kita.
Na naghintay ako’t nagtiyaga.
Patawarin mo ako na hindi ako napagod sa kakaintindi, kakahintay, kakatiyaga.
Ang alam ko kasi kung mahal mo, gagawin mo ang lahat.

And here I am going through every single detail of all that had transpired between the two of us. I look back and instead of finding answers, I get more questions.

Salamat sa’yo dahil binaliktad mo ang buhay ko. Pinaalala mo sa’kin paano ngumiti at tumawa. Pinaalala mo sa’kin kung paano mabuhay. Kaya sana huwag kang tumigil. Sana huwag mong hayaang masira muli ang binuo mo. Sana huwag mo ‘kong iwan tulad ng iba.

Forgive me for these filtered realities that I am giving you. If and when the right time comes, the walls will come down and you’ll find the truth.

But I realized that waiting serves its purpose: it makes our choices clearer. It gives you that time to either continue or not. It gives you the choice to do other things than wait. In life, it is pretty much the same: we have a choice as to where we are and what we do. We have a choice to wait and waste time or use it for something productive. You never know, letting that first train pass by and waiting for the next can actually be a good choice.

With you, I want: to lie down on the grass and watch the stars and the galaxies. to fly back to Paris to see the lights, to see the Eiffel Tower and the Arc. to cliff jump. to skydive. to see the reef of the Marianas. to swim in the beaches of Bora Bora and Kosrae. to...

Sagada taught me that all good things come to an end. That everything that we experience in this life – even happiness and even pain – are fleeting and temporary. That feelings change, and so do people, and so do relationships. That life goes on, and that you move on, and that you always prepare for the next great adventure.