Kobe Jims A. Odchigue

To start off our student page, we were able to interview two students, one of whom is a Fourth year student to share his insight about his experiences about the transitions from traditional learning to online Flexible learning. First let's learn about our featured student of this week. Kobe Jims A. Odchigue, age 21, is a 4th year student of the Physical Therapy program.

The simplest questions could reveal quite a bit about how a person is and lead to a first impression of what a person is like based on the answer they provide. Such is the case with Kobe, When presented with the question of his favorite color, he responded with his favorite color being green. Being a Taurus, an earth sign, matches with his color. It is also a color associated with fresh start, calming, and abundance. With the ongoing stress that comes with our course, Kobe turns to the color green to calm his mind and reset before going back to tackle the task at hand. Although green is his favorite color, he also mentioned it is not the color that he usually doesn't like to wear. Knowing this, we can tell he seems to have an openness to new beginnings and with a down to earth personality.

Kobe, being a Fourth year student, has experienced many ups and downs throughout his years in the university. One of his most memorable moments is when the whole department came together as one in many events such as, competing with other departments during intramurals and/or getting together and meeting the new faces of the CRS community during an acquaintance party. I’m sure we can all relate when we say that events like these are nights and days of strengthening the bond between one another without the stress of academics. Another fond memory he had during his earlier years is when they put on a play for their Filipino subjects; “Our concept was a bit unique, and it was also enjoyable to slap somebody without any consequences.” - Kobe 2021. I think we can all agree that is not a memory that can not be easily replaced with.

As stated before he experienced not just ups but also downs as he was going through the school year. Like many of us, Kobe experienced the struggles of transitioning from traditional learning to online flexible learning. He stated, “One of my biggest struggles during online learning was an absence of an outlet for my stress. It used to be a bit more bearable during face to face because it didn't feel like I was all alone drowning in stress.” With the lack of direct contact and limited interaction with your fellow classmates, this can make online learning more difficult than traditional learning. As you progress through each semester after another, the subjects get more difficult as you move on. Unlike the old curriculum, with the compressed timeline we are now learning 4 years worth of academic materials into 3 years. In addition to that, we also have the struggle and difficulty of online learning. Saying there's a rough road ahead of us is an understatement, but our educators have equipped us with the tools and information we need to face the challenges ahead of us.

Like all of us, Kobe has experienced difficulties with online learning in his 4th year and has had thoughts about continuing his internship this year. He decided to forgo his internship for the meantime as he felt that he “lacks the enough knowledge to be confident enough to handle a real patient,” (Kobe). Instead he is dedicating this time to catch up, so that he can give better patient care once he is out there working in the field as a physical therapist. He is also looking forward to the day when we all go back to traditional learning and get the opportunity to see our friends and colleagues. Hopefully he will be able to face actual fieldwork and gain more knowledge and experience to help those in need of PT in the future.

Lastly, I would like to end this article with a few pieces of advice from Kobe; “Don't take things too seriously, have a good balance between stressing over academics and caring for your mental health. Also, don't beat yourself up if you fail, to fail is a normal thing especially in the harder subjects, just make sure that you are constantly doing your best. Always remember that progress is not linear; progress is still progress no matter how small. And finally, support each other and don't be selfish.”

Article by: Givone Jay Zaportiza, CRS Newsletter Writer