PROLOGUE

Do you, too, wonder when this pandemic will end? Do you despise officials who are insensitive to their constituents? Do you despise the military? Are you an anti-activist? Do you despise individuals you meet online? Simply by expressing your criticism on various social media platforms, you will be red-tagged as a member of terrorists or non-governmental organizations (NPAs)?

Do you have a sense of hopelessness? Do you have reservations about your ancestors? Do you feel sorry for yourself?

How do you establish your identity at this age? When everyone simultaneously feels powerful and hopeless?

Hello, my name is Angelie Bayaban. I am an AB Political Science student who has only dreamed of contributing to the betterment of this humanity. The fact is, I want my name to be etched in the history books for how my voice was heard among the thousands of screams and cries of this cataclysmic age.

During face-to-face sessions, our professors usually leave us with a message to love the process, but taking steps outside of my comfort zone is easier said than done. To adore the process, when one's motivations, abilities, and resources are limited. How did others get away with such a set-up? How did our forefathers and mothers liberate us from colonizers? How did I happen to be, with this small flame within me?

I am too soft for this world to survive.