Ramil Andrea H.

Boybanting-Catane A181 MTh 7:30-9:00 AM

The Life and Works of Rizal

Jose Rizal was one of the prominent Filipino nationalists and polymaths in the 19th century. I
always believe that his life is extraordinary and heroic that I consider it as a life that is very different
from mine. As I delve into his life story, I have realized that some of his life events can be relatable
even though not in the extreme but just the realization of the entirety of that life event. I will be
tackling 3 life events that I condemned as important and major in the development of his name as
a hero and life events that I can relate to my own.
The first life event of Jose Rizal that contributed to his legacy was when he was told by his
mother Doña Teodora about the story of the baby moth, it is when Jose Rizal’s curiosity and
heroism were awakened. For me, I can relate to this when it comes to encountering situations that
can open our eyes to the reality of the world. When I was still in high school, my family was not
well off and my father’s salary was just enough for us to eat and go to school. There is this one
family event that was organized by our family relative but we were not invited because they said
that we can’t contribute to the said family event because we can’t offer something. Although mine
is not about heroism it is about being awakened that people tend to forget family for the sake of
pride and money, and this is where my desire to succeed in life was awakened and my curiosity to
try and understand why people tend to give more importance to the trivial and material things
rather than the things that should mean the most.
Another one of the groundwork events of his life is when he decides to leave for Europe to be
able to study medicine even though he doesn’t know if he will live a comfortable life there and
even though he is privileged and well off in the Philippines. I consider this life event as his pursuit
of knowledge or his want to learn more and educate himself. In Europe, Jose Rizal also faced
challenges, hurdles, and even financial problems but he still didn’t give up, this just shows that
Rizal wanted to accomplish his goals. I can relate to this life of him because I too still strive to
gain more knowledge and education. Despite being late in graduating and despite the challenges
that I faced and will continue to encounter, I will always try to overcome them. I first took up
Marine Biology at MSU-IIT but because of financial problems and health issues I was forced to
come back and study at Bukidnon State University, I first took up BS Accountancy but was also
stopped because my father who is the sole breadwinner of the family met an accident last 2017
and a year after that my mother was also diagnosed with diabetes so, she will be needing
maintenance medicine. My schooling was stopped for 2 years to help support the needs of my
family. In 2019, I returned to school and took up my now course, BA Philosophy. This experience
of mine is also one of my journeys to gain education despite the challenges and hurdles because I
believe that knowledge is essential to achieve your goals and to find purpose, even though I have
been in college for 8 years already and will still be graduating this coming 2024 hopefully, I will
never be discouraged to gain that degree.
The last life event of Rizal that I can relate to my life is when Jose Rizal first came home to
the Philippines after writing the Noli Me Tangere, despite the threats and risks Rizal chose to go
home for various reasons one of them is that I believe as more important; his reason to go home to
operate on his mother’s eyes. I can relate to this as how I loved and did everything for the sake of
my family. I can even sacrifice my future and goals for them, just like when I stopped schooling
to help my family get by when my father was still recovering from an accident and supporting my
mother’s medications. It is evident to us Filipinos that our love for our families is unconditional
and we tend to do our best for them, in this way also we can relate how we have the same values
as Jose Rizal.
We can’t deny the fact that Jose Rizal lived a heroic life and very impressive, we might
sometimes perceive it as very different from our lives but as we look into his life deeply, we can
see similarities and we can also relate because, after all, Jose Rizal was also a human being. Not
perfect, but is trying his best to accomplish his goals, doing his best to serve others and sacrificing
his life for others. Even though we can’t affect the world on a large scale at the least we try our
best to do good things in our little ways and I think that is very vital in making the world a better
place because all the little things that we do together can become big things if we help each other.