BehSciyad 2018

Last Friday, my university department hosted the annual showcase of Behavioral Sciences students called BehSciyad, named as such because "BehSci" the shortened word of our degree program and "Sciyad" is a play on the word sayad, which loosely means that something is wrong in the one's thinking.

The performances highlighted and promoted the different rights that so many of our countrymen are fighting for right now -- education, life, equality, and property. Through wit and skill and music and talent, the performances brought to light the plight of the Filipino people. Needless to say, the performances were incredible.

There were crowned champions, but the true champions in my opinion were the people whose stories were amplified and given a platform last Friday. Important messages were conveyed and pressing stories were told. To me, that is what is most fulfilling about the blur that was BehSciyad.

There's nothing like seeing people let go and be free. As a photographer, I am grateful I get to capture those moments when people, even for just a moment, are free from whatever is holding them back and become someone completely different from who they are. Today, I share some of my favorite moments captured in photographs from last Friday's event.

Portraits: Reunited

Nearly halfway through the semester, I am grateful that only now do I feel burnt out. Only by grace have I gone this far without fully breaking down into a confusing state of emotional distress. For awhile, I have wondered what has changed in my situation that has resulted in this unforeseen endurance for the challenging chapter in my life called college.

I am brought back to the beginning of this year. Only two days after the new year dawned on us, I found myself amongst high school friends. Our reunion brought back joy that my heart had not experienced in quite some time. But it is in the unexpected grace that followed our reunion that I might find the answer behind the changed in my situation.

Their presence in my life has always been a source of joy and strength. Though the chapter in our lives have made it difficult to be as involved in each others' lives as we were back in high school, I am grateful that there has been grace in my situation.

Since the reunion, there has not been a week that has passed that I had not spent a significant amount of time around any of my high school friends. On days where our responsibilities as students have kept us from seeing each other face to face, social media has allowed us to continue to cultivate our relationships with one another. Through them, God changed my situation and brought to life new hope and enduring courage to face each week and the challenges it had along with it. 

No amount of words can truly articulate the gratitude I have for the people I am blessed enough to call friends. Thankfully, I am a photographer who finds joy in taking portraits which is why today, I am sharing a few portraits I took during my batch's reunion.