There’re always the same two things I take away from any event where a big group of people put their heart and soul into.

The first is the inside jokes. These are the little things that come about through happenstance, never planned, never scripted. A couple of words or actions that suddenly come to life, creating meaning where there was none. These belong to us, with its meaning etched by its exclusivity, without which it wouldn’t be as special anymore.

The second are the connections we build.  I have always known that people make or break a trip. The places you go, the things you do are really just canvases on which memories are painted. This trip clearly realised this point. I wouldn’t have wanted to have gone on this trip with any other bunch of people except this bunch of weirdoes; it just wouldn’t have been the same.

That’s not to say the staff and people we meet didn’t matter. We take with us a piece of everyone we meet; a memory, a conversation, a thought and these shape us. Each of these giants that we stood upon, Dr. Batoy, Reizl, Wilbert, Dr. Primavera, Pat, Bill, Carlito, Tuting, Longlong, to mention a few names, each ignited something inside of us, pushing us to pursue something with the same passion with which they do things.

This applies much to the staff and professors that came along with us. From TAs and lecturers, these people shared bits and pieces of themselves, bridging friendships that transcended the classroom. I think we learnt a lot and built ourselves up over this trip, which could hardly be solely attributed to us. Credit where credit is due, I think these bunch of staff members really did a great job.

It also amazes me how everyone, despite being cemented in their cliques for a good majority of the last three years, managed to all mix around, in part due to the project groups, in part due to the open mind that everyone came into this module with. I spent a good part of the past week looking through photos of the trip and old pictures of our batch from the past events (the times when I should have been doing my field diary instead, much like what everyone was doing hah). I found myself breaking into a smile unknowingly, reminiscing over good times we had.

I wrote this in my diary and I will write it here again. I think it’s really quite a succinct summary of my thoughts and feelings, and I hope that this does resonate with everyone.

John Donne writes – “No man is an island, entire of itself. Every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main.” He’s right, Bohol will always be an island – an island comprised of every single person that left with us on this trip, every single person we met and every single person that had a part to play in making this adventure beyond amazing.

Thank you all.