“Maybe the question was not to be answered. It must be so to make youth Youth.

”from Footnote to
Youth.

            Converting one’s thoughts and ideas into words is not an easy thing to do. If it is not that
difficult, there would still be a problem of accuracy in terms of putting into words precisely the things
you wish to express. Moreover, effectively reflecting one’s thoughts and beliefs unto something like a
literary artwork depends upon the scope of our experiences. When the experiences of a person
comprise a large scope, the less difficult it is for him to reflect. Upon receiving this task, a question of
my scope of experience came in, giving me difficulties in composing my reflection paper. To address
this problem, the short stories are carefully read, putting myself in the shoes of every character and at
the same time identifying which among them would be of great interest to me with respect to my
beliefs and experiences.
            Along the process of selecting the lines, I found myself at the situation whenDodong desired to
have life’s questions answered. On a certain part of that story, Dodongbecame tired and weary with
the difficulties he faced and all he could do is to ask “why?” The life of Dodong and the mindset he has
reflects that of a typical teenager-adult which I could most likely relate to, making this line appealing
to my senses. Teenagers or the people in general face different problems. At a certain point in time,
we get tired and weary, we ask the same question “Why?”, we seek the same wisdom to answer our
questions. This common experience of youth led me to choosing Footnote to Youth,
specifically Dodong’s experience as the point of my reflection.
            As a student and a teenager, I have faced a lot of problems which I regret - problems which led
to unanswered questions. Like Dodong, I am denied of its answer. Why do innocent children need to
suffer from the wrongs of their parents? Having been denied the wisdom to answer the questions of
life, I got tired and weary. But that line offered something else, something promising. Maybe these
questions are not meant to be answered…no, not now. This is how life is, this is how youth is…we get
to know the answer through time and experience.
            We always try to cope up with life’s demands. Feel the pain, get tired and weary, but that is
how life is. The difficult part is that we always get denied of the answers to life’s questions. But no
matter how many times we fail to get that answer, later on life itself will grant it to us – that is how
life is…it must be dreamfully sweet.