Radiance forged from Ashes

One can rise through trials, rising from ruin into strength, wisdom, and radiant grace.

Radiance forged from Ashes

By: Edgar R. Eslit

We live in a country where poverty is tangible. It shapes lives, limits choices, and too often becomes a convenient excuse. "Sugi ni sa kapalaran, Ginoo nay magbuot," some say, surrendering not to faith, but to fatalism. But history -- and more urgently, our present -- rebuke that resignation. Radiance never comes from waiting. It is forged from struggle, shaped by courage, and lit by the decision to rise when rising seems impossible. By Edgar R. Eslit.

Joseph the Dreamer had every reason to give up. Enslaved and imprisoned in a foreign land, he chose to dream instead -- and that dream fed nations. Joan of Arc, uneducated and teenage, stepped into war not with power, but with purpose. Frederick Douglass taught himself to read by tricking white children into sharing their lessons; his words later cracked the foundations of slavery. Jack Ma failed repeatedly in school and job applications, even rejected by KFC -- but he transformed his "no's" into one of the world's largest digital empires. Eminem grew up in a violent Detroit neighborhood, mocked and marginalized, yet his music gave voice to those the world silenced. By Edgar R. Eslit.

Then there is Dr. Josette Biyo, born to modest means in Iloilo -- walking to school, studying in dim light, with nothing luxurious but her imagination. She didn't wait for fate to lift her. She lifted herself. From rural classrooms, she rose to global recognition, winning the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair Educator Award -- the first Asian to do so. And somewhere between Mars and Jupiter, a minor planet now bears her name: Biyo. From a town with no stars visible, she reached the heavens. By Edgar R. Eslit.

Yet while these individuals battled hardship to earn knowledge, many of today's students are handed opportunity -- and some waste it. They scroll past lectures, mock assignments, and say "Lisod man gud. Wala koy gana. Kapoy." But difficulty is not a reason to stop. It is a signal to begin. Education is not a burden -- it is a bridge. God does not simply "magbuot" from afar. He waits to move through effort, sacrifice, and vision. By Edgar R. Eslit.

The truth? Poverty can humble, but it should never paralyze. It might dim the surroundings, but it cannot dim the soul -- unless we let it. By Edgar R. Eslit.

Let the lives of Joseph, Joan, Douglass, Jack Ma, Eminem, and Dr. Biyo disturb our assumptions and awaken every student. Let them remind us that brilliance isn't handed. It is pursued. And radiance is never found at the surface -- it's forged, deep and burning, beneath layers of ash. By Edgar R. Eslit.

So, before you shrug and say "Ginoo nay magbuot," ask yourself -- are you surrendering to fate, or refusing to forge the fire that could shape your legacy? By Edgar R. Eslit.

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