Due to Rizal’s enlightenment, Filipinos before we are able to realize that they should have a sense of nationalism. Nationalism is the desire to attain the freedom and political independence of a country under a foreign power. After Rizal’s doctrines reached the Filipinos, they slowly realized that they were being powered by the Spanish. They don’t have the freedom in their own country. The colonizers turned them into their slaves and was denied of their rights on their own motherland. With that, the Filipinos were awakened that they lacked actions in order to be free from Spanish colonization. Their insides were fueled with rage and they sought to fight for their freedom. When Rizal died, they continued the battle against the Spaniards and were lucky enough that they were able to oust the reign of the Spaniards in the country. 

        Ever since the Philippines got their most awaited independence, the sense of patriotism is slowly rising in the hearts of the people. Patriotism is being proud, devoted, and loyal to one’s nation. The Filipinos are very talented people to the point that they are able to do their own crafts and showcase it to other countries. In today’s generation, I am so happy that Filipinos are starting to show their support to their fellow Filipinos by supporting local goods. They not only buy these goods but they also spread awareness of the existence of these goods so that many people will know more about it. In addition, many Filipinos are more keen to travel and discover first the gems of the Philippines. They prefer to go and visit every corner of the Philippines first in order to help boost the local tourism and to truly prove that, “It’s more fun in the Philippines.” 

        Spain brought the Christianity here in the Philippines. The attitudes of the friars before may not be ideal but they were able to introduce the idea that there is a God from above that will guide them in their everyday life. Even Rizal, when he was studying in Madrid Spain, he assured his mother that everything will be fine with him since he has faith in God. There are many religions with different practices existing today, but one thing is for sure that whatever your religion may be, God is the center of all and everyone should pay tribute to Him. Others may not believe Him, so we just need to respect them because we have different beliefs. 

        One of the values that Rizal has that everyone should also possess is having discipline and self-control. Discipline is having self-control over something. A person is disciplined if they are doing something that they should do and a person is having self- control if they can control themselves not to do something that they are prohibited to. Like Rizal, he used reasons to determine what should be his actions regardless of his desires and deprived himself if it’s because of unsound pleasures. Personally, having discipline and self-control is quite hard to practice today because I am surrounded by so many temptations. That is why I am practicing to have a strong determination so that I would be successful in having self-discipline and self-control over myself and to other things. 

        Dr. Jose Rizal also taught us to love our fellowmen and parents. According to Rizal, the love for our fellow man is biblical and timeless and the love for our parents is great and very admirable. There are a couple of ways to show love to our fellowmen and that is by being kind and forgiving. We can be kind to other people by offering our hands to them whenever they need it without expecting in return. We can also show kindness by always smiling at them and complimenting them with whatever their success is. As for our parents, personally, I show my love to them by respecting them. There may be times that we argue but I never let my respect for them waiver. With their efforts in giving us our needs and wants in life, the only thing that I can do for them, for now, is to study hard. I really exert effort in studying because my parent’s sacrifices are only an inch to what I am doing. 

        Lastly, Rizal taught us to persevere. Because of perseverance, Rizal was able to show his strength in meeting and enduring pain, adversity, and peril. With the current pandemic, doing an online class was seen as a solution to protect the health of the students. Just like me, I am doing an online class right now. However, this set-up is really difficult especially because our course is more on skills and face to face class is more advisable to do. Nevertheless, this set-up did not stop me from studying hard and to continue to reach my goal. I will not allow a certain situation to affect my goal, instead I will take it as an opportunity that will help me grow and learn that I can surely use as my weapon in the future.