Lost in History

Chapter 1

"That's all for now. Free cut tayo next Thursday para makapagreview kayo para sa midterms ninyo. 'Wag kalimutan ang coverage, nasa syllabus lahat ng kabanata na babasahin. Kapag may tanong 'wag magalinlangan na magsend sa akin ng e-mail." Happy dismisses her class. All of them stood up happily, glad that the class is finally over. She overhears some of them making plans over lunch as she packs her things up. When she was finished, all had left the classroom and the next class who'd be using the room had started to enter. While some have classes until 8 pm, Happy is glad her schedule is done for the day. Thank god this school has no block sections, she thinks.

Backpack behind her, Happy walks back to her faculty room. Every professor and lecturer has one, at least in the college where she's teaching. It's located in a nearby and separate building where they usually hold their classes, every room small enough to fit a small couch, a desk, and a bookshelf. In front of every room, the professor or lecturer's name can be seen engraved on a wooden plaque while directly beneath it, some have blackboards, whiteboards, or bulletin boards to post their announcements in case students decide to come by. Happy's door has a bulletin board instead but was filled with history memes she thought was funny. And of course her weekly schedule, in case her students decide to visit her for questions.

Happy opens her room with her key and is greeted by the cool air from the air conditioner. She closes the door behind her and drops her backpack on the small couch by the wall. Then, she walks over her desk and sits on the chair. Reaching down, she opens one of the drawers to get her lunch: a pack of now cold siomai bathed in chili oil and fried garlic paired with equally cold steamed white rice. Slightly frowning, Happy starts to eat the disappointing food that easily shows how broke she is. As she grabs her second bite, the desk calendar she has that she got from her local bank for free catches her eye. With midterms coming, she has 2 days off starting tomorrow since she had all of her classes on a free cut to let them study—and possibly, have a little bit of rest. Quickly finishing her food in 4 more bites, Happy tosses the paper container in the trash can beside her desk and quickly grabs her special notebook beneath some of her books.

"Joven Hernando." She whispers as she opens the notebook. It was full of notes she has on her ongoing analysis of a certain journalist and writer when America colonized the Philippines. She stumbled upon his name on a photograph of Gregorio del Pilar, written together with del Pilar's personal photographer, and it matches the writer and journalist who wrote Antonio Luna's biography, whose works were never published but was recovered in an ancestral house. Happy has taken it on her to find more about him. While other historians have found themselves unbothered by Joven Hernando's existence, Happy can tell that his appearance in the lives of two connected and great generals can be a sign that understanding his life brings the country a much closer look to its history.

Happy sees the next two days as a way to research more about his life and quickly takes note of it on her calendar.

        《《♡》》

But life for Happy doesn't seem to go as planned. While she did try her best to keep anything off from her schedule, one of her colleagues had a cold and had to cancel an interview with student journalists from another university. However, upon realizing himself that Happy is free for the next 2 days, he called her over the night to ask if she can fill out his spot. And because Happy can't say no to endearing students, she said yes.

Standing before the great facade of Ateneo de Manila, Happy starts to question the university she teaches. Although it has its own beauty marred by the years of decay, Ateneo's expensive maintenance of their own surely has it better. Mustering all the courage in her lifetime, Happy walks over to the guard and gives her identification card. "Para po sa interview ng AB Communication students?"