Chinese Proverb's Call of Nature

The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is now.

That was a line I often read, written in a Chinese proverb in general. Some quotes about nature just speak so loud to me to the point it has to be manifested in many ways possible in my daily life. Well, for this line, as not just a simple reminder but a purpose, I found myself yesterday doing the act and retrieving the green soul of Earth with other kind hands.

Basically, this blog is about my experience in our tree planting yesterday in our school, as a commemoration of the founder’s birth who established our university. Since I am a student journalist, events like this are not a difference in my life, and I can say I have experienced various events throughout my college because of the lens I bring with me.

In a peaceful summer of 1947, our school was brought to exact reality by the mind of our founder, primarily grounded in the downtown of Bogo which is now the Cogon, Bogo. At present, Cebu Roosevelt Memorial Colleges is still one of the most prestigious schools in Northern Cebu and has been in continuing progress of quality education from elementary to college. It always echoes its own mantra, "Quality is our premium", and for years of resilience and dignity, CRMC still stands on its very ground with the students’ footsteps making their sound in the hallway.

Yesterday was the birth of our founder, hence, the date was dedicated to commemorate him—the very man who gave education in our town. The heads of the school planned a whole-day program, something beneficial, to celebrate him. And one of these is "tree planting," which is, of course, an unusual way of celebrating a Founder’s Day. But regardless, it is of great benefit to people that a celebration should occur.

In the earliest of assembly time, our teachers and staff, including us journalists, flocked to our sister school to commence the celebration.

Actually, we had a Floral Offering at the start of the program, but none of us in our team arrived at 7:30, which was the time it happened, and we arrived at 8:00, yelling our identity of "Filipino time." We missed the starting program so I don’t have photos to share except that one I posted.

After the recognition and floral offering, we all gathered on the ground inside the school for a short orientation. To start our Eco-Tribute, we listened first to the rules and steps we would undergo during the tree planting, including the seedlings we should plant and the information about the area.

You can see in the photos that we are not as many as we should be, but I guess we were very efficient that time, and we called it a success by the end of the day. These people are from the different departments and year levels of our school so some of them were so unfamiliar to me.

After the short orientation, we had a photo opportunity for each department, and each brought these different vibrances and energy. Our identity is represented by colors, such as Computer Studies for maroon and Criminology for green.

This is the faculty of my very own department, the Psychology program, and they missed the photo opportunity because they got late. Maybe psychology enthusiasts have this toxic trait of getting late but at least just sometimes. Just for that day. We decided to capture the teachers from the psychology program to complete the set of departments in our documentation.

After everything was settled and green, we left the school and headed to the planting area which was just beside the outside of the school. We brought green plants, some digging tools, and some brought sunglasses, umbrellas, and boots since we experienced a heavy rainfall the night before it.

Our school has this huge side lot and it is suitable for tree planting activities. We started by searching for the right area and digging the soil with some hope it would be the best spot for our humble plant.

The teachers were very passionate in planting their trees and we enjoyed doing it. We also put some marks on them to maintain annual checking of the trees because we don’t want to waste that act for nothing. Planting trees doesn’t end by the time you put them into the soil and connect them to the Earth, but it starts there. The end of the process is by the time they grow larger and healthy with your support—and plant again for a healthier place. We were told to plant at least five seedlings but some of us brought eight or ten in case some of them won’t grow, so at least we meet the quota.

I immediately planted my seedlings so that I could focus on documenting the activity since some of the teachers and students often asked me to take photographs of them. To make sure of my plants, I started the activity by planting them and then moved on to my camera and lenses.

I searched the areas and found a lot of seedlings planted on the ground, as well as staff asking me to take photos of them while planting trees.

The place is really green and calm, and you can hear the breath of micro wildlife. It is just a few of the plants I planted with people who have the same interest as me, but I am sure those would grow large and one day, sprout with the others and give birth to another set of trees with other new people.

That is all about our tree planting activity and I have this hope you would not only enjoy my blog but also be inspired to plant a tree even just behind your house or in the nearest ground. Every tree counts, and it is human and animal life that is in protection of it. So, if you have time, even without a green thumb, plant a tree starting tomorrow and take a photo of it. I would be happy if you share it in the comment section to see how much kindness we already gave and to also inspire others to do the same thing.

Thank you, dearest readers, and may the call of nature (as in literal) make sound to you.