"Remembering Rizal" (Narrative)

          Dr. Jose Rizal is our Philippine National Hero. He sacrificed his life for the sake of our country. Not all of us knew what was his life before, even though we all knew that he's our National Hero. But in this essay, we will recall his childhood and his simple heroism.

          When we entered the Assumpta theater, the place where we will watch the stage play entitled: Batang Rizal, cold air immediately embraced us as we walked in. We sat in our designated seat and waited for the play to start. After some time of waiting, the play started. Pupils from the Rizal Elementary school appeared in front of the stage. They were doing some random stuffs until their teacher called their attention. She announced that their Mayor would visit their school to construct the monument of Rizal so they must behave properly. When the mayor arrived, he showed what the monument looked like. During break time, the pupils  played with each other. Some of them are teasing Pepito, one of the naughty boys in their school. While they're playing, they accidentally bumped the monument and it shattered into pieces. They panicked and find a way to solve their problem.

          Pepito was in the library when he found a big book. He read it and then all of a sudden, he was already in the old time of Rizal. He met Jose Rizal in person and they also have the same nicknames. Jose Rizal was often called, Pepe, by her mom and sisters because of his small height. When they became friends, Pepito asked Pepe’s help. They returned to our modern time and Pepe was amazed because their school was named after him. But he got sad when he learned that he will die soon when he’ll grow and got excited when he knew that he would be recognized as a hero. The pupils wanted him to be the replacement of the broken monument but he refused because he said that "a heroism or a popularity of a person can be measured not only through monuments." In their Buwan ng Wika, they just made a statue of a child that symbolizes their unity and teamwork. The mayor forgave them because they confessed the truth to him. He promised that he would not close the school and instead, he will donate more books and room. In the end, they all thanked Pepe and bid their goodbyes to him before he went back to his own time.

          We learned a lot from the play we have watched. I learned that being honest can cause good things and the true meaning of friendship was showed here. Pepito and Kaye were bestfriends but because of some challenges in their lives, they kept a distance with each other. But after some time, they broke the wall that separates them and they brought back the friendship they had before. At the end of the story, they promised each other that they'll never waste their friendship again and they will face and fight the circumstances in life together.

          Based on the play that we have watched, I realized that Jose Rizal had an ordinary childhood experiences just like us. A child who only think of happiness and doesn't know what the future brings. For me, it only means that, everyone can be  a hero like him. That no matter how good or bad experiences you have encountered in your life, you can still renew yourself when you'll grow up. Remembering the life of our National hero, Dr. Jose Rizal, is a good idea because it makes us realize that even you had a simple life, you can be a hero in many possible ways.

Dr. Jose P. Rizal