Yearning for a Future Once Lost Across the Years

Six years after the world went into lockdown due to the Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) pandemic, many young Filipinos are still struggling to recover from the lives it disrupted. What was once considered a temporary crisis gradually evolved into long-term instability marked by financial struggles, emotional burnout, and dreams repeatedly adjusted to fit survival.

Even as the country slowly reopened, new challenges emerged beyond people’s homes. Rising inflation, increasing transportation costs, and recurring oil price hikes continued to burden ordinary Filipinos. Earlier this year, the Philippines was placed in a state of national energy emergency following tensions involving Iran, Israel, and the United States, raising concerns over fuel supply and the possible effects of another oil crisis on the country’s economy. The conflict heightened fears of disruptions in global oil trade, particularly in the Middle East, where a large portion of the world's oil supply is produced and transported. For countries like the Philippines that rely heavily on imported fuel, such disruptions can lead to higher oil prices, increased transportation costs, and rising prices of basic goods and services.

For years, many Filipino students have carried the same quiet burden of crisis — one that cannot simply disappear overnight. Like countless young people trying to move forward, they continue holding onto their dreams while facing realities beyond their control. Yet reaching those dreams becomes increasingly difficult when the future they once planned for keeps slipping further away.

Success now bygone feels impossible — it is far-flung, close enough to see, but not close enough to hold. They are almost there.

For a generation burdened by crises they did not create, “almost” has become both a source of hope and a painful reminder of how difficult moving forward has become.

For Yel, a second-year student from the University of the Philippines - Los Baños, the pandemic changed not only how she lived but also how she imagined her future.

Currently staying in a dormitory near her university, Yel relies mainly on financial support from family members and relatives abroad who provide additional allowance whenever possible. Before the pandemic, she dreamed of becoming a pilot because she wanted a life that constantly moved forward — a life far from staying in one place for too long.

However, as financial realities became harder to ignore, her priorities gradually changed.

“Ngayon, pangarap ko na muna ang pangarap nila,” she shared, referring to her parents. Instead of focusing on personal ambitions, she said her main goal now is to finish college and eventually help provide a better life for her family.

When asked to describe her current situation in one word, Yel answered: limitado.

Although her allowance is enough to cover daily expenses, she explained that everything still needs to be carefully budgeted. Meals, transportation, school requirements, and even small personal expenses require constant consideration.

Yel said one of her biggest “almost there” moments came when she passed both her dream university and dream program. Despite her qualifications, financial limitations prevented her from fully pursuing the opportunity. Scholarship applications remained uncertain while school expenses continued to rise.

Instead, she chose to continue her studies at another university that was more financially manageable for her family.

Like many students today, Yel believes achieving dreams no longer depends solely on talent or determination.

She believes many young Filipinos are carrying burdens that should have been resolved long before their generation inherited them. For her, the country’s ongoing economic struggles and the pressure placed on young people are rooted in deeper systemic problems.

“Sa krisis ng ekonomiya at iba pang mga kasalukuyang pangyayari na nagdudulot ng mabibigat na pasanin sa kabataan ngayon, walang ibang masisi kundi ang bulok na sistema ng estado,” she said.

She added that if Filipinos became more critical in choosing leaders and prioritized officials who genuinely serve the public instead of personal interests, opportunities for young people could become more accessible and equitable. According to her, better governance could have prevented many Filipinos from continuously struggling with poverty and limited opportunities.

“Noong COVID-19, parang huminto ang oras,” she said. “Parang ninakawan ng oras ang mga kabataan.”

While Yel learned to adjust her dreams around financial limitations, 18-year-old Jerome, a first-year Journalism student from Polytechnic University of the Philippines, learned how quickly economic hardship can force young people to become practical.

Jerome currently works while studying, balancing school responsibilities during the day and employment at night. Before the pandemic and the financial struggles his family later experienced, he originally dreamed of becoming an architect.

Now, he said his goals have changed alongside their circumstances.

“At first, I aspired to be an architect,” he shared. “But after our financial situation changed entirely and witnessing the country’s economic status, I laid my ground low.”

For Jerome, dreams are deeply tied to financial capability.

“Dreams are not just about dreaming,” he explained. “You must have the money in order for you to chase it.”

One of the moments that best reflected his idea of “almost there” happened during Grade 12 while preparing for the UPCAT. As he tried balancing entrance examinations and future plans, his mother suddenly became critically ill, placing emotional and financial pressure on their family.

Though he still managed to take the exam, Jerome admitted the situation affected both his focus and their finances.

“Binugbog talaga yung finances at utak namin ng sitwasyon na iyon,” he recalled.

He also shared that there were moments when relatives encouraged him to stop studying altogether because of their financial situation.

“Kailangan ko bang patayin ang pangarap ko para buhayin ang magulang ko?” he asked himself during that period.

For Jerome, the pandemic and the country’s current economic struggles reshaped how many young Filipinos approach their futures. Instead of freely pursuing their passions, many are now forced to prioritize what is practical and financially possible.

“Before, we dream because we want it,” he said. “Ngayon, we dream because this is the maximum amount of resources that we have.”

Although their experiences differ, both Yel and Jerome share frustrations familiar to many young Filipinos today. Years after the pandemic, students continue to struggle not only with academic responsibilities but also with rising living costs, financial instability, and the pressure to secure a stable future as early as possible.

Economic uncertainty continues to shape the decisions young people make about education, work, and personal goals. For many of them, survival has gradually become more urgent than ambition.

At the same time, many young Filipinos believe they are carrying burdens that should have already been addressed long before their generation inherited them — issues such as poverty, unequal opportunities, unstable wages, and limited access to quality education.

Still, despite these realities, many continue to move forward.

For Micanilya, a fourth-year Communication student and Editor-in-Chief of her publication at Pasig Catholic College, journalism became both a personal passion and a way to make sense of the world around her.

Before the pandemic, she dreamed of becoming a teacher. However, the shutdown of ABS-CBN during the pandemic reshaped how she viewed storytelling, media, and public service.

“The network had long been my source of comfort and information,” she shared.

Eventually, she pursued journalism through the HUMSS strand and later through Communication studies, where she discovered the impact stories and media can have on people’s lives.

Today, Micanilya describes her life as “full-circle.”

Although she acknowledged the emotional and economic struggles that continue to affect young people, she believes these experiences also shaped resilience and purpose.

“Dreams may bend under the weight of reality,” she said, “but they do not have to break.”

Like Yel and Jerome, she believes younger generations have not fully recovered from the pandemic. While daily routines may appear normal again, many students still carry emotional, academic, and financial struggles left behind by years of uncertainty.

“The scars of the pandemic may no longer be visible,” she explained, “but they continue to shape the way the younger generation sees life, dreams, and the future.”

As Yel said, dreaming is one of the few things that still feels free because, for her, dreaming remains a reason to continue moving forward.

Despite everything happening around them, many young Filipinos continue to hold onto their goals — not because life has become easier, but because dreaming remains one of the few things hardship cannot completely take away.

For a generation raised amid consecutive crises, dreaming has become more than personal ambition. For many, it has become a way of surviving uncertainty while still hoping for something better.

They may still be almost there.

But amid exhaustion, limitations, and instability, they continue believing that one day, “almost” will no longer feel insufficient.

Their stories reveal something greater than resilience alone. They reflect a generation forced to grow up too early, inherit problems they did not create, and survive within systems that continue to fail them. The struggles faced by many young Filipinos today are not simply personal shortcomings or a lack of determination, but realities shaped by years of unresolved issues piling up.

And while young people continue to adapt, persevere, and dream despite these burdens, survival should not be the only future available to them. A generation working tirelessly just to stay afloat deserves more than temporary solutions, empty promises, and futures built entirely around sacrifice.

Perhaps the real question is no longer why young Filipinos continue to dream despite hardship, but why they continue to be placed in situations where dreaming itself feels like a privilege.

Because someday, “almost there” should no longer be the closest a generation can get to the life they have long been fighting for, but the beginning of a future finally ready for them — one where opportunities are no longer limited by survival, and one they truly deserve.

Article: Selene Ashlee Vitor

Illustration: Kaiser Aaron Caya