Even if it’s supposed to be a rest day or a day reserved for special family affair, we accompanied our son Sunday in venturing on something that I am also inclined to. It was a whole class of senior high school students that endeavored on creating a film as a culminating production in one of their subjects requiring an application of their knowledge and skills.
When he asked me to accompany them, I had a second thought as I wanted him to exercise sense of independence as I know he can work capably with his classmates. And also I wanted him to value the creative process without necessary having my predispositions and inputs as I want him and the group to discover valuable lessons along the way, including learning from their own mistakes and limitations.
The place was Carcar City, a metropolis that is blessed with historical artifacts and cultural narratives. Specific place was the museum where they had to take some scenes of a film enthused by a recent horror movie “The Nun.” And although accordingly they had prior approval to be in the museum, it didn’t materialize because of some factors, mainly of the professional requirement in handling such shoot as they are all students only. And so they changed plan right away as one of them offered a place that would qualify the requirements of the film. But then it required the whole group of 30 to travel to a rural area.
True enough, I still accompanied them but with so much awe when we were brought to a place that took us almost two hours drifting a long and winding road. And since our car couldn’t anymore proceed to brace such narrow road, we stopped at the corner and waited. And such a long wait that lasted four hours. And because we could not call nor text him due to the inability of signal, we decided to just go to the actual place where they had their shot. Lo and behold, they were in a deserted house whose modishness was, in part, hidden by its stillness and mystery.
Young as they are, they still have to learn the ropes and discover that such discipline of art is a reflection of art, a copied or enhanced one, and not life itself. And so there are cinematic aspects that can be remedied or “cured” without necessarily risking our own safety and taking the precious time with us. But yet because of what they have experienced, it gave them valuable lesson of patience that not all things can be achieved in just one click, an instant take.
It is time that makes one learn the wisdom of the process and relish the ups and downs. Precious time provides significant life experiences. And so when they become grown-ups, all they can say is—been there, done that. It is not so much of where we are now, but the lessons of the struggles we went through to reach where we aim for.
This project-based learning produces competent, resilient, and real-world problem-solvers and bridges the achievement and opportunity gaps by creating lifelong learners. Their appreciation of art starts with a journey where explorations of authentic experiences expand beyond the four walls of the classroom.