SECOND CHANCE (Suspension of the PVA Members)

By Mara Calagui (PVA Member)

It was the coldest morning I ever had when I joined some of the counselors in breakfast at Tropical Hut. It was an informal gathering, part of the Thursday Club which we normally do at the guidance office every lunchtime. But for some reason, I was surprised when Sir Yog invited us to eat breakfast with him. Just to have a short bonding with my peer family, maybe? Anyway, I couldn’t remember the last time we had our bonding time together. I can’t blame them, we’re all busy because it’s almost the finals. As I stepped in the Tropical Hut, I knew it.  The only people I saw were Ms.Tin, Ms.Laarni and Sir Yog. There were no peer members. I was about to step back when they saw me, so I had no choice but to join them. That was my first time to have breakfast with the counselors and Sir Yog. Everything seemed normal during that time, but I can feel some sort of coldness coming from Sir Yog. I ignored that because I know I did do anything bad. But I was wrong.

Hours before lunchtime, we all received text messages from our peer mates and counselors. An urgent meeting was called by Sir Yog and I was shocked when the said agenda was all about our suspension. “The Suspension of PVA!” Many questions kept on circling my mind, but one stood out:  Why are we suspended?! As far as I was concerned, we didn’t do anything. And THAT was what our suspension was about, WE DIDN’T DO ANYTHING. We have been in the PVA for almost a year and yet we have no accomplishments.  Because of that, Sir Yog decided to suspend us and the counselors agreed with it.

I couldn't describe my peermates’ reactions as Sir Yog announced our suspension. Just like me, they were also shocked by the news. We were all quiet while Sir Yog was talking. For me it’s like a seminar with a combination of lecture and open forum. Almost everybody cried, probably because we will miss the guidance counselors, our peermates and of course the guidance office, where we usually go after class. It is also our second home.  We begged Sir Yog for a second chance and promised to be responsible, but he was not convinced. We were suspended for one week. After the meeting, we all realized our mistakes. We believed that we became too comfortable inside the office and we almost forgot that we have responsibilities as a peer. Though we left the guidance office in tears, we promised among ourselves that we will prove Sir Yog that we still deserve to be in the Peer Volunteer Association.

The following days, after our suspension, we started to make proposals for the future plan of the PVA and implemented some of the projects of PVA like the “No to smoking” campaign. We posted it on different bulletin boards so that all the students can see it.  As we all did those tasks, I saw the effort and dedication of all the members of our Club, dedicated to prove Sir Yog that we are all worthy to come back as members of PVA. A week after our suspension, we came back in the guidance. We were all quiet as we went inside the testing room. Sir Yog was not around.  Our counselors did not say anything. They just got the attendance and asked the plans of our activities. That silence and the cold treatment meant a lot to me, maybe because the counselors were not satisfied with the outcomes that we made during the suspension. So, we promised to ourselves that we will give extra effort to prove that we want to stay as a member of PVA until we graduate. Every day, we are at the Guidance Office, assisting our counselors and assist them with their work.

GO PEERS!!!