modernità

"God the Father endowed people, from birth, with the seeds of every possibility and every life." -Pico della Mirandola (Florentine scholar, 1463-1494)

I was able to check my email again in Firenze. Acting on a tip from Brian, a backpacker with whom I roomed in Venezia, I found a house tent in a 13th century olive grove, situated on a hill with a view of the Duomo.

One message was from Jerick, my thesis partner and the valedictorian of our class in the School of Economics. From his temporary base in Tunis, he had tried to set me up on a blind date in Paris and asked concernedly about my romantic life, while casually mentioning his own. How was I to explain to my Casanovan friend that I didn't like going out on blind dates, that I preferred a more spontaneous approach to meeting people?

I remember our college days, when Jerick was still struggling with heartbreak and self-doubt. He has come a long way since then. Now, I picture him as a model of the modern Filipino: rational, individualistic, and confident of our State's dignity and destiny. In a way, he has realized an ideal of the Renaissance, a founding age of modernity.

Jerick has begun sharing his ideas and colorful experiences in the Philippine Star- read one of his articles here.