Footnote to Youth

By Jose Garcia Villa

When our youth comes, it’s the best feeling in the world, that extraordinary feeling in your veins of
doing anything, to conquer the world, fall in love a lot, do reckless things and be adventurous as much as
we can be. We feel like the things we want to do are the most important in the world, like there is no
more tomorrow. But one thing we don’t see is the consequences that it will bear afterwards, and then
on that moment we will realize that it’s too late. Once our youth has passed, we can never ever go back
again, the mistakes that we’ve done and the uptight choices we’ve made will hunt us through the rest of
our lives.

In Footnote to Youth by Jose Garcia Villa he magnificently emphasized the recklessness of being in the
stage of youth, marrying at an early stage of life and facing the weight of the consequences one must
not be facing at such early age. In the story a young boy named Dodong eagerly wants to marry the girl
he love so much named Teang, at the age of 17. His parents did not hinder his decision though his
father tried to stop him, by asking the question “Must you marry, Dodong?”. As a youth we want to
rush into things, we want to grow up fast, we want to make decisions for ourselves that at the time was
not yet ours to make. Our youthfulness, and wild dreams tend to overthrow reasons, so far beyond we
never know that there is reality, and when it kicks in we then want to undo the things we’ve done and
rewrite the past, such impossibilities.

In the story history is repeating itself, from Dodongs’ father, to him and then to his son Blas. The
unlikely repetition of events, its like being hunted by the past. Though they have the knowledge of how
hard life can be after marrying at such age, they cannot betray their sons and take away their happiness
no matter how painful the future for them can be. Nobody realized the hardships their parents went
through. One after the other they witness how the youth of their sons was taken away from them
because of the thing they wanted most. Sweet young love.

THE SUMMER OF MY 17TH YEAR

The story was all about a girl, who was having a hard time expressing and living her own life. She lives a
life, where she do what other people expect her to do. It's like a life in prison, you are not free to
commit mistakes, because if you do, the whole world will turn up side down. You cannot do the things
you really want to for you are being dictated by the people around you, and you don’t want to
disappoint them for they are important to you so you just obey.
The story goes like this, Minda is a 16 years old girl who lives a life where everybody dictates
her, what to do and what not do. It was summer of April 5,2002 when her cousin asked her to
come with him at Masbate pier to meet a long lost friend, a very special friend. John pointed
him out to Minda when he came down the gangplank off the ferry from Lucena. Although he
did not look too unlike the other passengers, Minda already realized that there was something
uncommon about him. He then was introduced to his cousin’s friend Tim.
It was the the following day when Minda stepped out the front door and saw Tim. They
started talking and exchanged morning greetings. Tim asked Minda if there's a supermarket
where they sell cooked food. Minda told him that it was about a kilometer away from where
he is standing right now. Tim asked if Minda could come because he wanted to try eating in
a public market, which he haven't done in his entire life. Minda hesitates for a moment,
because if her cousin John knows about this, he will get mad but later on she agreed on
going to the supermarket with Tim. Tim promised that she will not be in trouble.

Days comes fast and Minda started to like Tim. It was then she decided to dressed pretty for
the party for Tim, she wanted to be in the venue as early as possible, so she could still talk
to Tim. There she asked silly questions to Tim, like if he had any girlfriend. Minda found out that
he never had any girl friend and wanted to have one like Minda , but Minda was too young for
him.

After that night they never got a chance to meet each other because John and Tim went busy
going to different places in Masbate while Minda got busy helping her mother with their
business. One night when Minda came home, she found a package waiting for her. It was
from Tim. She took the package to her room and found a book of poems and his sunglasses
inside. With them was a note from Tim.

Minda really felt sad because she wasn't able to say goodbye to Tim and wasn't able to say
how she feels for him. It was then she suddenly realized that she don't want to mope and feel
sorry for her self. She tried to make it a normal day for self and hid how she really feels.

The style of the literary piece Footnote to Youth by Jose Garcia Villa is a narrative for it tells a story
about a young boy in his youth, and afterwards his life. The style of the author in writing the story was
quite dramatic but also realistic, the sweetness of love and afterwards its failures and consequences.

While the way the short story THE SUMMER OF MY 17TH YEAR by H.O. Santos was presented simple and
concise, it was in the form of writing on your own personal diary with the date and the feelings you only
keep within yourself were written. The author made the way of his writing relatable mostly to girls,
teenage girls who cannot be adventurous because of their family and the regret they’ve encountered
after failing to confess their true feelings to a man they like but instead of moping and crying they
continue to live their lives, representing to be a strong teenage girl.

Both story deals with the sweetness and bitterness of love and youth, the other one rushing into things
and regretting it afterwards and the other failed to express her true feeling towards someone really
important to her who went away unexpectedly.

How the author characterized Dodong, and Teang respresents one of the perspectives of youth
regarding the topic of love and life during their time. Before, in the 19’s when our grandparents were
born it is normal to marry at a young age for love. But nowadays, people sometimes marry because of
the responsibility they’ve made such as having a baby at such an early age, such happenings are rare
during those times for it will bear such shame to the family and the girl, now it seems like its normal
much worse is that the father of the baby sometimes run away to not bear the responsibility leaving
everything to the mother.
 Footnote to Youth, for me the most significant essence of the story was to be an eye opener to the
youth. We must all open our minds, in order for us to know what reality is all about. We must not be
deceived and ruled by our emotions. The value of marriage is way much too sacred and must be
respected.

THE SUMMER OF MY 17TH YEAR shows the value that there are a million possibilities in life that we’ll
meet that one person who will let us see the world in other way around, in a way we’ve never seen it
before and if that moment comes, we must never ever let it go for it could forever change our lives. We
must learn to express ourselves boldly and learn how to take risks in order for us to grow. For life is all
about taking risks, not doing the things you’re parents wanted you do it doesn’t mean you don’t give
value and importance to them you also have your own mind and you know the things you wanted to do
for yourself, we must not be afraid to get out of our own shells, discover who we really are.

and appreciate its worth because when the time comes it can be ruined by the reality of life.