Unleashing the inners strengths of University entrants

Abstract

This paper aimed to unleash the modular experiences of university freshmen during the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic. Using a transcendental phenomenological approach, the data were collected through individual phone interviews with fifteen university freshmen key informants analyzed through Colizzi’s seven steps in data analysis. Moreover, triangulation was also used, where transcripts were presented to the KIs in the form of a Focus Group Discussion. Student’s narratives revealed that university freshmen’s experience of learning in challenging times is not always ineffective learning. Waray-waray college students were able to experience struggles to finish a semester while juggling multiple roles at home and facing the reality of being less privileged, having inadequate learning resources, and being in a geographically challenged and disadvantaged areas were never considered to be a deterrent to finishing what they have started in a set-up new to them. Resilient learning led them to find meaning in their experiences in these trying times resulted to their strengthened desire to pursue schooling and to unleash their inner strength.