The past few years have not been easy for a lot of people. On top of the COVID-19 pandemic, we have witnessed war, famine, devastating hurricanes, earthquakes, and forest fires! The natural and man-made calamities that many of us have to live through have definitely affected the mental health of many individuals. Hence, a lot of studies are being done on a human trait that, when developed, could help us get through our darkest moments: resilience. In my TEDX talk, I am going to take you to my childhood, as I learn resilience from my mother who speaks a different native language than her children. We will reflect on how Filipinos gained a reputation as the “resilient people”. We will look at how this resilience is manifested in the language of my childhood, the life of my community, and the role it plays not only in the life of many Filipinos but also in all of us.

Von Ryan Abrantes is an Upper Division Science teacher at Avenues, New York. He grew up in Valenzuela City, Philippines from parents who moved there from the province of Leyte in the Visayan Region. He speaks the Bulaceño dialect of Tagalog as his “mother tongue” but his parents speak Bisaya as theirs.