NEARLY EVERYONE had expected Araullo to win in the bid for the student council chairmanship in 2004. But Stand UP suffered an overwhelming defeat, getting only one seat in the 14-person slate, and he wasn't even that winner. It was a humbling experience from which he and his partymates learned some hard lessons. It was also one of his lowest points, "a rude awakening," he calls it, but that which has equipped him with a deeper appreciation of things.

	ATOM ARAULLO Photo by Lilen Uy

Araullo says he considers failures, even unwise decisions he may have made, as all part of the process. Obviously, he doesn't shy away from challenges either, and he believes in hard work and discipline. These and his strongly held convictions, with a full sense of who he is and what he would one day want to become, are what set Araullo apart from many of his peers.

To be sure, his mastery of multitasking is something he shares with many other young people, although he may not be as interested in the latest gadget or the next killer app as the next twenty-something. His is a generation that is both producer and consumer, a maker and seeker of all sorts of stimuli. But it is also a generation that has been dismissed as "lost," or at most spoiled by the freedom regained by its elders at Edsa 1, a generation said to be trapped in its own ambivalence and apathy.

Araullo says he understands why others see his generation this way. His opinion is that the youth, because of the sheer number of issues they are assaulted with, oftentimes choose to simply turn inward and worry only about what they can deal with directly: themselves. Especially now that many Filipinos — young and old alike — seem to be having mounting apprehensions about the future. "Everybody feels it, things are so bleak," he laments.

The government has stolen from the young people their aspirations for a better future, Araullo says, offering them nothing but empty promises amid a foundering economy and brewing political crisis. For him, this is an example of a glaring contradiction that the youth must learn to recognize. He says they must question why, for example, this nation wallows in poverty despite its very rich marine biodiversity.

He adds that the youth should use their talents for the benefit of the people. They should strive to be experts in their respective fields, he says, but the crucial questions they should ask are: "What am I doing this for? Who will benefit from my efforts?"

Reminded that many of his peers seem to lack the kind of nationalism possessed by previous generations, Araullo argues that that the youth today face a different and more challenging task. Though the same kinds of problems exist, he says, they have a more "developed and prepared enemy" in the ruling elite.

He is not about to give up on his generation, insisting that youth and activism are always directly related. "Once young people start figuring things out, they have a tendency to shake things from the foundation, they're not afraid to turn things upside down," he says. That's why it's important for the youth to realize that their potential can only be maximized through militant struggle. At the very least, says Araullo, young people have to become more interested in issues beyond their own.

"If we will pin our hopes on one thing," he says, "it must be in our capacity to shape the future, in the capacity of the youth to take an active role in changing the things they think are wrong."

He also insists, "This so-called lost generation would still be able to redeem itself…just you wait, this generation will be able to prove itself as a generation that has something to contribute to overall change in society for the better."

Everything may look bleak now, Araullo agrees, but he believes a different world is possible. He says this is not just based on some romantic illusion. "(It is) definitely achievable," he says, even if he adds that it may not happen in his lifetime.

Or could it? — Avigail M. Olarte