24/08/2025
Still Brewing
Written by Aynsberg Paez Sahagon
Illustration by Eathan Gabriel Tibayan
It was the first month of class for this academic year.
The morning light broke in through the windows like a gentle reminder: You’re still here. You’re still at it.
I took a deep breath. I knew I had to carry courage—not the loud kind, but the quiet, constant kind. I had to keep showing up kindly.
For myself. For others.
As I stepped out of the house and walked toward the campus, that small, newly-opened café caught my eye again. I first noticed it a few weeks ago. It had soft lighting, warm wooden tones, and a name that still speaks to me:
Still Brewing.
I looked at the menu—it’s still affordable, still student-friendly. The gentle hum of music inside hadn’t changed, and the barista still smiled as if the world wasn't as heavy as I thought it was.
There was even a promo again: Buy 1, Take 1.
But I stood there, one month into being a freshman, holding two cups and wondering, who’s the other one for?
Maybe it was for a future friend I still haven’t met. Or maybe it was a quiet reminder—that I don’t have to do this year alone. That somewhere in this stretch of days, someone will see me, understand me, and sit beside me. Even just for a moment.
I held the second cup not just in my hands, but in hope. Not because I needed another drink, but because I wanted to believe—maybe someone out there is also searching for a seat, a smile, a start.
I sat on a nearby bench, sipping the first one and placing the second cup beside me, just in case someone sits down.
The truth is, this season still feels a lot like that:
You arrive with one cup of courage. The second one? That’s for whoever walks alongside you this year.
The academic year is well underway now, and with it come the deadlines, the late nights, the moments of “I don’t think I can do this.” But also, the quiet victories, the growth, and the people who will stand beside you in classrooms, corridors, and conversations you didn’t expect would matter so much.
There will be breakdowns, burnouts, and days you’ll want to pause. But just like coffee, or healing, or courage—you are still brewing.
You're allowed to simmer.
You're allowed to take your time.
You're allowed to figure things out slowly.
And in this campus of rushing feet and rising pressure, may you still find a moment to sit down, breathe in, and remind yourself that you don’t need to be perfect. You just need to keep going.
One page. One task. One class at a time.
So if you’re walking alone today, try the new café. Order two. Sit down.
Someone might just join you.
Or maybe, you are the someone someone else is waiting for.
Let’s call this season SB.
Not just Still Brewing, but also
Self-Bettering,
Soul-Building,
Still Becoming.
Because even if we’re all brewed differently—some dark, some light, some sweet, some bitter—we are all trying to fill our own cups, and maybe, just maybe, each other’s too.
So, cheers to a new academic year.
Still scared. Still stressed. Still showing up.
Still brewing.
