ABSTRACT
This paper aimed to unleash the modular experiences of university freshmen in the new normal during the onset of covid-19 pandemic. Interview questions were reviewed and have gone through expert validation. Using transcendental phenomenological analysis, data were collected through individual phone interviews from fifteen university freshmen students and were analyzed employing structured method of inductive data analysis for exploring and describing shared experiences related to phenomena. Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) were also utilized as an additional data-gathering technique where the participants were gathered and their individual responses where confirmed. Moreover, triangulation was also utilized where research documentations were checked by experts, including interview transcriptions and thematic analysis were validated. Results of this study revealed that college experiences learning in challenging times is not always ineffective learning. Wara-waray college students who 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 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. Finding meaning to their experiences in these trying times resulted to their strengthened desire to pursue schooling and to unleash every potential they have.
Keywords: university entrants, resilient learning, Covid 19 pandemic, modular experience, inner strengths