Women of Character

Hello again :) It's been over a month since I've blogged with all the work I've been doing for school. But I'm not gonna let 12.12.12 pass without an entry! (haha parang high school journal entry lang eh)

Anywaaays, I spent this day back at my high school alma matter. Today was the beginning of a series of talks on college and career for the juniors and seniors. Together with Inha Arceo, we talked about our current colleges now - admissions, academics, university culture, college adjustment, and the like. I go to the green school and she goes to the blue school. Oooh! Imagine how fun that was (in a good way of course). It was also great to see Inha again and to see that our dynamic duo was back in action after two years! (She was the President while I was the Vice-President of our student council back in our senior year).

Click "read more" below to see more photos and read more about today's experience!

One Million Lights

Back in high school, my friend named Tricia Peralta told me about this organization she was working on with Mark Lozano. Now, it's this big thing wherein they've helped so many people in our country already. You can read more about them and see what they're doing on their Facebook page

Mark called me one day asking me if I wanted to volunteer as the photobooth photographer in their project before Christmas called Parol for a Cause. After being able to volunteer before in the Philippine Model Congress, I wanted to give it another try and learn. Plus, I really wanted to volunteer by making a parol beforehand, so being able to help in another way was a bonus!

The function room of St. James the Great Parish was slowly being filled by volunteers of many ages but mostly they were the youth. It was great seeing many people my age and even younger coming together towards a cause!

 Christmas music was playing in the background with Taylor Swift songs coming here and there. Also, a band played and their original music was great!

 I also got to use many photography equipment that I didn't get to before such as the lights that point to the backdrop, this thing called the slave light if I got that right, and I learned a few new things about the settings of my camera. One day, when I get really good at it, maybe I'll blog about it. But now, let the professionals and the fanatics do it :)

with Mark Lozano

In this entry were some of the photos I took which were postprocessed by Chris Yuhico. The ones where I'm in, Chris took those.

It was a long day filled with many new experiences! I will definitely want to volunteer with OML again and you should too! :) Let's support this great organization!

You can check out the rest of the photobooth pictures here.

g|Philippines

Today's been such a coffee/ cuddle weather with the rain pouring all day and the sweet cool breeze blowing against our faces. I'm supposed to be reading 26 court cases right now for my Personal Effectiveness 2 class OR I'm supposed to be in a road trip right now with friends but physically, it's really not possible to finish all these readings during the road trip. I really miss hanging out with my friends. A road trip sounded really good. Plus, there's a typhoon right now.. but instead of reading the court cases, I feel like blogging. This shouldn't take long. Let's talk about G|Philippines (in short for Google Philippines).

Future Faces

Growing up, I've always been constantly been reminded of the importance of education. Teachers would tell us to cherish the education our parents are paying for because not everyone gets to enjoy their right to be in a classroom, to do school-related activities, to sit in a classroom and listen to teachers, and all the other things we do in school; not everyone gets the same quality education we are getting in our private schools. 

My parents would also remind me of the importance of prayer, studying, making the most of my time through time management, and the list goes on but I put emphasis on studying.

Five years ago, all these led to me having this great belief that education is the key to a progressive future. 

Our generation and the generations to come are the future leaders of our country. Imagine having more leaders who make educated decisions. Imagine the course our country would be taking. Imagine more laws and programs being made that would progress our country. Imagine more corporate social responsibility present. Imagine that wonderful future you dream of concretized. Imagine a just and free society. All these imaginations can someday be a reality. I really think one way is through education. 

Education is important because it sharpens a person’s mind and character. We learn lessons we need in life (although there are still some that I don't understand why we have to study haha). Kidding aside, it is through education that we can actualize the potentials of the Filipino people. We mold their minds, their hearts, their character. We teach them the sense of patriotism to be of service to the Filipino people. We teach them to be Lasallian achievers for God and country.

Last August, I had the privilege of helping a charity called Future Faces Manila Foundation. The foundation aims to "maximize educational opportunity for children from low-income families by offering them tuition assistance to attend colleges and universities in the Philippines." They had their 2^nd annual fundraising activity called Heartisty 2 where they had a fashion show and I got check two things off my Things to do before I reach 20 list (haha yeaaa I have a list) which I made five years ago because of it: 

1. To help out in a non-profit organization specifically one that does something about education and 

2. Walk on a runway in a fashion show.  

The event was held at the Rockwell Tent last August 10, 2012.

Photo credits to Served Fresh
The show was hosted by Chris Tiu and Alex Gonzaga (both in white).
And that's the Chief Executive Officer of Future Faces Manila, Winnie Wong (in red)

         

Philippine Model Congress

From what started from a text from a high school friend, led to an eye-opening and learning experience.

My friend Tricia and I
Photo by Thomas Rosal

I was doing my homework when my friend Tricia texted me telling me that she and a couple of her friends are organizing this thing called the Philippine Model Congress to be held in the Batasan Pambansa (which was eventually held in the Senate). She was wondering if I was interested in helping out. My instinct said YES but reluctance followed because I wasn't so sure what this Congress was exactly about. So, I had follow up questions.

I got to view the website they were still working on and understood what it was. It was simulating the youth into what goes on in the proceedings in the House of Representatives. I thought that it was such a pioneering idea. And I got on board. I posted about the event on Facebook hoping students at my university would sign-up.

Photo by Michael Lorenzana

2nd Global Youth Summit

Last September 7, my friend Elle and I attended the 2nd Global Youth Summit at SM North Edsa Skydome. Since we had to join in groups, we were fortunate enough to join the UA&P group since the ones from DLSU were already full.

There Skydome was packed! Students from the different universities in our country and even outside came in for this summit. There were many speakers who inspired us and taught us ideas from communicating our ideas, to project management, to upscaling our ideas, and getting support to be able to turn these ideas into reality.

Some of the speakers were Chito Macapagal, Anton del Rosario, Jim Paredes from the Apo Hiking Society, and Michael Lobrim. They taught us about how one idea, no matter how small or how big, if you believe in it and get people to believe in it to, and once you work together towards that goal, it can become a reality. We can also touch many lives from that idea.

Never the Strangers, the band behind the Moving Closer song in one of the toothpaste commercials, played!

Each group was given a case to solve. My group was given a topic on the health sector; about how to get people to invest on their health. We focused on marginalized groups. We want them to be able to be hands on with their health. Aside from the simple projects of medical-dental missions, we want to ensure that the local health centers are fully equipped with the medicines that their people need. This entails help from the local government units to fund the project and to do so with integrity since it is their responsibility to ensure the health of their constituents.

Also, in the case, it wants us to solve the problem of the people investing on health insurance. This brings up the Philhealth card that our government has which you can read more about here.

The event was fun! We learned so much, we gained connections, we were moved, and we were inspired. Hopefully, more of the youth today can join more of these so that we can all come together and work together so that we can work towards the progress of our country! :)

Cheerdancing

One thing that makes me really happy is dancing.

It's when I let the music take me away and just let every fiber in my body move along to its beat and rhythm. It's about the moves I can make; the different ways I can contort my body. It's a way for me to relax whether it be through dancing to the bass blasting through the speakers or through pretending to be a ballerina with slower tunes.

Photo by Mari Olan

Dance gives me a certain euphoria. When I dance, I feel like I'm in a whole new zone; it's my little world where I know I best express myself. Let's face it.. I'm not exactly a singer like my sibling who can carry many different tunes, I'm working on my writing, and I definitely know I talk a lot too. But when I dance, it's inexplainable. I know there's a term to describe it, but I just can't catch it right now.

Ever since I entered college, dance went from my top priorities to one of my least priorities as compared to high school. I became more focused on my academics. I became very active in a political organization. I still hung-out with friends. I made time for my family and time to pray. I have no complaints. I'm very happy where I am in my life right now. But a certain realization just entered my head - I practically shunned dance off. There were a few moments I got to relive it. My friend Alex got me to go dance with a dance crew in school called Skittlez. But I only got myself to go twice. Again, I didn't prioritize it.