2010 Leadership Training and Mathematics Camp
(Resource Speaker)
Theme: “Making Sense: Learning by Doing, Leading by Emulating”
October 15, 2010
10:30 A.M.
CristobalS.ConductoMemorialNationalHigh School
Rizal, Laguna
(Greetings)
Nobody can deny that the present generation of Filipino youth is one of the brightest. First of all, you were blessed to have been given the freedom of access to information. You have been born in an era where almost everything comes instant. Technology has made your life easier, and perhaps at an early age, most of you already lead a tech-savvy lifestyle which was not available before. In a time when science provides almost all the answers to everything, perhaps, you might feel that your existence is irrelevant, and that ignorance to technology is an instant sentence of disfellowship to the advancement of our society.
If ever I ask each of you now, “Which person do you admire most and why?”, maybe most of you will answer a name of a famous actor or singer. Some of you will name politicians, for others, family members and loved ones. Regardless of which person you choose to render your admiration, this choice of yours fully explains your self-vision and orientation of your own persona- how you have been raised, what type of environment you grew up in, and who nurtured you- idolizing these persons simply represent your life’s inner dreams, it encapsulates the desires of your wishful thinking. It simply speaks who you are and what you want to become in the future.
Idolizing a person simply means that you would like to become him or her, or the least, follow the footsteps he or she took in order to succeed. In his or her defeat, you saw your failure. In his or her victory, you related your own triumph. When I was younger, I also have a lot of figures I put on pedestal. Actors, singers, name it, I emulate it. With the perception and a certain degree of infatuation, I felt that what my idols do is easy. How hard is it to sing, dance, or act? You just have to fill the shoes of another person, and that’s it! But just as when I thought that life was that easy, I was surprised to know that following their footsteps was an uphill climb. It took more than the amount of perseverance that I thought I would render in order to get to where my idols have been placed. I was gravely wrong.
Dreaming was indeed fun for me, but I realized that these dreams would never become a reality unless I learn to live with the talents I was blessed with. I have learned the most valuable lessons in my life upon doing what my idols have done. Allow me to share with you some golden thoughts to ponder on.
- We must make our own mark in life. You may feel that the ultimate purpose of our lives is to be the next Kim Chiu, Marian Rivera, Piolo Pascual, or even Robert Pattinson and Taylor Swift. Because our love overwhelms us, we tend to forget the fact that each of us is uniquely molded by our Creator. It is in this difference that makes us distinctly unique to whom and what we are. These talented people used to be dreamers like us. They also thought of becoming the next this and that, but in the end, they realized that their potential is much daunting than their dreams, that is why they chose to follow their own trail in life. My dear friends, people we emulate must serve as our inspiration in fulfilling the course of our destiny. We must epitomize their good deeds which can help us explore our potentials better, and contribute to the improvement of our totality as a unique individual.
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Leadership Training and Mathematics Camp…page 2 of 2
Believe in all your potentials. Try to outdo yourself in your accomplishments, and the day will come that you will make your own trademark in the field you choose to excel in.
2. Experience is truly the best teacher. Not all of the most important lessons are learned inside the classroom. Sometimes, what marks more are the values we acquire from our attempts to realize our dreams. We need to fail, and we need to fail many, many times because in these failures do we learn how to do things better. No matter how you prepare for disappointments, you will never decipher how to conduct yourself better in your efforts to realize your dreams. There are many people who have experienced the most bitter of failures, but then, they never gave up. Their determination and failures have been their inspiration. Now, they uphold themselves with pride as the leaders of their own industries. In their failures, other people were able to share and relate within these experiences.
3. Go with the flow, but with a plan. If you have seen the movie Forest Gump, I am sure that you are pretty familiar with the saying “LIFE IS LIKE A BOX OF CHOCOLATES, YOU’LL NEVER KNOW WHAT YOU’RE GONNA GET”. Isn’t it truly amazing and exciting how you will wake up everyday not knowing what life has in store for you? It keeps your creativity and resilience to unexpected matters alive and awake. Most people lose interest in pursuing their dreams because they have already been bitten by the mundane bug- which means they already know what will come tomorrow. Excitement propels us to live by our goals of realizing our dreams with enthusiasm. But we must not let our laurels down. We should always hold the lessons we have gained from our past experiences in facing what the future holds for us. Yes, it is ironic, but that is the secret of a fulfilling life. Stand by your truths, live and cope with the ironies.
4. Become a leader by emulating the goodness of others. How many times have we heard people say that the world is such a small place? Someone you know, or someone who knows you, might actually be related to each other. Everyday, we meet a lot of people. Through these socializations, each of us learns something new everyday. We pick up what we admire from each person, and do away with the negativity we observe. You, my dear friends, must imitate the goodness in others so that when you interact with other people, you will become a leader by being a good example to others, thus passing the kindness and goodwill.
My dear friends, making sense in our time is truly hard to realize. One can easily find himself drowned in the pleasures of modern technology that he sometimes finds it hard to decipher life’s most important factors. Making sense would definitely mean more than carrying out your duties, dreaming, and being satisfied with what you have achieved. It is in everyday living that we learn to acquire our goals in life, and the valuable lessons that entail it.
Never look at yourselves as mere teenagers who are still at the brink of knowing and harnessing your potentials. It is in that young state when you are at the peak of your talents and creativity. It is in this stature that you will learn how to use your God-given talents in order to inspire and be emulated by others towards moral and spiritual uprightness, and societal productivity. Be empowered so as to empower. Become the best that you can be, and live each day to the fullest. This, my dear friends, is how one can truly understand how to make sense of his existence: that is, learning by doing, and leading by emulating. Thank you and God Bless!
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Gawad Kalinga
Message
October 15, 2010
1:00 P.M.
GK-Los Baños Ville
Brgy. Tuntungin-Putho
Los Baños, Laguna
(Greetings)
For many years, Gawad Kalinga has dedicated its time and effort in creating a sheer level of humanitarian effort of providing homes for our less fortunate kababayans. With its determination to realize its dream of giving every Filipino family below poverty line a home where they can dwell in with dignity, Gawas Kalinga has taken a big leap in realizing its objective of building new and reputable communities to slowly alleviate poverty in our country. This non-government organization indeed lives by its battle cry, for it provides land for the landless, home for the homeless and food for the hungry”.
Compared to the translation of its name, giving care, Gawad Kalinga has done more than what it should to contribute to nation-building. It has borught back the faith of the underprivileged upon making them feel that they, too, are an important part of our society. They matter as much as anyone else does. Long have there been efforts to mobilize the country towards achieving sustainable, nationwide development, but up to this day, we find our motherland still exerting effort just to achieve even a little of what it was set to attain in a certain period of time.
Gawad Kalinga has created empowered communities all over the country. It has aided greatly in stabilizing the relocation of people away from the congested and chaotic outskirts of cities. It has developed a culture of patriotism and unwavering faith back in the Lord. Your organization has successfully taken the helm of providing a vantage for uniting all sectors of the society in bringing their resources together and distributes it to our less fortunate brothers and sisters.
It is with great pride that the provincial government of Laguna has been one of the key locations chosen by Gawad Kalinga as one of the communities to be further developed and made suitable for our new Lagunense brothers and sisters. The province of Laguna hails of both economic prosperity and maintenance of scarce natural resources. It can hail itself with the most probable places in the country where one can start a new life.
Our dear friends from Gawad Kalinga, your dignified undertakings are the epitome of being utmost heroic in simple ways. May you never put your hammers, paint brushes and hollow blocks down so that with your bare hands, you will be able to uplift the spirits of our less fortunate brothers and sisters in having a home and a life they can truly call their own- away from hunger, from chaos, and from distractions.
And to my fellow citizens, the new vanguards of the homes rendered by GK, may you use this opportunity to fully jumpstart living a new life that thrives on peace and progress. As you embark on a new chapter in your lives, the best way you can show your gratitude to GK is by becoming a productive citizen of our country. Together, let us unite to work for the betterment of our society as we anticipate for the day when there would be no homeless Filipino family. Thank you and have a wonderful life ahead of us!
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Induction of Officers & Hand-Over Ceremonies
Adex