In an effort to develop youth’s student-leader journey, the Ten Outstanding Junior College Students (TOJCS) – Batch Sinaglaum of De La Salle Lipa (DLSL) conducted the first of the two assemblies of Sinag ng Kaalaman at Alab ng Kakayahan Para sa Kabataan or SIKLAB Kabataan, an external leadership forum intended for high school and college students in the province of Batangas, via Zoom, Nov. 13.
The webinar’s first session sought to unveil the potential leaders within participants through expounding on organizational management, dynamics, and project concept development.
Christopher Castillo, junior diplomat at the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) and the guest speaker in the plenary session, emphasized how individuals can fulfill their campaigns through identifying social issues that provoke them, their capacities, as well as their support system.
Castillo also reiterated the youth’s crucial role in being functional instead of nominal leaders, as the former will eventually be transformational ones who can extend greater assistance to the society through self-initiated advocacies.
Furthermore, Castillo promoted the proper selection of officials in the upcoming elections and reminded the registered voters to consider the aspirants’ efficiency in providing the life they have imagined for the next six years.
“The next six years [is] long enough for the now-youth to become family providers, assume leadership of advocacies, and confront various risks and vulnerabilities […] if we’re not selecting the best possible leader and head of the government by next year, we are facing another doom, a set of doom for our country,” Castillo said.
Subsequently, the three breakout rooms zero in on strategies to better manage social media and write captions, build capacity, and create publication materials with CBN Asia’s Media Researcher April Rose Magpantay, De La Salle Santiago Zobel School’s Campus and Social Action Minister for Lower Grades Mary Kathlyn Lumbres, and Brandstrong’s multi-page Graphic Designer Mavic Serrano as guest speakers, respectively.
Moreover, the 20 finalists of TOJCS joined forces with College Student Activities Office (CSAO) for the arrangements of the event which took almost two months, from the brainstorming until the dry runs, in which organizers claimed that they experienced challenges with.
“I think [the most challenging part in terms of preparing] will be the availability of the organizers to meet all at once […] to brainstorm, and to conduct the dry runs,” Sunshine Rivera, one of organizers, said.
On the other hand, Lileth Mortañez, week one head organizer, said that it has always been the organization’s goal to launch a program where they can share their collective insights and eventually immerse and capacitate aspiring leaders of the next generation with necessary leadership skills.
“We want them to continue where we left off and seeing them accepting our implicit request is as fulfilling as ever,” Mortañez expressed.
Reinalene Karikitan, fourth-year education student from DLSL and one of the participants in the event, shared that through SIKLAB Kabataan, she realized how possessing wider knowledge and experiences can push her to do better things and create vision for herself and her own community.
“I love how engaging the event [was]. I am looking forward sa topics [for the second week] nila kasi ang realistic nung napili nilang topic ngayon. Also, looking forward din ako sa speakers na makukuha nila. Sana kasing-concise pero informative din mag-explain kagaya noong speakers natin [from the first session],” Karikitan said.
Meanwhile, the second session of SIKLAB Kabataan will be happening tomorrow, Nov. 20, and will tackle prevalent social issues such as mental health, Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity, Gender Expression, and Sex Characteristics (SOGIE-SC), and the current climate crisis.
Article by Jazmine Bustamante
