ATENEO STUDENT LEADERS ASSEMBLY 7:
WHAT’S IT ALL ABOUT, ASLAN? WHY LOVE?
Zeus Dorado

Here is my LEADERSHIP Quote during ASLA5 Day3:
“It’s not about doing more. It’s about doing something.
It’s not about doing something great. It’s about doing something good.
It’s not about being the best. It’s about being you.”

It’s true, when we declare ourselves ‘All In,’ we find what we seek.
“Rehas na bakal, dalawang bilanggo’y nakadungaw sa bintana.
Ang isa’y nakatitig sa lupa, ang isa’y nakatingin sa mga tala,”
as I remember Mr. Onofre ‘Pagsi’ Pagsanghan’s delicate voice
flourishing in Dulaang Sibol and in hearts of people listening to him.

If you come to think of it, even if 
different strokes were meant for different folks, 
in the deepest corner of a person’s heart, 
the meeting point of ONE’S DEEPEST GLADNESS 
and the WORLD’S GREATEST HUNGER is, ultimately, LOVE. 
We desire for it. We dare dream because of it. We do it. 
In that desire, dare, and dream of seeking the meaning of one’s life, 
even ordinary people find themselves doing extraordinary things 
by LOVING their calling with passion.

I believe that it is not money that will change this world. It’s love. 

More than anything else, in the course of our lives, 
the decisions that shape us are those when we have fallen in love, 
purposely, when we have remained in it. 

If you believe in the statement 
BE-THE-CHANGE-YOU-WANT-TO-SEE-IN-THE-WORLD, 
just imagine the difference love-lived-out can bring. 
The reality of what we say is defined by 
the life choices we make, 
the risks we take, 
and the love we create. 
Hence, love is a lifelong action of living.

And so in the end, we ask God to teach us how TO LOVE SO THAT WE CAN LEAD.
And in so doing, learn how TO LEAD SO THAT WE CAN LOVE.

 37 different people, 37 diverse lives journeyed upon.. and 37 stories, all intertwined, unto becoming the ASLA7.

It was unknown to us what we got ourselves into, the moment we joined ASLA. A race, is it? Another insightful one? A no-sleeping marathon? Sure enough, it did not fail to satisfy our hunger to experience it - and boy, did it overwhelm us. When we entered ASLA, what we prayed for was just for growth and insights to gain as leaders, but we got more than what we could ask for -- we got twisted challenges, moving stories, met interesting people from different walks of life, knew how it felt to be one with nature, and furthermore, how it is to be part of the ASLA family. 

I believe we are all born leaders - somewhere deep within us, we got the potential to bring about such change we hope for. But then, not all recognize themselves as such, or sometimes, not everyone could dare take a step towards working on that. And yet, there I was with 36 other fellow student leaders, screened as the most passionate ones amongst the Ateneo universities, who willingly took that step and were already creating changes in their own ways. Thing is, an overflowing passion from an individual, multiplied by thirty-seven, is simply indescribable - a leader who has people fellow leaders with him sharing the same beliefs, advocacy, and courage can be more powerful than the richest man, king, or even president alive. 

There are some things you just know with no doubt, that are meant to last for eternity.. and this isdefinitely one of those. This is ASLA7, our legacy is in the making as our passion shall keep us alive. We got through almost a month without Ed's five-minutes-left but once in awhile (don't deny it!), there's JQ's voice asking, 'kaninong kapakanan ang iyong iniisip?', or an LSS outa the blue of 'what's it all about, Alfie?'. Point is, we will carry along with us what has been imparted to our batch - national or not, wherever you are, whichever organization you belong, whatever course you're taking, we all got the seal of an ASLAn Heart. Now the disturbing challenge is, how do we live up to that? 

Writing 'bout ASLA doesn't end here, not even a period can cease this 'ASLA high'.. it goes on. Thing is, it might just come in different subjects and topics, unknown main characters, various events,.. but it all still is the same thing. The same ASLA high we first felt back in the solace of Camp Explore. This is just the beginning. There's a lifetime more to write about. And the catch? Not even a five-hundred paged novel can do justice to what we experienced. 

 

It's been a month since we started that journey, Batch7. Here is now, it's our time. 

P.S: This is another way of saying, I'm missing you all! (and Im typing this @ 4am, forgive the incoherence for now)

 Just a tidbit of our 1am convo..

1:00:28 AM sandz: ewan. here's a funny thought

1:00:29 AM sandz: hahahaha

1:00:33 AM sandz: kanina i was stuck in traffic

1:00:39 AM sandz: then there was this mmda dude

1:00:46 AM sandz: or mmda ba? basta. the traffic dudes

1:00:54 AM Marco2 Ordonez: haha, the traffic dudes

1:01:08 AM sandz: who like went from the intersection, he hitched a motor to get to the santolan intersection

1:01:25 AM sandz: just to stop the intersection traffic in the former intersection

1:01:31 AM sandz: bastaa. basically he fixed the flow

1:01:32 AM sandz: haha

1:01:38 AM sandz: tapos i was like. damn. im jealous

1:01:52 AM sandz: c0z he's just a traffic dude. (FINE, MMDA! i can sense ure laughing at it!)

1:02:06 AM sandz: but heyyy, he knows what change he wants and he knows how to achieve that

1:02:19 AM sandz: he knows how to give directions, how to lead, etc.

1:02:22 AM sandz: gets? haha.

1:02:25 AM Marco2 Ordonez: hehe, reaally cool insight!

1:02:26 AM Marco2 Ordonez: haha

1:02:30 AM sandz: and im like what. im an ateneo student

1:02:40 AM sandz: taking up management course

1:02:49 AM sandz: been studying for what, 17 years? something

1:03:02 AM sandz: but i dont even know how to achieve the change i want.

1:03:13 AM sandz: damn. i must be one heckuva problemized kid. aint i? )

1:03:18 AM sandz: (okay just laugh haha!)

1:03:26 AM Marco2 Ordonez: haha, heckuva

1:03:45 AM Marco2 Ordonez: It's not your fault. I mean, changing a whole organization's way of life is way harder than changing the traffic flow

1:03:53 AM Marco2 Ordonez: that's the toughest thing bout running an org

1:03:56 AM Marco2 Ordonez: making plans is easy

1:04:03 AM Marco2 Ordonez: it's actually leading people that's tough

1:05:22 AM sandz: haaahah i know. its like tara

1:05:28 AM sandz: gawa nlng tayo mktg plan forever

1:05:30 AM sandz: i dont mind

1:05:33 AM Marco2 Ordonez: hehe

1:05:33 AM sandz: conceptualize etc

1:05:34 AM sandz: hahahahaha

1:05:36 AM sandz: easier!

1:05:42 AM Marco2 Ordonez: Yeah, WAAAYYY easier:))

1:05:42 AM sandz: than if u make me ACTUALLY do it

1:05:49 AM sandz: id prolly like go. shit. nevermind.

1:05:50 AM sandz: hahahaha

1:06:08 AM Marco2 Ordonez: haha:))

 One of my sembreak goals was to blog, so here i blogged:P haha:)) It's pretty long- and admittedly very cheesy:P- but I think that it has a nice message that i wanna put across. During ASLA, they told us to blog about our experiences. This is my way of doing it.:D



    An old song by Gary Granada talks about a kite that will fly against the rain, rising amidst the torrents of wind that press it down and fighting through the piercing drops of rain. I heard about this song from a talk during ASLA 7, and the image just stuck to me since then. Just imagine a frail, forgotten little kite with the guts- or the nerve- to challenge the heavens and dare to fly amidst the rain. Imagine the audacity of a little kite struggling against the rain and daring to paint a drop of color against the gray sky. Imagine the surprise of the dark sky, which has already accepted its plight amidst the storm, as it sees a small kite break the monotony that it’s long embraced.  
    The rain is heavy, the wind is strong, the sky seems wider than the deepest ocean. Yet still the kite flies. Ang saranggola ay lilipad sa ulan. 
    In a way, this is also the plight of the dreamer. Anyone with a dream is faced with a reality that is far from what he or she finds ideal. Any kite, after all, would rather fly in the sunlight rather than through a storm, right? In fact, this difference from reality is often what makes people dream in the first place. This disparity between real and ideal is what disturbs the dreamer and makes him or her think of creating something, making a change. When everyone else would stay inside, safe from the wind and rain, the dreamer goes out and tries to bring in sunlight. In the midst of the storm, the kite will fly.
    But what good does a dreamer dreaming or a kite flying through a storm really bring? 
    When a kite flies through the rain, the gray sky is disturbed by a speck of color. Like how a small single candle is enough to shed light in even the darkest of rooms, this small speck of color is enough to challenge the monotony of the storm.. This sends a message to anyone who sees it. After all, if one kite can withstand the rain, so can another, right? Eventually, more kites dare to defy the rain, and the blanket of gray is turned to a pallet of color and brightness. The sky, which has resigned itself to its grim plight, then sees the flight of colors filling it, allowing it to think that maybe the gray monotony it’s grown accustomed to isn’t the only option.  The same thing happens with a dreamer. All it takes is one dreamer to “fly his kite”, and spread his or her passion to others. Hope, after all, is very contagious.  A true dreamer’s dream does not end with him or herself, after all, but rather leads to other dreams and aspirations, like a fire that spreads from brush to brush. Eventually the future might not seem so grim anymore. A dreamer’s got to keep “flying his kite through the rain” and encouraging others to fly their own kites. In other words, a dreamer must keep dreaming, in the process inspiring people to dream their own dreams, and work into turning them into reality. Sooner or later the rain will stop, and the formerly frail colorful kites will be the sky’s masters. The storms will pass, but dreams live on.  
    What this essay is trying to say is that we should dare to dream, even if everything around us is telling us to just accept the way things are and sink into our routines. In the face of the storm, the easy choice would be to stay in and wait until the rain stops, surrendering all our aspirations. The challenge, however, is to go out and fly a kite in the storm, undaunted by the cold and the rain. If we don’t, then we’ve just let the sky get robbed of its color, and no one would have any reason to do anything but sink deeper into his or her couch. Dare to dream. Break the monotony of resignation and hopelessness. Sooner or later, someone will follow and the sky will be filled with the color of our ambitions. 
    The last panel ever of Calvin and Hobbes (the one on my avatar thingy:P) adds a lot of depth to the point that I’m trying to make. In the panel, Hobbes looks at the ground full of snow and talks about how “it’s like having a big white sheet of paper to draw on”, to which Calvin replies, “ a world full of possibilities”. The white snow that made the whole world cold and placid was turned into a great white sheet just waiting to be written on. This is our world, OUR big white sheet of paper to draw on. People talk about how the youth’s going to change the world. That’s out of the question, we are and everyone knows that. The question is, what are we going to change it into? The pen’s in our hands, the world is our sheet of paper, maybe it’s time we start drawing. 

To ASLA, salamat. The experience helped me out alot, specially with being idealistic and stuff. ASLA batch 7, the ball's in our court, what are we gonna do about it?:D (hint hint, visit http://groups.yahoo.com/group/aslasocialentrepthingy haha:P )

To YFC, let's keep making a change and building up our community. Dare to keep building a community that allows us to live our faith and help change other the lives of others. Dare to keep the faith burning bright enough for the world to see. Dare to defy! (hehe, sound familiar?:P) Here's to the rest of the year and the years ahead!:D God is good? All the time!:D

~ Marco Ordonez 

A rather disappointing final exam, two final programming projects; and boy do I envy all of you for being so free right now. haha!

Also, implementing our Handog project. The teachers from bacalan, a local province outside zamboanga just arrived yesterday, and they were given a mini tour and an orientation on the Training. I realized I was still so full of ASLA high when I kept on emphasizing during the opening remarks and the orientation that what we wanted was to empower them so they too can better empower their students, and that we believed that they can make it happen. But I think this is a high I never would want to let go of. :)

The teachers are currently in their first serious day of sessions and workshops. I'll be going to school soon for that. :)


Gerard

Just as Mitch Albom says in one of his bestsellers, "All endings are also beginnings. We just don't know it at the time." The ASLA five-day seminar of Batch 7 officially ended last Friday. But this is definitely just the beginning of a new journey, of 37 lives intertwined, of greater things ahead, of making other leaders happen. 

This blog shall be the testimony of the struggles & joyous moments of each of us. Share a thought, write about "kaninong pakanan ang iyong iniisip?" level of mind-boggling questions, drop a note, shout-out, post a picture, talk about an experience.. this is ASLA7's journal. This is about us, about our journey as a batch. This is our story.

So what are we waiting for? Inspire. Believe. Write your history. Let's make it happen. :) We got each other, and it will always be a challenge in keeping that passion alive. But hearing from one another's experiences, maybe it's not going to be that hard.

Go on, and blog away, ASLA7!

 

<3, me :) 

P.S: Mother Pangga said the layout reminded her of the strings activity ;) haha.


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