HS students speak on leadership: I can make a difference

I am a leader, I can make a difference.

With this premise, 12 senior high school students delivered speeches ontrue leadership in the recently held grand finals of the Voices ofLeadership Elocution Competition on Wednesday.
The public speaking contest is a corporate advocacy of Volvo Philippineslaunched last November 2008. It was organized by Viking Cars Inc (VCI), theauthorized dealer of Volvo cars in the Philippines, and Scandinvian MotorsCorp. (SMC), the official importer of Volvo cars in the country.

As varied as the schools the contestants came from, each speech gavenumerous definitions: from the universally known concept of "A leader is aservant" to endearing ones as "Ang lider ay isang salmon" to seriousnotions as "Leadership is a way of life."

For Chinese-looking (but purely Filipino) John Xavier Valdez from Ateneo deManila High School, "Leadership is not about power or charisma. It is notsocial class or distinction. It is not about job experience or education."

In his grand prize-winning piece, Valdez said that leadership is "somethingthat transcends age, class, social distinction, gender, even the shape ofone's eyes. Leadership is about influence, nothing more, nothing less." Headded that, "Under this definition, every man, woman, child, in this nationof 90 million is a leader in his own right."

Regina Isabelle Jaimee Ranada of Miriam College, the first runner-up,played with the concept of the word yes. "Yes is a response. Leaders mustbe responsive. A leader should care not only for the task at hand, not onlyfor the members of her team, but also for herself. Second, yes signifiesacceptance…you have to accept the fact that you are not perfect. Yes, is apositive reaction. Leaders should react positively no matter the situationmay be. She should be ready to give affirmation," Ranada explained.

As for second placer Christian Earl Castañeda of La Salle Greenhills whobrought the house down with his quirky speech, he compared a leader to atree. "Ang puno ay nagbibigay buhay at pag-asa sa ating lahat. Ang puno aynagbibigay lilim sa atin kapag tayo ay naiinitan o nauulanan. At higit padun, ang puno ay nagbubunga ng masasarap na prutas, ngunit hindi para sakanyang sarili."

Regardless of the many metaphors, the majority of the speakers agree on onething: everyone can be a leader and everyone should start to createpositive and substantial change in their little ways.

"Marami kang matutulungang tao at pag-ibayuhin mo ang iyong talento. Kungmagaling kang kumanta, maaaring kanta mo ang sunod na kakantahin ng mgaFilipino ngayon. Kung magaling ka sa sports, malay mo, ikaw na angkauna-unahang mag-uwi ng gintong medalya sa Olympics," Castañeda said.

Being a good leader, as Ramada puts, "is about saying yes to being a rolemodel, which ironically enough, encompasses a lot of Nos." She adds that"One yes inspires more Yeses."
Valdez further encourages that, "If we recognize the fact that we are allleaders, and that we all have influence, and really use that in our dailylives, we will bring out change. And we will become the very Messiah ourcountry desperately needs."

The other finalists are: Rebecca Ambil (St. Paul University Quezon City),Anna Pizarro (St. Scholastica's College Manila), Maldova Marcos (OBMontessori), Senando Santiago (UP Integrated School), Geraldine Felicio(Assumption College), Miguel Roman Perez (Colegio de San Agustin), BeatriceSheena Tan (Saint Jude Catholic School), Joseph Chan (Xavier School), andMarinella Belen (De La Salle Santiago Zobel).

Only the first
"It's the first and it's an advocacy that we'd like to continue," AlbertArcilla, VCI president and chief executive officer, said after the event.According to him, the results of the first batch were positive andinspiring.

"We were very surprised, these students are very much in tune with reality.They want to share their thoughts and their ideas. I think this is oneforum that will correct a lot of misimpressions about the youth," Arcillatold abs-cbnnews.com.

The mechanics of the competition are quite simple. After receiving aninvitation, interested schools are will choose three representatives andsend these students to a two-day leadership seminar. During the seminar,students are trained in different skills that enhance leadership andresponsibility among the students. They are also guided in the art ofpublic speaking and writing their pieces for the competition.

"We trained them in skills that we think are important for their ownpersonal growth and their contribution to society. When they came back totheir respective schools, they have their own respective competitions,"Arcilla explained.

The winners in the internal school competitions will become the officialschool representative in the grand finals, that way, every participatingschool is represented.
Speeches should "best articulate the concept of "true leadership" inspiredby integrity of heart and excellent skills, God-centeredness, andaccountable and responsible stewardship," according to Arcilla.

The grand prize winner received P50,000 and a Voice of Leadership plaque.The first and second runner-up each received a Voice of Leadership plaqueand P40,000 and P30,000, respectively. The winners' home schools alsoreceived the same amount to support a school program to propagate the true character of leadership among the faculty and staff. But the remainingfinalists didn't go home empty handed. Each received a Voice of Leadershipmedal and P10,000 while their schools received P20,000.

--My first feature story for the month. I haven't written a feature article for a long long time, I think I wrote this poorly but I realized I'm getting used to writing lengthier and lengthier pieces (Is that good or bad?). Anyway, I had fun during the event-though I was underdressed! Photo was taken by Nica Sta. Lucia (who was also underdressed) and the rights belong to abs-cbnnews.com, where this story was initially published.