FORGING UNITY AMONG College of Arts and Sciences (CAS) student organizations, the Student Organization Circle (SOC) participated in the annual Leadership-Training Seminar (LTS) at the Pamanang Bedista last August 6.
In an interview with The Bedan, Ramon Gabriel Ledesma, Student Council (SC) Vice President for Internal Affairs (IVP), stated that the purpose of this annual event was to reconnect students with student leaders.
“[The] purpose of this event is to reconnect the students or reconnect student-leaders para mas impactful ‘yung ginagawa ng mga events ng student-leaders natin,” he said.
Ledesma then narrated the struggles they experienced due to the recent Typhoon Crising as they had no other choice but to relocate the location, time, and venue of the event.
“For the conduct of the event, unfortunately, it wasn’t as planned. It’s supposed to be bigger and better…” he stated.
He also mentioned that for six years, the leadership training was usually conducted inside the University, deviating from the usual practice of having such events hosted outside the campus, due to budget constraints and the administration’s own concerns.
“Ang ginawa na lang natin as for the second segment is ipapasok natin yung mga ginagawa sa leadership training seminar sa loob ng San Beda. So, we’re bringing the training seminar that’s usually conducted outside, inside San Beda,” he said.
The activity featured talks on leadership from former SC President Eunice Bermudez and Rev. Fr. Anselm Manalastas, OSB. It also included team-building activities, highlighted by an “Amazing Race” segment at St. Maur’s Hall.
The SOC-LTS concluded with the awarding of reaccreditation certificates to student organizations.
Ledesma also took note as to how troublesome it was to gauge student engagement, especially when it is a mandatory event that traditionally entails lengthy talks and minimal interaction.
“According to our handbook, kailangan kasi talaga pagdaanan [ang] Leadership Training Seminar bago ma-reaccredit ‘yung organization nila, so it was really hard to get their attention since it is a required event.”
Despite this, his office remained steadfast as he recalled how they planned to make the event more appealing despite abrupt changes in the event.
“The best thing we can do is innovate and make it much more interactive. And I think we were able to successfully do that,” he said.
Originally scheduled for July 22, the second part of the two-day affair was postponed to August 6 due to inclement weather conditions.
(with Aliyah Buene D. Aya-ay)