IT’S ALL OVER; SEMESTER ENDS

My last exam is over. With the submission of my answer sheet comes the official end of my academic obligation for this semester. A great feeling of relief and outer freedom came over when I realized that all is over. I can now shove my books and have all the time in the world doing everything I need aside studying. I do not want to recap the exam; I just hope to capture the significant happenings of this day in depth and precision.

• The Block A and B outing in Lopez Beach Resort was fun and relaxing. The breeze of the sea blew away the heavy feeling of academics. Now, we just have to worry ourselves on what to do with our summer. We spent 7 hours bonding, walking on the beach, playing cards, making sand art, eating, and just enjoying each others’ company. A rainbow even appeared around mid afternoon.
• By 6:00 pm, Maki and I changed disposition. From an outing, we joined the KKP Volunteers’ tribute program for the seniors. It was very romantic, creative, and emotional. The stc lobby was transformed into a candle lighted hall. For me, the meaning of the whole event was articulated by the words said by Sir Pimentel during his “inspirational message”.
• The things you have done or the grades you’ve earned are not really that important. What is important are the things, the ideas, and the skills you have learned that will grow with you as you go out into the world. The very hallmark of the KKP Volunteer Formation Program is the raw social-oriented experience they provide and the training on how to process the whole experience.
• Therefore, it is the ability to process that raw experience and the ability to see oneself as a whole person in any given situation (demanding, draining, horrific events etc.) that highly counts. This is the stuff of leadership. The ability to process and extract insights, see oneself as a whole in any situation and convert all those personal insights (self-mastery, foresight) into actions of service are the key elements of heroic leadership, true atenean leadership. The interplay of these elements need tremendous amounts of energy and this could be provided for by our faith.
• Sir Ermin opened up a whole idea on the movement of our leadership this coming year. It is ideal for the CSG to expand its activities outside of the university, It should not be enclosed or insulated rather it should target the involvement of the greater community outside. That ought to be our role. Aside from governing in a daily basis, we should conceive and implement programs with a series of projects that are long term, multi-faceted, and wider in impact. Programs that deploy students outside the campus such as organizing an inter-high school quiz bee (good for XU marketing), voting registration drive, building homes, reducing in-campus trash through a community drive, election awareness and so much more.
• This was also opened up about the need to review the Awards and Recognition Committee's procedure in choosing a class valedictorian. The 50-50 policy of school performance and speech are quite misleading. The 50% allocated for the quality of the speech ought to be reduced to either 40 or 35 % because it does not reflect the true ability of the person to process his Xavier experience but only the talent of his/her articulation. The bulk should be given to his school performance (school involvements, academic performance) because the things he did in his 4 years in Xavier rather than what she/he said at that moment of deliberation is more heavy, substantive and real. This should be tackled by the Directorate by 1^st quarter and open this concern to the Academic Council.