By: Elaine Rosarina Mesina, Robert John Sarmiento, and Jemar Luczon
With all those “weird flex” and great moments, people see on social media, young ones coined the term #SanaAll. Literally translated into “hope everyone”, it’s an expression that says “I hope that happens to everyone” as well as “I hope that happens to me”. Worry no more, because PNS provided a series of career talks to make one’s #SanaAll into reality.
For the first time ever, PNS conducts its annual career fair to a virtual setup for all PNS scholars to sharpen their skills in every facet of life. This consisted of talks entitled: I Am Ready, I Am Worthy, and I Am Confident which brought the scholars one step closer to their ideal selves.
I Am Ready
The “I am ready” session facilitated by Ms. Joana Marie Iglesia was all about utilizing different resources available to teachers’ disposal. Ms. Iglesia categorized these resources into three namely: No Tech, Low Tech, and High Tech. As the names suggest, it represented the types of students who have different socio-economic statuses which affect their capability to own a gadget. The “No Tech” category consists of modules, textbooks, and activity sheets that should all be contextualized to fit the learners’ needs. Second, the “Low Tech” category is made up of basic cell phones and radio. Lastly, the “High Tech” consists of high-performing gadgets that can access Learning Management System (LMS) and Student Information System (SIS).
As the participants of this session are mostly future educators, the relevance and timing of this session could not have been more perfect. The sudden shift to remote learning affected millions of learners and mostly, the badly hit are those students who came from poor households. The division of learning materials and learners according to their capability to own a gadget would help education amid the pandemic to be more inclusive.
While it is recognizable that the learning experience is not the same for everyone during this remote learning set-up, would lead to an education that promotes inclusion, compassion, and empathy — because as educators of the present and of the future, one’s mission should always be “Para sa bata at para sa bayan!”
With this, future educators are now ready to brave the world of teaching because “#SanaAll ready” becomes “I am ready”.
I Am Worthy
Volunteerism is something that you offer to do even if one is not obligated to do. One of the organizations that practice volunteerism is Caritas Manila. It aims to expand social services and development ministry and ensure social impact for integral human development and sustainable growth. Some of its services include Youth Servant Leadership and education program, Caritas Damayan, Sanlakbay, and Restorative Justice Ministry. The Restorative Justice Ministry provides values formation, paralegal assistance, counseling and healing of victims, livelihood, and aftercare. It aims to give pastoral care to inmates to aid their conversion, restoration, and transformation.
Being a volunteer is not an obligation, but it can give a lot of benefits to those who are willing. Its essence is giving back and making a difference to the community. But it does not end there, being a volunteer can give one a lot of experience and skills. Being part of the community, meeting new people, and hearing their stories can bring new experiences and life realizations. It can help you boost one’s confidence as it builds a natural sense of achievement and accomplishment. Additionally, it can provide a sense of purpose, self-worth, and happiness. It may seem that a lot of people are having a hard time trying to be a volunteer because of other priorities, but it is definitely worth the time and effort.
With this appreciation of the value of humanity and volunteerism, scholars turned their “#SanaAll worthy” into “I am worthy” (or even “we all are worthy”) in the belief that everyone deserves love.
I Am Confident
In this session, scholars were taught that they have new considerations in making themselves presentable to other people. Mrs. Katrina Cruz taught the scholars how to make themselves camera-ready in a new world where people mostly see faces on rectangular screens.
She emphasized beauty care tips like cleansing, toning, and moisturizing the face so it would look fresh and pleasing on the screens. It is also notable that one should have clean or neutral backgrounds in meetings as they might serve as a distraction to the other attendees. Camera angles also dictate whether or not one is looking down to one’s peers so it is best to have the camera placed at eye level. One’s proximity to the camera also matters since it would affect how the face is seen by viewers.
As she is a makeup artist, she also shared how women can maintain professional looks even with minimal effort. For her, it is important to put makeup when there’s enough light so that the contours and shades would be blended well.
This shifts the scholars’ “#SanaAll confident” into “I am confident” especially in braving meetings in virtual setup.
No More #SanaAll
With these initiatives, PNS hopes that the scholars would now believe that they are indeed ready, worthy and confident. “I am!” shows that one is already embodying the traits that one hopes. “I am!” exemplifies that one is already achieving one’s dreams. “I am!” is an extravaganza of self-confidence and self-competence — that the #SanaAll of yesterday is the reality of today.