XAVERIAN'S CORNER

More Than What I Expected
Butch Lorenzo (H3F), H3 Batch Representative

Posted Wednesday, 14-Feb-2007 8:25 AM

      Last January 19, 2007 several Xaverians, including myself, went on a two-day Ignatian leadership training.

      Student leaders from the High School and the Grade School were invited to this first-ever Ignatian Leadership Workshop for Student Leaders. Among the participants were the High School Student Council Executive Board, CAT Corps Commander, Harroun Wong, YCLC and Metamorphosis head, Thompson Tang, H3F Class President, Jake Ejercito and several Grade School student leaders.

      The first part of the workshop took place at the HS Media Education Center where we had Fr. Santos Mena, S.J. as our first speaker. He entertainingly told us about our school’s history in detail. For many of us, it was our first time to hear about many of the things he shared. Thus, I think it was really a great way to start our leadership training because learning about the hardships that people went through just to have our school really inspired each one of us.

      After Fr. Mena’s motivating talk, our group, along with a couple of teachers headed to the Jesuit Villa in Taytay, Rizal where we stayed for the rest of the workshop.

      During the next two days, a series of encouraging talks bringing out the true Xaverian in all of us were given by our speakers. Other than listening to the talks, we also had activities that bonded us despite our differences. The activities taught us to respect others’ opinion, to get along with them and to be patient in the things that we do. Furthermore, the workshop didn’t only offered serious modules but fun ones as well. In our first evening, we also had games that again, bonded all of us.

      The following day started with a mass presided by Fr. Guy Guibelondo, S.J., our Campus Minister. This was followed by a captivating talk given by Bro. Robbie Sian, S.J. a Jesuit scholastic who used to be one of our teachers in Xavier. Lastly, we had a recap of our whole experience that weekend.

      For me, it was that recap that struck me the most. I realized that I should take this experience along with me. I also realized that not each one of us is given this blessing and is granted with this gift to lead others toward a common goal. Most importantly, I realized that I had much more than what I thought I had as a Xaverian. All in all, I truly believe that this Ignatian leadership workshop has helped us, student leaders, to become better leaders.

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