Monday, August 20, 2012

Once Upon A Time: Reality or Not

     Fairy tales have always been a part of our childhood memories. We grew up with stories of magic and happy endings. And we learned to love the way each stories went. And the best part is "And they live happily ever after" was the phrase we usually hear when the story ends. Truly, fairy tales are the reason why we became great believers of something magical and somehow, it did strengthen our capability of believing what's hard to believe. 

     My love for fairy tales was reborn when I discovered "Once Upon A Time". Once Upon A Time is a television series aired on ABC, which casts all fairy tale characters we grew up with. The story revolves around how the evil queen destroys the happiness of Snow White, Prince Charming, and the rest of the fairy tale characters through the use of the dark curse, which leaves the evil queen live a life filled with happiness. 
     Incorporating all fairy tale characters and stitching their story with one another in order to create a one big story was such an ambitious and challenging thing to do for a writer... but the story ended up remarkably amazing and magical! Once Upon A Time came out to be one of the best stories ever told. It was really worth the risk for writers Edward Kitsis and Adam Harowitz. They really know how to turn spectators into solid believers of the story they've created. And I commend them for doing such a great job.

     Once Upon A Time talks about hope, determination, choices, consequences, fate, dreams, courage, happiness, and the power of true love. Such powerful elements to begin and to revolve with. In either fantasy or reality, with magical powers or not, these elements do help people keep on holding on to whatever circumstances they are undergoing right now. And I think, these elements are the main reason why people like me got easily  hooked to it.

     Hope, determination, choices, consequences, fate, dreams, courage, happiness, and the power of true love are and will always be powerful reminders of why we keep on moving forward even though tides are against us. And without these elements, we may never have learned how to become a knight of our own armor. And whatever we may have become right now, it all points us to where our roots are - how great we've hoped, how logical we choose, how far we've dreamed, and how powerful we've loved. Let me end this article by leaving you a simple message from belle.

"No one decides my fate but me."

Sunday, August 19, 2012

Youth Leaders for Knowledge and Development: Be Part of the Second Batch

     Passionate enough to serve the country? Is leadership, nation-building, and positive change are among those topics, which trigger your interest? Well then, you might be qualified for the second batch of Youth Leaders for Knowledge and Development of World Bank-Knowledge for Development Center and the Ateneo School of Government.

     Youth Leaders for Knowledge and Development (YLKD) was previously started as a nationwide search for the 100 young leaders, who will be qualified to participate in the year-long kapihan sessions with top caliber individuals of the Philippines known for their own crafts. Monthly kapihan sessions will serve as a venue for participants to be mentored by these top caliber individuals and to [as well] learn from their own fellow participants.  

     I was fortunate enough to be selected as one of the top 100 young leaders, who applied for the said program. And I became a witness of how we grow as effective leaders of our own advocacy. Some of us went to other countries as delegates of the Philippines, some of our college colleagues were chosen as top students of the country on various award-giving bodies when they graduated, some became better social entrepreneurs, one was appointed by the president of the Philippines to head an agency, and as for me... I became part of U! Happy Events (a foundation for kids) by consistently volunteering on their events. Later on, I was appointed as one of their leaders, and just recently appointed as one of the foundation's new board members. None of these won't happen if it wasn't for YLKD. I learned a lot of effective ways to become a better leader and I gained connections with like-minded individuals, who are willing to sacrifice their own comfort for the sake of other people's comfort. 

     Willing to experience what I've experienced? Then start filling out that application form! Deadline is on August 31, 2012 so you better be hurry, young leader! Catch up for the second batch and discover ways on how to be an effective change-maker.

Wednesday, August 08, 2012

Let's Reach Out, Change-makers!

     The Philippines is currently experiencing another calamity. And there's no way that heroes will only sit down and expect for miracles. Heroes tend to do something great for their fellowmen simply because they are action-makers. They act for the betterment of everyone no matter how costly it would be as long as everyone's safe.  

     All of us can be heroes of our own. We are action-makers and change-makers deep in our hearts. We were honed to express greatness in times of calamities. All we need is a pure heart that cares for others' needs while setting aside our own personal needs. Let's help out! Let's reach out! 

     I'm appealing to my readers worldwide to help the Philippines. Let's set aside cultural and religious difference as of the moment. Let's focus more of our similarities as humans. Let's do our own share for this.


"In times of tragedies like this, CHANGE-MAKERS are at the forefront… 
Ready to serve their fellowmen." - @artistmat

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