Nurturing the big dreams of today’s youth
L ike many his age, Louie Aldrei Alejandrino, a 16- year- old Medical Technology student from the University of Santo Tomas, has big dreams. He wants to become a doctor — a good one, if not the best doctor of his generation.
Equally important, he wants to become a leader in the medical field.
Like Aldrei, Allison Mikayla Bobier, a 17-year-old Psychology student from Miriam College, also dreams of becoming a doctor and to excel in her profession.
To equip them with the skills useful in achieving their dreams, Aldrei and Allison applied to be part of this year’s 6th ARC Young Leaders Camp (ARCYLC).
The ARCYLC is the annual flagship corporate social responsibility program of ARC Refreshments Corp., maker of RC Cola, which aims to provide a suitable breeding ground for future Filipino leaders.
“I applied because I wanted to gain new experience and a wider network,” Allison says. “I came from an all-girls’ school so I wanted exposure to a variety of people.”
Aldrei, for his part, says he wanted to continuously improve his skills as a student leader: “For a good leader, learning doesn’t really stop,” he says.
They are among 50 students from different schools who were selected to participate in the camp, which was held at the Shercon Resort & Ecology Park in Batangas from Feb. 10 to 12.
Carrying the banner “Lead, Create, Change,” the three-day camp immersed participants in leadership discussions, teambuilding activities and workshops with some of the country’s top movers and change makers.
ARC presented Aldrei and Allison, along with Ana Mariz Pineda from the University of the Philippines-Los Banos, to the media during a sendoff ceremony held recently at the Century Park Hotel.
ARC executive vice president and COO Gerry Garcia said the company knows that providing support and inspiration to deserving young leaders could certainly impact their future and later promote positive change in their community.
“It’s planting a seed that can grow, that can go and multiply,” Garcia said of the camp, which has gained considerable following since its launch in 2012. “We want them to share their learning because we need many leaders in our country. They can enter government service, corporate or be a public servant.”
It was Garcia’s own experience in joining leadership youth camps when he was in high school that inspired him to do a similar project for ARC.
“I really learned a lot from those youth camps,” he says, adding that such activities really build confidence.
For this year’s camp, ARC endeavored to cover more colleges, even tapping schools outside of Metro Manila such as those in Cavite, Laguna and Bulacan.
Over 300 student applications had to undergo a rigorous screening process — from paper screening to panel interview — conducted by ARC executives.
“What set these delegations apart from other applicants were their evident leadership qualities and determination to finish school despite struggles and eyeing a brighter future while serving the country in their own ways,” Garcia explains.
During the camp, the students engaged in team discussions, experiential activities and brainstorming. They also interacted with some of the country’s change-makers, who gave them firsthand advice on how to create change, lead in their schools, communities, and eventually in society and the entire nation.
Garcia said that in the past, several speakers inspired the participants in a profound way, encouraging them to follow their dreams and give back to their communities by becoming selfless leaders. Aisa Mijeno, the Filipina engineer who co-founded Sustainable Alternative Lighting (SALT) — a startup that created a lamp powered by saltwater — and shared the stage with former US President Barack Obama during APEC 2015, was one such speaker.
Garcia recounted how Mijeno thought of inventing a lamp because she saw how, in far-flung villages, children had difficulty reading because there was no electricity. Garcia said the students were really inspired by Mijeno’s story: “The students learn the virtues of selflessness and they are also able to build their confidence.”