Learning through others: The DLSU Scholarum Awards judging experience

IFIRST heard of and came across the De La Salle University (DLSU) Scholarum Awards last September when I was asked to be the keynote speaker during the awarding ceremony. Ten months later, when I was asked (sometime in July if I recall correctly) if I wanted to be a part of the board of judges, I did not hesitate even though quite frankly, I only had a vague idea of what I was getting into. It was an honor after all, to be in the same panel as individuals who share in the same vision of empowering the youth and education, all of who shine their respective fields. This year, the board of judges was led by Senator Sonny Angara (chairman) and the four others were former congresswoman and current life coach Lorna Verano, DLSU student leader Pram Menghrajani, acclaimed director and youth advocate Jose Lorenzo “Pepe” Diokno, and yours truly. When the extremely thick green binder filled with hundreds if not thousands of sheets of papers and CD’s (mind you, these were already screened prior and judges were only to review the finalists) landed on my door step, to say I was overwhelmed would be quite the understatement.

A week later, my family was set to go on a beach trip to celebrate the birthday of my younger sister. And there I was – I found myself on the shores of Palawan grading essays and watching video clips on my laptop, as I had to get through all the entries before the due date. Looking back though, it was in fact the perfect venue for such a task as the peaceful and serene environment ridded me from distraction. At the same time, it provoked the right mood to help me grade objectively and actually put me in the right frame of mind to read (and watch) through. At the end of the trip, I was rather proud of what I had accomplished and my productivity, to say the very least.

While taxing at times and not to mention extremely tedious, I really enjoyed reading through all the entries as they covered a plethora of topics, ranging from why we need a mental health law in the Philippines, to stories about racism and the stigma it has left on our youth today, generation after generation. The multitude of ways that the journalists chose to convey issues they felt were pressing and significant to the youth and education, presented various writing styles and put me on the other side of the fence – I would continuously tell myself, “Now I know what my professors must have felt like.” The film clips covered an array of topics as well, spanning from a feature documentary on an extremely passionate teacher who chose to take the “road less taken” to children who scavenge through garbage and collect trash to sell, in order to pay for their own education and pave the way to reaching their dreams. Photographs taken and published in various publications were also graded, with the winning piece being a photo of a carefree young Muslim girl who embodied enlightenment and positivity.

I guess when one loves to write, inevitably, he/she also loves to read, because the more you read, the more there is to write about – at least I’ve found that to be the case for me. Overall, I am extremely happy that I took on the daunting task of being one of this year’s DLSU Scholarum Awards judges because it definitely wet my palette to want to learn more from others, as it did broaden my horizons to the many issues that need attention. Oftentimes because of how busy we find ourselves to be on an everyday basis, we tend to confine ourselves to a certain world and create our own bubble, so to speak. While prioritization is key to productivity, it is also healthy (and actually encouraged if I may add) to do and try something new on a regular basis because one must never stop learning and, more importantly, one must continuously spread the word. As Sen. Angara shared in his keynote address during the awarding ceremony, “We seek a Philippines where information is shared and not withheld… We all face the opportunity to galvanize change and the chance to share information is on our fingertips.”