Sunday, March 24, 2019

2019 TEDxYouth@SJCS

TED (Technology, Entertainment, and Design) is a nonprofit organization that seeks to bring people across different backgrounds together for idea-sharing and development. From those who seek interest in new insights to those who build upon existing knowledge to develop newer ones, TED brings everyone together in the spirit of sparking great conversation.

Likewise, SJCS upholds a commitment to excellence and service, as well as promotes qualities such as acceptance and international-mindedness, which are among the main values advocated by the IBDP. To tie in the ideals of both TED and SJCS, we, the organizers, have chosen the theme, “Uncensored: Perspectives Worth Challenging ” for the event. With this theme, we would like to bring forth new perspectives on the untouched topics, such as divorce and LGBT-Q, to our institution so to spread awareness on modern issues to the SJCS community. This activity was held last February 6, 2019, at the Father Peter Yang Hall.

The topics, main points, and speakers, of this talk, are as follows:
1. Jeepney Journey: Richard Juan
- Debunk what it truly means to be a Filipino even if you have foreign blood.
2. Reification by Justice Marivic Leonen
- What it truly means to have freedom of speech, its implications, and responsibilities. 
3. Revisit, Not Revise by Maria Christina Bawagan
- Uncensoring the prevailing issue of historical revisionism through media censorship in the Philippines setting.
4. Shedding Light on the Dark Web by Carlos Tingson
- How unsafe people are really on the web?
5. Captcha: I am Not a Robot by Regiena Siy
- The struggles of youths nowadays in trying to fit into the educational system of schools.

Set-up of the Stage.

This event's energetic hosts are no other than Mr. Ian Pangilinan and Ms. Shania Felizarte

The opening prayer was lead by my co-steering head Ms. Sharisse Chan

The opening remarks were lead by Saint Jude's school principal Mr. Paulino Belamide, SVD

Speaker 1: Mr. Richard Juan

Speaker 2: Mr. Leonen

Speaker 3: Mr. Tingson

Speaker 4: Regiena Siy

Speaker 5: Mam Bawagan

After all of the heavy discussions brought by the speakers, the crowd was serenaded by SUD

Closing remarks by this event's overall coordinator Ms. Khryza Co

Group Photo (spot me)

***For my IB CAS Requirements:
My role in this event is to serve as a deputy for the steering committee. I will take part in the steering committee who will spearhead all the whole activity. The steering committee is in charge of contacting all speakers and ensuring that the event runs smoothly. Additionally, the steering committee was divided into different sub-committees for us to be able to overlook the other committees. I was tasked to be a representative in the media committee.

When Mr. Villas gave the news to me that I am one of the chosen heads for this year's TEDx event, truth be told, I am really hesitant to accept the position because I know that since this is my last year as an IB student, the academic workload will really be hectic. Furthermore, there are a lot of college applications that I must accomplish and pass alongside this academic workload. I have this attitude wherein if I am the leader of something, I really want to make sure that everything will fit the standards of "Sobina." I don't want to create an event just for the sake of creating one. However, among all of my classmates, I was selected to be the leader, which is why I agreed to take on the position. Thankfully, through my perseverance, dedication, hard work, and balancing skills, I was able to manage my time carefully to balance all of the things I must do this year. I must say that achieving this is not easy. Often times, sleep must be sacrificed to pave way for group planning or to get that 7 in a test. However, since I have my priorities straight, I didn't bother these hardships, and I persevered (balance, LO2, and LO4).

This event was spearheaded by me and with some of my classmates. In order to make this event as successful as possible, we planned and constantly update each other about our progress and the things that need attention. We were able to achieve this by being a communicator. Furthermore, our attitude of working collaboratively with one another allowed for the success of this event (communicator and LO3, and LO5).

I might be mistaken, but I believe that the primary reason why the teachers chose me to be one of the heads is because of my experience in planning events and my ideas. Even so, these strengths of mine are not enough to prevent me from encountering difficulties. Hence, I was able to develop new skills such as time management, grace under pressure, and being calm (LO1).

The topics we presented in this year's TEDx talks are taboo topics which society normally doesn't feel comfortable to talk about. These issues are not only specific to the Philippines but to the rest of the world also. Therefore, by choosing to create a talk which encourages critical thinking and empathy all over the world, we are able to show global significance, and in the process, our knowledge about these issues increased (LO6 and knowledgeable).

I hope that this won't be the last TEDx event that I will organize. More so, I hope that the participants learned a lot about the taboo topics we presented, and in the process, learned how to be more accepting, not just tolerating. 

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