Raising a New Breed of Leaders

It was a stark contrast.

At almost the exact time that thousands rallied in Makati yesterday against our present leaders in government, I found myself attending my daughter C1’s LEAd graduation. She was 1 of 32 new graduates of a 2-year leadership program formed 6 years ago by her school’s Office of Student Affairs to raise potential leaders.

Many of the graduates had to apply, and undergo screening, for LEad, which aptly stands for Leadership, Empowerment and Development. Surprisingly, C1 was only a newbie, a freshman, when her club nominated her for the program. At home, we had to discern whether to allow her to go through it. After all, she was just beginning college life, still unsure of what academic demands would be placed on her, and this program required a solid commitment from her to attend its activities on weekends. But C1 was determined to make it. We eventually had to trust that somehow, in spite of all the adjustments she needed to make in her new school, she would come through.

And what a program it was! I remember many weekends when we hardly saw her. It seemed like she “lived” in school already.

In her first year, they were groomed for leadership. Seminars and workshops were offered to hone their skills. The second year was even tougher. On weekends they went to different places around the metro. I had to steel myself once against turning paranoid when she said they were visiting the Bilibid prisoners. There were other immersion programs as well such as Gawad Kalinga, trips to Nueva Ecija and other exposure trips which opened my once-sheltered daughter to the realities of how people lived around her.

As I sat at the back yesterday, listened to some come up to the podium and relate their experiences, and viewed their powerpoint presentation of programs achieved, I felt a mommy’s pride in C1 welling up. So this was what she had been up to all these weekends.

As one of their school officials told me during dinner, while the program aims to form potential leaders of university organizations and projects, what she hoped to see in them was leadership in terms of social action, character and values as well. We both agreed that our wish was for these 32 new leaders to keep their idealism and values intact even as they leave school and go into the workplace.

I could only wish that if our own national leaders — graduates of prestigious schools including C1’s school — had likewise kept their idealism, nationalism and values intact after they got their degrees, we would not be in this mess we are in today which precipitated the rally in Makati.

To all Batch 6 graduates of LEaD, I reiterate my conviction that young people like YOU are the hope of our land. And to our daughter C1 goes a mommy’s (and daddy’s) prayer that the wisdom and idealism you have now may always stay in your heart. With God’s grace, you will become a leader in your own right and make a difference in our country.

Here is a video I took of LEaD’s activities: