Service Learning Activity: Teaching Financial Literacy

 

 

92% of Filipino youth go to public schools. The situation of our public schools is the situation of 92% of our future. Most of them are educated in cramped classrooms with no room to move or no chairs to sit in, or no rooms at all. They don’t mind walking 10kms every day to go to school. Growing up in the city, I truly feel lucky because I don’t have to walk my way to school. I don’t have to swim 200 meters to school every single day. I have a school bus to pick me up, go to our air-conditioned classroom and sit, listen, and learn. I have complete supplies to supplement my schooling. I have complete set of books to read. But having things as simple as pencils, paper, notebooks, clean classrooms – all of these are not simple for the 92%. Having the passion to teach (just as I experienced 4 years ago as I taught in DLSU for 1 trimester), I felt privileged by having the opportunity to make a difference to the public school students through the Cornerstone program.

Cornerstone is one of the education programs of Couples for Christ and CFC ANCOP-Tekton Foundation. Cornerstone mainly focuses on tutoring school children in the public schools in reading and writing, as well as giving Values Formation classes to the parents of these children. Cornerstone volunteers teaches different public school students different levels. And our group was fortunate to be a part of the program and teach Financial Literacy to the top 30 of the grade 9 – 10 batch of Muntinupa National High School. We focused on financial literacy because of two reasons: (1) it’s important to instill the behavior of saving as early as possible to be able to properly discipline themselves as they move on and (2) our group as some knowledge regarding financial literacy that we are willing to share to the students.

I was part of the program committee – designing the outline of the tutorial sessions and the execution of the tutorial itself. Since we only focused on the basics of financial literacy e.g. the importance of saving and tips on how to cut expense, we focused more on examples that they are able to relate with. One example is when I asked them what they will do with Php5,000. I was expecting answers like “buy a cellphone” or “buy shoes or dress”. But it surprised me when most of them answered “iipunin ko po”, “itatabi ko for emergency purposes”, “ibibigay ko sa nanay ko”. When I was 14 years old, all I could ever think of is to have the latest gadget. And it makes me happy that their mindset is the total opposite of mine 10 years ago. I also noticed how attentive they were as we give our lecture. They were taking down notes – even the simplest form of equations like “income – savings = expenses”. It just shows how committed they are to be successful and ultimately help their family rise from poverty.

While our immersion with Cornerstone is short, I know that our program has made an interminable effect to the 30+ students we taught. I definitely feel fulfilled after the program as I know my small part impacted the way they think financially.    

One Step At a Time: Unilever’s Plan Against Environmental Footprint.

Environmental ethics apply ethical thinking to the natural world and the relationship between humans and the earth. Environmental ethics are a key feature of environmental studies, but they have application in many other fields as human society grapples in a more meaningful way with pollution, resource degradation, the threat of extinction, and global climate disruption.

Being part of a giant fast moving consumer goods company that manufactures various products all over the world, Unilever also plays a big role in the environmental footprint. This is why as part of our Compass (sustainable) strategy, our goal is to halve the environmental footprint of the making and use of our products as we grow our business by 2020. This can be achieved by the following:

a.       Halve the greenhouse gas (GHG) impact of our products across the lifecycle by 2020. This can be achieved via renewable energy, new factories, reformulation, reduce energy consumption in offices, and reduce GHG from transport and refrigeration

b.      Halve the water associated with the consumer use of our products by 2020. This can be achieved via producing easy rinse products.

c.       Halve the waste associated with the disposal of our products by 2020. This can be achieved via: zero non-hazardous waste to landfill, reduced and recycle packaging, reduce paper consumption, and eliminating PVC.

d.      Source 100% of agricultural raw materials sustainably by 2020. This can be achieved via: growing food in ways which sustain the soil, minimize water and fertilizer use, protect biodiversity and enhance farmers’ livelihoods.

 

However, meeting those hard targets is not an easy job for the corporation. So far, we are off plan in some of our targets, including the reduction of greenhouse gas impact per consumer use, which has increased by 4% since 2010*.  But as a Unilever employee, I know that I can contribute to meet these targets, even if I’m part of IT. As an IT manager responsible for Unilever’s Transportation Management System, I have to make sure these systems work as accurate and as reliable as expected to ensure efficient transportation of materials and product – which leads to reduced GHG from transportation.

 *This dashboard can be accessed by anyone thru https://www.unilever.com/sustainable-living/the-sustainable-living-plan/

Unilever: A Sustainable Company

Corporate social responsibility—the voluntary commitment of a business that includes triple bottom line actions in its corporate processes—is based on the principle that corporate success and social well-being are interdependent and that the long-term interests of an organization are best served by improving its economic, sociocultural, and environmental/energy practices, also known as the three pillars of sustainability. As a responsible corporation, we respect the interests of our stakeholders—our shareholders, employees, customers, suppliers, and the wider community—and we actively seek out opportunities to improve the environment and to contribute to the well-being of the communities in which we do business. And I am very proud that I’m part of a great company that promotes the triple bottom line not just part of the corporate CSR, but embedded in the vision of the company.

Unilever’s vision is “to double the size of our business, reduce our environmental footprint, and increase our positive social impact”. This perfectly reflects the three pillars of sustainable development: economic development which reflects doubling size of the business, environmental protection which reflects reducing environmental footprint, and social justice which reflects increasing positive social impact as Unilever’s business strategy.

We call our business strategy document ‘the Compass’, since it sets out a constant path for Unilever for the long term. First developed in 2009, it was sharpened in 2012 but its core elements remained the same.

We are developing new business practices that grow our company and communities, meeting people’s ever-increasing desire for more sustainable products and creating a brighter future for everyone.

The Unilever Sustainable Living Program, as part of the Compass, sets out three overarching goals for us to achieve by 2020:

 

By driving sustainability into every corner of our business, the Plan is opening up new opportunities and driving growth. Through innovation and marketing we ensure our products meet social needs and help people live sustainably. The more popular our brands become, the more we grow.

 

The more efficient we are at managing resources such as energy and raw materials, the more we lower our costs and reduce the risks to our business. And this means we have more to invest in sustainable innovation and brands.

 

Working in a company with a purpose of “making sustainable living commonplace” does not only help promote economic, environmental, social responsibility, but it inspires the whole organization, from rank and file employees up to top management, to do manage our responsibilities effectively, because we know that what we do, no matter how small they are, could help achieve the company’s vision. We work to create a better future every day. I’m proud to contribute for a better future. I’m proud to be part of Unilever.

An Organization That Cares

 

Ethical misconducts could not only affect the image of the company, but also its profitability. I have read in an article that JPMorgan Chase paid the federal government $13 billion last fall—the largest corporate settlement in U.S. history—to settle charges involving conduct that prosecutors say contributed to the mortgage meltdown. The bank acknowledged that it made serious misrepresentations to the public about numerous residential mortgage-backed securities.

Ethical lapses tend to snowball. Once employees see others breaking rules without repercussions, they may believe it's OK for them to do so, as well. Or they may get fed up and leave the company. In short, a culture where misconduct is tolerated—or, worse, encouraged—could result in higher turnover, lower productivity and, ultimately, a diminished reputation and profitability. Embezzlement stories are not uncommon especially to big corporations who does not have a strong compliance policy. Though these embezzlement acts, bribes and extortions, insider trading, are all extreme examples, there are also actions and behaviors that compromises workplace ethics. In these cases, management should enforce an organization that is people-centric, promotes respect and integrity, an organization that cares.

A caring organization exhibits better economic performance than mainstream organizations. These caring, multi-stream organizations are focused on the people’s welfare, thus cultivates the full potential of all employees that can lead to maximized company performance and profit. I had an experience once where my manager did not treat his direct reports with dignity and respect. He was leading the team through coercion and force. This did not only affect my, and my colleague’s work perspective, but also affected our self-esteem and eventually, our personal life. This is when I realized that leadership is not all about dictatorship and use of coercion, it’s about inspiring people, especially your direct reports, to do your responsibilities with excellence while preserving integrity and promoting respect.  

Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room Reaction Paper

Enron was the sixth largest energy company in the world at its height. Claims of over $100B revenues with 20,000 employees, Enron became the seventh largest corporation in America, and represented a new breed of business. But in just a matter of 24 weeks, all accomplishments fell apart as the company filed bankruptcy, employees lost jobs, Enron’s stock dropped rock bottom, and billion dollar pensions disappeared. Is CEO Jeff Skilling the only one to blame? Does Enron’s organizational culture promote such malpractice and unethical culture? If so, is the whole organization accountable for the company’s failure?

There were a lot of issues that contributed to Enron’s downfall. The biggest issues can be summarized into the following:

1.       Accounting Fraud

 

At the top and start of the organization, CEO Jeff Skilling took advantage of accounting loopholes and questionable practices to project to the public increased profits. Just because he had legal go-ahead from the SEC to use mark-to-market accounting, does not mean it was an ethical or advisable thing to do. Mark-to-market accounting allowed Enron to post profit from deals down the road on their current books. One example is that Enron posted a multi-million dollar profit from a deal with Blockbuster Video as soon as they announced it. The deal never materialized, neither did the profits. Although it mark-to-market was legal, Enron’s use of it certainly wasn’t ethical.

Assuming GAAP allowed Enron’s mark-to-market accounting practice and the stock did not fall, it’s still considered unethical because the company was not being transparent about its debt levels, therefore projecting that false image of a healthy balance sheet to the public, that could lead to increased stock prices. The lack of transparency was a problem within the organization since publicly-listed companies are required to disclose accurate financial information. Maximizing profits became the top priority of Enron’s executives, which resulted in dishonesty in disclosing real financial information of the company. Moreover, whistleblowers were being dismissed by managers to protect the name of the company. However, if the company does not intend to commit fraud, Sherron Watkins will be at fault since she has no right to share confidential information without the permission of the organization.

 

2.       Price Manipulation

Energy traders in the organization exploited California’s deregulation of the power market shut down reduce power and raise prices. The documentary shared taped conversations of traders talking about jacking up the prices on “Grandma Millie” just because they could. One trader was recorded calling a power plant and asking them to shut down power for a couple hours. The result: energy prices skyrocketed, rolling blackouts plagued California. They seek out loopholes in California’s energy deregulation regulations to create arbitrage that would push energy prices abnormally high.

Enron’s corporate culture had a tremendous influence on employee’s ethical decision making due to the tremendous imbalance in power in the employer-employee relationship. When there are explicit pressures to achieve sales or profit goals this can promote unethical behavior, over-riding an employee’s intrinsic ethical values or personality characteristics, such as their level of Machiavelliansm, or tendency to manipulate situations for personal gain. In this type of environment—particularly when few checks and balances existed—corporate values were stronger than individual standards. Enron explicitly communicated the message that profit at all costs was the priority.

 

 

Clearly, Enron executives and employees did not live out the motto they were claiming: Respect, Integrity, Communication and Excellence.

 

Based on the information given in the case, Enron’s CEO Jeffrey Skilling and CFO Andrew Fasto should be morally responsible for Enron’s collapse. Together with Arthur Andersen, they set up multiple special purpose entities to hide Enron’s debt levels to the public and made profits out of this practice. They not only misled Enron’s board of directors and audit committee on high-risk accounting practices, but also pressured Andersen to ignore the issues. Arthur Andersen should also be blamed for tolerating and assisting Fastow to this accounting fraud. In addition, they also destroyed documents relating to its partnership with Enron, making this an unethical behavior.

Analyzing the situation using the Markkula framework, the Enron executives and employees decisions are only beneficial from a utilitarianism perspective, as they would have thought about it and never would have predicted their shortcomings. As the CEO would tell their employees, “you just have to make profits and I don’t care how you do it as long as we’re profitable”. This clearly reflects the ideology of utilitarianism, “the end justifies the means”. But Enron only thought about the benefit they will gain from their unethical actions and disregarded looking at the other perspectives: rights & duties, justice & fairness, virtue, and care.

Enron built an organizational culture that focused on profit. It rewarded employees that created profit, regardless of how they did it, with huge bonuses.  And every year, Enron laid off 10-15% of its lowest performers. The culture became aggressive and tough where risky behavior became normative. The documentary states that Enron’s flaw was pride. They truly believed that they were “the smartest guys in the room.” Maybe if they hadn’t been as smart, maybe if they had perceived their shortcomings, they would have foreseen the importance of organizational culture and motivation.

Discrimunation: How Are We Guilty?

 

Here’s what I think: almost all of the business owners have experienced discriminated for and against people at least once. It’s perfectly rational to discriminate between applicants for a job and to only hire those who are the most qualified based on merit. If I’m hiring people in my manufacturing plant, I would most likely hire men - who are more physically capable of lifting heavy objects than women. However, there are irrational and illegitimate forms of discrimination, such as racism and sexism. There is rarely a reason to discriminate against people purely on the basis of religious or political views, sexual orientation, age, or ethnicity.

 

 A blatant example of discrimination could be a policy that women cannot be promoted to supervisory positions because men don’t like to take orders from females. It’s sad but I know a local company that discourages managers and HR to hire gay / lesbian people as part of their sales team. It’s because clients and distributors may find it awkward while talking to them, thus could potentially impact the agent-client relationship! And to think that the corporation has already been operating for 88 years, management must have not taken into consideration the ethics of discrimination.

Discrimination is not only applied to businesses, but also to our human rights as a citizen of our own country / state. In the United States, some states required a literacy test for voters. Many Native Americans were given poor education, thus couldn’t pass the literacy test, therefore not eligible to vote.

When I read about the literacy test for voters, I was guilty of thinking the same way in the Philippines as well. National election is just a few months away, and there’s one aspiring-president that is charged of different corruption anomalies that he couldn’t directly explain why. Many people never wanted him, but some people, especially the masses, still do. And a huge percentage of these masses are the uneducated ones. The aspiring-president is still leading the polls because majority of the population are the masses. It is disappointing because these masses only see the direct benefit they got from the politician: cakes, small discounts, etc. And there was a discussion of only allowing the educated voters and tax payers to vote for the national elections. I was very supportive of that policy until I realized that it’s also a form of discrimination. From a utilitarian perspective, the policy could help the nation to elect the deserving politicians. But from a rights, justice, and fairness perspective, no matter at what angle you look at the situation, it still falls under discrimination – a discrimination to the poor and the uneducated.

Are Advertisements Honest?

 

The field of advertising is extremely broad and diverse. In general terms, of course, an advertisement is simply a public notice meant to convey information and invite patronage or some other response. As that suggests, advertising has two basic purposes: to inform and to persuade, and — while these purposes are distinguishable — both very often are simultaneously present. But is informing and persuading both in line with each other? If you try to persuade, does it mean you inform the consumers the truth? If you inform, does it capture the minds (and the pockets) of the consumers? Not all the time, as I personally think about it.

Advertisers are selective about the values and attitudes to be fostered and encouraged, promoting some while ignoring others. This selectivity gives the lie to the notion that advertising does no more than reflect the surrounding culture. Now let's look at a more subtle shade of truth in an infamous Volvo commercial I read. In a real-life monster truck show, the Volvo was the only car left uncrushed - a great idea for a commercial! But to make the ad, the film company needed to shoot several takes. So they reinforced the beams inside the car to stand repeated squashing. When this came out in the press, Volvo was pilloried and their ad agency got fired, ultimately going out of business. Did it serve them right? Or was it a bum rap? No question the demo was rigged. But what it showed was the truth: if a monster truck runs over you once, you're safer in the Volvo. Is the advertisement itself honest? Technically, yes! Because one take has left the Volvo uncrushed. But how many takes did it take to crush the Volvo? Countless. So is Volvo’s marketing department and ad agency honest? That is for a consumer to decide.

 Advertising in itself is useful tool for sustaining competition by informing people of the availability of rationally desirable new products and services and improvements in existing ones. But Advertising weakens or undermines personal autonomy; that some kinds of advertising are immoral. Advertising plays on human desires for security, acceptance, and self-esteem to influence consumer choices. And as future business leaders, we have to take responsibility in Ethical Advertising. We have to make sure that: we respect truthfulness, the dignity each human person, and social responsibilities.

Corporate Consumer Responsibility

Before corporations and businesses dip their hands to contribute to the society, they have to make sure they have responsibilities to the welfare of the most important aspect of their business, the consumers. After tackling the Ford-Firestone case and pointing out different ethical issues like the labor issues and their inability to disclose information to the public, it all boils down to one question – what is your responsibility to consumers? What duty do we have to our buyers to make sure we don’t take advantage of the consumers being misinformed?

Before even selling, we need to make sure our products (or services) are safe enough to be consumed by millions of people. In the Ford-Firestone case, consumers do not know that a tire problem exists in Ford Explorers that could cause a rollover and could (and had) cause countless casualties. Ford did not just undisclose these facts, but they could’ve done better testing to check its reliability especially that the lives of the people are at risk.

 

When it comes to advertising, we also have a responsibility to persuade, but not manipulate. Being a part-time financial advisor trainee, I was able to open my eyes on different techniques of selling – which unfortunately, involves deception at seldom times. Since I work at a life insurance company, insurance is a tough product to sell to consumers, especially when the majority of the market is not financially literate. A deceptive example would be presenting to potential clients his/her financial needs through Living on Interest financial planning process. It involves determining your needed amount to provide for the family assuming that the only means for you to earn regularly is through interests. So if your monthly income is Php50,000, and the interest rate is at 4%, then you will need at least Php15M worth of cash to sustain your basic needs. This process could be effective because for it could trigger people’s sense of urgency to get a life insurance and mutual fund as early as possible and convince them to contribute large amounts as much as possible to meet the need. Though this may be still be beneficial in the long run, convincing them that they need a large amount of money just to sustain current needs is just wrong because of several reasons: one – it assumes that the only way for you to earn would be to rely on interests alone and two – it is not okay for you to touch the Php15M because it will impact your monthly minimum earnings. From the beginning, I knew that this style of computation is very deceiving so I committed to myself not to present this kind of presentation.

Pre-Service Learning:Handog Tungkod Project

My lola became became handicapped because of a simple accident of slipping in her bathroom. Just a minor slip caused her the next 5 years of her life, even until death, to stay in bed most of the time. She was transferred from Bulacan to our home in Las Pinas so hospitals are more accessible and visits from relatives will be easier. I was able to see her perseverance with a physical therapist to get her feet up and try to walk again on her own. After 2 years of physical therapy sessions, we accepted the fact that she won’t be able to walk anymore and use a wheelchair instead. She was sitting in a wheelchair when God decided it was already her time.

Handog Tungkod Project’s mission is to give a cane to every elderly person in the Philippines. It may sound quite simple as a service learning activity but it is very close to my heart. With their vision “To honor God by serving and caring for the elderly”, I was suddenly reminded of my lola’s experience. All she ever wanted was to walk, and it’s a simple blessing that I’m sure almost all of us don’t even appreciate. Giving canes to the elderly will help them reach that simple goal again, which is to walk normally.

I admit that when my groupmate suggested Handog Tungkod Project as our CSR activity, I was not really excited about it at first. I was looking forward to teaching financial literacy to children in the most rural places since teaching is my passion, especially in the field of finance. But due to schedule, resource, and location constraints, we were not able to push through. But after realizing the value of the project’s intent to the elderly, and relating it with my grandmother’s experience, I suddenly got excited about the activity. I hope our service to the elderly in November will not only help them walk, but also give them a positive outlook in life.

 

The Means Against The End

 

Out of all the ethical frameworks discussed the ones that struck me the most is utilitarianism vs. Kantianism. Kantian ethics is considered to be deontological in that it holds that at action is right in and of itself without appeal to consequences. Utilitarianism bases its understanding of right action on consequences. For Kant, lying is simply wrong because of the practical reason that it’s simply wrong, without any appeal to consequences. For John Stuart Mill, lying is ok as long as it creates more happiness and the least pain, for the greatest number of people affected by that action.

This got me thinking not only about business ethics but also the practical things in life. Even before learning Kantianism and Utilitarianism, in my mind I already had this “philosophical arguments” right after watching Captain America: The Winter Soldier. Captain America’s objective was to hijack Hydra’s developed data-mining algorithm that can identify and kill individuals who might become future threats to Hydra’s plans. That, and of course, to save the world. From Hydra’s point of view, it simply is practical since they have the ability to prevent and eliminate current and future threats against the organization. Even innocent children will be killed as long as the algorithm, “Project Insight”, has detected a behavioral pattern that can threaten Hydra. Project Insight in itself is already at the extreme side of utilitarianism since their priority is to protect the organization at all costs, even killing the lives of the innocent. We all know that it’s fictional, but what if utilitarianism abounds everywhere in the world? If a man got caught from stealing a cellphone, will it be for the greater good if we just eliminate that person instead to avoid future thefts? Will we be in a better situation if people who committed and have a potential to commit crime are all eradicated to prevent further wrongdoings and ultimately create more happiness to the world?

 

I’m glad our justice system doesn’t work and think that way. We all have our duties, and we have a stringent requirement we’re bound to obey even if the consequences are not the best. This is why we’re not only bound to make our decisions based on utilitarianism and kantianism alone. Justice and fairness, rights, care, and virtue are other principles in ethics that should also be taken into consideration in order to consider a comparative treatment to others, and how our moral character can contribute (or obstruct) human lives.

Vocation of a Business Leader

 

When people hear the word “business leader”, usually first thing that comes to mind are “CEO”, “Manager”, etc. These business titles share one goal – profit. Traditional business leaders are inclined to do everything they possible can in order to maximize the bottom line of the company: cut general costs, terminate employees to reduce overhead, consider cheaper alternatives that compromise quality, etc. Profit maximization in itself is not bad at all, but we have to consider the type of action in order to meet the goal. If our primary goal is to increase net profit, is cutting jobs number 1 priority to hit the target? If we want to reduce the cost in waste management, is throwing wastes in Pasig river the number 1 solution? Maybe a traditional business leader will consider these options, but for a Lasallian business leader, areas outside the business like environment should also be taken into consideration.

 The new breed of business leaders do not only prioritize the economic (profit) needs, but also the legal, ethical and philanthropic areas as well. As a future DLSU MBA graduate, integrating the core Lasallian values to business practices is a necessity. It’s unfortunate that we lack leaders of this type, which is why a call for transformation is needed in our country.

Work Towards Financial Freedom

Watching Suze Orman’s financial planning tips at Google made me realize that managing your money through proper financial planning is not just about saving, it’s about making smart choices to prepare yourself for any situation that can happen. Suze has pointed out doing what’s right vs. doing what easy. She also mentioned that even though we are earning well, we also need to do something for ourselves to prepare for the future and possibly unpleasant surprises. Although some of her tips applies only to US citizens like investing in 401K, most of them are truly practical and applicable to all of us.

I have listened, read, and researched about financial planning since 2012, as soon as I got employed in P&G.  What I fear the most is not being able to manage my revenue streams properly and could end up full of debt. My family is not really the wisest when it comes to financial management, and I have learned a lot from their experiences. Honestly, I have learned more on what NOT to do vs. what to do. This is why I have this frustration to learn more about money, business, entrepreneurship, and financial management to make sure I won’t commit those same mistakes.

Even after gaining financial literacy, it’s still a shame that I don’t have at least a 3 months’ worth of emergency fund. I had been so aggressive yet careless on where I can invest my hard-earned money. My practical learning from this session is to set-aside a portion of my salary by auto-deducting it from my payslip and put in a cooperative fund. Next is having security against possible serious mishaps. Well-known financial advisors always highlight insurance being a necessity and not a luxury. Even though I already have a Variable Universal  Life insurance policy with a face value of P1M, I still have plans to get another policy to prepare for my retirement even as early as now.  After securing the basic financial needs, then I can start expanding it through investments in mutual funds, UITFs, and other investment vehicles.

It always saddens me every time I talk to a friend, a family member, or a loved one that does not even entertain the thought of getting an emergency fund and insurance. And it gets worse if they can afford a Louise Vuitton bag, a Macbook, an iPhone, but cannot afford an insurance. And every time it happens, I have this urge to explain to them the importance of financial planning and how other investment vehicles can help them achieve their goals in the future. Maybe this is the reason why I decided to become a financial planner of Sunlife. For the first time in my life, I feel like I have made this decision not to make extra money, but because I’m truly sincere about people being financially literate. Perhaps soon I could commit my advocacy to teach people how to attain financial freedom. Could this be my calling? Could this be my purpose? Could this help me achieve self-actualization? I don’t know the answer right now but I know that making people happy to help them attain financial freedom also makes me happy; even when I put the money and the commissions out of the equation.

Work-Life Harmony

 

What am I working for?

What am I resting in?

What am I living for?

3 big questions that made me reflect during our class. The answers to these 3 questions depend on one’s purpose. If a person is a bread-winner of the family, he may be working for money to make sure he can provide at least the basic needs to his loved ones. If a person comes from a well-off family, then financial needs may not be his top priority. He has enough buffers to find and chase his passion, learn from mistakes, and ultimately pursue his calling – may it be baking, photography, dancing, etc.

What am I working for? I see work as a career. I need to work to provide for myself and for my family in the future. I need to go up the corporate ladder to have a sense of fulfillment and be respected. I need to work to earn more money. But is it all about money? At this stage, maybe it is. But I know I need to do something more meaningful in the future. Bridging the gap between work as career and work as vocation could be challenging and would require more psychological and emotional maturity to realize it, but as early as now, I already have my plans. I truly believe that my calling is to be an entrepreneur. At age 40, I see myself retired from the corporate world to pursue my future business full time. At that stage, work will not be all about myself anymore; it will actually rely more on being a leader to my future employees as well as considering the welfare of the whole organization.

What am I resting in? I see leisure as utility. Rest is just another means to sharpen the saw. Outside work, I rarely go outside to have fun with friends anymore. Taking up MBA, being a part-time financial planner of Sunlife, and leading a small team to build a mobile app sure doesn’t sound like amusement. I’m now in a stage where I need to be productive even outside working hours; and when I say productive - I mean making more money (or at least will have a bearing to my future career). Bridging the gap between leisure as utility and leisure as contemplation may be very challenging as well due to time constraints. However, as a proud member of Iglesia Ni Cristo, even with my tight schedule, I still strive to attend worship services twice a week. I know it’s not enough but I have a plan in the future to be more active in the church organization.

What am I living for? Currently, I live to achieve. Achievement is key in order to meet my financial goals to prepare for the future. Integration between work and leisure may turn out to be self-centered for now, but I’m aware that it also goes along with life stages. Time will come that building my own integrity will be the top priority by giving and receiving – resolving while maintaining humility.

The St. John Baptist De La Salle of the 21st century

 

I studied in DLSU Taft for 4 years and had a chance to study in DLS-CSB for 2 terms before transferring. When we hear the word “La Salle”, first things that come to mind now are: “school”, “university”, “college”, “prestige”, “high tuition fee”, “top 3”, “luxury”, “conyo” and etc. Even after graduating college, I was still guilty of not having known the saint to whom our school was named after.

I’m not here to talk about the life of St. La Salle as explained in the movie. What I would like to talk about is keeping his legacy. How can I, a future DLSU MBA graduate, live up to St. La Salle’s principles?

In class, we discussed St. La Salle being: a risk-taker, an innovator, a servant-leader, and a mentor. Being all at once is not easy to achieve even in a lifetime. But for St. La Salle, pursuing his passion, helping others, and ultimately achieving self-actualization became part of his journey. And I would like to take on the same journey with my loved ones.

Being a risk-taker would take one person a lot of courage to take a certain leap of faith. For me, the biggest risk I could possible take is to take on the path of entrepreneurship. This will entail losing my financial security from my current job in order to achieve higher purpose. I just have this feeling deep inside that I’m truly destined to be an entrepreneur, that’s why I decided to take up MBA. Though I may not have a solid business idea yet, I know God will take me to the right path one day. And when that time comes, I will be more than willing to take that big leap of faith.

 

Innovation is all about thinking out of the box. And I have learned that innovation is not just about creating your original idea; it’s also about meeting the consumers’ needs by creating a solution to resolve the gap. Nowadays, the global trend towards technology is geared towards mobile apps (e.g. Uber, Spotify, Grab, Instagram, Snapchat, etc.). I mentioned this because my dream is to have my own tech start-up in the mobile app space.  And my personal commitment to myself before I turn 30 is to come up with, at the very least, an innovative idea that can resolve a specific problem trough a mobile app.

Being a servant leader and a mentor would take one person to make sacrifices for himself in order to serve other people through leadership. Mentoring is still closest to my heart as I had a great experience to teach in DLSU as well for 1 term. Due to financial needs, I needed to look for a corporate job to earn myself a living. I had sworn to myself that when the time comes where money is not a problem anymore, I will continue my passion to teach in DLSU, even as a part-time professor.

These are the commitments I have for me in order to keep St. La Salle’s legacy. Though it may not be 100% related to education, I guess these commitments are good enough not just for me achieving altruism but ultimately to contribute to the society as well, one step at a time.