by Kevin Ting (H1G), Class President

Photos by Timothy Tan (H3B), SC Administrative Officer

“A leader is the one who knows the way, goes the way, and shows the way.”

-John Maxwell

And then I fell. I was scared. I was nervous. But as I fell I remembered what my partner, Neil Guevarra, said to me, “Trust me, you’ll be safe.” And so I thought to myself, “Someone’s gonna catch me.” I landed safely. A lot of arms were there to catch me. And once I removed my blindfold, I saw the faces of the people I placed my trust on, even without knowing them. Some, I already knew well, while others, I had just met a few hours ago. After that I stood up and took my spot to catch the next person. It was my turn to catch and to be trusted.

This experience, called The Walk to Remember, was the most tiring, most challenging, and yet the most memorable experience in this year’s Leadership Training Seminar (LTS).

The LTS began with our Student Council (SC) Vice President, Martin de Joya, talking to us about the reasons why we were there. Perhaps it was because our classmates, clubmates, or teammates thought we were responsible enough, competent enough, pogi enough, or even talkative enough to lead our class, club, or team; but no matter what the reasons were for being elected, being one of the leaders gathered that weekend reflected our schoolmates’ trust in us, allowing us the privilege to be the one to lead and represent them.

In our LTS, there were a lot of sessions and lectures from teachers or members of the faculty, who themselves serve as leaders of the community. We also had a lot of group work, projects, and even games to help us learn to be a better leader.

The load of the activities really got us exhausted, sleeping at 3:00 AM the first night and around 1:00 AM on the second. But it didn’t really matter because we had a lot of fun! We had a lot of story-telling and role-playing. We were given the opportunity to present our views on different things while having fun in the process. Most of us even played sports even though it was after midnight of a really long day. These activities weren’t only a source of fun, but also a source of new bonds and new friendships among the student leaders.

The LTS was indeed an enjoyable and memorable learning experience. My role as a class president now has a greater meaning to it. From this LTS, I gained the ability to be hardworking and to be trusting, which will help me become a better student leader.