Monday, February 9, 2015

This is Where it All Starts: UST ChES holds 12th Leadership Summit

by Divine Grace R. Agura

The UST Chemical Engineering Society held its 12th Leadership Summit last July 4-6 at the Tan Yan Kee Audio Visual Room and Boso-Boso Highlands and Recreation Center in Antipolo, Rizal with the theme, “Empowering Leaders as Thomasian Agents towards an Effective Student’s Society”. It was attended by 107 Chemical Engineering student-leaders and was facilitated by Mr. Philippe Jose Hernandez, professor from the Engineering Sciences Department and ChE Department’s very own, Engr. Rose Mardie Pacia.

The leadership summit was a three-day event that consisted of workshops, team building activities, and lectures, which aimed to enhance the leadership skills and career opportunities of the participants. Prof. Philipina A. Marcelo, Ph.D., Dean of the Faculty of Engineering, welcomed the participants at the Tan Yan Kee Audio Visual Room during the first day. Groupings that will accompany each participant during the summit were formed afterwards. A talk titled, Thomasian Identity: Branding and Norming by Asst. Prof. Virginia A. Sembrano, Assistant to the Director for Publication, kicked off the series of talks. She shared about the three core values that every Thomasian Engineer should possess namely: competence, commitment and compassion and how these values would help in the future endeavor of every student. This was subsequently followed by a talk delivered by Mr. Joselito delos Reyes, a professor from the Faculty of Engineering, where he shared insights about affecting and influencing norms of the society. In addition to these, Engr. Reynold M. Agustin, an alumnus of the university, ended the series of talks and discussed about networking and establishing connections and its essentials. Workshops followed each talk to instill and test the learnings of the participants.

Off campus activities marked the 2nd and 3rd days of the leadership summit. A lecture led by Mr. Hernandez, started the 2nd day. He discussed about understanding and adopting to different work styles and he shared 10 tips on how to be more productive in every work. Series of team building activities were also conducted throughout the day despite the heavy rains. A solidarity night featuring workshops and the Mr. and Ms. CLS 2014 wherein candidates showcased their wits and talents impromptu ended the activities of the day. Winners of the pageant were Julius Caesar Magno and Fatima Evangelista.

Chemazing race highlighted the 3rd day of the event. The lineup of activities was composed of obstacle course, problem solving and team games which tested the physical and mental strengths of each participant as well as collaboration, camaraderie and leadership among groups. Despite the tough day, participants were all smiles as they prepared for the culminating exercises and awarding ceremony wherein the group Tropang Tutong, which garnered 270 points from all the activities, was hailed winner and received freebies and free passes to the Recruitment Week of UST ChES.


The leadership training ended with a word from Mr. Vincent Nikko Noel Almeda, President of the Chemical Engineering Society. “Conducting a seminar-workshop intended for the incoming leaders of any organization, in this case ChES, is really essential. It serves as the guide, our guide in ensuring that what we do and intend to do for the rest of our term will be aligned to the university and organization’s mission and vision. A leadership seminar workshop is also a right venue to set things right by preparing the new batch of leaders in every possible way. This in return affects not only the personalities and views of the persons who attended the said seminar workshop but also it affects the whole society because the actions of organization's leaders reflects the organization itself and the future of the organization as well,” he concluded. 

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