Blog IV: "What are the prospects and limits of my power as a Citizen?"

According to the facts I learned from the lectures in class and my experiences during the project, I learned that the citizens of a democratic country should be the one who is running it, not their leaders. The leaders should base their actions and decisions according to what the citizens want. The citizens should also be sure of what they need and what they want their leaders to do. Because the citizens are indeed many, each of them should know what the others need, and therefore using these as the basis of what to tell their leaders what they want them to do. Good leaders should also be the one who knows what the general public needs and what his/her people want, then should base his/her decision from there. Citizens have limits too. Citizens need to agree upon which of their own needs are better for everyone. They should be heard because their needs and wants affect what the leaders' actions and decisions. It doesn't matter who you are, as long as you're a citizen of a democratic country, you have the right to share your thoughts and tell your needs.

Blog III: "What major insights have I gained so far from my ongoing experiences in engaging in the initiative?"

In participating in the AKAY project, I realized how lucky I am that I'm studying in DLSU, and how many other students want to study in this university too. I also learned that we should be mindful of what the others need and that we should care about it too. I also learned from teaching high school students, that teaching is really hard and how satisfying teaching could be. Seeing others understand what you teach gave me a satisfying feeling; it felt that my efforts wasn't wasted, and it is worth giving. I learned that being friendly will get you far; the more friends you have, the better, but one should consider who to befriend with. My group mates and I still have one more session with AKAY, and I am looking forward to it. I had fun with the last sessions and I am really grateful that we participated in the project.

Blog II: "What do we hope to achieve?"

As I posted my concerns on the first entry, My groupmates and I found out about the NGO named Fundacion Santiago, a NGO which is concerned about the Philippines' culture, national heritage and identity. We discovered that they have a ongoing governance project, the CBHT project, a project concerning the preservation of the vintage houses in Sta. Ana, Manila. We know that by participating in this project, we could hope to give our efforts in paving the way of changing our national identity in the hearts of our fellow Filipinos and to the rest of the world. We tried to contact them in hopes of participating in the project, but they couldn't accommodate us due to very hectic schedules. Maybe we should start small; perhaps trying to change the stereotype in our own university. DLSU is known for rich and bratty students, but it is not all true. Many of the studying there are well off, but not all of us there are bratty and rich. There are scholars studying in DLSU. There are students who are called "star scholars" studying in our university. They are students who are given free education by the university in turn they should get really good grades. The university is trying to make 20% of the student population are scholars. So they are giving out good scholarship programs to those who can't afford the high tuition fees given to non-scholar students. We found out the ongoing governance project by the USG of DLSU, the "AKAY" project. It is a project that helps high school students to pass the entrance exam of DLSU and other universities as well, more of to help them get those scholarship programs. My groupmates and I learned that in this way, we can help high school students to get into the universities they want, and we can make a change by showing them that we DLSU students are not bratty at all; We want them to know that we are just like them. We want to change the stereotype identity of DLSU students from being known as rich and bratty, to just regular, fun kids who are just like them.

Blog I: "What bothers me?"

There are many problems in the world today, but the one that really concerns me is that how we define our own identity to the world. I am concerned in how we are known in other places. I know that each one of us is identified by each other by stereotypes; "a belief that may be adopted about specific types of individuals or certain ways of doing things, but that belief may or may not accurately reflect reality." (Wikipedia: stereotype) it is bad because people tend to judge others without really knowing who that person really is. It relates to everything really, from school stereotypes, to our own national identity. I am concern in how the world see us: just a country full of good boxers and singers? I don't really like that idea. I know that the Philippines is really more than boxers and singers. I know we are so much more, and I really want the world to know what are the Filipinos really are.