Educate to Liberate

When Nikko texted and asked if I could host the Pathways event, I immediately said yes. Why not, education is a good cause and Pathways is close to my heart. And so Thursday and Friday, yours truly was one of the co-hosts of Educate to Liberate: A College and Scholarship Fair and Launch of www.schoogle.ph. The event was a project by my former office, Pathways to Higher Education Program of Ateneo de Manila.

The event was held at SM Mall of Asia and featured different programs and activities for public high school students. Fifteen different colleges and universities were also there to talk about their college admissions, applications and scholarship programs. More than a hundred high school students from different public high schools from all over the Metro, some even coming from as far as Lucena and Quezon, turned up at the venue.

The first day of the fair, I met my co-host Erik. Erik is my new gay friend. I don't particularly consider myself to be a faghag or anything, but I like to think Erik and I hit it off really well, which is important if we're hosting an event together. Jive naman ang mga personalidad namin. Laugh trip sya ha, kakaloka. (Or as the gayspeak goes, kakalorky. Dyosme!) The first day included talks on career development, how to choose which course and career would be best for you, etc. Also, 15 colleges and universities such as Ateneo de Manila, UA&P, FEU set up booths where they gave out brochures, handouts and some application forms for interested high school students. At night, Penshoppe, one of the sponsors of the event, held a Styling and Grooming talk, and a little fashion show courtesy of the Club Pen models. A rep from Penshoppe gave tips on what to wear in school, mga do's and dont's in fashion and grooming. I was a little apprehensive at first, kasi the kids were all public high school students. At one point, may nagtanong tungkol sa budget. How much do we need for a complete outfit that's fashionable yet decent? The rep goes, without shoes, around a thousand will do. Dyosme. I hope the kids don't think they need a thousand pesos for every outfit. Well sabagay, depende talaga yan sa damit. Anyway the rep was able to pull it off. He gave suggestions on what's in, what's out, what to wear if you're slightly heavy, or you're morena or whatnot. The kids seemed really really interested, which was a good thing. Daming mga tanong, but unfortunately the time didn't permit all questions to be answered.

The second day, wala na ang aking co-host na si Erik so si Nikko na ang aking co-host. The day was another round of talks and seminars and workshops. We had a mini "talk show" on effective study habits, with special guest Bb.Pilipinas-Universe Ana Theresa Licaros, who also happens to be a law student. We also had workshops on stress management, time management and communication strategies (how to conduct yourself in an interview). In the afternoon, Boom, the head organizer of the event, introduced www.schoolge.ph. Schoogle is the first ever online scholarship and college admissions database. The site contains links to different schools, their scholarship offerings, their college admissions procedures plus links to downloadable application forms. There are also tips on topics such as effective study habits, how to survive college, etc. There's even this bulletin board, for news and updates on school activities and all matters related to education. One stop shop kumbaga. Astig sobra. I think it's a great idea and I'm sure there are so many kids who can benefit from it. The fair ended with the Educate to Liberate concert with bands such as Sound, Stone Free and Jeepney Joyride.

All in all, the event was a huge success. I feel so blessed to have been part of such a wonderful, worthwhile activity. Congratulations to Boom and the rest of the Pathways staff who made the event possible.

I have a newfound respect for events hosts.

Hosting is such a craft. Hirap talaga minsan ha. Especially when you're tired, and all you wanna do is sleep, hirap maging little miss perky and go "Goooooood moooorrrniiing everybody! Ok ba kayo dyaaaannn?" Minsan din you get caught off guard, as I did when Erik suddenly asked me "Mia, ikaw ba, ano ang value ng education para sayo?" I'm like, "Uhhhh wow that's a good question!" Haha buying time! I mean, really what do you say to that? "Alam mo kasi Erik, bata pa lang ako sabi na sakin ng tatay ko, wala na silang ibang ipapamana sakin kundi ang edukasyon." Think think! I blurted out, "Kasi daw, ang edukasyon, ito ang magiging um, arm? Armas? I mean..." By this point hirap na ko magisip ng Tagalog word, so English na, "Ibig ko sabihin, if we're armed with a good education, then there's nothing we can't achieve!" Kung ano ano pa yata sinabi ko, but basically yun yung point ko. Dyoskopo! Kung nasa Ms. Universe ako, talo na ko! Haha!

Minsan din we had to adlib. Nung first night, mejo na late ng set up yung Penshoppe so Erik and I had to fill in a whole hour. Wala nag joke joke nalang kami. Erik was such a natural, as I think a lot of gays are. The kids were all game din though. Some sang, some shared jokes, some danced. Hehe. The next night naman, nalate yung Jeepney Joyride, the last band for the night. Zsa Zsa, Milan and I had to stand up there onstage, at Mall of Asia, and basically keep the show going. Buti wala naman masyado nanonood, haha. We were just yakking away about the dumbest things. "Sa tingin ko eh natrapik ang jeepney ng Jeepney Joyride." "Ikaw ba, mahilig ka bang mag Joyride?" Dyosmioooooo all the while we were signalling to the staff,"Ano wala pa ba yung band?!?!Mukha na kaming tanga dito!" Haha!

Anyway, I was so tired but in a good way. Tired and happy. One of the taglines of the event was "Education is a right." And it is a right. Everyone deserves to go to school and have the opportunity to make something of themelves. These high school kids have soOoO much potential. They're really good kids, who just want to go to school, work and help their families. They just want the chance to prove themselves because they do have so much to offer. They're really bright and given the right opportunity, they really can go very very far. Minsan talaga kulang lang sa opportunities, kulang lang sa information. I hope this college and scholarship fair helps them somehow. Kahit yun lang, sobrang worth it na lahat ng pagod ko at ng pagod naming lahat.