12th PAPSAS Interactive Youth Forum

The 12th PAPSAS Interactive Youth Forum that was held this year was somehow
different primarily because it is done under the new normal, hence with the theme “Student
Leadership under the New Normal”; the Interactive Youth Forum pushed through virtually
through the Zoom platform last November 20, 21 and 28 which was participated by numerous
student leaders and university and colleges coordinators from all around the country. It was a
worthwhile and fun activity for it allows interaction among student leaders allowing them to
exchange and collaborate ideas.

The first day of the convention was the opening ceremonies which highlighted the rich
culture of Baguio City. Dance and various record performances were perceived by the
participants with high anticipation. After the opening ceremonies, Dr. Aldrin Darilag from the
Commission of Higher Education started the discussion about the mental health problems which
was prevalent even before the pandemic started. With the pandemic still under our feet, the
situation turns bad to worse as he sighted various statistics connected to the Mental Health
status in the Philippines. He mentioned that we should improve the mental health status of our
student among the campuses and explained that we should strike a balance for us to be able to
keep up with the additional pressure brought about by the pandemic. He also argued that the
access to mental health should be accessible to all Filipinos.

The second day kicked off with Dr. Andrew S. Macalma’s talk about how to remain
positive amidst the new normal. His talk was primarily focused on all the enormous changes that
the pandemic has brought upon the students and members of the academe which eventually
brought effect on each and every one of us. He primarily encouraged us to be positive and look
on the brighter side of things to be able to bring a little bit of positivity in our way of living amidst
the pandemic. With the playing a big part on his talk, the participant was grouped into various
break rooms and was assigned to create positivity projects that can be implemented in the
respective schools and universities. Working with various student leaders was a quite nice
because you can actually interact with them and have a thorough and in-depth analysis for all of
them are decent leaders. The exchange of ideas and brainstorming is truly enlightening and at
the same time it provided a better perspective with regard to event organizing. A slight
presentation took place after the break rooms and the all the events presented by all the group
was primarily focused on the events that will involve students participation under the restriction
of the new normal which is truly amazing because almost all of them have the same thoughts
and ideas on how to do their positivity project.

Later that afternoon, the second phase of the talk was initiated. The speaker was Dr.
Renelyn Salcedo which was focused on the stress management and self-care improvement
alight this pandemic. The talk was informative as Dr. Salcedo laid down her talk with a little bit of
information on what is stress and its nature. Dr. Salcedo helped the participants to distinguish
their emotions and how to handle stress. Eventually she also suggested various applications
that will help the participants to cope up with various stressors especially the stress brought
upon by the surroundings brought upon by the Covid-19 pandemic. After her talk, the
participants was once again brought into break rooms and was tasked to create a 7-Day stress
management plan which the participants able to do with flying colors. They managed to
collaborate with one another despite meeting for the first time and they actually managed to
formulate and well thought and comprehensive management plan for them to follow.

The third and the last day of the convention, Dr. Leandro Loyola reminded the student
leaders about being a student leader under this new normal. He put an emphasis on the
characteristics a student council and its officers such as being Proactive and Caring,
Transparency, Safe and Belong, Solidify the Mission, Adaptability and of course, Optimistic.
After the talk, Dr. Loyola made the student leaders create a declaration of commitment through
zoom break rooms and allowed the leaders to share their own stories about their journeys on
and experiences being a student leader and how do they manage their responsibility.

The PAPSAS National Youth Forum is indeed a good learning experience for a student
leader. It broadens one’s connection and at the same time it allows you to see wider horizons. A
lot of things can be picked up which can be good for building a better leader than can serve its
constituents well.

Prepared by:

Jhon Khent Ducay

CSO President