The Lesson Plan

I’m really proud of how INTERAKSIS ‘08 turned out.

As the adviser, my goal was simple — I wanted to get the ball rolling. Bigger things are coming to AKSIS in the future, and I wanted us to get the basics right. I wanted us to go through the motions from the format of the conference to the food service; from the questions and synthesis to the certificates of appreciation. As I’ve said in the end, my objective with INTERAKSIS 2008 is for there to be an INTERAKSIS 2009.

I was pleasantly surprised by everything. We were so lucky to kick off the entire event with an impressive duo of speakers. Rob Roque was beginning to sound more Atenean than I am (which may actually be a good thing) and Paolo Medina gave a practical and compassionate take on meeting one’s potential as a leader. From both of them I took away how the scientific training (ie. always set your objectives before everything else) is an integral part in the formation of a Pisay leader. More importantly, that no matter how cerebral one gets, it is the heart that still matters. Bravo to both!

The second panel was… well. I guess I deserved the humiliation, so I owe it to Joaq for saving me. But seriously, I didn’t mind. It’s just that generally, I don’t like watching myself. So it was very amusing when my video self and I began to interact spontaneously. That was really strange but it was worth the humiliation. So worth it.

I’m really proud of my students. Joaq, Christian and Merlynn all did a great job of telling their story and sharing their insights. We’ve never really talked about that December so it was a revelation for me to hear what they’ve come to discover for themselves. You’ve learned well and I couldn’t be prouder. Thanks too to Criselle, Sheena, Jethro, Gaby and Franco for livening up the panel by joining all everyone in front. It was really precious hearing the pleasant surprise from the audience when they found out so many of the participants were present. It brought the whole panel alive.

And lastly, the third panel was an interesting tour of Austria and Singapore, through the eyes of Joker and Lance. It was a relatively lighter panel and not much had to be said really. It’s really one thing to recognize students such as them on the stage, and something else to hear them tell their own story. Their insights were sincere and I hope everyone took away the sense of being grounded despite having flown halfway across the world.

I believe I owe AKSIS something for all this hard work. Between this and the KKKwiz, they’ve really made me proud. I can’t wait to see where we go next. I couldn’t have asked for a better club.