Sharing life perspectives through volunteerism
To be part of the students’ lives and become part of their family only makes this experience even more amazing. I have volunteered to be a mentor to these kids, but I feel that I have learned more from them
One of the ways to influence a positive attitude on students is through volunteerism. The act of purposely spending time, money and resources on less privileged groups of people has taken strides in honing an individual, much more on impressionable individuals such as students.
In fact, volunteerism has taken different forms in various curricula, ensuring that exposure to realities far from the ideal is not lost on the young.
Take the case of Gerick Gutierrez. He had once experienced poverty when he was younger. But that challenge did not stop him from striving hard to change his life. Today, he is a sourcing business executive at SCG, one of the largest cement and building material company in the world.
He is glad to have earned financial stability after years of toiling and is even more happy to be part of a company that put up a scholarship program for underprivileged students like himself.
“I want them to see that nothing is impossible as long as you do not lose sight of your dreams and persevere. I am grateful for the opportunities that SCG has given me to pay it forward,” he added.
SCG has been enabling Gerick and his fellow employees to volunteer at the SCG Sharing the Dream, a scholarship program that empowers select eager and passionate high school students to reach their dreams and create a better future for themselves and their families.
The program was designed to support underprivileged yet promising high school youths to achieve their dreams through financial grants to help them pursue secondary education. It expanded the scholarship program a decade later to include college students who are carefully chosen from the program’s high school alumni and are free to take any major of their choice.
The beauty of the program is its commitment of not only honing future leaders but as well as molding the holistic development of its employees through volunteerism. Several of its employees, like Gutierrez, are volunteers who mentor the scholars. Aside from mentoring and counseling, these employee-volunteers are also exposed to the lives of the scholars, thus, enabling them to see a different perspective in life.
Like Gerick, Janlynn “Jana” Jarillas, sales coordinator manager at SCG, joined the program. Since 2014, she regularly engages with the scholars and tries to maintain regular face-to-face interaction with them. Jana happily manages her time between work and volunteering for the program and likes to share her learnings from the experience. She shares that being a mentor to the scholars give her fulfillment in both her professional and personal life.
“Volunteering for this program is an eye-opener. Getting to know the students more, learning about their lives and just hearing about everyday stories of overcoming hardships many of us often overlook inspire me and help me appreciate life more. Through the program, I’ve met young, passionate and resilient individuals who never let life’s struggles hold them down, and this pushes me to do my best to help them in any way I can,” Jana shared.