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Out of the classroom, into the community
"WHAT will you do after graduation?" is perhaps the most common question posed to college seniors.
Although replies usually reveal plans of entering the workforce, setting up businesses or going into further studies, you may just hear one or two who are bent on making a difference by becoming NGOs, priests, teachers or entering other service-oriented fields.
Sounds amazing, but is it worth it? Given today's hard times, what motivates these young people on planning to pursue a line of work that is usually difficult, demanding and offers little pay?
2bU! interviews some graduating seniors about their plans and insights regarding entering service-oriented vocations.
For love of country
"I kept thinking about what my ethics teacher, Father Que, told our class last semester -- our country needs us. I thought that maybe this is the first step for me, my way of helping our country somehow," says Pamela Joy "PJ" Mariano on what inspired her to join the Jesuit Volunteer
Philippines (JVP).
PJ, a graduating Philosophy senior, was overjoyed when she was recently accepted, along with 33 others, to this year's batch of JVP.
Her friends had mixed reactions about her plans, though. "Not everyone is comfortable with the idea because it's such a different path to take from college. I got jokes about being a candidate for sainthood, but I guess I have my selfish reasons for joining too," PJ shares.
A socio-pastoral arm of the Jesuits, the JVP sends volunteers to different parts of the country to take on the roles of teachers, campus ministers, parish workers and community organizers for a year, with an option to extend to two years.
A volunteer can be assigned to do a variety of tasks roles that will assist needy local communities-from implementing literacy programs in indigenous communities in Zambales to caring for cancer-stricken kids in Cagayan de Oro.
"I guess what all these varied jobs have in common is that they all contribute, in one way or another, to the promotion and betterment of the lives of the poor and the oppressed," says PJ.
Although PJ is excited about her JVP year, she also feels anxious about it. "I'm scared, no, terrified, at the prospect of beginning my term as a volunteer. I'm plagued by doubts: Will I be accepted by the community? Can I handle homesickness and loneliness? Am I strong enough, physically, emotionally and spiritually?"
She's also gearing herself up for a life outside her comfort zone. "The first three months that we spend in the area, we're not allowed to call home or write letters, because we might spend more time pining for home than getting settled and starting to work. We're also encouraged not to
receive money from our parents. We have to try and live a life that is much simpler than we're used to," she says.
But in spite of her worries, a bigger part of her is looking forward to being able to help her fellow Filipinos. "Call me idealistic, but I feel really lucky to have the opportunity to trigger change. A lot of Filipinos need to rediscover hope, that there's hope for our country, and that there are people who care."
For more information about the JVP, visit www.jvpfi.org.
For love of God
At age 12, Celerino "Rino" Reyes knew he wanted to be a priest. After grade school, he decided to enter the San Jacinto Minor Seminary in Tuguegarao, inspired by his father who was once a seminarian.
His decision surprised his friends. "My friends and classmates were shocked to hear that their notorious grade school bully was aspiring for the priesthood," Rino chuckles. "Well, I guess they eventually understood that with God nothing is impossible -- I have changed for the better."
And change he did. Now a graduating pre-divinity student in the Ateneo de Manila University, Rino's years of discernment and living as a seminarian has convinced him that his aspirations to become a priest are genuine. He says, "I want to be a priest because I feel a deep desire to be of service to God and His people."
But he confesses that he sometimes feels tempted to abandon his goal. "When issues -- psychological, emotional, academic, vocational -- come up and I find myself unable to handle them, I feel like giving up. Fortunately, I feel that I am not alone in bearing these setbacks. Oftentimes I transcend these problems by praying, spending some time in quiet solitude, and talking to people who can understand," he says.
Although his desire to become a priest is firm, he expressed some worries about entering priesthood. "Frankly speaking, with all the issues concerning the church today, all the scandals that pop up from time to time, I feel scared, scared that I might not be able to lead that life which is required of every aspirant to the priesthood-a life of prayer, sanctity, chastity and moral uprightness," he confesses.
After graduation, don't be surprised to see Rino joining other fresh graduates in search of work. "The seminary encourages us to go out for a while to experience the world. We are given one to three years of regency where we get to choose what work we want to be into... to be exposed
to a life without the seminary structures and we literally live on our own without the security provided by the seminary," he explains.
He is prepared to leave the San Jose Seminary in Ateneo, where he has stayed for four years now, once he finds a job. "I have applied to various jobs in the corporate world, government and foreign services. This period of regency is a test for me to see if I'm really called for priesthood."
Then he adds, "While it is true that I do want to be a priest, I remain open to the voice of God, open to where he may lead me. For in the end, what matters most is not my plans or desires but His plan for me, and that is where I want to be."
For love of people
Luisa Peralta, a Development major at the University of Asia and the Pacific, is planning to go back to high school-as a teacher, that is.
"It's always been my dream to teach in Woodrose, where I studied in high school... I was inspired by my teacher who said you should always give something back to that which you hold dearly and which contributed something to who you are right now," says Luisa.
Luisa is not daunted by the tremendous demands of becoming a teacher, such as putting in long hours and earning relatively low pay.
"I have always believed that teaching is a noble job. Even though it has a lot of demands, I know the rewards in teaching-such as molding young minds and perhaps influencing future movers and shakers -- makes it worth it," she says.
Similarly, Marcelle Fabie is set on becoming a teacher, but for quite different reasons.
The graduating Ateneo Communications major has recently decided there is nothing else in the world he'd rather do after college than to teach Philosophy, his favorite subject.
His love affair with the subject began during his junior year. "I've always been the kind of person who wants to look into the deeper meaning of things. I think Philosophy heightened this inquisitiveness I have, and after just one semester of it, I was hooked," he says.
He hopes to teach the subject soon in the Ateneo, where undergraduates are required at least 12 units of Philosophy subjects. He has recently taken the entrance exams for Masters in Philosophy in the Ateneo to aid him in his goal.
Marcelle looks forward to the day he can share his passion with others. "It's undeniable that Philosophy has influenced me greatly, and this influence has led me to better things... teaching Philosophy is my way of rendering this service to others, as this is simply the field that makes me grow as a human being," he says.
More than just introducing students to Philosophy, he hopes to make a difference in other's lives through teaching it.
He says, "Maybe I can't lead students to enlightenment in a mere semester, but I know that through teaching them, I'm helping them on the way there. That first step, I believe, is every bit as important as the journey itself, and is every bit important as the last step."
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