By Karla Atanacio
Almost 60 high school and post-secondary students gathered on Wednesday, March 14, 2018 at Daniel McIntyre Collegiate Institute to learn about life skills and careers from notable young Filipino professionals who are leaders in their industries.
For this year’s Youth Forum on Building Success, the organizing committee, made up of representatives from the Philippine Heritage Council of Manitoba, Aksyon Ng Ating Kabataan (ANAK) Inc., University of Manitoba Filipino Students Group (UMPinoy), and Couples for Christ, selected a panel of six speakers. The speakers were Eric Garcia, Clinical Kinesiologist and former Bisons basketball guard; Chenee Lubi, an Assistant Branch Manager for Bank of Montreal; Intensive Care Unit Nurse Ricardo (Rix) Reyes; Viz Cabrera, stylist at Hunter & Gunn; optometrist Dr. Earl Jamora; and Winnipeg Police Constable Orlando Buduhan.
The event tackled important topics including the reality of today’s job market and deciding what field to go into, all while reflecting on one’s upbringing as a Filipino-Canadian.
Eric Garcia, Kinseologist, talked about the benefits of community involvement. Assistant Bank Manager Chenee Lubi and hair stylist Viz Cabrera stressed the importance of good interpersonal communication. Meanwhile, Rix Reyes shared his experiences as an ICU nurse and gave tips on how to self-care in reducing stress. Optometrist Dr. Earl Jamora and Winnipeg Police Constable Orlando Buduhan encouraged students to take control of their own destiny.
Through their participation in the event, students were exposed to a wide range of fields and careers and were able to ask the speakers questions about their experiences in small breakout groups.
The Youth Forum on Building Success event is only one of many learning workshops hosted by PHCM. Other PHCM initiatives include the bi-annual Bagong Dating event and the weeklong Philippine Heritage Week celebration in June.
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Karla Atanacio is a member of Aksyon Ng Ating Kabataan (ANAK) Inc. and the Philippine Heritage Council of Manitoba.
She is in her first year of Political Science at the University of Winnipeg.
