SISFU Student Affairs Hold Annual Leadership Bootcamp for Student Leaders

Friday, April 22, the Student Affairs Department of Southville International School affiliated with Foreign Universities (SISFU) held its annual Leadership Bootcamp from 1:00 PM to 5:00 PM.
The event was hosted by SAS and CAPS Associate, Miss Shemariah Alquiza, and SISFU Administrative Head, Miss Cristina Aguilar-Borja—who warmly welcomed the student leaders and members of management. To commence the event, a fervent prayer and the singing of the Philippine National Anthem set the tone of the event.

With the programme in full swing, Dr Melva M Diamante, SISFU President, graced the occasion by delivering the opening remarks. In her message, she thanked the student leaders for their service and being the conduits, representatives of the management to the student body. She also stressed the importance that as a leader, one should have the competency to learn, unlearn, and relearn skills befitting for the situation at hand. She also asked the student leaders what their beliefs are and what they do as someone who was granted with the unique opportunity to be endowed with this responsibility.

After this, Ms Cristina Aguilar-Borja, SISFU Administrative Head, introduced the event’s keynote speakers and facilitators, Ms Bel Pacheco and Ms Maita Beltran. Following this, Ms Pacheco shared her relative experiences as a student leader decades prior and how the current generation are fortunate to have these opportunities to better hone their skills during their youth. Ms Maita Beltran as well introduced and shared her insights as well with this programme and provided a quick tech check to ensure that all systems are working properly on the participant’s end.

For this programme, the objectives are as follows: Increase self awareness, establish camaraderie and collaboration, and learn to integrate the 5Cs in leadership. To commence the activity, pre-assessment activity was undertaken to initially assess what kind of leaders the student participants are and how they impact the people around them. The purpose of such is that through self awareness, leaders become more confident, creative, and have a clearer idea on what they want to do.

Following this, the facilitators discussed the self-assessment questionnaire to the participants and asked them to tot up the scores and they will interpret the results after completing it. A 20-minute breakout session was held to allow participants to collaborate with their fellow leaders and answer key questions provided by the facilitators. Presentation followed the session and the student leaders got to know each other and themselves in the process. Complementing each other’s energies also brings further value to leading groups as adaptability allows for them to lead accordingly as to what the situation calls for.

A 5-minute screen break was provided to the participants for them to have the opportunity to refresh and relax before the next session.

After the screen break, for the second session, the participants were tasked to undergo a virtual escape room. This allowed them to practice the 5Cs that were instilled in them by Southville. Group 1 emerged from the challenge as the victor.

To wrap up this event, Ms Pacheco and Ms Beltran thanked the participants for their engagement and participation for taking part in this exercise. They encouraged the students to continue what they are doing and to apply what they have learned from this session.

The hosts thanked the keynote speaker and facilitator; and presented a certificate of appreciation for her time, expertise, and resources alongside SISFU President, Dr Melva Diamante; and SISFU Dean of Academics, Dr Nancy De Guia.

Following this, testimony videos were provided by Former Student Council President and Former SISFU Business Club President, Kimberly Pal-et; and Incumbent Rotaract Life Changing District Area Secretary (Muntinlupa, Parañaque, and Las Piñas), Inspiring President Aiko Iwata. They shared their take on their experience as a student leader and what responsibilities and expectations they carried during their time. They also shared their quips and tips to the participants which can serve as tidbits of information that they can use now or in the future.

Shortly after, announcements and reminders were provided by specific departments to the student leaders on what to expect for the remainder of the academic year.

As the event came to a close, the closing remarks were delivered by Dr Nancy De Guia, Dean of Academics, wherein she thanked the participants’ active participation and stressed the importance of making a difference and being a game changer through effective leadership and the skill of being adaptable to the changing demands of the workplace or situation at hand.

To mark the end of the festivities, the participants sung the SISFU hymn with much pride and fervour.

We would like to thank the SISFU Student Affairs Department for organising this event. We would also like to extend our warmest greetings to the incumbent student leaders for their commitment and passion to serve the student body this academic year.