“I am a new person here, but my face is not necessarily the freshest.”
That was the partly tongue-in-cheek (and partly accurate) statement I made while introducing myself during the first ever Rotaract meeting I attended at Casino Español in February 2022. As a self-described “late bloomer,” a part of me is screaming, “Why did it take you so long?!!” in terms of joining Rotaract (or any similar service organization). I would not be surprised if anyone reading this would be asking the same. So, here’s my little backstory:
Way back in college, I came across a sentence that still stuck with me to this very day: “Devote yourself to a cause greater than yourself.” And I knew right there and then that I had to use my God-given skills to serve others and pay the blessings forward. I achieved that by joining a student organization and was fortunate enough to be elected to the student council for two consecutive terms. In my capacity as a student leader, I served not only my fellow students through the pieces of legislation we passed, but also our marginalized communities via the several outreach activities we undertook. There were lots of sleepless nights and muscle aches, to be sure, juggling all those responsibilities, but I have absolutely no regrets taking challenge after challenge in the name of serving others.
As I was about to graduate from college, though, our family ran into very serious financial difficulties. In this case, my focus on service became an inward one, as I took the mantle of being the breadwinner of my family. I was solely responsible not only in paying the bills and putting food on our table, but also in financing my younger brother’s college education. All in all, it took us well over a decade to get our fiscal house in order, and while I wished we had done so in less than that time, the exhilarating feeling of getting things financially stabilized for my family is a feeling like no other.
It was around this time that I returned to the student organization that helped me get elected to the student council during my college days. I was now an officer of our alumni branch, passing on my experience and learnings to the younger generation. As fate would have it, my co-worker, reading me correctly on my passion for service in its various forms, referred me to Imaginative Rotary Year 2022-23 Rotaract District Representative Shevee Resolado, and the rest, as they say, is history.
As I circle back to my main point earlier, I know I’m not exactly the youngest person among the 2022 inductees (my knees will attest to that very much). I certainly can offset that with abundant experience demonstrating my commitment and dedication to others, be that my family, my fellow students, or the communities we serve. I firmly believe that the inclination to serve others is embedded in every person’s DNA, and I would like to express my warmest gratitude to DRR Shevee and the rest of the Rotaract Club of Cebu Fuente for the trust, confidence, and opportunity to be a person for others. In this Imaginative Year, my hope is that all Rotarians and Rotaractors across the globe conjure up the best and most effective ideas to serve mankind, and ultimately, turn them into reality. After all, devoting ourselves to a cause greater than ourselves is every bit worth pursuing.
