Essay Answers: YouthSpeak Forum 2016

How do you encourage innovative thinking?

-I encourage innovative thinking by PUSHING people to think creatively, and to START action. I use metaphors (race cars, Newton's first law of motion, etc.) to help them understand everyone's need of a push.

Give at least three issues that you would want to address in our country. Why these three issues?

-Education, Waste Management, Voter's Education - because we need to start from the bottom when trying to resolve bigger issues like corruption, pollution, poverty, and health.

What opportunities do you think the Philippines will have as a country given that it is one of the fastest growing economies in the world? How should we capitalize on these opportunities?

-Human resource -- not just in call centers, but in almost every field of industry. Because Filipinos are among the most hardworking and skillful people the world has. We have artists (name any field of art, there is at least one Filipino who excels), professionals, and even vocations we don't recognize every day. We should encourage relations with other countries and not think of this as a threat to our growing economy. Don't even think "globalization" will affect our nationalism or whatnot. It might even be the solution to all our problems.

If you will be given the chance to represent the Philippines, how would you represent the country?

-I will represent the country by teaching. I will teach Filipino and Chinese Filipino literature, because literature is my major. It's what I can teach best.

How important is our role as Generation Y millennials in this country? How can we bring about change?

-We are practical, opinionated, ambitious, career-oriented, and goal-driven. We're different from older generations who can't change or find it hard to break with tradition. We can bring about change by leading the younger generations and setting an example to them. By doing what we do best, we will be opening their eyes to opportunities and possibilities the old world was too scared of doing.