De Venecia asks educators: Equip and empower the youth
“YOU empower them. You equip them. You “complete” them!”
This was how Fourth District Rep. Christopher “Toff” de Venecia challenged student affairs and services professionals in his keynote speech during the 2017 Regional Conference on Student Affairs and Services (SAS) on February 24 in San Fernando City, La Union.
He said higher education, specifically, is one of the most crucial stages of a student’s journey.
“The individual transitions that one goes through during college may make or break the bright future awaiting each one of them,” he said as he stressed that education is not merely academic.
“That is why the office of SAS was designed to enable and empower students to focus more intensely on their studies and their personal growth and maturation, both cognitively and emotionally,” De Venecia said.
He shared some important principles and foundations of SAS, namely empowerment and personalized involvement.
He said that outside the four walls of their classrooms, students have a lot of potentials waiting to be explored and simply need the opportunities that could assist them financially as well as opportunities that could expose them more to the line of work they are interested in.
He said these also include opportunities that would allow them to serve other people – and give back to the community and opportunities that could produce a more “whole”, a more “complete” student, ready and able to be part of the workforce.
De Venecia also pointed out that everyday, SAS professionals must come face to face with a diverse spectrum of students, to interact on a one-on-one basis and share their advice on different issues – values, career decision, leadership, etc.
“When something is personalized – it makes us feel important,” he emphasized.
Another word De Venecia defined as pillar of SAS is involvement, mean to include other groups concerned, and must be student-centered. “They should be treated as partners and stakeholders in their education,” he said. (Eva Visperas)
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