On 19 May 2024, the Chinese Filipino Business Club, Inc. (CFBCI) proudly presented the Life Skills and Motivational Seminar (LSMS) at Sky 1 Tower, Binondo, Manila. In this seminar, President Samuel Lee Uy, Director Richard Alviar, Vice Chairman Linda Lao, Vice Chairman Ramon Cheng, Plenary Member Jefferson Cheng, and Plenary Member Nixon Co attended.

To start the seminar, the scholar-hosts, Troy Serrano and Ysabelle Garcia, had a “Kumustahan” with their fellow scholars about how their month went after the last LSMS. One of them answered that since it is their midterms week, it was a stressful month for them.

Moving on, to start the Serendipity segment, President Uy greeted the scholars cheerfully and asked everyone to accomplish the Personality Styles Assessment. After filling out the assessment, the scholars shared about the personality style where they scored the highest. Most of them turned out to be a Helper – a person who is empathetic, intuitive, peacemaker, and works to foster cooperation, belonging, and harmony. At the end of this segment, President Uy said: “All of the traits – helper, organizer, thinker, and catalyst – we have it. We only have to balance each trait.”

The speaker of this month’s LSMS titled “Are You Ready For It? Life After Graduation," Ms. Marianne Elise R. Guinto, is a CFBCI Alumna from Batch 2020, a former Program Director, and a graduate of Bachelor of Science in Computer Engineering from the Polytechnic University of the Philippines.

Her talk revolved around the things to do before, during, and after the graduation. She started it by asking the scholars to form a circle together with their assigned groupmates and with whom they shared their answers about the following questions: “How are you this week?”, “What made you happy recently?”, “What made you sad recently?”, and “What do you look forward to right now?”. The said activity took some time as the scholars poured out their recent experiences. Most of them shared how stressed and tired they are as the final examination is approaching.

To formally start the talk, Ms. Guinto shared her points of view and experiences before, during, and after her graduation, how the COVID-19 pandemic affected her plans, as well as how the pandemic helped her to become more prepared to enter the corporate world. Furthermore, her talk focused about guiding the scholars towards their chosen path by knowing what they want, how to know if it is something that they want, and what is next after knowing what they want.

Ms. Guinto also reminded the scholars that learning takes time; pressure will be there but you they have to feel it and they can get through it. “Whatever you do, try to give your best; celebrate wins whether big or small; never be ashamed of trying; and that rest is productive,” she emphasized. Afterwards, the scholars were tasked to write down the things that they want to commend themselves for.

All in all, Ms. Guinto’s talk highlighted how life has lots to offer and that there might be times when you won’t know if you are still on the right path. Nonetheless, you must acknowledge that you have come quite a long way already. She left the stage with a quote from a famous singer, Taylor Swift, “The scary news is, you’re on your own now. But cool news is, you’re on your one now!” where many scholars could relate to.

After an insightful and very relatable talk, the scholars were asked about their takeaways and one of the graduating ones asked the bosses about what are the things that they were not able to prepare as they graduate. It was answered by Mr. Co, first by commending how great and helpful the talk this month is and by answering that, “no one can answer that question, no one knows what to prepare, as we do not know what might happen in our life.” The scholars couldn’t help but agree with his words. Finally, scholars ate lunch delightfully with a delectable mango tapioca dessert.

菲華工商總會訊：本會為培養「點亮未來」助學方案受助生全方位的成長，開闊學員們的心靈，讓他們吸收新知識，成為德才兼備的青年，每月均會定期邀請學友會成員，以其專業擔任專題講座主講人。五月十九日（星期日）上午，假本會八樓禮堂舉辦今年的第五次修養講座，將近百名受助生及學友會成員出席。理事長黃書瑋，文教委員會主任曾煥眉，文教委員會副主任留牡丹、莊南文，文教委員會理事張其安及外交委員會理事許純維等領導同仁到場聆聽，並給予專業指導。
當天的主講人是二零二零學年畢業於菲律濱理工大學(Polytechnic University of the Philippines)，並獲得資訊工程學士學位的受助生Marianne Elise R. Guinto。講座主題為「你準備好畢業後的職涯規劃了嗎？」。

講座開始前，司儀Troy及Ysabelle首先問候所有與會學員的近況及回顧上個月參加修養講座後的心得，接著邀請理事長黃書瑋與學員們進行互動。理事長黃書瑋請學員們回答了一份「個性風格評估調查表」，上面共有十組問題，每條題目都是關於如何應對或處理所碰到的某件事情。理事長黃書瑋解釋，這些個性風格評估調查，是想讓學員們發現自身存在的問題，並採取相對應的措施進行改進，從而做到處事不驚的心理素養。

主講人Marianne在開講前首先安排了分組活動，讓所有學員跟各自組員分享「本週你過得怎麼樣？」、「最近什麼事讓你開心？」、「最近什麼事讓你難過？」以及「你現在期待什麼？」等問題的答案。由於這週學員們都處於期末考高壓的情境中，本次活動成功讓學員們將情緒抒發出來，緩解了內心的壓力。

隨後，主講人 Marianne向學員們分享她在大學畢業前、畢業時和畢業後的心路歷程；新冠疫情如何影響了她的人生規劃，在生活節奏全被打亂的情況下，她如果為進入社會做準備等。她也表示，壓力每個人都會有，但是你必須要學習如何去克服它，並且勉勵學員們要勇於嘗試，無論做什麼事情，都要盡力而為。她也提醒學員們要找時間休息，可以是身體休息、心靈休息或精神休息；因為休息可以恢復專注力，提高工作效率。最後主講人 Marianne用名歌手泰勒絲（Taylor Swift）的一句名言做為結尾：「當你可獨當一面時，壞消息就是你只能靠自己了。好消息是，你可隨心所欲做自己喜歡的事情了」。任何事情都有兩面，生活沒有完美，但就是因為這些不完美，成就了完美的我們。

本會出席領導同仁在講座結束後讚揚講員精心安排的活動和豐富的內容，理事許純維用簡短的三個理念來激勵學員：第一、學無止境。所謂活到老學到老，技多不壓身，反而會幫你開闢一條新道路；第二、不要有消極的心理。我們應該要把精神和時間，留給那些值得的人，那些能夠讓你的思想和言語更成熟的人；第三、凡事多練習。勤能補拙，吃得苦中苦，方為人上人。當天豐富的信息量，讓學員們受益匪淺，收獲滿滿。

活動最後，本會出席的領導同仁頒發感謝狀予主講人Marianne Elise R. Guinto，全體大合照，並於中午前圓滿結束。