At the beginning of the year’s fourth quarter, the Chinese Filipino Business Club, Inc. (CFBCI) proudly presents the Life Skills and Motivational Seminar (LSMS) at Sky 1 Tower, Binondo, Manila, on October 20, 2024. Before the seminar began, Director Richard Alviar greeted and reminded the scholars about the significance of punctuality – how important it is especially when they start working. Since it is the first LSMS of the new scholars, he let them introduce themselves one by one and they were welcomed warmly by the current ones.

Proceeding with the Serendipity, Ms. Mexica Bausa, CFBCI’s Public Affairs Officer, took charge the first half of it by playing the Episode 4 of Chinese by Blood, Filipino by Heart by CHINOY TV. It was a 13-minute video that highlighted the friendship between Tsinoys and Filipinos and featured some of the members of the newly founded organization, Filipino at Tsino Magkaibigan Foundation. One of the events that was spotlighted was the Lakad Magkaibigan. It is a ‘solidarity walk’ that happened last June 9, joined by thousands of people, including the scholars, that symbolizes the enduring friendship between Filipinos and the Chinese community.

After playing the video, Ms. Bausa asked five new scholars to have a question-and-answer type of discussion — where a scholar will answer and ask a question to the next one and so on. It was a fruitful sharing session where two of the scholars from PLM said, “hindi lang nandito ang mga Chinoy para sa negosyo, nandito rin sila para tumulong sa mga Pilipino”, “hindi tayo dapat bumase sa mata o kulay, dapat bumase tayo sa kakayahan ng tao.”

Subsequently, President Samuel Lee Uy continued the segment by playing a video titled “The Value of a Country” and letting the scholars read an article written by Professor Dennis Etler. He asked the graduating students regarding their opinion on this topic and as well as to the recent filing of candidacy for senatorial elections in the Philippines. One of them said that, “we should not choose a candidate that is pro-US nor pro-China, we should instead choose a pro-Filipino and for all kinds of people.”

Moreover, to formally commence with the seminar, Architect Zeus Marshal Miranda was introduced to start his talk titled, “Learn x Learn: Brain-Based Learning Strategies Maximizing Student Success with Neuroscience”. He began by letting the scholars draw and explain the presented description of elements. He then elaborated the meaning behind those which, at some point, will reflect who they are as an individual and will let them understand themselves: The Entrance and The Paths – represent their current motivation for learning and how their life choices reflect their goals; The Growing Plant – ties to their motivation and what inspires them to learn; Shaded Areas – represent the obstacles they face whether it’s fear or failure, lack of time, or external distractions; The Helper – symbolizes their support system. It was followed by a humorous and witty sharing of the three chosen scholars that made the floor full of cheers and laughs.
Architect Miranda then proceeded with his topics, which included: How the Brain Really Works, Steps to Higher-Order Learning, How the Brain Learns: Neurons & Synapses, Different Types of Learners, The Problem with Traditional Studying, Boosting Long-Term Memory, Building Long-Term Memories, The Science Behind Procrastination, 3 Boxes of Life and How to Get Out of Them, and The Skill of Learning.

These topics provided valuable insights and guidance that helped everyone improve their learning strategies. Consequently, the scholars had a nomination for the next set of officers which will be trained for the next three (3) months, and had their appetizing Kare-kare and puto for lunch.

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。本會於十月廿日（星期日）上午，假八樓禮堂舉辦今年的第六次修養講座，百餘位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，副主任留牡丹、莊南文，福利委員會副主任許有福及新進會員吳岳陽等領導、同仁到場聆聽，並給予專業指導。

當天受邀擔任主講人的是畢業於二零一四年「點亮未來」助學方案受助生Marshal Zeus Miranda建築師，他現已是一位有執照的建築師，其講座主題為「如何以神經科學策略提高學習成功率」。
活動首先由主任曾煥眉致詞，他講解守時的重要性，並指出，當我們踏入職場時，守時是大家必須遵守的第一準則。隨後，曾煥眉主任請今年所有新進的受助生站起來一一做自我介紹，受到大家熱烈鼓掌歡迎。

隨後播放菲華電視台「華人的血，菲人的心」第四集影片，這部長達十分鐘的影片，除了展現華人和菲律濱人之間的友誼外，也專訪了「菲中愛心基金」幾位核心成員，包括本會理事長黃書瑋，並以本會聯合馬尼拉華人區發展委員會、菲中愛心基金慶祝菲律濱一百廿六週年獨立節及第廿三屆菲中友誼日所共同舉辦的「友誼萬人步行」（Lakad Magkaibigan）作為該集影片亮點。

理事長黃書瑋則播放了一段題為 「一個國家的價值」視頻，並讓學者們閱讀鄧尼斯‧艾特勒（Dennis Etler）教授撰寫的一篇文章，與學員們共同討論本國社會時事議題。

主講人Marshal Zeus Miranda建築師開講，他首先向受助生們闡述了「入口和路徑」、「正在生長的植物」、「陰影區域」及「幫手」等的解釋和含義，並且表示，這些背後的含義在某種程度上將反映大家作為個體的身份，也會讓大家更了解自己；接著他也繼續向大家講解了大腦如何真正運作，高階學習的步驟。大腦如何學習：神經元和突觸，不同類型的學習者，傳統學習的問題，增強長期記憶，建立長期記憶，拖延症背後的科學，人活的三個盒子和如何擺脫它們，以及學習的技巧等議題，並且詳細解釋這些議題如何能夠幫助每個人改進他們的學習策略。在近四小時的講座中，使學員們受益匪淺。

本會出席領導同仁在講座結束後讚揚講員精湛的演說和豐富的內容，並鼓勵學員們要學以致用，充實自己，把學到的知識溶入生活，更好地面對生活中帶來的種種考驗。

活動最後，本會出席的領導同仁頒發感謝狀予主講人Marshal Zeus Miranda建築師，全體大合照，並於中午前圓滿結束。

圖片說明：（左至右）
上圖：主講人Marshal Zeus Miranda建築師；當天主題簡報；理事長黃書瑋。
中圖：新進受助生做自我介紹；講座會現場學員們在做活動。
下圖：頒贈感謝狀予主講人。（左起）吳岳陽，許有福，留牡丹，黃書瑋，Marshal Zeus Miranda建築師，曾煥眉，學友會成員Angelica Carriaga，西文秘書、亦是學友會成員梅西卡，學友會成員Franc Lavilla。