I recently returned from a three-day Student Leadership retreat to the St. Scholastica’s Convent in Baguio City, which is a 6 hour drive north from Manila. Baguio is located high in the Cordillera Mountains, and as such, it’s about 20 degrees cooler there than it is in Manila. Baguio is known as “the summer capital of the Philippines” because it’s cooler than much of the rest of the country and is a popular getaway from the worst of the heat during the summer months. For Kelsey and I, it was wonderful to get away from the city heat (although it’s past summer, which is April and May here, it’s still very hot and humid). We were advised along with the Filipino students who were also going on this trip to bring pants and jackets, because we’re past the summer now, but Kelsey and I felt that it was the perfect temperature. We also got to experience the beautiful gardens and pine trees around the Convent, which was quite a change of scenery.
While we stayed there, Kelsey and I got to meet the student leaders of various student organizations that we will be working with in the coming weeks. It was also an opportunity for the facilitators and guest speakers to impart leadership skills and wisdom on the student leaders, and for the groups to coordinate together and organize the events they were planning on implementing this school year.
Sitting in on the sessions, Kelsey and I got to learn a little more about the Scholastican Benedictine values and the servant-leadership they expect their students to live out. The focus this year is on stewardship.
I’m so impressed by the student leaders of St. Scholastica’s. They are so organized and efficient. I think the role of student org leader is awarded with much more gravitas and student groups are taken much more seriously here than they are at IWU. There’s responsibility to uphold the legacy and reputation of the group, because they’re a brand that past alums from St. Scho will still recognize. If they want to change the logo, for example, they need to trace back all the past presidents and members and petition them for the change.
At Illinois Wesleyan, all you need is 3 interested students and a faculty advisor, and you have a group. With so many RSOs and the ease of which new ones can be made, there isn’t as much of a commitment to uphold them and many dissolve or fade out when leaders graduate or get too busy. Here, it’s a very big deal. During the SLT in Baguio, part of the purpose was to get all the student leaders to meet each other and coordinate. They brought three-year development plans their presidents had made last year and plotted out all the events they wanted to do for the entire school year so that any conflicts of event dates between groups could be managed. That would be an unthinkable system at IWU, because we have so many groups and often events get planned and scheduled last-minute – planning several months in advance happens, but is certainly not the norm. There’s much I can learn from these Scholastican leaders!
In addition to the academic part of our visit to Baguio, we got one afternoon free to explore some of the area. As a group, we visited the BenCab museum, where the collection of local artist Ben Cabrera is located (who has a home and a studio next door). It contains both traditional tribal Ifugao artefacts as well as contemporary art, and it’s stunningly located amidst the mountains, with an organic farm in the backyard.
While out and about, we also visited scenic Mines View Park (where I got my pictures taken in the traditional wear of the local Ifugao tribe), the hectic and crowded City Market (where I got some amazing bargains on handicrafts to take home and several students bought the strawberries Baguio is famous for), and had dinner in the charming Ketchup Food Community, home to several open-air restaurants. We even shared our dinner with some very persistent stray cats who were stopping at nothing to get at our food – several of us were surprised to suddenly find a cat in our lap or begging at our chair.
Beautiful Baguio
The City in the Mountains
Entering the convent, one is reminded of pax – peace
Peace
Waking up to an early morning chill I will never experience in Manila!
The view from the Convent
In the gardens
The St. Scho Student Leaders gathered at the Pax sign (Photo courtesy of Khamylle Castillo)
SLT group! (Photo courtesy of Raj Biasca)
Some of the students we befriended (Photo courtesy of Raj Biasca)
Walking through the convent gardens (Photo courtesy of Jala Magbuhos)
Kelsey and I with Deans Marquez and Rafanan from the Student Affairs Office, as well as Prof. Rita Cucio
The view from BenCab Museum
The gardens at BenCab
Kelsey and I in Ifugao dress at Mines View Park
Dinner in Ketchup Community at twilight
Uninvited dinner guests
And they didn’t even chip in for the bill like the rest of us… tsk tsk.