2002 ~ 2006 |
THE PIONEERS
Self-discovery
Most of all, being in university gave one the freedom to
discover oneself. Surely your journey of self-discovery
continued well into the rest of your life. But never
again would you be in a state of mind where it was
okay to be totally self-absorbed. I mean that in a good
way. Thinking about oneself all the time, what one
wanted, needed, imagined, philosophized, disliked,
dreamt of, hoped for, aspired to… there was no better
time to do it. Beyond university one would find the joys
of expanding that absorption to include others in your
life, work and community. Those ideals we worked
so hard to develop during university years would
transform and refine, hopefully for the better.
One may still not know the answer to “who are you?”,
but would be at ease and accepting with one’s place
in the world. One accepts that the process of finding
and knowing the answer is just as important as the
answer itself, that being authentic gets easier with
time, and that dreams change and continue to shape
you all your life.
Shao graduated with a Bachelor of Communication
in 2004. She also has a Masters in Community
Development from the University of the Philippines
Diliman (2010). She is currently a research consultant
at a Son-Rise Program for autism mom.
24
◀ With fellow coursemate Sudheesh in
Melbourne during our time in Monash
Australia (2003).
Doing fieldwork with the Dire Husi group in
Cagayan de Oro in Mindanao (2009). Through the arts
and entrepreneurship, Dire Husi envisions a community
of socially and environmentally responsible young people
working collectively to develop youth potential. ▶