The passing of time brings about different moments in the lives of everyone, be that moment a happy one or not. And from those numerous moments that build up our life, there are the inevitable notable ones that we cannot truly ever forget. Case in point is Ateneo de Zamboanga University’s (AdZU) landmark of celebrating its 100th year last school year to which, at this point in time, we commemorate the end as we did the same when it began. With the theme of “Ateneo 100 Years and Beyond,” the University aims to continue its pursuit of embodying the values of excellence, spirituality and citizenship.
The story of AdZU is reminiscent of the very lives of its students and faculty and staff as the people in the Ateneo community have their own stories to tell and share with the same notable moments and a future to look forward to. With that in mind, for this Centennial Closing Week, “5th Week: Stories worth Sharing, Lives worth Living” was held on July 27 at the Carlos Dominguez Conference Hall (CDCH) led by project head, Mr. Kiko Miranda.
5th Week was patterned from the infamous TED Talks, featured stories of the best ideas from TED which is an internationally acclaimed set of conferences that work under the banner “Ideas worth Spreading.”
Mr. Kiko Miranda, shares that the event was proposed to give students an avenue for formation as they get to listen to stories that would inspire them more. In fact, the very name of the event, 5th Week, indicates that very purpose as Sir Kiko, as he is most known in the Ateneo community, explained that the name was taken from the 5th Week in Ignatian retreats.
Sir Kiko shares that when you go on an Ignatian retreat, which lasts for 4 weeks, there are themes for the spiritual exercises each week. He says, “The 5th Week is actually the rest of your lives. How are you going to put into action everything that you learned during the retreat… So, just like the stories or the speakers we invite, these are people who actually had lived the Ignatian values in their lives.” He explains that they mostly get the alumni to speak about their lives after their four years in college – their “5th Week,” the rest of their lives, how do they practice or live the things that they have learned in the Ateneo in the real world. Thus, there were three speakers who were invited for the event.
The first speaker was Ms. Natalya Frances Sousa, the top 6th placer in the recently concluded Nursing Licensure Exam. Ms. Sousa talked about the “Secret of the Law of Attraction,” referring to one of the chapters in one of the best selling self-help books, “The Secret,” that was written by Rhonda Byrne.
The second speaker was Fr. Wilfredo Samson, S.J., the University Officer in Charge in the absence of the new University President. Fr. Samson talked about “Ang Pitik ng Diyos.”
Lastly, the third speaker was Ms. Ella Pancho Galon, an AdZU alumnus whose life story was featured recently in the infamous Philippine drama anthology series, “Maalaala Mo Kaya.” Ms. Galon shared her story that was entitled “5 things I’ve learned about life as a clown.”
For such events, the audience is an important element for its success. It can be noted that there seemed to be a lack of promotions for 5th Week as not everyone was aware that such an event existed. To which Sir Kiko agreed and explained that since it was a one man show, he being the only person who organized it,and given that he had four other activities that he also had to focus on and to coach the speakers for the event on top of that, he said that, “hindi ko natutukan lahat ng Ateneo.” But despite this, he was glad that they had a “full house.”
Moreover, people who missed the event should not be dismayed as Sir Kiko shared that the 5th Week will now be an institutional event that will be held every end of the semester or end of the school year – in his words, “Parang like a season ender.”
