National Service Training Program (CWTS) Reflection
To be in service is not an obligation, but rather, a grace. It is a gift because when we are able to serve, it implies that we as the servants have something which the served does not have – may it be in terms of money, knowledge, experience, or other non-tangible things. Hence, we are the instrument to make the served feel as someone who is worthy of being a recipient of our care, time, and efforts.
My whole year in service in the NSTP allowed me to ponder on a lot of things. Every time we are deployed in a community with our NSTP XU uniform, people would always get uneasy with us, showing gestures of intimidation. It seems as though Xavier students are foreign in this city and we should be highly looked up to. When a person would tell us “Hala, taga – Xavier man diay mo” , we get the notion that the person has a high regard to students of XU. It then made me realize that indeed, we are very blessed to be enrolled in a prestigious university. And since we are from XU, so much is expected from us. XU gives one of the finest education in the city, which is why it is best to give the act of paying back by rendering service to our community which summarizes the mission of our university.
We are expected to be in the frontiers. As a School of Business and Management student, my edge compared to other students in the campus is my knowledge in accounting and management. These are things that I have which I am able to share to my community without a cost. This is exactly how NSTP gave me a venue to serve: to share to others the knowledge that I have in financial and economic matters.
Being able to teach what I know to a complete stranger seems to be very hard in the first few weeks of our area work. It is difficult to convince someone, especially if that person is older than you, that what you say is right and important. But because of my willingness to educate people about savings, I was able to overcome my fears of humiliation or worse, rejection. Hence, I am a stronger person because of NSTP.
One year would never suffice for me to be able to say that I have made a difference. But the least that I can say is that rest assured, we were able to educate and inspire people in our little ways. And even when NSTP is over, there are still a lot of venues where we can commit ourselves in service despite the odds. I would not stop serving, not unless no one is left to be served.
