TEDxUSCSalon’s first session commences, talks about “Buhay”

University of San Carlos witnessed its third TEDx event, TEDxUniversityofSanCarlosSalon, commence yesterday afternoon at the CAFA Theatre. Following its predecessors TEDxUSanCarlos and TEDxUSCLive, TEDxUSCSalon captivated the audience as well with its ideas worth spreading.

TED, which stands for Technology, Entertainment and Design, is a non-profit organization that commits to spread ideas through short, meaningful talks. TEDx is a TED event that is independently organized by other sectors through a free license granted by TED. It also features Salon events, where the audience is encourage to engage themselves into the talks by also sharing their insights.

TEDxUSCSalon focuses on the theme “Response-Ability” which, according to the TEDxUniversityofSanCarlos website, highlights the speaker’s initiative to respond to today’s pressing issues through their ideas and the audience’s ability to make a positive change in the world. Spanning in three weeks, it covers three topics: Buhay, which tackles on philosophy and life; Konsepto, which includes technology and design; and Tukar, which features music.

Six speakers graced the staged during the Buhay session. The first speaker, Toastmasters member Carlo Espina, had his talk entitled “Can you see your own butt?” where he emphasized that when people only see things according to their own perceptions, they will always have “a blind spot”. He further shared to the audience to perceive life in more than just one angle and to think of all the possibilities when making even the smallest decisions in their lives.

“Every one second can determine forever, and every one minute can affect your life,” he said.

UC-METC Marine Engineering graduate Alexander Durante shared the accident that happened in his life as a seafarer — how it paralyzed him for five days at sea and how it made him reflect that the purpose he has in his life is not in seafaring but in leadership.

“Life is not about surviving. Life is about doing what you’re made to do — your purpose,” he said to the audience as he told them to start searching for what they’re good at to attain success in life.

USC Political Science teacher Rejene Lakibul talked about his life philosophy “Keep moving forward,” inspired from the Walt Disney movie “Meet the Robinsons.” He talked about how people can live through the philosophy by a set of actions he labelled as “SPINIMGEN”. SP stood for Speciality, or determining one’s own special function or skill. IN stood for Inspiration, or finding one’s intrinsic inspiration through exploring and traveling. IM stood for Importance, or setting time for things and people that matter. GEN stood for Generosity, or helping out in the community to make use of one’s speciality and emanate his sense of inspiration and importance.

Another USC Political Science teacher, Atty. Archill Faller-Capistrano, opened the second part of the event by imposing a question to the audience: “Behind every successful man is a woman, but in every successful woman, is there a man?”

She spoke of her struggles as she finished her master’s degree in International Relations at Australia while she had to leave her family in the Philippines behind, and how she was able to overcome it all especially through the support of her husband, breaking the misconception that women fall back in their careers because of their partners.

“We should redefine male power as the ability to make the woman be more that what she is ‘built for,’” she emphasized.

“It’s not about competing with each other. It’s about completing each other.”

USC Humanities and Literature teacher Cindy Velasquez opened her talk with a Cebuano poem, which she related to her insights on writing about one’s own roots. Sharing Kabisdak, a website that contains a collection of Cebuano literature, she expressed that one can preserve his home’s heritage through literature.

“A home is like a womb,” she said. Velasquez told the audience that there are two kinds of birth: first is when one is released from the womb of his mother, and second is when he steps outside from his hometown to discover the world.

The last speaker was Miles for Smiles and #BecomingFilipino founder Kyle Jennermann. He talked about how visiting the Philippines and getting exposed to its culture inspired him to initiate his projects. He expressed how amazed he was at the ability of the Filipinos to give and to have fun despite living in unfortunate conditions.

“Happiness is right there in front of us, but sometimes, we just have to remember to open our eyes for it,” he told the audience.

He spoke on how his trip further inspired him to share his renowned Smile poster across the country and even in some parts of the world.

“I share my Smile sign because there are so many reasons to do so,” he said, telling the audience that sharing happiness inspires happiness.

The event ended with the giving of tokens of appreciation to the speakers and a photo opportunity with the participants.

TEDxUSCSalon’s second session Konsepto will be held on Feb. 21 in the same time and venue.