EDITORIAL | SEPT – OCT 2023

It’s election time again!  Happily, our AAA 2023 elections for new Board trustees are benign and friendly and do not in any way mirror the roller coaster ride and mudslinging and vote buying  that national elections can be replete with. Our elections  are, after all, among women of faith, women of shared values, with a common tapestry of Old Girl wisdom, empathy and natural kinship.  If only national elections could mirror ours.

, As an election advocate and long term veteran volunteer of PPCRV, I am always asked how to choose candidates. Until recently, I would give criteria for choosing candidates:  KKK (Karakter – Kakayahan – Karanasan), PROs (Pro-God, Pro-Country, Pro-Family, Pro-Environment, Pro-Service). Of course, PPCRV’s 10 Commandments for Voting have been rolled out far and wide with copies of it generated by the press and so many socio-civic organizations both here and abroad.   While I still believe these guidelines to be good benchmarks, I have since been reflecting and my philosophy has deepened somewhat.  In stead of just giving characteristics that we should look for in candidates, shouldn’t we look at our own characteristics first? Because how can we recognize these characteristics in others if we do not ourselves have these very same characteristics?  How can I know an honest person if I am not myself honest?  How can I recognize a man of faith if I am myself faithless?  How can I, with conviction, know that a candidate is respectful of self, others, community and country if I am myself not respectful of them?  How can I choose the best candidate if I am not myself the best citizen that I can be?   I think self-recognition and self-introspection are key to national elections and to any election, even our own.  Because if  we ourselves strive to be the best we can, then we learn to recognize and identify the very same characteristics  mirrored in those who would be fit to lead and govern as any “servant leader” should. 

And what characteristics should be mirrored in any trustee?

Faith.  Faith on Fire! ( A term borrowed from PPCRV!).  Because faith can move mountains and make the impossible happen.  It makes a trustee say:  “ I can do this.  I can make time for this.  This matters because it will make a difference and I will commit to making this happen.”  

Passion.  Passion that Ignites!  Contagious passion that gets others excited about making a difference, passion for uniting many for a common cause. Because it takes a village, always a village, to actualize lofty plans.

Respect.  Respect for all because Assumptionists have rainbow-colored beliefs and we must find common ground and realize that despite our many differences, we have much more in common. We all wore the red plaid and blue uniform, after all. 

Love.  Because when you are tired and wondering where to get the energy to make more calls, write more emails, generate new and exciting ideas, when you have gone the distance and want to say “Stop!”,  it is love that will bridge all things and make you go on.

Joy.  Happiness is a choice. A happy smile and healthy humor will go far anywhere.  It will make any work load lighter, any situation more doable. I will add that joy for yummy snacks are a must…because many meetings happen with yummy nibbles…with very good results!

Service.  The true leader is a servant leader.  Not first among many but first to serve, first to help, first to act.  The Board that I am proudly and happily a part of is a working board, women with a predilection for action and results, without fanfare, without need for recognition.

This edition of the Assumpta has election-related information that will instruct you on how to vote.  But to vote wisely, think beyond friendship, beyond the familiar name and recommendations of others.  Think of the characteristics you most want to have yourself and search for them in your candidate.  Think of the many things that you would want AAA to accomplish and choose the persons who can make them happen.  That is voting wisely.  Happy voting!

This edition of the Assumpta is brought to us by HS 1982.  They provided beautiful stories of alumnae full of talent and accomplishments.  I would like to extend special thanks to Tinnette Nisce, Co-trustee in the AAA and Class Representative of HS 1982.  Tinette is the Board’s very own pocket sunshine.  She always sees the positive not through rose-tinted glasses but through her preference  to find and elevate what is good in everything and everyone.  Tinette, thank you for mobilizing your batch to write all these inspiring articles.

To the entire HS 1982, thank you for the September-October 2023 edition of Assumpta!  All Hail!