Scholars Take the First Step for the Construction of World Peace
by: Alyanna Maxine Esquerra (PSHS-CLC Scholar)
To become one of delegates of the forum, also known as the Ritsumeikan Super Global Forum, held in Japan was such an honor. Having been one of the ten people chosen to represent the Philippines, with the representatives taken from different campuses of the Philippine Science High School System, this was something I knew I needed to take seriously.
The forum was entitled “For the Construction of World Peace.” The objectives of the forum were to make students from all over the world be aware of the many issues happening all around the globe from which they must grapple and find solutions for, and to be able to establish friendships, partnerships, and gain a sense of leadership. Through discussions, workshops, and research, the representatives were tasked to share issues of their own countries and its possible solutions. My partner, Jakob Decena, and I were assigned the topic about issues on natural resources in the Philippines and how we think we could possibly solve these.
One of the challenges of trying to communicate with other people to explain your point of view is the large difference of the cultures from one another. Having a temporary change on your habits is not easy. This was affirmed by almost all the representatives from different countries; it’s the diversity of the cultures of different high school students all cramped up into a relatively large high school to talk about issues of the world that made it a little bit harder than usual. Before the actual discussions and sharing of ideas “for the construction of world peace,” there were a lot of ice breaking activities and lectures about the objectives of the forum that happened first, each one different than the other. As time passed, students from different countries got to know each other and each culture a little better. This made it easier to communicate with one another and share our different ideas.
All the delegates were assigned into discussion groups, each group having representatives from different countries to be able to hear the sides of others as well. Much of the time spent in the school was allotted for discussions to share about each other’s countries and find similarities on the issues as well as to be able to formulate a possible solution for these problems. One of the challenges we, as representatives of the Philippines, faced was trying to understand the problems of other countries, specifically first world countries. Some of which were described as “mababaw” because it was not as tragic as the problems third world countries, such as the Philippines, have and face today. There were a lot of ideas formulated to try and create a better future; however, most of these were easier said than done.
Understanding that these ideas are the starting point to creating a better life is like creating a blueprint for the tallest and strongest skyscraper we, as a united world, can build. Many of us may have different cultures, different beliefs, different problems, and even different views on how to create a better future; knowing this, what we need to focus on is that even with all these differences, we are still one intelligent species trying to survive and create a more sustainable life in our only home. This forum was started not so we can talk about the problems and forget all about it afterwards; the ideas formulated are to be shared and disseminated to make others aware as well and to create a world full of ideas, and maybe through this, we can find the perfect solutions for each problem, and finally be able to solve them.
