Almost a week ago (January 24), I delivered a lecture on Understanding the Media to the participants of the I Am Positive training seminar organized by the MTV Staying Alive Foundation and the Youth Aids Filipinas Alliance (Yafa) Inc. held at the Manila Grand Opera Hotel in Sta. Cruz, Manila.
The participants were all teenagers, who were previously screened and then selected to serve as youth ambassadors for MTV Staying Alive and Yafa.
Being a consultant of Yafa, I attended the second day of the seminar (January 23) to observe how things went and when I learned that the speaker on the topic Understanding the Media didn't show up, I volunteered to take the speaker's place, being a former journalist/editor. And so it was decided I would give the lecture the next day.
The night before, I couldn't sleep well because I was outlining the topic in my head. I did manage to catch a few hours sleep and early morning of January 24, I went to the seminar venue. I bought two newspapers (a broadsheet and a tabloid) to be used for the lecture. My talk went smoothly and from the looks on the faces of the participants, I could say they understood the topic and learned many things about the media since they were going to face media persons sooner or later.
I stayed on even after my talk ended and left the venue at past 3 p.m. with a sense of fulfillment that I was able to serve and help young people learn more about the world around them, about the media in particular.
There was no token nor any certificate of appreciation for the lecture I gave but it was completely okay because being able to serve and being able to help mold the youth of today to become responsible and learned members of society was more than enough reward for me.
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