What I Learned from Rappler CEO and Co-Founder Maria Ressa

Last wedenesday, February 18, 2014, I atteneded the 3rd Filipino Technopreneurship Summit and I got to hear Maria Ressa, the CEO of Rappler give a talk about technopreneurship.

Focusing on using crowd sourced data, real time reporting and real time responses, Rappler.com is one of the up and coming news sites in the Philippines right now, and no doubt, CEO and co-founder Maria Ressa has played a big role in its success.

Being highly interested in the intersection of journalism, media, technology and entrepreneurship, I made sure to take down the different insights and lessons Maria Ressa shared about technopreneurship during her talk, and also during my short interview and conversation with her afterwards.

With Maria Ressa, the CEO and founder of Rappler.com and more importantly, one of the greatest Filipino journalists turned entrepreneur!

Our Generation

It today’s workplace and society, the generation gap is very evident. Throughout her talk, Maria emphasized how a lot of times, we might even know more than our bosses when it comes to technology. We’re the ones who have been exposed to all these technology and social networking sites like Facebook our entire life.

18th Birthday – A Reminder That I’m Not Just Another Year Older

Birthdays represent a lot of things. It can mean you’re a year older. It can mean that you’re still alive after said years. It can mean a passing of time. And it can also mean that you can now do certain things, I mean, I’m legal now!! But more than that, it can also mean that it’s time to make a bigger ripple in the world. For me, my birthday this year meant all that plus so much more.

I’m really happy that I got to spend these last few days, including my birthday, with friends who made the last few days such surreal experience. There’s just nothing like eating in a buffet, watching a suspense movie, talking about life, playing basketball with your friends on your birthday. I mean, no matter how absurd or nonsensical we get in our conversations, it’s always a good and euphoric time when you’re with your friends. You can’t help but feel invigorated as you laugh your heart out in almost every single word. I definitely couldn’t have asked for anything more especially after the tiring past few weeks. Laughter with friends truly is the best medicine to anything!

There’s no dull moment with these guys! Super thankful to have spent my birthday with them!

I honestly can’t believe I’m a year older already. Time really does fly by quickly. I’m finally 18 yet it feels as if I’m still a child. I was expecting to feel radically different on the day of my birthday. Yet I realized that change doesn’t happen in one day and that this 18th year of mine, I’ve already changed so much.

Ilaw Ng Paglinaw – Lighting Up Lives

This article was taken from the Philippine Daily Inquirer http://lifestyle.inquirer.net/128803/lighting-up-lives

The Ilaw Ng Paglinaw Team

In line with the celebration of Peace One Day Sept. 21, the “Ilaw ng Paglinaw” (Light of Enlightenment) team, composed of five high-school students from Xavier School, went to Payatas to bring light to impoverished homes.

The team’s vision is to help eradicate darkness in the homes of Filipinos who have access to only minimal source of light and as a result, only have the daytime to function. The Ilaw ng Paglinaw initiative was formed with this vision.

By providing rechargeable, cost-efficient and environment-friendly LED lights to families, the project will help people be productive even at night.

The Ilaw ng Paglinaw project started out a year ago when the team won the Indie Engineering Competition of the University of the Philippines-Diliman on April 8. As a result, it secured funding from the Ninoy and Cory Aquino and Tanging Yaman Foundations as part of its prize.

With a strong desire to give back to the community and help out in our own simple way, the team decided to carry out its first major operation by visiting Payatas and lighting up their homes. 

In Pursuit of Happiness – A Game of Hide and Seek

In Pursuit of Happiness – A Game of Hide and Seek

(This post is inspired by a movie I recently watched, “In Pursuit of Happyness,” which I highly recommend you check out if you haven’t. Aside from that movie, our recent lesson in Economics about the different happiness levels of people also pushed me to dig deeper and write about happiness)

 Happiness is something that is not quantifiable. You can’t really give a concrete example of happiness for it varies from person to person. Happiness is also something one cannot touch; in other words, it’s abstract.

There will be things that make some people happy and at the same time, make others not as happy. Candies can make a kid extremely happy but giving those same candies to an adult might not yield the same happiness effect.  This just shows that what makes someone happy constantly changes.

Furthermore, without a doubt, happiness can be found in the most abstruse of things. I’ve heard crazy stories where Hello Kitty figurines are bought for $100,000 dollars on Ebay. When I first heard about this story, I was like, what kind of retard would pay 100,000 for a Hello Kitty figurine? Then I realized that every person views things differently.

Finding Ones Passion, Working Hard and Dreaming Big – Why you can be who you want to be!

Repost from: Youth Are Awesome!

Finding Ones Passion, Working Hard and Dreaming Big – Why you can be who you want to be!

Finding Ones Passion, Working Hard and Dreaming Big – Why you can be who you want to be!

We all want to be the next Steve Jobs, Michael Jackson, Kobe Bryant, Donald Trump, Barack Obama, Taylor Swift, JK Rowling or what not. The problem with most of the youth today is that we’re either very spoiled or have too much distractions in our life. Technology, social media, and other different mediums have clouded our minds as to what it takes to achieve success.

A lot of us think that it’s impossible to be the next Michael Jordan or the next Bill Gates. However, we must remember that all these successful individuals all started somewhere. They weren’t phenomenal performers or multi-billionaires from day 1. They started out just like you.

After reading several biographies of the most prominent individuals inthe world, I’ve found a couple of similarities in these men and decided to highlight some key traits and things that helped these individuals change the world.

Find Ones Passion

 The most successful men in the history of the world all had one thing in common. They all had a PASSION.

Passion is a word that is thrown around and mentioned so many times to us youth that sometimes it sounds so cliché already. The funny thing is we don’t truly understand what passion is and what it means to have a passion.

Passion is something greater than you can imagine. Passion is not just about interests or hobbies. Passion is about being dedicated to something and really going the extra mile. What allows one to be passionate is the sole fact that you love this something so much that you’re willing to do anything to achieve your goals.

You can be passionate about practically anything but it has to be something. Passion is where everything starts. From Justin Beiber to Steve Nash to Bill Gates, they all had something they were passionate about–––something they were willing to spend all their time on just so that they could be successful in that something.

“Do what you are passionate about, the rest will follow.” – Praveen Sherman

Step Out of your Comfort Zone, Take the Initiative, Be the Change and Volunteer TODAY!

The harsh reality is that it’s human nature for us to choose the easier and more comfortable path. At the same time, it is also human nature for us to do things that bring us happiness but the things we do and spend our time on, more often than not, rewards us only with partial and transient happiness. How then does one attain genuine fulfillment and happiness? Well, the formula for authentic happiness isn’t that perplexing, it’s quite simple actually.

It all starts with a simple ideal called “Volunteerism.” One doesn’t need to be exuding with altruism or benevolence to volunteer, all it takes is one simple step and the rest will fall into place. This crucial and vital stride is more commonly known as, “Stepping out of your comfort zone.” 

To a lot of us, stepping out of our comfort zone is not the simplest or most facile of tasks. It takes a lot of willpower, potency, self-esteem but most importantly, a lot of heart. Volunteering entails that you leave all your superciliousness and ego outside as you enter a whole new environment.

It’s about putting everything aside, becoming more aware of your surroundings and simply caring more. Once you are able to do the aforementioned, you are well on your way to attaining that unparalleled genuine happiness that everyone desires. 

Today, we need more people who are willing to step out of their comfort zone and make a difference in the world. It’s not just about personal fulfillment anymore, it’s about being humane, and simply caring more about life and our society.

 A lot of people complain about how imperfect and flawed our society is but they don’t even ponder upon the possibility that their complacency may be the root cause for the flawed society they live in. The key to solving this is to have the INITIATIVE. The initiative to be the CHANGE you want to see.

So what are you waiting for? Volunteer TODAY! It doesn’t have to be so grand or colossal, even simple acts like volunteering to cook for your family, participating in your local charity program, starting a Green initiative or just the simple act of volunteering to teach your siblings or classmates who are having a hard time can make a big difference.

 Rome wasn’t built in one day. These simple acts you voluntarily do will build up and a ripple effect will start, and before you know it, what didn’t seem like anything then was the start of something new. Aside from that, volunteering is about building the habit. The habit of caring more about the “You/Them” and less about the “Me.”

Aside from the surreal feeling one gets after volunteering for a just cause, volunteering goes a long way. For instance, when you volunteer in a Youth Organization, a Christmas Charity Program, a Peer Counselors Club or maybe even a Teach to Read program, you get to meet new people, broaden your horizons, experience new things, all while making a difference in the lives of others.

We won’t live forever but volunteering and taking the initiative to make something happen can change the lives of many. Isn’t this what life is about? Life is about finding that purpose that will bring you fulfillment and enable you to sincerely say that you made the most out of your life. What better way to leave a legacy then by VOLUNTEERING!

You’ll be amazed how much YOU can make a difference as long as you have the will to. There are so many outlets out there for you to and find your niche and share your talent and passion to others. You have no excuses for information is so easily accessible now a days, from announcements in Social Media sites to just simply going to Google and searching for local organizations.

Think about the smiles, joys and happiness that you won’t only attain but you’ll also be able to bring to others as well; that alone is reason enough to start volunteering. Don’t wait until it is too late, make a difference TODAY!

-DOitChoco

PS. For local Filipinos out there who are interested in volunteering and making a difference, I’ve done the research for you and I’ve found a list of volunteer orgs you can join:

http://www.interaksyon.com/lifestyle/7-volunteer-orgs-to-share-your-talents-with-this-summer

Just in time for the season, one of the organizations that will be having a back to school project is Hands On Manila. Please do check out their Facebook page for details on how you can make a difference TODAY:

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Hands-On-Manila/80263279481?fref=ts