What a turnout we had last Saturday at the San Francisco High School in Quezon City. Over 1,500 senior high school students showed up for Youthpreneur, our school-based entrepreneurship event for senior high school students from public schools.
Youthpreneur is a very important program of Go Negosyo. We are pushing this program hard because we know how crucial it will be to the nation’s future to grow the next generation of entrepreneurs. Almost all of the enterprises in the Philippines are MSMEs, and these MSMEs generate more than half of the jobs in the country. Ensuring the continuity of our MSMEs will help pave the way for sustainable and inclusive growth for the Philippines.
That is why I am truly grateful to the more than 50 entrepreneurship mentors who came that day to guide and inspire these young minds. The PCCI-NCR and PCCI-Quezon City, especially, have always been supportive of our programs. I am glad that our friends in the private sector continue to join us in our advocacy for entrepreneurship.
A lot of credit goes to the Department of Education, which has been our tireless partner since the beginning of this program. Sec. Sonny Angara threw his support behind Youthpreneur, and judging by how enthusiastically he rallied the students and worked up the excitement, we are in for more energetic Youthpreneurs to come.
When you are as young as these high school students, you look for someone to look up to and to learn from. Many kids today want to be digital entrepreneurs, especially as they see many influencers and content creators becoming successful. It’s a very popular pathway for young people these days.
I told them to always dream big; I said, even if you fall short of that lofty objective, you will still have achieved something more than when you started. And then you can try again. There are no limits to trying again.
But I told them that it doesn’t mean they should abandon their studies. Instead, I encouraged them to go beyond what they learn in school. Always I hear that question about diskarte or diploma. Every person is different. Some have book smarts and some have street smarts. I have met successful entrepreneurs who are very street smart, and I have met very successful entrepreneurs who are both book smart and street smart. It doesn’t have to be a choice between one or the other. Each one of us will have a different path to success. Some will rise up the corporate ladder and make their fortune there, while some will become proficient at a technical skill and make a good living out of it. And then there are those who will thrive in entrepreneurship.
I was not a perfect student. Quite understandably, my parents were frustrated with my grades in school. I failed miserably in my studies, but my drive to succeed was just extremely high. I learned that the hunger for success has to come from within, and it’s true whether you’d like to excel in school or whether you want to start a business. My performance in school did not determine if I would be a success or a failure. I knew what I was good at, I tried to become better at it and I learned both from my mentors and from my mistakes.
When I addressed the students at the beginning of the event last Saturday, I assured them that, from my experience, while they may not be excelling right now in their studies, it doesn’t mean that they won’t succeed in life. However, I told them that they increase their chances at success if they take the time to understand basic mathematics (very useful in business) and express their thoughts well by using words (to successfully communicate what they want, also important in business). I also told them that while these are important as they begin their journey, later on they will also learn the value of the sciences, the humanities and the merits of excelling at various trades. This knowledge will come in handy once they explore the bigger world and meet different kinds of people.
Right now, they will need to surround themselves with mentors. These can be their parents, their teachers, even their friends. It can be someone who’s better than them or someone who has a skill that they would like to learn.
This is why we have both our educators, the teachers and why we have mentors. Sec. Sonny was absolutely correct in saying that the lessons our Go Negosyo mentors shared with the students that day cannot be found in books. These are real-life lessons, which they paid for with the time, money and failure they experienced in their journey, and which they now freely share with the people they mentor.
These are more than entrepreneurship lessons; along the way, the students will pick up life lessons. As they say, failure is the best teacher. “Huwag kayong matakot mabigo,” Sec. Sonny told them. I couldn’t agree more. The most successful entrepreneurs I’ve met have had their share of failure. The difference is that they get up again and try. They do this several times over the course of their entrepreneurship career, each time learning from the mistakes of the past. That’s what defines them and makes them more resilient with each failure.
Believe that you can make it and succeed, but along with that faith must come hard work. I told the students to never fear the impossible because anything is possible. Go Negosyo, the DepEd and the generous entrepreneurship mentors will be here to help them.
Source: Go Negosyo - www.philstar.com
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