Good morning/afternoon! I am grateful that I can present here.
Now, allow me to begin my speech regarding
the student leadership that the Philippines need.
First things first, what is a student leader? A student leader is one who guides and enlightens their fellow
students. They are supposed to be strong-willed and determined, just like certain leaders who got their
followers to respect them and offer their loyalty to them. Isn’t it amazing? Ordinary people who rose to
change something and help in creating improvements. Leaders are not just born as leaders. They went
through a ton of challenges just to qualify as someone who can lead. Anyone can become a leader? That
maybe true but I do not believe so. Can anyone prove themselves worthy of the title of a leader? No. Not
everyone would be strong enough to do so. Bearing the name of a student leader is no easy task. People
expect a lot, and you will have to be courageous enough to carry the pressure of their expectations.
Students chose and trusted us. Unless we live up to their expectations, we would not be full-fledged leaders.
Which is why a student leader should have a goal, a vision. Without a clear one in mind, we would not be
able to get anywhere. Our goals should always be in line with the students’ best interests. A student leader
should always prioritize what is good for them and for the school. Why? Of course, I believe that it is our
purpose. What else should a student leader be doing, if it is not helping the school to improve, right?
We create programs that would help students showcase their talents, create entertainment for everyone and
give people a chance to enjoy their time in school. We should aim for what is best for the school. As for me,
I would like to create programs that can address the problems that we continue to face.
Before the pandemic, there are plenty of students who cut classes. Once the pandemic ends and we start
going back to school, it might go back to that way. What should we do when that time comes? Well, I think
the best course of action is to create something that would keep them interested in going to school. That
would be no easy task to do but when the whole student council gathers, we should discuss this matter with
them. I would personally recommend creating afterschool programs. If it does not work, then the last resort
would be enhancing security. Putting CCTV cameras everywhere and programming it to activate an alarm
when it spots students who plan to cut classes. Although, that would be no easy feat as well. We need to
watch our budgets, too.
Seeing as to how leaders tend to experience a lot of difficulties, without courage, they are guaranteed to
make mistakes along the way. If they cannot keep up with all the challenges and start to fall back, then what
would become of those who chose to rely on them? Which is why we need to be careful. We should always
work with the whole council and ask help and advice from teachers. It would not be so bad to seek for help
when faced with an obstacle. It’s not like student leaders can take everything on by themselves.
Back to what kind of student leadership we need. Of course, student leadership that does not dictate but
kindly guides. Filipino students never liked being terrorized anyways so how about trying to get along with
students? They will not listen if you just try to tell them what to do. Worse, they would even try to fight
back. There might have been an invisible barrier between us and normal students. Probably because of the
difference in authority or maybe a stereotype about student leaders being terrifying or using their authority
to force submission. Of course, they would feel oppressed. However, they might listen for once if we try to
break the ice.
How? One of a student leader’s quality should be having good communication skills. This is one of the
times where it should be put in use. It might not be resolved by simply talking so maybe we should do some
counseling. We listen and try to help them with their problems. We could have a serious talk and develop a
good relationship with them. Sometimes, we should just try to reach out to them, and they would eventually
warm up. It might depend on how you handle things but if you are confident enough, things will go the way
you planned it to. There might be obstacles or mistakes along the way but that is precisely why a smart
student leader would prepare a backup plan.
As long as we keep our own motivation in check, we can always find a way to successfully carry our plans
out. But we should also keep watch over our teammates. We cannot carry everything out by ourselves, after
all. Speaking of teammates, we should also make sure that we can get them to respect us as leaders. If they
do not, they might end up straying away from the group and cause conflicts. In short, a student leader should
be able to make sure that the council is working as a whole group, and no one strays. Teamwork is necessary
to achieve our goals so we cannot afford to let it fall apart if we want to succeed.
To sum it all up, confidence, strong will, determination, goals. Those are primarily the characteristics that a
student leader should have. We need student leaders who can open a path that would help students in
moving forward, student leaders who are confident in their own skills and decisions, student leaders who can
help in creating a better learning environment for students. A school is where students hone their skills, after
all, and we need someone who can properly help the in that manner.
That is all. Once again, thank you for letting me carry my speech out.
