News & Features

Insular Foundation, in partnership with Edukasyon.ph, hosted “Asking for a Friend: How can I feel hopeful about my future?” webinar last March 12. The participants had a casual yet insightful conversation with the resource speaker and youth advocate about the struggles of being a student and how to pursue goals with a positive attitude during the pandemic. It was attended by more than 100 students comprised of Insular Foundation scholars and other college and SHS students from the Edukasyon.ph network.

The webinar was well-received by the participants as students, among others, experienced various challenges during the pandemic especially with the shift from traditional face-to-face classes to virtual/online learning. Studies and report show that students’ mental well-being was affected by the changes in the learning environment, quality of learning, uncertainty of the future, and financial constraints brought by the pandemic.

Ms. Gracie Orden and Ms. Steph Naval from Empath shared the following key insights on how to foster hopefulness despite these trying times.

• Thriving is the key. Most Filipinos, not just students, are on survival mode during the pandemic wherein the goal is to continue living or finish the task at hand. However, it is better to thrive than to survive. When we thrive, we try to develop and be successful in what we do. Thriving does not also mean that we never feel sad, but what is important is we get the balance of all the emotions that we are experiencing.

• Don’t forget to do self-care. Develop a self-care list that we will practice regularly, not only when we feel burned out. It is not expensive also like hugging our family members, playing   with our pets, taking a shower, doing mindful breathing, and appreciating nature. Self-care is having the time for yourself.

• Cling on to hope. During these times that most are on survival mode and people barely dream, hope is what we need now, especially the youth. Hope is believing that things will get better, we will still push forward for our goals, and we act on these goals to happen.

• Practice makes a habit. Being hopeful takes practice. It involves acknowledging the difficult situation we are at now and considering also how to move forward from the situation. A good practice is keeping a gratitude journal of the things we are grateful for (even small ones) even if the situation is challenging.

• Embrace help from others. We should be open that people around us are there to help us. For students, be open for support from family, trusted friends, teachers, guidance counselor, and free online support.

The webinar is part of Insular Foundation’s holistic educational intervention for its scholars and to other students as well. This is in support of our mission to create an enabling environment for human development in the communities we serve.

Resource Speaker, Ms. Gracie Orden, shares about the biggest challenges the youth are facing during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Youth Advocate, Ms. Steph Naval, shares her insights about students’ everyday stressors.

Group photo