Trait of a good leader: Positive work attitude

Having a positive work attitude is important for one to become a good leader.

Roxanne Hernaez, a lady born with charisma and confidence, has been engaged in voluntary works since high school.

The 21-year old girl from sitio Nazareth, barangay Buhisan, Cebu City said wearing a smile wherever she goes is an asset.

Belonging to the first section during her high school days, Hernaez and her classmates led other students in every activity.

“My experience in high school helped me a lot. My teachers molded me to become a good leader through various school activities,” she said.

Her leadership skills has strengthened after she joined the Ramon Aboitiz Foundation Inc.’s (RAFI) Young Minds Academy (YMA) Season 5, where she learned the importance of integrity, innovation and impact.

“Leadership is developing people. As a leader, you are able to leave footprints,” she said.

Upon entering college, she applied her learnings from the YMA.

She became president of the Cebu Institute of Technology (CIT) Industrial Engineering Council. Being a council head enabled Hernaez to initiate activities anchored on the theme “Lean to Green.” These included leadership skills seminars and group discussions, and eco-notebooks project.

“During our mathematics class, I suddenly realized that we can make notebooks out of scrap papers from our research subject,” she said.

The project started with a lecture on recycling, followed by the actual production of eco-notebooks using scrap paper, cardboard and yarn that were collected from school offices.

Summer of 2011, Hernaez and a friend went to the island barangay of Pangan-an in Lapu-Lapu City to introduce the personalized eco-notebooks to the high school students.

“We were amazed that the students were very eager to learn the craft of making an eco-notebook,” she said.

We immediately organized a training for the 20 students who were divided into groups. One group made the holes, while another did the stitching of yarn into the holes and the third group did the paper folding and gluing.

After the morning activity, the students were able to produce five 35-page eco-notebooks.

“After the activity, we checked again the quality of the notebooks,” she said.

After Pangan-an, Hernaez and her companion introduced the eco-notebooks to out-of-school youth.

They also visited the students of Labangon National High School and taught them how to make eco-notebooks using the same steps from lecture to the actual production.

One student said the eco-notebook was her own little way of helping save the environment, while another said it is an alternative to expensive notebooks.

“Their appreciation of the project was encouragement enough for us,”  Hernaez said.

The project was also introduced in schools in the mountain barangays of Sirao and Agsungot in Cebu City where it received full support from the head teachers.

Hernaez and her group’s efforts paid off when they won  in the  Ten Outstanding Youth Organizations (TAYO) Awards for their entry Project NOWTBUKS (NOW is Time to Build-Up Kids for Sustainability).

The CIT Industrial Engineering Council received P50,000 and a trophy. Part of the amount was used to fund the council’s other programs and to buy materials such as yarn, punchers, and glue for the eco-notebooks.

The award was organized by the 2011 TAYO Awards Foundation Inc., the National Youth Commission and the Office of Senator Kiko Pangilinan.

“Ten years from now, I envision that all the students in Cebu City will be using the eco-notebooks,” Hernaez said.

Under her leadership, the council was recognized as the Most Outstanding Student Organization of the university for six times.

She advises the younger generation to search for opportunities to help other people. For her, the wonderful feeling one gets in helping others is a priceless blessing. And it does not matter how old or young one is when lending a hand.

“Take it as a challenge if people will underestimate you because you are young. We all know our capabilities and talents. We will grow as a person,” she said.

As her work now is connected with marketing and sales, she hopes that Project NOWTBUKS would become an income-generating endeavor for students in public schools. /contributed by Chrisley Ann Hinayas/Ramon Aboitiz Foundation Inc.