Regis Cebu leadership | Leader Melissa Abarrientos | Call to Arms Speech – My Passion

Regis Cebu leadership

Leader Melissa Abarrientos

Call to Arms Speech – My Passion

Good afternoon leaders. It took me a while to contemplate about my passion. I have to reflect over and over again while at work and while at home.  I had to go over my history to awaken what passion might have died long ago.

What really is my passion? I thought over and over again. Mulling over my life's history, I've was engrossed with Art –visual art. Art was my first love. I had been a dedicated volunteer when I was in college. I have a strong passion for entrepreneurship. I have a strong passion for learning and a never ending quest for certainty. It took me a while to filter my underlying motivation for all the things I do until I realized that all of them lead to one passion – that is to be of service to others.

I explored my first Journey to serve others by volunteering through community service. That was my first moment of Self-discovery. I was a volunteer teacher to kids who weren't able to go to school due to poverty.  As a volunteer, of course there was no pay nor allowance provided; and sometimes I have to spend my own allowance just to get to my area of assignment. It was quite exhausting but serving those kids was priceless.  My spirit for serving others and the community did not end there. After class I love to spend time at the D.V Soria where I have acquainted myself with the street kids. One day I thought to give them a paper and pencil and encourage them to draw instead of sniffing rugby.  I had faith that by sharing and imparting me to them they will learn values and value themselves; and I was right with what I believed in. One of those street kids, my favorite one, Paolo, who was my last painting's subject is now a street kid turned missionary.

Now, in my journey as an entrepreneur, I still want to be that same person for others. Running a business is not all about profit. It's about nation building and development. It's about providing job opportunities for the jobless; thus, giving them a chance to make their lives better. It's about providing products, services and new technology for economic growth.

The men who built America were not the presidents of America themselves but the entrepreneurs:  Vanderbuilt - who built the railroads for transportation; Rockefeller- who founded the use of oil; Carnegie –  who expanded America's steel industry;  JP Morgan who lead banking and Investment; It was J.P Morgan one who financed Thomas Edison – The person responsible for the invention of electricity and light which we all enjoy now. And perhaps, if henry ford did not invent the first car that middle class society can afford and revolutionized mass production, then perhaps not all of us would've enjoyed the convenience of transportation.

Entrepreneurs are great innovators leading the world change and serving others by helping build a better nation. That's the kind of leader I want to be and that's what my passion is all about serving others by helping build a better nation.