Sharing with you one of the winners of the essay writing contest for students for the iCon 2013 event.

This entry is about how students can have a positive impact to the economy and was written by Archie Jerome Maramag. Awesome piece!

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Students and the National Economy

I’ve always wanted to be a part of bigger pictures. It gives me great fulfillment, knowing that my efforts, big or small, contributes to the details of a beautiful bigger picture. That’s what I want, I want to join, to be a part of something, to belong.

Most young people desire the same. I think we all do, even those you are young at heart. To belong to something is the reason we join organizations, a circle of friends, or wanting to be in a relationship. We want to be a part of something. This is a value, that I believe, God has innately put into us.

The desire to belong, combined with our energy and passion, lets us do a lot in our youthful years. And exactly why we, student, can be of great contribution to the national economy. Some wait to be part of the work force to feel that sense of belongingness in nation building. But let me tell you that we don’t need to graduate and have a job to contribute to what God is doing in our nation.

In this blog, I will be listing simple ways we can do to belong to the growing economy of our beloved country.

1. Join an organization. What’s giving us that sense of belongingness but to join an org, right? Join different organizations! Believe in their cause. Be one of the people who push the cause in our society. As much as possible, learn from the organization. There’s a lot to learn from a group of people, so maximize what you can get. Learning from the people in the organization is great already, but don’t let the organization mold you. Instead, be one of the people who molds the organization. Don’t just be a member, be a leader. Through this, we can learn to take charge and practice the principle of ownership when we’re already in the workplace.

2. Renew your mindset. So you are already part of an org, right? And let’s say you’ve decided to mold the org and not just be molded by it. That is the start of our changing mindset. We can now think bigger, not just thinking about our organization but also that of the nation.

This two ways can then be summarised to two Ls: Learn and Lead. Let us learn from the nation we belong. Learn from our politics and systems… Then let us lead. Being young should not hinder us from leading this nation to progress and national revival.