President’s Message: Facing 2011

We have entered the open door of 2011. It is an open door of opportunities and change for the better. And as we start our journey, I would like to share with everyone three little things that can help us along the road of the year 2011.The first thing is this: experience new learning with the people you meet. We primarily serve students co-workers and the community around us. Our life is about relationships and we cannot escape the fact that our work is not solely based on targets and objectives, but on people, whose lives are interwoven with ours. And because we deal with people, we are subject to the highs and lows of human relationships. Nevertheless, it is in our dealings with people that we learn what life of service really means, and that is by sharing our lives to other people and experiencing together the joys as well as the pains of serving each other.

The year 2010 is already closed; let us move on and carry the lessons we learned from our last year’s journey. I believe that we can learn from the past without dwelling from it. Remember the people, the lessons and then move on.

Secondly, remember that: You develop as you let other people develop. The mark of a true leader is his ability to let people achieve their full potential and be happy having done so. As an organization, we already grew in number in terms of student population, employees, campuses and so on. These are easily measured by the numbers, but the greater question is this: Have the people whom we are serving developed into being productive and committed citizens of our nation?

BPSU claims leadership in the community. This is not a light claim; therefore we must ensure that we live to the essence of being a leader in the community. Let us ensure that the community we serve reflects the development we have achieved.

Also part of the University’s effort to further develop is the coming reorganization. This, of course, aims to infuse new blood to the management team and reaffirm the commitment of the people with whom I have been working with since I was appointed President of the University. Let us view this endeavor as an opportunity for everybody to develop and achieve the potentials they have.

You reap what you sow. This is the third thing I would like to share. We cannot evade the principle of sowing and reaping. I would like to believe that this principle is much more than the principle of cause and effect. It is about the selfless giving of our lives. The seeds we sow are our lives, and unless the kernel we plant goes into the lowly earth and dies in itself, it cannot bear fruits of plentiful harvest. This is the irony of sowing and reaping. We cannot expect progress in our University and in our community unless we are willing to give our lives for the cause to which we are called. I am glad that many have laid down their lives for the University. BPSU as we know it today is the fruit of the people whose lives were given in the name of service. For me, it is an assurance that our labor is not in vain.

Let us begin 2011 with these in our heart and mind, and may the Lord lead us as we traverse the year that is unfolding before us. Happy New Year every one!