The Hult Prize Launch was held last November 5 at the Henry Sy Sr. Hall roofdeck. The event focused on the theme for this year’s Hult Prize and the schedule of activities for the DLSU teams who will be participating in the said competition.
Theme for the 10th anniversary
The theme for this year’s Hult Prize, which is now on its 10th year, is ‘For Us, By Us: Youth Employment’ with the objective of being able to create meaningful jobs for the youth. Carl Kenneth Jaronay, Campus Director of Hult Prize and the Deputy Director of Hult Prize Philippines mentioned that the theme is patterned to the youth since the Hult Prize itself is an organization composed of the youth. He further explained that the target and challenge for the participants is to create an enterprise that will help the youth today in terms of having access to employment in different parts of the world.
Giving the youth a chance
On the aforementioned issue of employment in the youth, Jaronay explained that this was an advocacy that the organization had given much attention to. Because of this, their team decided to bring it forward since “marami sa mga countries nowadays hindi namamaximize yung potentials ng youth.”
(Since many countries nowadays don’t fully maximize the potential of the youth.)
“Although marami nakukuha na work yung youth nowadays, hindi sila correspondent dun sa track na kinuha ng youth nung college or yung interest mismo. Usually nag-reresort na lang yung mga youth nowadays sa job na available sa kanila,” he elaborated.
(Although much of the youth have acquired jobs, it often does not correspond to their track in college or to their interests. Usually, they would resort to applying for jobs they find most convenient.)
He also cited the present issue of poverty in the country, a factor he claimed that drives the lack of access to employment. He explained that while they are given certain privileges as DLSU students, he emphasized that we should always be mindful of those who are not given the same opportunities.
“Kung titignan niyo ngayon yung venue, napaka–perfect scenery lang. Dito sa likod makikita niyo yung buildings [Central Business District] ng Makati City, pero sa likod natin makikita niyo yung slum area. Tapos dito sa DLSU we’re given AC facilities, world class facilities din. Maganda yung library natin; maganda yung education system natin, pero na sa doorstep na natin,” Jaronay further explained.
(If you look at our venue right now [Henry Sy Sr. Hall, Roof Deck], the scenery is perfect. If you look in the horizon, you’ll see the buildings in the Makati Central Business District. But if you look directly behind that, you’ll see the slum area. In DLSU, we’re given airconditioned and world-class facilities. Our libraries are state of the art; our educational system is well-crafted too. But all these opportunities are already at our doorsteps.)
Jaronay argued that students are often spoonfed with these types of opportunities because of their experience and credibility of graduating from a university, which is not something most people can lay claim to.
“Meron tayong mga organization na tumutulong sa atin humanap ng trabaho or internship opportunities. Pero paano na lang yung mga [ibang tao]? Isipin na lang natin paano pa yung mga hindi nakatungtong nung college,” he added.
(We have organizations helping us find jobs and internship opportunities. But how about the others? Let us think about those who are never given an opportunity to go to college.)
Schedule of activities
During the event, Kamille Liwag, Deputy Campus Director, discussed the schedule of activities for the Hult Prize at DLSU and the mechanics for the main competition.
The application period officially began on November 5 and will end on November 20. Afterwards, an application seminar will be held on November 21 to November 23 to orient the participants, which is followed by a bootcamp scheduled from November 24 to November 25. Lastly, the main competition will take place on December 1.
