One for CIM

"Congratulations!"

The results of the student council election were out today and people have been congratulating me because I won as the Vice-president for External Affairs of the CIM Supreme Student Council. The reflex answer to the short word of congratulations would have been a mere "thank you," yet at the back of my mind are some things;

To me, CIM is a place - rather, a home, that you learn to love gradually through time. We take pride in the academic excellence instilled to us early on as we battle our greatest enemy; that which is best fought from within us. Here, I met some really awesome people who are intelligent, holistically brilliant, and down-to-earth; the last trait I find truly admirable because these people earned the right to brag yet they chose humility over pride.

(c) Walter Lim

However, as we go in and out of SGDs and correlates, I find myself in search of something more. In the midst of a difficult examination, my mind drifts away, in search of a sense of purpose for all the difficulties that I have been encountering. Upon further reflection, I realized that I have been doing it all wrong. I treated being a doctor as the end of my efforts rather than having it as a means for the ultimate end of selfless service to the community. Perhaps we need more opportunities to get out of our comfort zones to once again be reminded of why we are here in CIM in the first place. Being a doctor is a calling that requires not only brute memorization, but also a passionate heart and a wise mind to give out sound advice to patients. Those patients would someday heed our advice, listen to it as if it were the Gospel, and cling on to it for dear life. The question is; "have we acquired passion and wisdom among the chapters of our reading materials or have we been caught up as zombies, mechanically flipping thousands of pages and losing the very essence of our education out of the dread of the next examination?

The decision to run for office in the first place was not merely out of whim. The quote "if you want something done the way you want it to be done, then do it yourself" stuck to me since the first time that I heard it from a good friend. The school and its students have so much untapped potential. I believe that the time to use that potential is not after the licensure examination but NOW. My words must be converted into action - tangible, sincere, and sustainable action that will impact the next generation of medical students. My vision is a CIM that is truly involved in its community: with other medical schools, with the CIM alumni, with other allied health care professionals, and especially with the Filipino people. There may be a large percentage of us who are planning to go abroad as soon as they are done with medschool. However, while we are here, we might as well make it worth our while and find ourselves creating ripples of positive change for the nation.

One in Nationbuilding and Empowerment (ONE) for CIM
(L-R) Josemari Lozano, Auditor; Regina Cuenca, Treasurer;
Dena Desabille, VP External; Kaira Osmena, President; 
JM Dangane, VP Internal; Hanze Claros, Secretary
Danica Oliveros, PIO

So, with my heart on my sleeve, I say "thank you, but please help me." All I have is a vision and a commitment to somehow extend CIM's involvement in external affairs. Among the other positions in the CIM-SSC, I specifically prayed for this because this is where I can make a huge difference. The gap between vision and action is large, but I hope and pray that you will be with me on this.

More than your "congratulations," please tell me that you will be with me on this, that you share the same vision as mine. Alone, I am nothing. Yet, with your support and with the grace of God, I have all I need to be something... all for the benefit of others, in the service of the nation.

Thank you very much, CIM. All I can promise you is this; "kakayanin."

One with you in every endeavor,