I was only eleven, but I remember it like yesterday. I was
sitting in our Grade VI classroom of Sto. Niño Elementary School, when we are
having our elections for our batch in a dynamic environment of loud voices; and
I heard one of my classmates that said “I nominate Marc Christian Tangpuz for
Vice-President.”
Those words ripped into me like a serrated knife into a
crisp, cold apple. It was anunexplainable feeling that seemed to possessed my
whole body – a feeling of a juvenile that carry the thoughts of question such
as “Why me and why not they?” It was a feeling that I can’t reason out because
I have no desire to be a prominent person. This was the starting point of my
calling to leadership. I was elected and chosen as Vice-President of our batch.
My practice and experience of leadership was continued in my
secondary education at Assumption Academy, a private and a Catholic institution
run by the Religious Sisters of Mercy (RSM). I became active student having so
many extra-curricular. I became a band leader which I don’t like to be. I
became a sacristan whom they considered as the worst Christians which developed
my calling to enter the seminary. Finally, I became the President of the
Supreme Student Council Organization (SSCO) in our batch 2007. And being the
president of the student organization is terrible. And based in my experience,
the president should be both a leader and a manager. The president should
always be ready and intuitive. This position enhanced my leadership and
managerial skills.
After my secondary education,the story of Saul in the Holy
Bible seemed to happen to me. Almighty
God called me to become a servant of God in the midst of my dream. I don’t know
if it was either a sweet dream or a nightmare. I am just afraid to become a
servant of God. Little by little, I was inspired to become a priest as I served
as a sacristan in Our Lady of Assumption Parish. I entered Sacred Heart
Seminary which has a unique and strange environment not only because we are all
boys but rather the ambiance is different from the outside world. As a
seminarian, I was molded to be mature person through the help of formations
that are found in academics, community, spiritual, and pastoral. What happened
here was another kind of process that I learned a lot such as time management,
discipline, socialization, and developing spiritual life that cannot be easily
acquired in the outside world. And all of these are my ace.
Spending two years in the seminary is enough. I am enrolled
in the University of San Carlos taking up Bachelor of Arts in Political Science
major in International Relations and Foreign Service. This course provides
crucial knowledge of what is international politics and the importance of
diplomacy and relations of one state to another state. It is in this
institution that I was able to enhance or upgrade the level of my
professionalism because of praxis, the practical application of theory. And this
is the ground that I started to experience of what is to be Foreign Service
Officer. I had my summer internship program at the Department of Foreign
Affairs, Cebu Regional Consular Office that I had satisfactorily accomplished.
Also as an International Relations and Foreign Service (IRFS) major student, I
attended the 5th UNESCO Youth Peace Ambassador Training Workshop
Holistic View of Peace, Health, Development and the Environment held 6-14
November 2012 in Bangkok and Kaeng Krachan, Thailand where I met friends from
Indonesia, Thailand, Bangladesh, Afghanistan and other delegates from another
country that developed my communication skill and applications dialogue of
substantive knowledge such as Islam, peace, and the like.
My experience has taught me a lot. I discovered that, in
order to reach the top, you must learn to climb the mountain and, in order become
a successful person, you need to face education. It may be from day-to-day experience, or from
the lectures of the teachers for education is a life long process. In a way I
am thankful for my experience, because I learned a lot from it. Indeed,
“Education is the key to success.”