By Rossana Llenado

In my business, I am surrounded by young people. Our students are young. Our tutors are young. And my staff, most of them are in their 20’s. Although I am just in my early 40’s, I am already one of the oldest in our company. This to me is a blessing because there is nothing like the passion and enthusiasm of youth to get any sort of enterprise moving.

Jose Rizal was only 26 when he published Noli Me Tangere. Andres Bonifacio was only 29 when he helped established the Katipunan. At the recently concluded convention of the International Association of Business Communicators in San Diego, California, of which I took part, the keynote speaker was Jonah Lehrer. He talked about the philosophy behind the decision-making process. There he was in his polo shirt and jeans, talking to us about the inner workings of the mind, and he is just barely 30!

The young are fearless. There is no challenge big enough not to be conquered. The young are free. There are no boundaries to the way they think and act. The young are idealistic. The way they throw themselves at what they believe in is simply amazing.

That’s why I always sit up and listen whenever I hear a young person speaking—whether it’s a staff member proposing something that we’ve never done before or one of my kids giving his two cents on a movie we just saw.

The youth, they are the future. And that’s why I am privileged to be working for and with them.