NEWSLETTER
Keeping the LIONS Spirit Alive through the Sense of Community: LIONS Org Culture
FEBRUARY 2021
Alessi Aliana Casimiro, Bea Quinto, Joaquin Salazar
The LIONS community is a community of dreamers, where each person works passionately in solidarity with others to make their visions come to a reality. Of course, with each dream and organization, comes a culture that’s just as vibrant and engaging. When times get challenging, members often turn to their peers within their organizations for support. It’s the safe yet challenging environment that allows LIONS members to reach for greater heights and create something they are proud of.
A single definition will never truly capture the complexity of what LIONS org culture means to people. Yet - a common sentiment is that LIONS will always feel like home. Through the shared joys and struggles, we find solace both in the family we’ve made and the work we’ve fallen in love with. To Andi, LIONS makes her feel safe. To her, it’s a wholesome community she did not know she needed or had. To others, this love for the community also leaves them with a feeling of sentimentality. Icely describes her experience with LIONS and her own organizations. “Laan made me stay in Ateneo, but PK is the org that made me want to stay in love with Ateneo,” she says. Icely also related this sentimentality to how LIONS is like a pencil case - something in your childhood that makes you think about the easy and good days. “Similar to your pencil case in grade school, diba iba’t-ibang pens, cute pens, they don’t look alike but you love them all the same,” she notes.
Aside from giving people feelings of warmth and sentimentality, the LIONS org culture is one that is also dynamic and vibrant. If given only one word, Tina would describe this culture with the word, “adolescence.” She perceives LIONS as a coming of age that wants to be seen. “If we stumble and fall, we know it’s part of the process. We’re not rushing to be perfect all the time,” she says. As the home for independent organizations, struggles are probably inevitable. However, Sylv also believes that these hardships make us braver. Through shared hardships and frustrations, we gain avenues for empowerment. On the other hand, the same struggles also give LIONS a unique position in the Ateneo community. Harvey describes the org culture in LIONS with the word, “youngblood” as lots of people enter the scene and manage this culture. This is unique to LIONS in the sense that we become pioneers - the first ones to launch a rocket into space. “[You can] connect with the jungle, explore something na hindi pa alam ng
lahat,” Harvey says. He also talks about how developing the unknown is a scary but thrilling experience. “Since student ka, you’re free to explore, free to fail,” he says.
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Since the announcement of the online class setting, many students were saddened by this news. We heard the experiences of some senior students as they walked through the past years the LIONS community has impacted their student lives. Tina, the president of LIONS, shared that in time that she was most in doubt, LIONS was there for them- and one day it just clicked, “This is where I’m meant to be; this is where I’m meant to serve.” Indeed it also opened her eyes to the idea that “It made me realize that love is indeed a choice.I try my best to and unconditionally love LIONS”. With her commitment to the LIONS community, she says that “I try my best to and unconditionally love LIONS”.
The LIONS community has also found ways to thrive in the online setting, as the shift has presented some unexpected advantages to the organizations. One challenge LIONS organizations had to grapple with onsite, was that they did not have an org room. Now that all of student life has moved online, LIONS organizations can now congregate on online platforms to build their community and form a culture. This is important as people often feel the need for support during the challenging transition to the online setting. For members of the LIONS community like Harvy, the members of the organizations are able to find a safe space among their peers in their LIONS family.
The independent organizations are often not in the limelight of the Rec Week or other projects. That being said more often than not this is able to fuel peoples’ desire to love and constantly make an effort to make it work while proving its worth. This love doesn’t just translate to the organization itself, but to the people in it as well, that is why Tina, a student leader, strives to connect with each and every member no matter where they come from. This love is reflected in the values of LIONS as we want everyone to feel included. Despite the daily challenges that are present in the LIONS community the members would still choose to stay. The organization also became a home outside of home for many of us and despite our individual differences became a place where people are accepted and can be themselves.