by Bella Angela Del Rio
Young Electrical Engineering graduate Leo Nogas, from the PhilDev Scholarship Program, now works at the Philippines’ largest electric distribution company, Meralco.
Leo was a unique PhilDev-Shell scholar. Going into college, he liked the idea of camps because of the community built amongst his batch mates, scholars who joined outside school activities. As a college student, he wanted to have a community to be part of; this is where the opportunity to join the PhilDev-Shell Scholarship Program presented itself.
Initially, he was not part of the roster to apply for the program, but Leo was persistent to join along with his best friend; he was eager to be part of a community to receive opportunities that other engineering scholars in his school had. These were the simple dreams of this college student. During the screening interview, Leo made a proposition:
“Please allow me to experience the community and to be part of the camps. I could make friends with a lot of people and could show and tell them what I also learn,” he said to the screening committee.
He then received a scholarship through the PhilDev-Shell Scholarship Program and joined the camps he wanted. Pre-twenties was when Leo established long-term connections with several students from various universities in the Philippines through the scholarship program.
Leo started traveling to Manila for engagements and camps with PhilDev and Shell. Being a student living in Mindanao, traveling to Manila posed a challenge for Leo. Feeling like an outsider because he did not know the language and was from a different place, Leo had to bridge the gap in communicating with other students and bridge an even wider gap in communicating as a leader.
Through the PhilDev-Shell Scholarship Program, Leo had the opportunity to do on-the-job training (OJT) in Meralco, which paved the way to being in his current career. His new-found communication and leadership skills allowed him to thrive in the workplace and place a job as a management trainee in the largest electric distribution company.
Today, Leo lives in Manila, far from his family in Mindanao. He shares that the camps boosted his confidence and helped him become comfortable adapting to the Manila environment. Out of all the management trainees at Meralco, he is currently the sole management trainee who chose to take the technical track to become well-versed in on-site operations.
“If I don’t know what to do, I choose to do something that I am not comfortable with because that is the most obvious manifestation of being outside my comfort zone. Being on-site taking night shifts, working overtime under the hot weather while managing several people from various walks of life,” says Leo.
He enjoyed taking on new challenges, projecting where he would want to be years from now, creating to-do lists, and tinkering down what he would like to do, “the next day, the next week, the next month, the next year and the next five years.”
As he would often set projections and plans to reach his goal, he also planned out how he wanted to take on bigger responsibilities at Meralco. The journey he had was moving through various departments that were mainly in management. Because of his performance, the company then gave him a permanent position. Although he was happy working in management offices, he requested to move to another department and receive a technical role in the field.
Choosing this path was part of his grand plan. He did not only want to grow in management but wanted to expand in the field so that once he becomes a project manager, he knows what is on both sides of the coin.
“I don’t want to be confined in four corners of an office. Now I am part of the field, and I am not yet that well-versed. I know some of the stuff, but I still have long ways to go and become proficient in this field [substation construction],” he adds.
The young college student who once wanted to be part of a community is still part of the PhilDev-Shell network, continuously communicating with PhilDev and the other PhilDev-Shell scholars from his batch even after years since they graduated. He shares his desire always to learn, grow, and impart his knowledge to others.
“I would not trade my scholarship with any other experience because I was made whole with my time at PhilDev,” says Leo.
We at PhilDev Foundation are thankful for the continuous support and opportunities that the Pilipinas Shell Foundation, Inc. has provided for our scholars.