Angel de Leon

BY BIANCA MAE R. ARAGONES

ANGEL DE LEON (5 AB-MA POS) hails from Kobe, Japan. After high school, she decided to pursue her course in the Philippines without any knowledge of what life in the country would be like.

Leaving all she knew behind was understandably difficult for Angel, and she feared that she would be completely alone in a foreign country and a new school. Thankfully, Angel eventually found a family through the bonds she made with people in the Ateneo Resident Students Association (ARSA), the home organization for dormers in Ateneo.

ARSA served as a source of comfort and familiarity in Angel’s time of need. When Angel was presented with the opportunity to serve and lead the organization that took her in, she wholeheartedly said yes. As she stepped into the shoes of ARSA President, she focused on encouraging the organization’s members to engage with and assist communities from within and beyond the dorms.

From a dream to a reality

It took a bit of time and experience in other organizations before Angel realized that she had “a home away from home” in ARSA. After attending her classes and participating in other org activities in school, Angel would find herself always going back to the University Dormitory to wind down from the day with the family she had made there. Those mundane moments with her closest friends made her decide that she wanted to serve the community that provided her with love and support. true leader takes on a position because of what they can do for the interests and wellbeing of others. This mindset, along with the encouragement of her fellow dormers, drove Angel to run for the presidency.

“Most people said [the position] for me [should be] president, and then that’s when it kinda locked in, saying like maybe yeah, I can do this,” recalls Angel.

A woman for others

Angel wanted to ensure that she would lead the organization to leave an impact beyond the confines of the Residence Halls: “I also wanted to bring in an opportunity for dormers to experience outreach programs because it’s a holistic thing. They need to know what is really outside in the world and not just within the dorm,” she explains.

She then turned her attention to initiatives that would help ARSAns engage with different communities. These projects included ARSA’s partnership with Gawad Kalinga, where they helped build houses for people in the area of Quezon City’s Quirino Avenue Gem 5, and Dorm Family Day, a project that ARSAns host yearly for the staff within the University Dorm Residences. She also planned to organize a coastal clean-up, but the project was cancelled in light of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Aside from these projects, Angel and her team partnered with the Loyola Schools Gender Hub, an office that assists survivors of sexual misconduct, to create more safe spaces within the school and the dorms. orating, and it’s knowing really when to ask help from others, and that’s what makes a good leader because you can’t do it alone, [which is why] I am so grateful for all of my team,” says Angel.

After accomplishing most of her goals for the organization, Angel hopes that ARSA’s next batch of leaders can continue where she left off. She now passes the baton to her successor and hopes that the organization can continue making a home in the University that not only services its residents, but also sectors in need. Angel