Presidential daughter Evangeline Lourdes “Luli” Arroyo yesterday urged young scientists to pursue a career in science to be able “to change somebody else’s future.”
Speaking before 200 participants of the first National Youth Science Summit held at the National Museum in Manila, Arroyo encouraged young science enthusiasts to go on and not change their careers.
“Continue your science passion and research. You’ll never know (if) this will affect somebody else’s future,” she said.
The activity, organized by the Science Education Institute of the Department of Science and Technology, was part of the week-long celebration of the National Science and Technology Week.
“Scientific data open the eyes of people to accept the changes that are happening,” Arroyo said, citing global warming as an age-old problem hounding mankind which is now being addressed by both government and private organizations because of “overwhelming scientific data that are very hard to ignore.”
Arroyo also encouraged young science students to come up with their own research data to be able to contribute to the body of data from the Philippines.
“I am an admirer of scientists, if not a scientist myself,” she said. “To me you’re among the most important people in our country.”
She also advised students to avail of the graduate scholarship programs being offered by SEI-DOST.
Arroyo also said young Filipinos should consider going abroad to expand their horizon.
“But make sure you come back, don’t bring your knowledge out there. Come back with what you find out there. Let’s bring back our excellence in science. Make the Filipinos proud of you as scientists and as contributors to the world of science,” she said.
Arroyo is the director of operations of the Foundation for Information Technology Education and Development (FIT-ED).
FIT-ED was established to increase IT awareness in the Philippines and to enable Philippine society for the Information Age.