Sandal, an event for Ateneo Gabay’s willful leaders that aims to prevent anonymity and transactionality within the new set of deputies, took place in an online set-up last August 27 to give them an avenue for rest from organizational work, enjoy each other’s company, and realize they have someone to lean on

The event commenced with a welcome chika led by the hosts. Afterwhich, Gabrielle Ainah Galvez introduced Myra Joanna Arce for her welcoming remarks.

“Sandal means 'to lean back.' This inspires a lot of things. To lean on your co-deputies and Akbay, to lean back and rest, and to lean back and see how the present is at work,” said Arce, one of the core team members of the event.

Two games were played throughout the meeting—both of which received positive feedback from the participants.

The first game held was Bring Me, which allowed everyone in the main room to engage with one another and actively partas well as to motivate them by acknowledging the greatness of their service and the abundance of help they had offered to different sectors so far.

The operational schedule was systematically designed to have enough time allotment per segment of the program. Few extra minutes for allowances were also accounted for. Favorably, the schedule was followed and no delay occurred.

According to Galvez, the Project Head of the said event, “We organized the event thinking that deputies should also have days of rest outside org work.” “This is especially framed because the first weeks of the semester are usually hard for them considering all the foundational work in preparation for the year,” Galvez added.

Sandal would not be successful without the collective efforts and service of the Office of the President under the supervision of Gabrielle Ainah Galvez. The core team including Myra Joanna Arce, Eunice Torralba, Edge Mata, and Jerhode Dandan were also vital to the success of the event.