Bohol Yoga Festival, April 21-22, 2024

Charlene C. Tan

Location : Philippines

An Unbiased Article
I would have written this much earlier but I wasn't sure if I was just biased - we were still together. Now that we have become just friends, I know my mind (or perhaps my heart) is no longer clouded to write an impartial update of why Charlene Tan is Fab People.

Being Smart
Her application to the UP Mountaineers is the outset from which I've known Charlene. The first 5 minutes into the conversation already hinted I was talking to someone smart. We were already going out for a few months when I heard from someone (she never told me) that when she graduated, she garnered various awards and about P80K prize money, just for being brilliant. To wit:

• she graduated Magna cum Laude at the University of the Philippines with a Civil Engineering degree
• she was one of only 3 students in UP that year to receive the Gawad Chanselor sa Natatanging Mag-aaral award, UP's highest academic distinction for excellence, and received P30K
• she won P10K for the Quintin K. Calderon Award for Excellence in Civil Engineering
• she won P10K for the JV Angeles Award for Excellence in Water Resources Engineering
• she won P20K for the Philippine Institute for Civil Engineers Most Outstanding Civil Engineering Student
• she won P10K as a Finalist, Proctor and Gamble Student Excellence Award
• her team won Best Team, SE-Asia Forum on Gender and Energy (living allowance in Jakarta for internship at UNESCO)

		I would have done a good job when I'm rendered expendable by this knowledge management tool I've developed for SIBAT staff. -- Charlene C. Tan

Here's why she's Fab
Brilliant people don't necessarily make it to my Fab People list - there's just too many of them. Why is Charlene Fab?

Most to Charity
She donated most of her cash winnings - to the UP College of Engineering, UP Association of Civil Engineering Students (ACES) and one more organization.

NGO Employment
Given her credentials, she could have named her price at the private sector. Instead, she chose to work for an NGO for a pittance of a paycheck, traveling through thick brush for hours on end to off-the-grid rural locations to supervise construction of micro-hydro systems benefiting the marginalized poor. She sleeps in rat-infested dwellings and comes back riddled with insect bites.

Integrity
Her integrity is beyond question. We'd been together over a year. I know so.

Being Out There!
She's not just smart, she's also an outdoor enthusiast with advocacy for a green planet. She's a member of the UP Mountaineers, an avid swimmer, a newbie mountain biker, and on her way to becoming a competent skin diver.

Holy Grail Project
Asked what her dream engineering project is, it's a treehouse that accommodates the continued growth of the tree.

Her Posse
Have you heard this adage: "Tell me who your friends are and I'll tell you who you are". Charlene is my first foray through the Chinese curtain. I've met her friends. I find them highly educated, intelligent, highly motivated, affluent and on a fast track to making their mark. I'm actually impressed.

British Council
As of this writing, she has just been shortlisted in the I AM A CHANGEMAKER competition by the British Council for her Good Food Co. community shared agriculture program. She'll undergo a four (4)-day training on Social Enterprise Planning and Development wherein she can also get some useful tips for the final presentation...and hopefully win seed money to help her realize her vision of a social enterprise.
UPDATE: (Jul 30, 2010) Charlene and her team just won P100,000 prize money for their Good Food Co. entry to the British Council!

Ending Thoughts
With all her smarts, has she done anything to change the world as we know it? Stay tuned. She's been known to pull rabbits out of a hat.

--- Gigit (TheLoneRider)
YOGA by Gigit | Learn English | Travel like a Nomad | Donation Bank

More Accolades about Charlene Tan

• Charlene Tan: The Dreamer of Social Change by The Standard, November 29, 2015
• Where to go for 'Good Food Sundays' by The Inquirer.net, January 29, 2015
• Char's Story by Jacinto and Lirio, August 12, 2013
• A Week's Worth of Meal Ideas from Good Food Community by The Start - your guide to a better life lived, January 29, 2015

Reader Comments:

Jovee See
(Nov 7, 2010) I agree that Char is a really FAB person 100%!

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