How HAPI Impacted Me (#2)

An essay series featuring retrospectives by HAPI members, staff, and leaders in celebration of its 8th Anniversary.

When I first entered HAPI, I was out of a job and out of school. I was without direction.

While HAPI may not be the direct reason why I got my life together, being involved in HAPI-Dumaguete and the early iterations of HAPI Youth kept me busy — enough that it helped me rebuild my self-confidence and rediscover what I was capable of doing.

One thing led to another and now I am a HAPI Scholar and a junior BS Physics student. I won’t go as far as to say that I won’t be who I am today because of HAPI, but being part of HAPI helped me in ways that I think nothing else could have done.

— Junelie Velonta
HAPI Scholar / HAPI-Dumaguete Member