One of the first questions in class was “What is peace?” My idea of peace is very different from my classmates'. At the top of my head, I just had these stereotypical answers: “Peace is the absence of war.” “Peace is unity.” “Peace is love.” Answers so out of context and superficial, so out of place in a room full of academics, peace practitioners, women advocates, and those who lived and experienced conflict. So, I was determined to be the quietest student in our cohort. It’s best to learn by learning and hearing from others, I tell myself. After all, what could someone with my background contribute?

It was a painstaking 14 months; our weekends were taken over by classes. Instead of sleeping in or going out, we spent our time studying, reading, and researching for the best policy alternative. Instead of snores and laughter, lectures and class discussions were our background. 

And this background became my foreground in my peacebuilding work. I got to understand WPS from the lens of the WPS experts, practitioners, academics, government officials, NGO workers, and, most importantly, the communities. I became more aware and purposeful in tackling WPS issues in my line of work and even in my everyday life.

I also had this unique advantage of seeing my workmates' hard work and advocacy translate into real-life application. The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in the Philippines partnered with the Mindanao State University (MSU)-Maguindanao and the Philippine Center for Islam and Democracy (PCID) in the early development phase of the DWPS Program. At work, I saw their efforts to achieve the goals of institutionalizing and strengthening the WPS agenda. In class, I experienced firsthand how capacity-building activities for our professors translate to a meaningful learning and classroom experience. 

Before that, my classmates were just names on the screen. It wasn’t until graduation that we met face-to-face. Interestingly, I met the faculty much earlier during the DWPS faculty learning exchanges made possible by UNDP's partnership with MSU-Maguindanao through the support of the British Embassy in Manila. That experience gave me a glimpse of how collaboration behind the scenes shapes the learning environment we meaningfully experienced.