Champions Session with Pauline Lopez

On October 17, 2020, one of the country’s best Taekwondo players, Pauline Lopez, had a fun and inspiring Champions class with 11 girls from the Girls Community League of GirlsGotThis. Pauline is a two-time gold medalist at the Southeast Asian Games and a bronze medalist at the Asian Games.

At the start of the session, Pauline gladly introduced herself to the girls, and the girls thereafter introduced themselves to her.

Pauline and the participants during the session via video call

The girls were extremely excited to get to know Pauline more - her life outside Taekwondo, the people who were very helpful in her career, and the challenges that she faced and overcame to become one of Asia’s rising stars in the sport.

The exciting part of the Kumustahan is that the girls and Pauline could communicate effectively. Apparently, the Taekwondo Champion knows how to speak in Tagalog, even if she is based in the US. She even encouraged the girls to be comfortable, enjoy the session, and speak in Tagalog the entire time.

When asked what inspired her to pursue Taekwondo, she shared, “My dad once told me not to pursue Taekwondo because it was a guy sport. All the more, I just wanted to prove everyone wrong, and I wanted to prove myself that I can do it and that women are strong, and we are more than capable of doing and achieving things just like men.”

Her story inspired the GGT girls, and this is what some of them have to say:

“The session was fun because Pauline was friendly. Apart from that, I am more inspired to become an athlete knowing how much she worked hard to be where she is right now. I am amazed at her perseverance, and it’s what motivates me to become a better football player.” - Rona

“I can say that it was great! I learned something like how to handle failure. About her story and advice, I am inspired and motivated because her achievement was noticeable. I feel glad that I got to know her because at her young age she dreamt of becoming a taekwondo player, and now she’s there, doing what she was only dreaming of before.” - Kimberly

The Champion sessions are just one of the initiatives GirlsGotThis has been engaged with since the lockdown in March to help the girls cope with the present situation brought about by COVID-19. A reminder that our dreams should not be cancelled even during these difficult times.

“We don’t learn anything if we keep on winning and succeeding. Sometimes we need to face and overcome our mistakes and failures for us to become better versions of ourselves.” Pauline Lopez