Universidad Panamericana | Change Factor: Together for Social Change

Aguascalientes, Ags. February 10, 2023. Change Factor 2023, the most important event of the School of Pedagogy that took place on February 8 and 9 at the facilities of our Panamerican School of Education. Panamericana.

Change Factor 2023

The Change Factor was born to give attention and solutions to specific problems or social deficiencies that have an impact on the integral development of the citizens of the city of Aguascalientes, through the leadership and action of young people from high schools and higher education centers in the state, where they presented proposals for solutions to social problems together with some associations in the state.

Within the competition, 19 teams participated, of which 11 teams belonged to high schools and 8 teams to our institution; they were divided into two categories: Junior (high school) and Senior (university).

Among the projects presented were those related to pregnant women, vulnerable situations, refugees, canteens, recycling, mental health, psycho-pedagogical intervention, reading workshops, among others.

"The purpose is to raise awareness among the university community, among high school students about the need for social support. We need not only hands, but also innovative ideas that can transmit this information," says Alejandro de los Reyes, coordinator of the psychology program.

First day

During the first day, María Fernanda Flores Munguía, teacher and director of the School of Pedagogy, opened the event with a few words about the Change Factor.

Afterwards, María Teresa Hernández Herrera, academic secretary of the School of Pedagogy, gave a lecture entitled "My world is not the world".

"The main intention of this conference is to make us realize that our reality is built by our own experiences, but those experiences are biased by a much broader reality that sometimes prevents us from explaining things in a comprehensive way," says the teacher.

"My intention with this talk was for the kids to take away with them a reflection of 'does what I am proposing allude more to my interests, experiences and reality, or does it really respond to the reality, the problem that is being presented to me?' so that we stop being self-absorbed and turn to see those who really need it," he adds.

This was followed by a social rally in which the 19 teams merged to start with a series of activities, dynamics and challenges that tested the students' teamwork through 10 stations around our university.

Second day

To open the second day's activities, Fernanda Flores gave the lecture "Being a Change Maker".

"The most important thing is to make our students aware of all the potential they have, of the call they have to transform the world through different acts, regardless of the degree of incidence and that all the talents they have, the opportunities, the platforms, such as their education or the experiences that life has given them, give them a lot to give," he says.

In this sense, "a lot of leadership was shown in the students, as well as initiative, enthusiasm, hope that it is possible to transform the world; many of them shared their concern that their purpose and participation in the Change Factor was really to make a difference through their projects," he adds.

After the conference, the students' work was presented to the jury.

On the other hand, the rector of our Panamericana, Dr. Gabriel Domínguez García Villalobos, gave the conference "UP Spirit, in favor of social impact and transcendence".