Category: Week 01

Julius Philip D. Villarey is an undergraduate student in UPLB currently taking BS Development Communication. Although born in Taguig City, he grew up in Paranaque City as it is near his mother’s workplace. Growing up, Julius found interest in drawing and he was able to nourish this skill through various poster making competitions in and out of his school. Aside from drawing, he grew interest in music and movies. He specifically preferred listening K-pop and exposure to the idol culture in Korea had greatly influenced and inspired him to become a singer/performer in the future.

So, during Senior Highschool, he joined the music club to express his love for singing. He also joined other clubs such as the Math Club and his school’s newspaper publication called “Herald”. These experiences influenced his decisions later. After graduating senior high, he decided to study in the University of the Philippines Los Banos and took BS Food Technology. Due to difference in interests and goals, he left his first college and shifted to BS Development Communication with hopes and mindset of working in the media and production after graduating.

The only exposure of Julius to writing and journalism was through Herald. He was a contributor tasked to write articles for events that took place in his high school. Despite his small background in journalism, he had the opportunity of being a part of the campus journalism competition RACJourn 2017: For the Youth, For the Filipinos 2017 held at De La Salle University Manila. Having very small exposure to journalism yet Julius is still fascinated in the idea of working in the media. He had thoughts of working for a TV Program as a person behind-the-scene or perhaps in front of the camera too.

Looking forward, he wants to learn more about the status of development in the Philippines. He hopes to write convincing stories about Philippine development. As a communicator, he wants to be a voice for people who needs their concerns to be heard loud and clear. Still fueled by his goals and aspirations, Julius is determined to be of service to his country as a future development communicator.

Every time I meet my relatives and friends, they ask me the degree program that I will take here in UPLB. Then there goes my reply, “I am not sure about it but I passed Development Communication.” Even before when I was a child, I can’t think of things that I’m good at and what I want to pursue. In my mind, there’s a lot of questions that I kept hidden to myself, for I thought that although it may be answered, more questions will arise after, and they will be left unanswered like before. Now I realized that the path I’m taking is not what I have seen before and it’s up to me discover the answers I am looking for. I may be new to the world of writing, but now to consider myself as a media writer, I can touch the lives of other people.

From what I heard about a media writer, they are those that are writing for the people, those who give information that answers the questions of the people. They can move the hearts of the people, and they can also be the voice of the people who are not heard by the government. They connect the people, spreading the news throughout the country. They are writing not because they want to be famous and earn money, but they are full of dedication to serve their fellow countrymen.

“We determine our destiny by the actions we take today,” a quote from Catherine Pulsifer. I might not have the skills right now to be as good as those who had already discovered their passion as media writer years ago, but I will try to improve and change myself to be a skilled media writer. Who knows if I will be a media writer someday even if I’m not likely to be one today. I will try to do my best in this path to help other people and to contribute to the common good that everyone deserves.

• 

Lira is freshman student from the College of Development Communication in one of the premiere universities in the Philippines, University of the Philippines Los Baños. Despite the hustle and bustle of Metro Manila, where she was born and raised, she did not seem to acquire the rhythms and melodies of it. Growing up, she was known for being a timid young girl, fragile to any form of human communication. With little human communication, desires and aspirations burned out. Anxieties would build up and left little to none for confident and self-care that were supposed to help her kindle the ability to seek passion. Heck, even just a hobby.

Despite the blatant disregard on her own abilities, deep inside, she knows that somehow, someday, she will find that one little push that would kick her out of her comfort zone. Experience all the right and the wrong feelings in the world, and hopefully, bring her back to place wherein she is contented and blissful of what she is and what she has become. A fighter that she is, she tried and pursued studying on university even if she already failed the college admission test. Alas, a little twist of fate has come to her. The greatest irony of her life. The girl who was not able to communicate even her simplest thought, the girl who would tremble with a single hello. Who would’ve thought that this girl would become a student of Development Communication?

The little twist of fate. This was it. A twist. The push that she persistently desire. In years to come, as she studies the concepts of development communication in hope to forward the cause of the marginalized, she aspires to first find the voice within herself in order for her to help others amplify their own.

I’ll be completely honest here; I have no idea what I’m doing in Development Communications. When I first found out that this was going to be my program, I had to stop and turn to Google because I had no idea what it was. To be blunt, I didn’t even know it existed, I didn’t even know it was a program, I didn’t know anything about it. I had been accepted into UPLB as a DPWAS student, meaning I didn’t make it into any of the courses I had preferred, but I could take the program that still had an available slot, and that just so happened to be BSDC at the CDC. I was crushed. I like to think that although it doesn’t seem like it, I had established a direction for my life. I had grand plans of taking physics at the University of the Philippines Diliman, making my way into the graduate class of astronomy, and eventually joining the great Filipino astronomers of our time (maybe even get a PhD).

Outer Space, the cosmos, and the possibility of life beyond our little ol’ blue marble have been three of my longest-standing interests. Fueled by a curiosity I’ve had as a child who’d look at the stars and marvel at how uncountable they were; I’ve dreamed of exploring the final frontier beyond the firmament that lies above our heads for as long as I can remember. I don’t think I’ve ever dreamed so hard about anything else. Astronomy and I were supposed to be endgame… and yet.

Do I feel bad about being in DevCom? If I said yes I would be lying. Despite my former cluelessness (and dejectedness), I must admit that when I finally sat down for my first DEVC 10 class and got an insight into the program I was excited. And the reason for this lies further into my childhood.

You see, before I could even conceive my dream of the stars, I had another dream. One that began in a classroom of about ten (10) first grade students, in the head of a young child who had just realized they could read, prompting them to read through every book on the shelf. Before I dreamed of becoming an astronomer, I dreamed of being a writer. I think it makes sense when you’re a reader who makes a connection with the book you’ve read it’s only natural to want to start writing as well. It’s a magical moment between dream and dreamer. In writing, I could pursue through words the worlds in my head, not only that but I could use those words to show that world to other people! And when I word it like this, I think it also makes sense that I became so taken with Astronomy. 

Now that I’m in DevCom, I’ve learned something else, not only can I use those words to create worlds, but in time I could even use them to change the world I’m in; to help people. Okay so I didn’t make it into physics, and I don’t even know if I’ll be staying in DevCom when the year is done, but I do know one thing; I have a dream and it is alive and well.

Never a risk taker nor a goal-oriented person. Uncertainty is not the word she is willing to embrace in her life. As much as she hates it, our world is a cruel place where everything will not go in our own accord; and for once in her life, she dared to step. Dared to step away from the line she never once crossed. Avoided the map and took a detour, to be with the best among all. She may be unfamiliar to the road but decided to hold her heads high against the combat of odds. In this sea of strangers where excellence and honor are upmost, she finally established her new purpose — to serve the people with integrity even if it brings you no greater cost.

Born in the hometown of our national hero and raised in their humble abode in Santiago City Isabela, Karen Anne Vargas is a BS Development Communication student studying at the University of the Philippines Los Baños. As she entered the gates of UP Los Baños filled with perseverance and burning passion, she strives to achieve her aspirations in life with the means of pushing herself above the limits. She firmly believes that limitation does not determine the maximum range of your capability but limitation helps you to assess the aspect of yourself that needs improvement.

Reading is her get-away from reality and an interest she unconsciously developed. Someone who moves people through his/her words is the kind of writer she aspires to be. However, this aspiration was changed when she entered the University of the Philippines. Development Communication wakes her up in her slumber and showed her the face of the real world. That our country needs Development Communicator who moves people to a much better life with the help of his/her words. Although writing is considered one of her weaknesses, she perceives this situation as a motivation to do better and turn this weakness into a significant strength that she’ll use effectively to help the people.

Development Communication was never on her list. She considered it as a road detour, an unplanned one. As time passes by she realizes the fact that unplanned destination always brings the best moments in our lives, for we are set to discover new things along the way. She may hap stumbles unto greater odds but her purpose will never change. To serve the nation without limitation and bring honor and excellence to the country

Passion. Interests. Dreams. These are the things that this girl lacks and made her indecisive, regretful and lost. In this new path she is taking, it is like she became a child once more, scared and vulnerable. But worry not, she had already learned and is still learning her lessons. New things will never make her falter and mistakes will make her better.

University of the Philippines was never her dream university, BS Development Communication was never her dream course, and neither writing nor reading was her passion. Indecisiveness led her to all of these, an unfamiliar track and an uncertain journey. Equipped only with the basic knowledge she knows plus her courage, she gambled her future for she believes that she can finish this quest in triumph. Bearing her heart for the people, she is willing to learn all the things that is necessary for her to be the bridge that will connect the people and their dreams to grow as one Filipinos having a progressive nation.

“You don’t have to be great to start, but you have to start to be great” This quotation served as the fuel that drove her to become a future writer who writes not only to express and to tell but rather to convey her messages of hope and instill the faith to betterment as she serve the people and the nation. It may take time for her to cope with the new environment she is dealing with, she is taking great measures to be better, to learn and to be a laudable Iskolar ng Bayan para sa Bayan. For she, Desiree M. Mindanao, a DevCom ng Bayan will forever be a DevCom para sa Bayan.

My parents gave my siblings and me unique names. I was given a name rather peculiar, somehow weird. Maybe I would stand-out, or maybe my name is the only thing special about me. I was born unto a family of achievers, my eldest sister graduating as Magna Cum Laude from UP Diliman, whilst my brother received Cum Laude standing when he graduated from the same university. My other sister while not knowing what life has for her after she graduated, now has her own business at the age of thirty. Hearing relatives saying “oh Summa Cum Laude nalang kulang niyo, last chance na!” puts all the pressure unto me. Now I ask myself, “what would I become?” As I enter the UP Los Baños, I enter with the feeling of uncertainty and a slight feeling of remorse.

            As a child, I was very inquisitive. Whatever I see, whatever I do not understand, whatever I cannot comprehend, I will always ask “why?” or “how?” There would be times where my mom and I would be stuck in traffic, maybe for hours. I would ask her a lot of questions. Most of those questions, she would answer but there were times she would get annoyed enough to just ignore me. She would tell me to strive hard and study harder so that I would answer those questions myself. The same would happen with my Aunt who has become my second mother, she told me to always ask “why?” and to never settle for “just because” as a response.

Today, I reflect unto those words and say that as a media writer, I would want to deliver news, stories and address issues as accurate as possible, to help people who simply do not know why, how, and even when, where and who. I want to be able to fulfill one person’s curiosity, even give them the information they didn’t think they needed at first. As I enter the digital age full of fallacies, “fake news”, exploitation and misleading topics/articles, I want to uphold the tenacity, resourcefulness, and persevering, as a media writer should be. Problems and issues may not come to an end, but I know that as long as we all strive our best for the truth, for what is just, we may be able to consider such as mere obstacles or roadblock to a developed society. I see what is wrong that halts us to progress as a nation, and it is the lack of discipline and respect. Having lived in a rural area and pursuing senior high school in the city, I have seen almost everything wrong with the mindset of Filipinos. Which such skill and attributes as a media writer I would also add this as one of my aspirations and goals as a media writer, to inhabit the concepts of respect, discipline, and self-discipline unto one’s mind.

• 

A graphics designer, writer, photographer, journalist, photojournalist, videographer, broadcaster, and director; that is everything that Cyber Gem Biasbas, a jack of all trades with a fiery passion, wants to be. 

He is a student of the University of the Philippines Los Baños whose passion circles around the field of media and communications. He is currently on the first year his of Bachelor’s Degree on Development Communication. He never wanted to study in any prestigious or high-ranking school, all he ever wanted was to secure a good future for his parents, family, and future family. His passion, mixed with ambition, led him to this road given to him by UP.

His passion for media and graphics design started as a fascination with the editing software Adobe Photoshop. This fascination sparked a fire in his heart for media. He was able to learn and study many forms of media when he became part of the Media Arts discipline under the Special Program in the Arts curriculum. In this curriculum, he made his first film, shot his first photo, and edited images at age 13. Doing all of these added fuel for the fire of his passion!

This fire became a fiery flame when he unknowingly became part of Campus Journalism for 3 years as a photojournalist and a broadcaster. His heart has found its place but alas, high school graduation meant that he can no longer participate in campus journalism. So at this point of his life, he has chosen to continue to live on the ideals of a campus journalist and he has declared that his future lies in hands of media writing and broadcasting.

His passion is now one of the light to guide him to his goals. Keeping the fire of his fiery passion alive.

• 

Brushes, paint, and canvases have always been the tools of the trade of the 18-year-old BS Development Communication student Jerome Benjamin. He always depends on the arts as his way of self-expression and main outlet for creativity. Paintings and sketches serve as his stress reliever when math- another thing he likes yet at times doesn’t seem to like him back- drains his energy. Art expresses his thoughts and emotions more than words can. Writing hasn’t ever been his strongest suit despite having few experiences in joining poetry and essay writing contests. In fact, school requirements that involve writing are his least preferred to do.

However, he started to realize how powerful writing is when the degree program BS Development Communication was assigned to him. It’s not one of his preferred programs but he continuously learns lessons that he most likely won’t get from other courses. From then on, he learned more about how one can utilize writing as a tool to serve the people. It can be used to improve different aspects of the readers’ lives.  He may not be armed with the most impressive or prolific experience as a writer but he is sincerely striving to improve his skills little by little.

With this, he aims not only for self-improvement but also for the welfare of the people that can benefit from his writings. He knows he is heading towards uncharted territory but this will not stop him from going to great lengths to achieve his goals through writing. Whether he continues studying development communication or decides to pursue his dreams, one thing is certain- he will continue to serve the people through his works.