Category: Week 18

I believe we all have our autumn-like days.

And for me, that is perfectly okay. Looking back, I wrote in Week 2 that I need to further improve my qualities and skills as a writer. It still holds true today. Reading and writing isn’t my forte. Doing the lab exercises for DEVC 11 was not easy for me and most of the time, I do them under pressure (by cramming) just to finish the exercise.

However, I did like what I did.

I remember having fun doing the AV script for TV news. It was stressful and will take a lot of your time due to the frame by frame analysis. But when it was my time to do my very own AV plug, I had challenges but nonetheless I received favorable comments from my lab instructor. I believe it was the highest score I got out of all the exercise I did. I then realized, writing is actually fun if you know what you are doing.

My updated self-assessment

The semester is about to end but this is just the beginning of the lifelong journey that I will experience as a development communicator in training. I can still vividly remember the first time I entered the college building. I was in complete awe about everything for I was eager to learn new things. I knew for a fact that I am not in anyway the best because this is UP. However my motivation to keep going is first, to genuinely serve my countrymen enabling them to experience development and second, to be able to improve myself not only for my benefit but more so for the benefit of this country.

I have realized that through my first semester journey I was able to improve my communication skills through the conduct of various interviews with both MOS (man-on-the-street) and likewise with the expert. It is also significant to really experience the lessons that we have discussed through news coverage. It is not enough to memorize all the things we have learned inside the four corners of the classroom, what is a more in-depth learning is the application of those theories and topics in the real world. Only through experiencing those topics will you truly value and understand its significance.

Moreover, it is necessary to uphold the truth and the credibility of the news because nowadays the proliferation of disinformation and misinformation is rampant. Let us consider that media plays an important part in nation building for it has the ability to manipulate the minds of the audience. Therefore, the news I write must be accurate enough.

I strongly believe that my weakest points during the start of the semester which is gathering information and being resourceful has been enhanced through both lecture and laboratory exercises. I was able to realize that when things did not go the way I planned it, I should be able to cope up smoothly with the changes rather than being upset over it and thus being unable to do anything. Remember that life goes on even if you are not yet ready so bear in mind that you should keep on moving forward.

Lastly, I want to reiterate that this has been a good semester. Even if there are a lot of uninvited situations that have happened, I believe that it is meant to happen in order for me to know and understand deeply the ideals and aspirations of being a development communicator. I am likewise happy that I have been able to improve my skills. I have realized that it is not an excuse if I am not knowledgeable on a certain thing rather I should be open for new learnings for that is the only way to overall improve myself.

Qualities of a media writer

1. Curious or inquisitive – 1
2. Intelligent – 2
3. Industrious – 2 to 1
4. Resourceful – 2 to 1
5. Persevering – 3 to 2
6. Imaginative – 2
7. Puts a premium on accuracy and truth – 1
8. Loves to read – 1
9. Interested in and loves people – 1
10. Service- oriented – 1

After a semester in devcom, I can say that I have learned a lot and in turn improved my skills. The qualities of being industrious, resourceful, and persevering have improved among others. I can say that I became more industrious and resourceful through all the practical lessons I learned in this semester. I realized that I improved in this aspect since there were a lot of given tasks that requires innovative and ingenious ways to accomplish. I learned the importance of diskarte in achieving a lot of things. Regarding the quality of being persevering, I can say that I became more determined in achieving my goals. I have faced a few roadblocks and hindrances but these did not fully stop me from progressing.

Skills of a media writer

1. Gathering data – 2 to 1
2. Validating and clarifying information – 1
3. Organizing information – 1
4. Writing clearly and effectively – 3 to 2
5. Proficiency in the operation of communication tools/ devices – 1

I consider gathering data and writing clearly and effectively as two of my skills that improved. Right from the start, I’ve learned that gathering data is a very important skill for a devcom student. True enough, I have utilized this skill for a lot of tasks that were given to me. I consider this skill as the one that improved the most since I was able to learn different ways to gather various kinds of data through my experience in accomplishing our tasks. On the other hand, my skill of writing clearly and effectively also improved. I can say this since I already know the things to avoid when writing. However, I this skill still has a room for improvement. This also applies for all the other qualities and skills I have as a media writer. I will continue to strive in improving each of these aspects.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1tfkYOuhOyv2L5ByFw98sHvqTx_Nc-hv3/view?usp=sharing

At the beginning of the semester, I felt clueless and not up to par with my classmates in terms of being a development communicator. Prior to entering this program, I thought I was adequately prepared because of my background as a campus journalist, but it turned out that I still was not, and that I also had a lot more to improve. Inch by inch, output by output, I began to shape myself into the development communicator I aspire to be.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1lhtgnzHimHGiSxKdoO1AcKnv0nz-YNMb/view?usp=sharing

In terms of qualities, the area I lacked in the most was in being interested in and loving to work with people. As someone who is shy, I tend to dislike having to talk the strangers, which is a no-no for DevCom students since we are required to work with them for some of our outputs. For this semester, I vowed to work on this, and now I feel a lot more comfortable with approaching people and talking to them for interviews and such. I also became more curious and inquisitive because being in DevCom opened my eyes to the realities of life, and made me realize that I should take a second look at the things I encounter everyday. In addition, I also became more industrious and resourceful due to all the outputs we were required to do, as well as the numerous setbacks we faced in completing them. Lastly, I also became more service-oriented because in DevCom, I realized just how privileged I was compared to other Filipinos, which was why the desire to serve them through my work burned a little brighter.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ojx-Nb-43ddWkeBPUzLP1HIwau3XT5la/view?usp=sharing

As for the skills, I improved the most in organizing information, because I now find it easier to sift through data and sort them based on their relevance. This skill came in handy in doing the outputs for our lab class, especially whenever we used different media. Other skills I improved in were gathering data and verifying/clarifying information, because I now felt more comfortable in interviewing other people as well as retrieving and validating information from legitimate sources. Lastly, although I improved a bit in the proficiency in using communication tools and devices, I still feel that I did not improve enough because my skills in using those tools are still not that good. However, I am still looking forward to the coming years because they will serve as more time for me to hone the needed qualities and skills to become an effective development communicator.

Assessing oneself is a good way to find rooms for improvement. One of the activities I’ve done was to assess my skills and qualities as a media writer and through this, I realized that I lack some of the things a development-communication practitioner must possess. After a four month stay in this program, there are few improvements on the qualities and skills I have.

After few months of being here in this program I became more inquisitive and curious of what is happening around me. I became engaged in making myself aware of the various social issues and current events. Additionally, I became more resourceful to be able to cope with unexpected changes I encounter. Dev-com taught me to become more “madiskarte” in many ways possible. Moreover, I became interested and learned to love people. Activities from my different courses let me socialize to different people whom I don’t know personally. This was a great challenge for me at first but thanks to devcom courses, I learned to overcome this!

I was also able to improve some of my skills because of various activities we’ve done. My skills gathering data improved as well as validating and clarifying it. This was also a challenge to me since I have to do great in this field to establish my credibility as a media writer. Furthermore, I learned to effectively organize the informations I have to be able to communicate it efficiently.

There are more things to work on to become a better development communicator. I am hoping to learn this in a short time through the help of different activities from the devcom courses.

16 weeks have passed since we first evaluated ourselves regarding our skills and qualities as media writers. Looking back, there were many aspects in which I’m not entirely confident with, hence, not giving those unos. The first semester of being a Devcom student was truly challenging, but as I write this last blog post, I can’t help but realize how meaningful and helpful those requirements I used to worry a lot; those things helped me grow not only as a development communicator, but more so, as an individual.

For my qualities, I have improved in being curious or inquisitive, imaginative, loves to read, interested in and loves people, and service-oriented. I believe that these things have been largely influenced with how my professors emphasized the need for us, Devcom students, to be aware with what’s happening around us. Furthermore, how important it is to connect to people, because after all, Devcom revolves around them.

On the other hand, in terms of my skills, I decided to give improved ratings on validating and clarifying information, writing clearly and effectively, and proficiency in the operation of communication tools/devices. All these thanks to Devc 11 lecture and exercises!

Sixteen weeks have passed; it was just 4 months of being into Devcom but look how far I’ve come and how much I’ve learned already. The journey ahead is indeed still long, but I am now more than ever convinced that it will be worth it, because, why won’t it be when I see myself improving and becoming a better development communicator through time? 🙂

How do you know that you have improved? After every task, we reflect on how well did we performed. We try to identify our mistakes and take note of the good things we have done. It is important to reflect on our performance to make room for improvements. As this semester finally comes to an end, I think about the things I’ve done to finish this semester successfully. I also take note of the bad habits I had on the past semester so that I won’t do it again on the next semester. Sometimes I think to myself, “Did I change for the better this year?”

Back when I was in high school, I wasn’t the ideal student. Although I am an honor student, my mother would always tell me that I could’ve done better only if I wasn’t that lazy. She was right because I only study when there’s an upcoming quiz or exam and sometimes I do my homework when in class the day of the deadline. As soon as I knew that I will be studying in UP, my dream school, I told myself that I wouldn’t mess up this chance. I promised myself that I will put more effort into studying because cramming and being lazy won’t work in the university.

At the beginning of the past semester, I admit that I don’t have a huge attention span when it comes to reading. As a development communicator in training or as a student in general, I must love reading because there’s a lot to learn for a student like me. I was beyond shocked when we were given readings that are too long for me. As expected, I don’t have that willingness to read. I told myself that I wouldn’t pass my subjects if I don’t wake up and start being industrious in reading all those readings. Being in UP inspired me to improve myself and I can say that my willingness to read for learning has become better even just a little bit. Back then, you won’t see me holding textbooks. I’d rather read novels, still with much difficulty, than textbooks and hand outs. Today, although I still won’t read during my free time if it’s not required, I started teaching myself to read a lot by starting with long novels.

Starting the past semester, I remember being confident with my skills in operating communication tools/devices. Being millennial really has its perks because we can easily learn how to operate gadgets that are new to us. I can say that I enjoyed learning about different communication tools/devices. I learned techniques on how to use camera in different kinds of audio visual media we wish to make. I also learned how to use Adobe Photoshop with the help of my sister and YouTube. I can say that I am more than willing to learn about different communication tools/devices because I really enjoy learning a lot about this kind of stuff.

We’ve written a lot of papers this semester. I cannot imagine how I managed to finish all those papers and how I still have words left to write. One thing I realized after writing a lot of papers is that validating and clarifying information is the most crucial part. Writing is easy, but writing effectively can be difficult. Effectively – meaning stating facts that are clear and validated and writing with these facts in a manner that anyone can easily understand. We don’t just write to finish an assignment, we always write with a purpose.

I did well this semester but I can do better. There’s always room for improvement and I believe that everyone should move forward. As an Iskolar ng Bayan, we should seize this privilege given to us by giving our best every day we spend in UP. Remember that the only permanent thing in this world is change. We should change but it must always be for the better.

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1YD7at-x0ej4IyzMs4VyFXBeBC2hfr8nZ

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1Azzm_WnfCGv3SfxYeq702ioEVnc1ZcAu

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1G4IFtk1Xu3w50hj-oGH6sjBAvrOZ3XC2

I entered empty-handed and come back with full of knowledge. Looking back, writing is one of my weakest quality and least interest. I even poorly assessed myself as a media writer for the reason that I’m just a beginner in this field and don’t deserve that kind of rating. I do possess the qualities of a writer but not to the extent that I excel in that specific quality. Based on my answer from the previous assessment, the quality that I want to improve the most is the interest and love for the people. Throughout the whole semester I focused on improving those qualities for I believed that to help the marginalized people, we need to establish bonds and develop a sense of affinity towards them. I learned to be persevering in gathering data that will help me to deliver concise and easy to understand information. With the help of DevCom courses, I am now one step closer to being Development Communicator.

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1IpuMunPM6FrdR6XbujfsLTc3oXpdZKVc

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1u1MDqxaUHigKDTXcr16tIluGYCb98b62

Although I’m still not good enough, I was able to improve the skills of being a writer. I learned how to write clearly and effectively with the help of our lab exercises. I follow the process of writing to improve and enhance my work. Furthermore, it made me realized that to develop your skills you need a tremendous amount of practice and hard work. Being good writing is a vital skill not just in college but also in the work field.