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What a student chooses to have in their bag can say a lot about their personality and their degree program. So, to prove this hypothesis, I decided to ask my friends as to what their must-haves are. I expected replies like a T-square for a Civil Eng. student, a highlighter and a notebook for a med student, computer for a ComSci student and a lab coat for a VetMed student. But I didn’t receive those kinds of answers. Instead, they just gave me playful answers such as “utak with large capacity”, “readings”, “bunganga”, “large attention span”, “sleep”, and “preparedness”. Oh, well. I guess I’ll just do the PROPER talking.

So, here is a peek inside the bag of a Development Communication Student.

My top 5 must-have items:

A pen and a paper. Others tend to have their smartphones as their top must-have, but not for me. Classically writing information is what I opt to do. There are times that ideas just flow out of my hand when I started holding a pen. Plus, there are no distractions from your phone, may it be a text, a call, or a simple notification. Jotting down notes also helps me remember all the information I’ve just gathered.

Smartphone. I’ll sound a hypocrite if I say that I don’t need smartphones. First of all, smartphones are called smartphones because they are one. You can use it in taking pictures and videos, record, contact someone, receive emails or maybe even knowing where to go. Want convenience during interviews? Smartphones are your go-to.

Earphones. Noises can’t be helped. Mostly, during interviews, noises tend to degrade the quality of your audio. With the use of earphones, it improves the sound quality without compromising anything from the interview that you are conducting. Earphones are also important when transcribing.

Laptop. This is a need when it comes to transferring your files from your phone. It is way easier to compile, transcribe, and edit information through a computer or a laptop because of its features and capacity containing various software such as Microsoft Word.

Camera. Yes, phones also have a built-in camera but, sometimes, the quality that it has isn’t enough. You won’t like a picture on Instagram if it isn’t in a high definition, right? Additionally, cameras tend to have larger sensors that ensure a good quality picture. You could also depend on them when shooting moving objects but still receive an amazing shot.

She loves to write, to scribble down notes in her notebook or just write letters out of everything. Give her some pen and she’ll do the magic. She has a deep relationship with words, I must say. But just like other relationships, she also experienced some spats, misunderstandings and changes all throughout however, giving up wasn’t in her vocabulary. So, did they live happily ever after? No, not yet.

Six years ago, Geraldine Lolong Brotonel, a young girl who lives in the province of Batangas, discovered that she could also be happy with other things. That’s when she learned how to appreciate the art of drawing. Geraldine did all she can do to get it. Following accounts that features buildings and designs also helped. She even took the STEM Strand in senior high school knowing that it would lead her closer to her dream. So, when it was time for her to submit her college application forms, Bachelor of Science in Architecture became her first choice. But, I guess things have to happen. You’re right. She didn’t make it through the cut in her desired university with that course. Still, Geraldine persisted. Hoping that destiny would be on her side, she tried with another university, the University of the Philippines. It was Monday back then when she heard the news that UPCAT results are now available. Buckets of tears flowed inside her room when she saw her name on the list of UPCAT passers. She passed. It’s good news, right? Unfortunately, she only got the DPWAS (Degree Program with Available Slot) status meaning she didn’t make it through the cut-offs, again.

As a young girl who only saw Architecture as her job in the future, Geraldine seemed to be lost. Confusion and doubt was all over her face. Just then, one call from the OUR of UPLB change her mind. She was offered a slot for the course of Development Communication. At first, she was hesitant to accept it. She forgot what it means to have a connection with words. Clueless of what outcome it could bring, Geraldine took Bachelor of Science in Development Communication and her heart had never been so happy.

She is home.

“Start writing, no matter what. The water does not flow until the faucet is turned on.” —Louis L’Amour. Writing can never truly be, and undeniably be, a welcome assessment, it is rather, just like an assessment, a necessary value of skill that can hone a person’s ability to write effectively. However, with the aid of multiple proctors in the English department, writing became less of a hassle, the intensity of writing effectively has lessened steadily, enabling a slow domino effect of accepting writing as a necessary skill on improving intellectuality. Ideally, writing would serve to only be a requirement or an assessment, nevertheless, writing enabled the understanding and expressing of people’s ideas, concepts, meanings, interprets and thoughts. And with that, the ideas of writing related to the interest to and of technology, and technological advancement in the masses, results to be an avid writer of technology based writing. Technology has been an important and constant reminder that the world is changing, either rapidly, and/or steadily. And with that, the interest in writing technology base readings has been growing with the interest mainly in the mobile industry, pertaining to smartphones and/or mobile computers or laptops. 

The reasons of interest on the mobile industry is that people have smart devices on their hands on, if not, a daily basis, and their norms of using the smart devices is an example of the growing interest of people in technology. In addition, the technology brought by the smart devices continues to be an incredible advancement, which can improve their daily livings coming from such small devices. Alongside, are the reasons why people did choose to have the smart devices as a part of their daily lives, not only as a necessity, but as a part of their increasing interest in technology as a whole. As a techie, the given are one of the reasons why one would indulge in the technology based writings, not only for the curiosity of oneself, but for the curiosity of the many people interested and/or lived with technology. 

As the interest of people grew, so are the technological advancements, pertaining not only to the mobile industry, but to the general technological achievements that people attain. Self-driving vehicles, assistant robots, delivery drones, and advance artificial intelligence are one of the few technological advancement that makes media writing for the tech-enthusiast a thrilling endeavour. In addition, technology in the health industry is also in a booming state, since more technology companies are investing their time for the health aspects of their products. The tech-nerds of today see the achievement as an undeniable feat in technological history, thus writing for the sake of the advance influence of technology can give the media tech-nerds a writing full of excitement. 

Writing for technology, with great enthusiasm, gives the media writer an undeniable feeling of achievement, which can further enhance the writer’s interest and knowledge on the field. Creating articles, news stories, and broadcast with any technology related cases are one of the few instances why tech media writers are excited about. Either it be in the mobile industry, health industry, transportation industry, media writing for technology will continue to be one of the greatest topic for future generations, since it continues to evolve astoundingly, whether it be rapidly, or steadily. 

Being a student for almost all my life made me learn and develop a lot of skills. However, I do not consider myself as a professional on anything. I place myself in between the professionals and to those that need more work. I do believe that we are all lifelong learners and in everything that we do, in all of our experiences, we learn a lot of things. Indeed, life is like an everyday assignment – we work on it and we work on how we develop ourselves.

Developing our skills make us more confident to present ourselves. When we know that we are good at something, we make efforts for other people to realize that we would like to create or contribute – we want to be leaders. But when we feel like it is not our forte, we step back and let others take the lead. Being able to assess ourselves is like an eye-opening experience for me. No one would know ourselves better expect us. We know how we feel, how we suppress our feelings and how we express ourselves in different situations.

Out of all the qualities of a media writer, I gave myself a two (2) in these following qualities: industrious, persevering, and loves to read. I made this decision maybe because I know that I am a person that is willing to learn and is very diligent in all tasks given to me. I make sure to do all things in a fast but sure manner. I gave my self a lot of threes (3) but out of all the qualities, I am not convinced with my resourcefulness. I tend to get frustrated when I could not easily access the information that I need. However, I know that I can overcome this because I have my perseverance to push me ahead. I am hesitant to give myself a one (1) rating because I know that I can still improve a lot during my stay in the College of Development Communication.

It is really hard to rate yourself in terms of skills mainly because you do not want to go overboard or because you do not want other people to judge you. I gave myself a two (2) rating in all of the skills needed by a media writer expect for the proficiency in the operation of communication tools/devices. If I were to choose a skill that I am confident the most is on how I can write clearly and effectively. I have been writing since 4^th grade and I have learned a lot of techniques and I think that I am on my way to building my own writing style. On the other hand, I gave myself a three (3) in the proficiency of operating the communication tools/devices because deep down I know that I need to improve a lot especially with the complex soft wares and devices that I need to use.

It was a really quick assessment, but in all fairness, I discovered the things I need to work on and develop and the things that I need to maintain and improve. At the end of the day, you will not be successful as a media writer if you do not recognize your flaws and if you do not take the courage to step up and Work on It.

If you always do what you’ve always done, you’ll always be where you’ve always been.

T.D. Jakes

Becoming a diplomat hasn’t always been the apple of the eye for me.

Since the start of my formal education, I once dreamt of becoming an engineer. Why do you ask? Well my father during that time was a civil engineer working overseas. Every time he comes back home, he tells me his stories of how he performs his job and how it was his dream job when he was a child. From the accounts that he shared, it shed some insights to me on the track I wanted to go upon.

Once I’ve entered junior high school, the dream seemed to shift. Back then, I was active in joining extracurricular activities and different student organizations which gave me even more insights on the dream job that I wanted take. Being a student journalist for our school publication gave me an understanding of how our society works – leaders making decisions, people working to improve their status of life, and sponsors helping people to achieve their goals. That outlook in like was somehow the foundation of my true passion in life.

In senior high, I wasn’t still convinced on what dream job I was going to take. I chose to take the Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) strand believing that it would help me define my true passion and know what are the practical applications needed for society to grow and develop. Even though this strand helped me understand some different concepts for applying development in society, I wasn’t still sure if I was achieving my true potential.

That was when I became the president for our school’s student government when I found my passion; it was an eye-opener for me. Being able to serve my fellow students was a heavy task considering this was the first time our school created a central student government – serving students from elementary up to senior high school. With the overwhelming duty I was given, I took it as a challenge and my goal to shape the system of our student government and other student organizations. In a span of a year, me and my fellow officers were able to create a Constitution and By-laws becoming the backbone of the organization, providing flagship projects empowering and educating students to become future professionals serving the country, and manage community outreaches serving those deprived of needs in life. It was in the belief of serving the students, the school, and the community that prompted me to re-evaluate my dream.

Besides working for our organization, I often was given the chance to join such trainings, seminars and conferences – most notably Model United Nations (MUN) Conferences.

MUNs and other related conferences gave me the reason to start dreaming of becoming a diplomat. The act of working with delegates representing different Member States who promoted their country’s interest in create feasible solutions for the international community was a challenging yet fulfilling task for me. It also gave me a deeper understanding upon the different problems every country experienced which hindered their chance for development and what solution they proposed on.

Now that I’m entering the college life, I am fully convinced that I’m taking the right course for my true goal in life. Taking up BS Development Communication in the University of the Philippines – Los Banos, I believe that I am now on the right track. With diplomacy as my main virtue, I hope to use the knowledge gained from this degree to help transform the country by providing viable space for leaders, innovators, and investors to collaborate and engage in achieving the country’s goal for sustainable development.

From the thought of becoming an engineer, now, I found my passion to become a diplomat – serving the country through promoting its interest and promoting partnership and cooperation.

At a very young age of 10, with a pure heart and excited mind, Roella Marcelle M. Bautista started to join the field of writing. Through the years, she had a mix of up and down experiences but kept holding on because she found comfort in the arms of writing. Born and raised in a peaceful community in the province of Isabela, she strives to bring honor to her hometown and to her family as well. This young writer never forgets to push herself to her limits and believes that there is no other way to start another chapter of her writing journey but in UP. As she enters the University of the Philippines Los Baños under BS Development Communication, along with her hopes and dreams, she firmly holds on that someday all of her efforts and learning would be of great help and will be used as tools for development. In addition, she understands that through writing, everybody is provided with the chance to develop and realize their full potential.

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A lot of people, events and experiences made this young writer to be who she is today. Being a part of her elementary and junior high school newspaper had its share in building the foundation that she has for writing. She had experienced writing in different forms such as news, feature, and editorial which made her gain the nickname ELLAborative. However, out of all events that she had explored, copy editing and headline writing was the closest to her heart. On the other hand, she enjoys reading about current issues and making her own stand which she believes is important because it makes our minds critical and for us to not just accept everything that is coming before us.

In the future, the serious but child-like Ella is hopeful to be a media producer especially in the field of broadcast communication. One of her reasons is that she would like to reach a greater audience to communicate and educate with. Her vision is to let everyone know that problems can be traced to its root causes and can be solved through information and communication. She had seen the situation of some marginalized sectors of the society and she stands that when you have seen and known the truth, it is already a sin to close your eyes. Also, she aims to use her expertise to be of service and to reach the people whose voices are not heard. Although she is still just on the beginning of a harder but greater journey, she still chooses to believe and manifest that to further strengthen her foundation in writing to be used for development, there is No way but UP.

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The life of a development communicator is not as easy as you say. But there are essential things that can help you to survive from the challenges that you might face throughout your journey.

Phone

Whatever brand it is, a phone is necessary and very useful for all the activities that you will face in devcom. It can be a tool for communication, recording, research or even for note-taking. These are the things that you will face throughout your journey at the College of Development Communication.

Laptop

Need to finish your exercises and articles on time? A laptop is the best gadget to help you out. There are a lot of computers in UPLB that are free to use but if you want efficiency, the laptop is a good investment.

PowerBank

Fieldwork. Fieldwork. Fieldwork. There will be a lot of times in your stay here in CDC that you will go to different that has no outlets. This is the reason why you need a power bank that will give you extra energy in case of an emergency. You don’t want your phone to die in the middle of recordings, right?

Journal

Important things to remember? A journal will greatly help you to take note of every important detail you gather along the way.

Tumbler

Stay hydrated. There will be a lot of fieldwork that you will face here in Devcom. A tumbler to store water will be helpful to keep you alive.

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Together with Eunice and Christian, Team Polaris explored Barangay Anos to find the necessary contact information that we need to build strong communication with them in addressing their concerns with the College of Development Communication.

What method of data gathering did the group employ/use the most? Why?

The group utilized most the interview method. They interviewed the staff from the municipal and barangay offices and used their available documented data containing the basic information of the assigned barangays.

Polaris Team

Based on what you learned from this activity, give at least three (3) tips on data gathering that you can share with the next batch of BSDC freshmen.

1. Be patient and polite always.
2. Always be prepared: bring your ID, a formal letter for requesting data if necessary, and some conversation skills.
3. Don’t be scared to ask people for directions and tips. The older Devcom students and jeepney drivers can help you a lot.
4. Create a contingency plan. It will help you a lot if your first plan will fail.