The semester is almost done. A few more finishing touches and ta- da! One semester down, (n) semesters to go!
Looking back, I never really imagined myself surviving these Development Communication courses. Just like what I’ve said on my previous entries, I am new in this field. I am totally clueless, a beginner, indeed. But, fortunately, with the help of my professors and also my classmates especially my blocmates, I am able to cope up with this new environment with a lot of knowledge and information that I’ve acquired from them.
Now, as I reassess my skills and capabilities as a media writer, I can proudly say that I have improved all throughout my five months stay in the college. Those skills that I am lacking a few months back are now one of my strengths when I’m crafting a news or a paper. Truly, my five months worth of training in the corners of CDC had helped me enough. However, there are still a lot of rooms which needs improvement. And this fact encourages me to do better and give my hundred percent best all the time in order to craft a quality work.
My journey towards being an effective and efficient media writer is a long, long way to go. Am I scared? Am I nervous? Definitely not. Because I know that I have my CD2 family who’ll help me to cope up to higher devcom courses along with the professors in the college. Laban, Pam! Lagi’t lagi, para sa bayan!
“This moment requires focus. Before you can focus on the future, you have to focus on the now.” This line is from the commercial of Stephen Curry, an NBA player. I can relate the line to studying in UPLB because as the line say, I need to focus and think about the present before the future, which I think I failed. If I will have the opportunity to give advice to myself, I will tell him the things that he should do so that he will finish the semester better than what I did before.
Sleep right.
This is the most important part of all the tips. Sleeping will not only make you feel energized before doing school works, but it will also help you maintain your body health so that you will be in good shape in attending classes. There will be nights that you are sleepless but you need to cope and adjust yourself to sleep even a bit. It may be painful to wake up immediately after sleeping with incomplete hours but at least your body will have some energy later because you rested.
Make friends.
If they do not thought of talking to you, then you should try and talk to them. Without friends, you will be moving forward slower than everyone. Most of the courses taught encourage you to interact with others, so why not try that?
Be industrious.
Work with assignments, projects, and activities given to you as soon as they are given. Do not let your tasks to pile up. It will just make you fully exhausted in working everything in one day or less.
Fix your things.
Reading and doing school works will be easier if you have a neat and tidy place. Arrange your things properly so that you can work efficiently. Do not choose on fixing them later because in the end you will always be procrastinating in doing that.
Avoid distractions and too much leisure time.
You will face a time after long hours of doing school works, you will decide to rest a bit for a while. Just be careful because it might affect your time for more important things. Do not let yourself forget that you have other things to do after relaxing.
Last November 11-15, DOST-SEI’s second science bus went to UPLB to introduce their new mobile science learning facility, the “nuLab”.
This science bus is primarily for senior high school students, with its advanced STEM modules that are specially designed to help students recognize their knowledge and skills in the various STEM fields.
Here is a short video clip that will give you a glimpse of what’s inside the nuLab. Click the link below:
As the first semester is coming to an end, I want to say that it has been a rollercoaster hell of a ride. As someone who was shocked on how UP works out, I’ve committed a lot of mistakes because I was new to the environment and I need to cope up with things.
With that, here are my top five things that I want to say to my old self for me to have a smooth semester ahead. This will also serve as a reminder for me to the upcoming semesters that I will be facing during my stay here in the university.
Learn to assess things, learn how to say no.
I was exposed to a world full of endless of possibilities. There are many opportunities that was presented on my table and I took them all. There are certain points in my life that I became very exhausted due to that my extra-curricular commitments were happening at the same timeframe, plus I need to deal with my academic demands.
With that in mind, I should learn how to assess things soundly before I will give my ‘yes’ to someone. I need to solve my own problem regarding impulsivity with the succeeding semesters to come due to the fact that once you’ve committed yourself into something, it is hard to back out.
Don’t be afraid of failures.
As a consistent academic achiever and an active org person in the past years, I became very afraid of failures in my university life. All of the eyes of my family members are on me due to the fact that I am in UP, and also, they have high hopes for me in the future. So my mind tells me that I should be fooling around things. However, despite of the fact that I did my best and poured all of my efforts into something, I think my best wasn’t good enough.
To give you an example, I got a failing mark in my first long exam ever in my UP journey, and I cried a lot because never in my life that I got a failing grade for an exam. I never felt so inferior that time. However, as days gone by, I take that as a motivation to still push forward on things and I redeemed myself from that subject.
We shouldn’t always connotate failures into bad things. Some failures are igniting a spark to improve something from your self. Think of it as a slap of reality, and for me that is indeed a good thing.
Use your time wisely.
I became used to the idea of procrastination since I was in high school and my first semester of dealing things here in UP was not exempted. Because of my fixation to cramming, when the deadline of an academic requirement is fast approaching, I’m always pressured and stressed out. Instead of sticking up to my intended schedules, I sometimes cancel out what should be needed to dealt with that time. For example, instead of socializing with my friends, I just allocated my time to cram my papers.
Time is precious here in the university and it needs to be spent productively. Every lost minute will have an impact to your academic and social life. Yes, it will be hard to get away with your habits, but think of the long lasting consequences of the unproductive use of time.
Take care of your health.
Whenever I went back to my city, my friends, and my former teachers always said that I lost weight after I went to UP to study. They were shocked on my changes, but my parents were the most worried because I was rushed to the emergency room last April because of a sever heart ache I endured. The doctors told that I should rest whenever I’ve been into a stressful situation and eat healthy. However, I sometimes still pulled out all-nighters and skip meals.
You shouldn’t be abusing your body. Don’t wait for an another emergency room situation.
Love yourself.
I never been so lonely in the past few months here in UP. Because of that, my quest to seek happiness drove me to an abyss of things that I know I will regret for years. Before you should channel out your love to others, you need to make sure that you love yourself first. No one will love you more than yourself. Cling yourself with those people that you trust so that you have a strong foundation to love yourself more.
One semester has passed, if I look back on the second weekly writes, I asses myself in terms of my qualities and skills as a media writer. Thinking about it makes me amaze on how far I’ve improved regarding my writing skills. I learned so much for the past 5 months from my DevCom courses.
I improved a lot with regards in writing. I am now confident with what I write because of the knowledge imparted to me. I would like to thank all my professors that instructed me throughout the whole semester and believing in me that I can be more of a person.
I have given myself these updated ratings because I know that I changed a lot from before who I was. I became familiar on the activities that my professors gave us. I also learned to be more cooperative to my classmates and to work under pressure. The semester thought me to be prepared every time so that I will be able to be productive. It made me realize on what path in life I am in.
Skills of a Media Writer
Before:
Gathering Data – 3
Validating and classifying information – 2
Organizing information – 2
Writing Clearly and effectively – 3
Proficiency in the communication tools/devices – 2
After:
Gathering Data – 2
Validating and classifying information – 1
Organizing information – 2
Writing Clearly and effectively – 2
Proficiency in the communication tools/devices – 2
With the skills I had before, I had a doubt if I will be able to cope with the challenges that may come. But now I can say that I improved a lot since then. Thanks to those people who I met who taught me things indirectly. Also with the DevCom courses, I familiarized myself in writing news in different ways, which I don’t do before in high school or grade school.
Overall, I can see that I improved my qualities and skills of a media writer. But I also know that there are still room for improvement for me. This semester may be over, but it will be remembered as the semester that my college began with, and is one of the foundation of my life in the future.
The lighting of the university’s giant Christmas tree and other Christmas decorations tells us that it’s already Christmas in UPLB!
The theme of this year’s installation is Paskuhan sa Barrio, featuring a life-sized Belen and a mini park with fountain. The lighting ceremony was held on the evening of November 19 with a program entitled Pasko sa Elbi: Isang Pasasalamat. It was attended by Chancellor Sanchez, university vice chancellors, faculty members, staffs, students and Los Baños residents. Part of the event were performances from UPLB Choral Ensemble, Dr. Antonio Jesus, UPLB Street Jazz Dance Company, and the UPLB Filipiniana Dance Troupe. Also, a mini bazaar was opened at the parking lot of the University Housing Office.
Setting up these ornaments at the UPLB main gate started thirteen years ago in 2006. This marks the beginning of holiday season and the coming end of the First Semester.
Here is a video prepared by Group Binhi showcasing the highlights of UPLB’s annual treat for the community.
Group Binhi:
Kate Abulad
Marian Illinon
Louisse Parado
Shann Elyse Pasion
Mark Genesis Topinio
Maria Thresha Ursolino
My first semester is nearing its conclusion and it has been really tough ride. If I only had a chance to go back in time, I would give myself these 5 tips; review earlier, step up, be more active, be more persistent, do not lose confidence.
Review Earlier
During the first few months and first exams, I really did not bother much to review. I believe that I am capable of passing without intensive reviewing and I failed to realize that I am no longer in San Jose City, my comfort zone. I had such low grades in my exams, grades that I’ve never got in my previous years. I wish that I could’ve told my early self that I should review early and not cram any exam because UP is much different from what I got used to.
Step Up
This tip is like a continuation of the first tip. Stepping out is really necessary here in UP because anyone who is still in his comfort zone will surely by shocked and shot down by unexpected things in UP. I would yell at my earlier self, “hoy umalis ka na jan!”
Be more active
DevCom is about being involved with the community and with people, it is really necessary to be active and involved. I was active but now I realized that it was not active enough. If I were to go back, I would tell myself to be more active as a student in class, in the university, and in the college.
Be more persistent
Keep driving towards the goal! These past few months I lost my drive and I lost my persistence. If I were to go back, I would tell myself that I need to keep striving and not give up. College will really break a student’s drive if he/she fails to keep a burning passion for what he/she is doing.
Do not lose confidence
Another thing that college can break is confidence, I know because it broke mine during the hell weeks. But I thank God, my family, and loves ones because I was able to get my confidence back and continue the fight in college.
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