Regarded as one of the most difficult entrance exams in the Philippines, the University of the Philippines College Admission Test took place at various venues in the UPLB campus this October 5 -6.
In this video we see what the UPCAT takers and their parents have to say, in regards to their dreams, reasons, and expectations for the exam.
For Week 10, we interviewed Miss Veronica Quintana Arioder, a reading and dyslexia specialist who was known for founding the Instant Reader program which aims to teach kids how to read in 20 days. An expert in her field of educational communication, she was recognized by the College of Development Communication as a Distinguished Alumna during the Loyalty Day program.
In this interview we learn more about her and her motivations and lessons learned throughout the entire journey.
LOYALTY DAY. Iyan ang isa sa mga bagay na nagpapatunay ng kagitingan at kabayanihan ng mga tinaguriang Iskolar ng Bayan. Isa sa mga bagay na ipinagmamalaki ng UPLB bilang selebrasyon ng bolunterismo at katapangan na ipinamalas ng mga Isko’t Iska. Saksihan ang kwento sa likod ng mga iskolar na lumaban at patuloy na lumalaban para sa bayan. Mga kwentong nabuo sa loob at labas ng apat na sulok nitong unibersidad. Mga kwentong nagpapatibay at nagiging gabay ng mga iskolar ng bayan hanggang sa kasalukuyan.
Ma. Regina Briones Minas is an alumna of UPLB. She studied in the university for three and a half years. She graduated from BS Nutrition in October 1991.
The university taught her how to be resilient. She faced setbacks such as failing the midterms of Math 14 that made her decide to drop the course. According to her, this obstacle made her stronger and wiser.
“Getting a failing mark is not the end of the world. I cried about that grade for a day or two. I learned that it’s okay not to feel okay. What is not fine is to forever stick in an unpleasant situation.
When I got that said score in the midterm exam, I knew that I won’t be able to make up for my grades. I decided to drop the course without evaluation for me to avoid a failed mark in my TOR. After that incident, the vacant time for that subject that I dropped was still used to study for it in preparation for the next semester. I also made an extra effort by sitting in the class of another professor and by studying the notes of my friends taking the same subject but taught by another instructor. The following semester, I took the subject again and that time I completed it with an exemption from taking the final exams!”
An alumni of the College of Development Communication, Renz Louie Celeridad has a Bachelor’s of Science in Development Communication. Kuya Renz is from Batch 13.
And according to him, he learned five key lessons during his stay in the university.
First, he learned how to be graceful under pressure. He said, ” Pressure will always be there because you’re studying in UP. Learn to control your emotions. Don’t let your emotions control you.”
Second, what you learned is always heftier than grades. If you share your grades to others, nothing will happen. However, if you share your knowledge, you help other people learn.
Third, find groups that will help you grow holistically. Be it an org, friends, or social groups.
Fourth, there is still so much to learn. The world is bigger than Elbi, there are more opportunities to learn outside of it.
Finally, do not say “mahirap”. Instead, call it “challenging”!
College is a great place to start building your reputation.
Many thanks to Kuya Renz for providing his insights and knowledge!
There will be seasons that we are going to face a lot of requirements combining with multiple exams. But it is okay to chill for a while. Here are some ways on how to chill during midterms:
There is no other best way to chill but to sleep. Period. No Question.
Eating your favorite food will help you a lot to distress and motivate yourself to finish your tasks. Just be careful with your budget and you are ready to go.
Do things that make you happy like playing games or maybe, debating.
Hang out with your friends and tell them the things that bother you.
Marian Illinon, Louisse Parado, Shann Pasion, and Mark Genesis Topinio joined the commemoration of UPLB’s 101st Loyalty Day, as they dove in to the excitement, as well as interviewing the Alumni Homecomers.
On every 10th of October, the University of the Philippines, Los Banos celebrates the Loyalty Day and Alumni Homecoming. But, do you know exactly why UPLB celebrates it? It all goes back in the year 1918 when the world was experiencing the detrimental effects of World War I during its fifth year in Europe. Four years after the occurrence of WWI, the USA called for additional military manpower to fight along with the Allies side against the Central Powers. Thus, when the Philippine National Guard called for volunteers, the UP College of Agriculture (UPCA) did not hesitate to lend their service and fight in ‘one of the world’s most historic clashes’. On October 10, 1983, it was reported that 193 of the 300 UPCA students and 27 out of the 33 professors from the college had joined and had taken an oath to the Philippine National Guard. However, due to an agreement signed on November 11, 1918, between the two countries, the UPCA volunteers were not able to fight because it brought an end to the war. Their courage, however, was deemed noteworthy that even the late Senate President Manuel L. Quezon appreciated the heroic spirit of the UPCA community. As such, Loyalty Day had become the venue for reconnecting the UPLB administration, staff, faculty, students, and alumni as they cast into our minds the essence of the spirit of volunteerism and the honored battlecry “Serve the People”.
As UPLB community celebrated its 101st Loyalty Day and Alumni Homecoming through colorful and unique presentations and activities such as the Loyalty Day Parade. The event will not be completed without our ‘kababayan’ and our alumni.
Being a development practitioner, there are two paths in front of you: the profession and the calling.
Genny Rose Marcelino
I was sitting in my development class. First class on my first day in the university. Our professor entered the room and easily discussed the course syllabus and all her requirements for us to pass the subject, without introducing herself. But before she ends the session, she shared an idea that until now became my anchor why I believe in development programs and walk on this path until now. Being a development practitioner, there are two paths in front of you: the profession and the calling. Also inclined to it are the financial stability and the financial contentment.
My professor said that we should make up our mind before we exit the university – on what to walk on and pursue in our lives as a development communication practitioner. Now, I’ve been to five different kinds of work – researcher, field worker, communication specialist, training coordinator and program coordinator.
The first three paid well. I remember my pay days where I was unsure where to put my extra money even if I support my family. I was capable to buy the things I need and even for things I only wanted. It was satisfying but not fulfilling. There were nights on those days I ask myself the purpose of what am doing, and who benefited from my work. I travel to and from office, staff house and home, but there were times when I felt so empty and it seems that someone or something was calling me from an unknown place.
Then I remember my professor, my first class on my first day in the university. I job-hop and found myself in child rights and protection, even just the first day I felt fulfilled on the things entrusted to me. We trained government workers on child rights and protection, we discussed cases and played scenarios on children’s’ situations and ways to protect them. My days spent on that job will always be treasured, I left with a heavy heart because as much as I want, I wanted to stay but time can tell that it’s the end of my journey on that path.
Who would have thought? It was far from my consciousness that I will be in a media organization that have programs on humanitarian response. It was surreal the first day I was called in for an interview, the manager who interviewed me scanned thoroughly my curriculum vitae and asked me every details of it. That interview series of wonderful and exciting moments lead me to where I am now. A media organization that focus on empowering communities through community radios and encouraging them as well after a disaster hit their areas. It’s not an easy job. It is a demanding one – there were endless nights of phone calls and continuous coordination with people on the ground and decision makers. There were holidays that can’t be enjoyed with family due to the need to know the situation of the affected community after a typhoon made its landfall. Because I need I to travel to communities for capacity building, going home to my province was very rare.
Still, I will continually smile and say to anyone who will ask me if I love my job or if I’m happy with what I’m doing that, “Yes, I love every bit of it.” People might find me crazy to hear that answer, and I admit that it takes a crazy one like me to embrace the realities of this calling. I am a development practitioner, and I am called to be one.
Genny Rose Marcelino is a batch 2007 graduate of Bachelor of Science in Development Communications. She currently practices her expertise as a Broadcast Operations Assistant for Far East Broadcasting Company (FEBC) Philippines. She is also a blogger and a mentor to young development communication practitioners.
I met Ate Genny in RightNow, a community of media practitioners and enthusiasts under the New Media Department of FEBC Philippines. She has inspired me to take Development Communications here in UPLB and has influenced me to love media, social work, and volunteerism for the purpose that God has called me to be.
I met Kuya Nach in an orientation of the organization that I am currently an associate of. I was shocked when he introduced himself as an alumnus because he looks superbly young to be one.
His UPLB journey is far different from the norm. He did not give a typical answer like the others, focusing on what UPLB taught them academically or professionally. Instead, he shared to me how UPLB opened his eyes to the wider and more complex views of the world. One of the lessons that he gained was how wide and deep, diversity is.
“Mas lumawak ang pananaw ko sa diversity.”
Kuya Nach stated that before entering the university, he got a close-minded view that religious people is superior from the other. It changed when he finally set foot to campus, realizing that religion has nothing to do with a person’s status.
Lastly, he learned his rights as a human and as a student, during his time at the university. He learned about the injustices happening to the community, and he made sure to execute actions in highlighting those issues and combating it.
Hearing his stories, I’ve concluded that his UPLB journey took a huge roll in his personal life. Throughout his journey, he got to have a concrete knowledge of his identity and of who he truly is. It changed his perceptions for the better and it helped him define what he wants to do and what or who to fight for. He embodied the greatness of an “Iskolar Ng Bayan” having both honor and excellence and using it to serve the people.
Cole Nacionales, or what is known by the many as Nach, is a graduate of Bachelor of Science in Forestry, Majoring in Social Forestry and Agroforestry. He graduated last 2017. He took the Forester Licensure Exam of the same year and is now a Professional Licensed Forester. Currently, he is planning to take Master’s Degree, later this year or the next.
UPLB annually celebrates Loyalty Day during the 10th of October. This is to remember the 193 student body and 27 faculty members who enlisted to serve in the Philippines National Guard. This year, the university is on its 101st year of celebration with the theme “UP Los Baños: Patuloy na Tumutugon sa Hamon ng Bayan”. Alongside this celebration, UPLB conducts a homecoming event where graduates are once again welcome to the university not as students but as alumni. I had a chat with some of my older sister’s friends who have graduated not too long ago. They are Ate Jen, Ate Carmel and Ate Lyka.
Carmel Oliveros or Ate Carmel also first entered the university as a freshman of Bachelor of Science in Forestry in 2014. She is also one of graduates of Class 2018. She says “Aside syempre sa lessons sa klase ito yung highlights sa stay ko sa elbi [na] lagi kong dadalhin: to be independent; ability to interact with different kinds of people in numerous walks of life; and, compromise becase you won’t always get what you want or not everything will go according to plan“
Like Ate Carmel, Jenesis Maine Palicpic or Ate Jen first entered as a freshman of Bachelor of Science in Forestry in 2014. She is one of the graduates of Class 2019. During her five-year stay in the university, Ate Jen learned a lot of things like how to work under time pressure, to interact and work with the minorities and be innovative.
Angelika Barbeyto or Ate Lyka also first entered in the university in 2014 under the course Bachelor of Science in Mathematics and Science Teaching. Just like Ate Carmel, she is one of the graduates from Class 2018. Throughout her stay in the university, Ate Lyka shared that UP taught her to be independent, to be open-minded, to work under pressure.
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