Archive for September 2024

A few days after giving the lecture on editorial and opinion column writing during the school publication adviser's training at Angono National High School, I was notified again by URS Angono extension unit head, Ma'am Annie Balbuena that another lecture in the same venue is on the works. This time, the session will be for the elementary and high school students who are part of different school publications.

I just made some clarification with Ma'am Annie on a few things about the event before preparing for my talk, which was more relaxed this time. And since I mentioned the importance of knowing your audience (or readers) during my previous lecture, I only did a few revisions on the material that I used a week before to make it relevant to the new batch of attendees.

Talk about relaxed from the discussion to the outfit -- because this is just a repeat :-D

I arrived to a room full of 126 students on the morning of September 19, but this number was eventually split into different groups. I want to believe that there was a reason as to why my schedule for the lecture fell on a Thursday; because while I sat on the designated area for guest speakers (my mentor, Ma'am Cez Rañola-Villegas was also scheduled to give a talk on feature writing that day), looking at the students as they settle in their seats left me with a thought running in my head.

These kids were just like me back then.

My lecture with the students were done in 45 minutes, and it was fun and interesting. I also used a "question and answer" segment and it showed the competitive side of the kids. While a great number of participants were first timers, there were also quite a few who were attentive and had an idea of what was being discussed. However, when we reached the competition part, that was when the other realizations started sinking in.

I had to raise an issue with the entries and informed one of the organizers that we could not declare a winner for the elementary category in editorial writing; because of this, the participants had to be called back the next day for another round of competition.

I took this photo with the hopes that after an hour, there will finally be a winner.

Repeating the competition meant a return appearance for me the next day. As I observed these elementary campus journalists while doing their task (after having to redo the explaining, and providing them with a different contest material), next to thinking about a few shortcomings that I may have overlooked the day before, the message sent by one of my former staff writers, Michael Ray hit me:

The challenge now is how to teach journalism to young minds and instill it to them in this age where they are more exposed to using social media instead of spending time to read a newspaper.

And he was right. At the start of my lecture the day before, I had to hide my disappointment when only a student from the crowd raised a hand after I asked who among them still reads a newspaper. The problem about being too immersed in technology and social media further became evident when I saw how some students view current events. Unlike high school students who can somehow grasp the idea of editorial and opinion column articles, discussing the same topic to a younger group of elementary students is challenging and would entail an amount of patience.

One of them even labelled journalists as "expert gossip mongers" (or in simple terms, chismoso) in his/her contest entry which made me to candidly think for a moment that maybe, I should just sell my college diploma.

But on a more serious note, while a few of my friends were proud and happy with what I have done and accomplished, the need to educate young minds on the importance of verifying facts, and being aware about issues involving the country and its citizen in this time of rampant AI and social media dependency is a serious matter. This is a "chief complaint" that needs to be taken seriously, and addressed attentively because next to the elderly population, the young mind is prone to being a prey to twisted truths and false information.

Despite the unforeseen situation that occurred, I was just happy to have done my part of imparting my skills, time, and expertise in shaping the minds of these aspiring campus journalists. And if I should be invited again to another opportunity similar to this one, I would still respond with a resounding yes -- and I aim to do better; because by doing these talks and lectures, I am not just teaching kids about the importance of the profession. It also gives me a significant purpose.

(Photos courtesy of Sir Bernard Jaz Bautista Sanchez and Ms. Maria Cecilia R. Villegas)

In between my busy schedule related to campus journalism activities, the other thing that occupied my calendar this month is attending to a few important events. Just days before my speaking engagement for the training of school publication advisers in a public high school, I got an invitation from Jonas Flores, the president of Tanay Kapamilya Lions Club to one of their activities, a community awareness talk related to maintenance medications and generic prescribing scheduled for September 15.

I am not a newbie when it comes to attending to community involvement activities. As a former legal administrative assistant, I also spent a good number of years volunteering in outreach projects, and was once a part of a group in a disaster relief mission. What made me decide to go to the said event was the chance to learn something new, especially since the topic relates to allied health science which is one of the things that I have always been interested about (that's despite of graduating with a degree in journalism).

Accepting the invitation turned out to be one of the most appropriate decisions I made this month. After the candid story on how the Lions Club got mentioned for an editorial of commendation during my lecture, I knew that I have to be at least, be acquainted on the advocacies of the said non-governmental organization.

In my lecture with the student paper advisers, one of the significant things that I reminded the participants was the importance of doing their research, and verifying the accuracy of the "facts". I stressed the significance of being aware of the issues and the knowledge of facts as vital traits, and by being present in the community awareness talk, I could say that at least, I got to practice what I preach.

To sit inside a classroom on a Sunday morning gave me that nostalgic feeling of how it's like to be a student again. Listening to Ms. Jennifer Flores, and Young Pharmacists Group-Rizal Chapter president, Carl Vincent Guiao discuss the facts and myths surrounding generic medicines allowed me to gain a great amount of information. Coming across Republic Act No. 6675 informed about an existing law on generic drugs in the country. It's a good addition to my stock knowledge because I must admit, I'm quite familiar with just a few of our legal codes (including R.A 7610, R.A. 9262, and R.A. 6713 due to my previous job in a state-funded institution).

Even in the advent of social media, community awareness talks remain to be relevant. To receive information that is backed by science from registered professionals who spent a good number of years to study, and pursue a career in healthcare is still the best choice compared to those unverified (and often) twisted facts found the internet. The educational environment that these kinds of events have enable participants to make informed decisions, since their concerns and questions are better addressed and explained in simpler terms -- that's something that social media or even AI-powered tools could not even do no matter how advanced those platforms are.

Don't just travel for travel's sake. Travel to seek adventure and feel alive.

I could not recall the last time that I traveled to any destination for the sake of leisure and exploration. So, as soon as I accomplished my resource speaker duties last September 13, I took the weekend off to catch up on sleep, and reward myself with a solo out of town trip last September 15.

I chose to travel to Tanay for a couple of other reasons: First was to escape the familiarity of the place where I am in, and to reciprocate someone's effort after braving the distance of having to travel for two hours just to see me in person a month ago.

The last time I visited was in January 2020 -- just months before the pandemic placed the entire world at a full stop from everything. But even if four years have passed, this return trip never failed to give off that "probinsya feels". At some point, it provided me with that nostalgic feeling of driving to my dad's hometown in Quezon province with all the sights and sounds of the surroundings.

I left Angono at 6:30 am because the travel time would take a couple of hours. I also wanted to arrive on time because I committed my morning schedule to attend an activity organized by a non-governmental organization in that town.

Mandatory photo at San Ildefonso de Toledo Parish

My first stop was at the town's church, San Ildefonso de Toledo Parish where I arrived just in time for the 9 am mass. I have always wanted to visit this church since 2016 when I was doing a series of travel diaries called #TheOCProject, where I would go on weekend trips to nearby towns to visit old churches. My mentor and former journalism professor (who is also a legit Tanay resident), Ma'am Cez arrived together with Ciljon, Rose and Arvin minutes after the mass ended.

Their version of an ecopark has a lighthouse!

We continued with our road trip right after the event that we attended in a public high school. Thankfully, the sun was up before lunch time so we were able to visit a number of places including the schools where Ma'am Cez spent her elementary and high school days, and some of their town's landmarks, like the Parola situated in the lakeshore baranggay of San Isidro. This place resembled the ecopark that we have in Angono -- minus the lighthouse. The place also has a viewdeck which has an ideal spot if you're a fan of watching the afternoon sunset.

We also made a short visit at the Tanay municipal hall. Next to the places of worship, dropping by the seat of local government is one of the things on my to-do list whenever I travel to places because it gives me an idea on how a town or city is being governed by its officials. And as luck would have it, we even met one of the town's incumbent official, Vice Mayor Rex Manuel Tanjuatco.

I concluded my weekend trip to Tanay with a request to Ma'am Cez if we could visit the resting place of her parents, Tatay Cleño and Nanay Aging. They were part of my core memories as a college student since they would accommodate me and my fellow publication staff writers like their own kids whenever we would attend activities in the main campus of URS in Tanay. Given that I am already in their neck of woods, it was a chance that I simply could not allow to pass.

At the end of the day, despite coming home tired, I realized that going on this trip was worth it. If there's a genuine lesson that adulthood is teaching me, it's the importance of investing my time in creating memories. Leaving my hometown for a day to explore someone else's rewarded me not just with a well-deserved mental health break and breathing space. It also provided me with cherished memories, and a good number of significant learnings that I can eventually impart to others.

(Photos courtesy of Ms. Maria Cecillia Rañola-Villegas)

Me trying to calm down before being introduced for the lecture

The purpose of your life is to be useful, to be honorable, to be compassionate, to have it make some difference that you have lived and lived well. -Maya Angelou-

September arrived to me with an unexpected surprise (and no, this isn't the type of surprise you've always been thinking!). During the last week of August, I was asked by my former journalism professor, Ma'am Cez Villegas, and URS Angono Extension Unit head, Ma'am Annie Balbuena if I could serve as a lecturer/ resource speaker for the training for school paper advisers organized by the DepEd Sub-Office in my hometown. Knowing Ma'am Cez and Ma'am Annie, it was an opportunity that I simply couldn't say no to.

What I didn't know was that would be the beginning of one of the cutest plot twists that I could have this year. Just days after meeting with them, I found myself held up inside my room doing the Powerpoint slides that I will need for my lecture on two campus journalism topics: Editorial Writing and Opinion Column Writing.

The talk happened last September 13 (yes, on a Friday the 13th!) at Angono National Highschool. I realized I should spend some time exploring places because despite spending half of my life in this town, it was my first time to visit the school that day. I arrived inside a room of young school publication advisers who are mostly newbies.

Discussing while feeling both the kaba and kilig at the same time!

Days before the event, I was getting cold feet, and having mixed emotions about the lecture. Despite my experience in campus journalism as a former campus paper editor, and serving as a keynote speaker during an event in my alma mater nine years ago, being a resource speaker at the school paper adviser's training seminar was something I see as an "unfamiliar territory".

However, Ma'am Cez advised me that the lecture will serve more of a refresher training for the participants for upcoming competitions so I shouldn't be too worried. Another former editor, Batch even told me to stop stressing about it, and they were actually right. As candid as it is, at the end of my lecture, the teachers were laughing with me when I said I spent two sleepless nights worrying too much if the 24 slides will be covered within the allotted one hour.

It turned out that I worried for nothing because I was able to discuss everything in just 35 minutes. I even prepared notes in case I get lost for words because I was sleep deprived a couple of days before the event, but in the end, I didn't get to use it. The whole lecture proper went smoothly, and the ice breaker activity that I did before the discussion made it a fun-filled session. The participants showed wit and knowledge when I went through the opinion column and editorial articles they submitted during the training's workshop part.

This photo gave me the college presscon feels!

While accepting the role of lecturer was a nerve-wracking experience at first, I must admit that at the end of the day, it also left me with a sense of fulfillment. I conquered my fear of public speaking, and the presence of supportive mentors, colleagues and friends kept my anxiety at bay. In particular, my friend Diane, who kept her presence felt through our numerous exchange of messages on Instagram. Her words of encouragement (and the surprising gesture that only the two of us knew about!) and the advice that I will be teaching from experience and that everything will come out naturally, surprisingly was true.

Coming home after the training workshop, I came to realize, indeed, when God put you in it, He will surely help you through it. To train a new and younger batch of publication advisers was something I never planned or even dreamed of, but just like what Diane said, "they won't pick you if they don't believe you could do it." And when I think of it, maybe, this is also God's way of giving an answer during all those nights that I prayed to Him to help me find my place and purpose in this world.

(All photos courtesy of Ms. Anniversary M. Balbuena)