Life as a chronicler

(First published online on July 4, 2010)

- Part of reminiscing the past and moving on with new life -

It was almost twelve noon when I was wandering at the corridors of the Saint Therese Building observing the latest happenings in our University. Our Finals Exam was fast approaching and that day was also the Adamson University Student Government Election. Almost everyone was busy anticipating for the outcome of the votes. Will my team win this time or will other party overcome us?

A month before the election, someone entered our classroom while we were busy practicing for a play which happened to be our Midterm Exam. This man, named Mark Louie Aquino, a Pharmacy student and former spokesperson of the KAMAO Party invited us to be part of their team and advocacy which was to fight the alleged corruption in the University. At first, we all admit that he had a very persuading voice that we never thought of the next incident when we realized that it was too late for we already gave him our cellphone numbers. In the Adamsonian’s perspective, their Party was I think considered as the radical one. The next day, when he texted and asked us for our decision, all we had to do was to reply nothing but a quoted message. We did this until he stopped texting us for maybe he just realized that we didn’t really want to join their group.

After one week, my block-mate told me that another Party was looking for possible candidates also in the AUSG election. She said that Lingap Party, a Party dominated by students from our course which was Mass Communication was asking whether I can be part of them. The invitation wasn’t bad at all and their platforms were good, so I accepted it and they immediately arranged my requirements. Jam, my batch-mate and the campaign manager of Lingap later found out that I couldn’t really run at all due to my incomplete grade in Philosophy during the Midterm. I felt sad because I thought that the opportunity was already there but I let it fly away. I also hated my professor in that subject but I thought that I really couldn’t do anything about it so I had to move on.

There I had known most of the candidates and their ideas. Among them were Kevin Pigao, the running Vice president and Ate Kris Bellanizo, who was chosen to run for President. They were all good and the best thing that I can do was just to support my supposed party. Once again, I felt that my dream of being “someone” in the University was shattered.

On the day of the election, most of my classes were suspended but I really didn't want to go home early so I just wandered along the hallways of ST building. Suddenly, Jam came out and then he asked me to take an exam for the new editorial board of the then closed student publication. It will help me not to waste my time on just strolling.

I really didn't know how to react on what he just said but armed with pride and the thought that I can do it for this is my field, I entered the classroom and seated at the first row near the windows. Then, a professional-looking guy named Mr. Ian Loyola from the OSA, entered and gave us the instructions on how we were going to answer their prepared questionnaires. It was all in all, 6 pages printed in a long bond paper and next moment was that I'm starting to realize how tough my situation was. However, I didn't want to back out so I just tried all my best to finish the exam. I started at the last page which required writing an essay for I know that this would take most of my time. The truth was I really had no formal experience in journalism except perhaps during my elementary days when I had been involved into writing classes. So armed again with all the knowledge and ideas from my past experiences and with the help of the AUSG election which was the content of my essay, I wrote a news article (if that’s how you’d call it) on the latest happenings in our campus. After nearly five hours of complete sitting and without going out for the restrooms, thank God, I finished it. I ended with many blank answers which made me think that maybe I won't make it. However, on the positive note, at least, I tried all my best and it was just up to the Lord if I could pass it, if He would let me pass it.

Without a scrap of news from the result of the exam, my first year at the AdU ended. I just found out one thing, the party that I supported didn't win although my blockmates won in the College Student Government division, simply because they had no opponents.

During summer, I spend my vacation at our home in Cavite. At the middle of April, I received a text message informing me that I had passed the Preliminary exam for our publication and that I had to submit some of my requirements at the OSA-Development Office. I was excited at first though I also thought of the possibility that maybe the message was just a joke. But then, I remembered that nobody knew, except for Jam who told me about the publication, that I took the exam so maybe this message was half true.

I returned to Manila that very same day so I can pass the requirements that they wanted the next day. After I submitted my good moral certificate and other official papers, they informed me that we will be having a panel interview and that we had to wait again for their text. I didn't go back to Cavite that summer thinking that any minute, they would text again. But the summer ended and my first semester for the second year started without receiving any message from them.

Actually I already forgot that I passed the first exam when they texted me again one day of July. My scheduled interview was at 10am the next day. My dilemma was I had a class that time in one of my terror professors. And not just an ordinary class for we will also be having a quiz. Nervously, I told my professor about the panel interview and luckily, he said that he will excuse me just after our quiz. I took our exam for ten minutes and I immediately run to the VPSA office where our interview will be held.

After being late, I found out that I was still the first to arrive and then they all turned out after me. Since I was the first to come, I was also the first to be interviewed.

The panelists were as follows: Fr. Gerald Borja C.M., who was the VPSA then, Atty. Julius Babista, OSA director, Mr. Danilo Escandor, the former-chair of the Foreign Languages Dept. and Sir Ian. They asked me different sort of questions like; can I handle pressure, how will I balance my schedule, what I knew in journalism, my past writing experiences and others. For almost twenty minutes, all I had to do was just to sit in a cold room in front of respected people, (well, at least I know how to respect ALL of them, ALL of them, haha) and answer their brain twisting questions. After the interview, I left the room still nervous but at least proud because I saw from their faces that they were satisfied from my answers. I went back to our room and I found out that my professor was still teaching. I seated at the last row and wait until my nerves all went down for I was still shaking.

Months passed and I thought that maybe I failed the interview until September of that year when they texted me again telling that we would have a meeting one afternoon once more in the VPSA office. Nervousness again filled my body. I thought that maybe this was the moment when they would tell us whether we pass or fail.

I arrived at the door and noticed three students standing in front of it hesitating to enter. One Nursing girl, another B.A. girl and a male from I think, the College of Engineering. They all greeted me and we entered the room not sure of what will happen next. In the room were other students waiting for all of us to arrive. We were all quietly-sitting and hesitant on talking to our seatmates. Even if we’re hungry, eating the cold pizza in front of us was hesitating. We were just listening to the one talking in a small but very cold room. That time, Sir Ian told us that we passed the written and oral examination and that we shall go to Baguio in an all expenses paid trip for our team building and to attend the annual seminar for campus journalists. Then, Atty. Babista introduced us to the world of press and on how were we going to deal with campus issues. He explained to us the essence of the student publication and on how can we help and serve the community of Adamson. After the meeting, we all went out with a smile on our faces but I still couldn't believe that I passed both of the examinations. On top of it, one thing is for certain, I would go to Baguio and that was for the first time.

The next day, we met again for before we left yesterday's meeting, we agreed to work on our official constitution and by-laws which was our group’s primary backbone. There I had known my co-writers more namely: Jena Lynn Peliño, Gervic Rocela Estella, Elaine Michelle "Mikay" Brigola, Katherine "kit-kat" Faylona and Cherie Domogma. We finished at least draft of our consti & by laws and agreed that maybe we could meet again some other time to finalize it.

September 12, 2008, I woke up early and excited for this was the day of our trip to Baguio. I left home at 5:00am and arrived at the ST lobby exactly at our call time. Waiting there then was staffers from OSA who would be joining the trip. Among my co-writers were already there along with a beautiful lady whom I met only for the first time. She wasn't part of the OSA but she was eyeing on us making me feel curious on who she really was.

Then, Sir Ian told us that the lady who would be going with us was none other than Prof. Arlene Paredes, our soon to be technical adviser. That time, I was starting to realize that everything wasn't really a joke for we already had an adviser to look upon us.

At 6am, we left AdU and started to feel the long trip to the summer capital of the country. All in all, we were 6 boys and 6 girls. My other co-writers were Anthony Rouben Valenzuela, Joshua Felix Tadena, Rodelon Ramos, Marc Deus Joaquin, plus Dante and Kyra, both really from Ugnayan, the newsletter of RSO. We rode a bus and I can't forget the date that we left for it was the very same day when the verdict of former President Joseph Estrada was made. The bus that we rode had no television and radio so I had no idea as to what was happening at the metro.

During our stop at the NLEX, that was the only time when I found out that Erap was proven guilty in cases such as plunder, etc. It was another remarkable moment at the Philippine history for Erap was the first Filipino president to be impeached and to be found guilty beyond reasonable doubt.

That time, when the metro was not in a peaceful mode and that a state of emergency was rumored to be put into effect, we were seated on a bus with nothing to talk about. My seatmate was Anthony, a third year Mass Comm student who had no rest for they had undergone a series of productions so all he had to do was to sleep soundly beside me. By the way, we were on the front row so although I had no one to talk to, at least I could fully appreciate the fogs and the beauty of nature.

We arrived in Baguio at the City Travel Hotel, around 3pm. We just put our baggage on our room and were told to go down at 4pm for they had prepared something for us. We immediately followed and when we were already at the hotel lobby, they divided us to three groups and gave us the entire map of Baguio with cross marks at some spots. Given only a hundred and twenty peso as our allowance, they asked us to go to those spots and gather news data. Our final stop was on SM Baguio and we had to race all over the city for our team building.

My team mates were Gervic, Josh and Dante. We went first to the boating lagoon at the Burnham Park and started to interview people regarding the history and ratings of the park. Then we passed through guys playing such game that we actually didn't know. It was like a combination of soccer and volleyball and we asked Josh to take care of the pictures.

Our next stop was the Mines View Park. We rode a jeep while it was raining light. We didn't mind it as long as we could win this friendly competition. At the top, we couldn't help but indulge ourselves on taking pictures that almost took our time. We also interviewed people there and I remembered a funny scene when Gervic fell due to wet floor.

Then, we rode another jeepney and went to our next stop which was on The Mansion. It is the presidential suite here in Baguio and the President visits here annually during the summer. The gates were closed but the two PSG on duty let us in and we got the chance to interview them and at the same time took pictures of the mansion’s facade.

Outside The Mansion was our next stop, the Wright Park. It was of no difference to Luneta Park except that it was colder here. Still, you can notice people especially lovers walking by. Since we couldn't interview anybody about the park, we just took pictures.

Then we immediately went to our final stop which was the SM Baguio. It was not like any typical mall for it has no air condition. It was open and from the side, we again couldn't help but be amazed on the beautiful sunset. It was already quarter to six but still, it wasn't dark. In Manila, it was like it is still 4pm. There we met the others and found out that our next challenge was to look for Sir Ian and company.

They weren't arriving yet so we got the chance to have a bonding moment. We took pictures, told anybody in the other group of our experiences and it seemed like we were beginning to become real friends.

Then, Sir Ian arrived along with Ma'am Peachy, Ma'am Joyce, all from the OSA plus our new adviser, Ma'am Arlene. They brought us some doughnuts and for the winners, they gave bracelets as prizes. They treat us to snacks before we headed back to our hotel.

At the hotel, after dinner, we headed to our next meeting where the boss in AdU including Atty. Babista and Fr. Budoy greeted us formally, telling us that we were really chosen to constitute the new editorial board of the The Adamson Chronicle. They also congratulated us for coming up with a draft of the constitution and by laws. In the meeting, they explained to us the lapses and loopholes on the by laws and they also gave us works. They asked us to form news articles with regard to what we had gathered in the early challenge. So back again in our group, we divided the works as to who will write the news, literary, editorial, sports and others. Sadly, I was chosen to write the news.

I spent 30 minutes of our time thinking as to what news would I write because there wasn't any significant event that happened except for the fall of Gervic on the floor. So what I wrote centered on how peaceful Baguio was in spite of the commotions in Metro Manila. It wasn't a sort of news at all but I had no choice, I just wrote it for we need it. I almost slept past 2am just to finish it and I had to wake up 7am for our breakfast tomorrow so I thought perhaps that our trip here to Baguio was no fun at all.

The next day, we passed our compilations of articles before taking our breakfast. After eating, we fixed ourselves, took a bath and then we wandered at the Burnham park. We went to the store of ukay-ukay, we rode in the boating lagoon and we also bought delicacies that were known to Baguio like lengua de gato, peanut brittle, coco jam, chocolate crinkles, peanut butter, etc.

We came back when we received the text message of no less than Atty. Babista himself. He told us that we were to pack now our things for we were going to another hotel for our seminar. We packed our baggage, ate our lunch and then, they announced our positions in the publication.

Ate Jen got the highest position which was the Editor In Chief. Gervic got post for the Associate Editor while Anthony was the Managing Editor. Noli became the News Editor, Kit-Kat was the Literary Editor, Mikay became the Features Editor while Josh got the position of the Sports Editor. Che and I were the Circulation Managers while Kyra and Dante were our contributors.

After getting our positions, we immediately headed to the Venus Parkview Hotel and experienced our first seminar as campus journalists. It was a three-day seminar in writing, editing, lay-outing, drawing, etc. But of course, as new friends, bonding moment was never gone. Second night of the seminar, we walked back to SM Baguio and when we arrived at the hotel, Atty. Babista invited us to the Giligans Restaurant for some sound tripping. Since we were already tired, we left the boss on the restaurant and headed to our rooms again. We all slept soundly and the next day, we actually never took serious of the last seminar for we were excited on going back to Manila.

After lunch, we went to the bus station and rode in a de luxe bus, so our trip which was for 8 hours was lessened to 5 hours. We arrived at 7pm and we all bid to one another our short goodbyes for we will soon see each other on the next few days. I arrived at home by 8:30pm full of knowledge in the seminar and experiences that I considered as priceless, truly memorable and priceless.

The four-day trip and seminar gave me ideas that I can use on constructing better essays. It was truly enriching and I learned so many things. I even boast it to all my friends and as I returned to our class, they found me more interesting than before. Of course, I never forgot my blockmates so I bought them peanut brittles, lengua de gato, chocolate crinkles and other sweet delicacies.

I was absent for three consecutive days so despite the great ideas that I've learned, I missed many things. It included examinations on three subjects, graded oral recitation, wonderful lectures and others. It was like I had been away for so long that I had to cope up with so many things. The following days I had been busy photocopying the previous lectures, attending on seat-in classes and doing special projects in exchange for the lost quizzes.

After I cope up to our lessons, one night I received a text message from Ate Jen, our EIC, to gather data on the College of Architecture which happened to be my first-ever beat. Beat is the assigned area for the journalist where they have to find news. The next day, I acted like a totally crazy man, asking every Archi student that I met in the CS building for what was new in their college. After doing it for nearly two and half hour, I went home gaining nothing but embarrassment for I found out that our job was not that easy at all. Especially when you started to please them for a piece of information but they always rejected you simply because they were not aware of who you were and where you’re working.

The next day, I went back to their building and I had the chance to talk to one of the officers of their academic org. I actually forgot her name but when she told me that they won't be having any activity, I felt happy for at least, I wouldn't be going back to their building.

The following afternoon, we had a meeting where we discussed what news had we gathered. I just stood silently for I didn’t know how to react so when I was asked by our EIC, all I said was to tell a lie saying that I didn’t received any text message at all. Our adviser then arrived and asked if who could possibly cover the arrival of Philippine Vice-President Noli De Castro in the University theater tomorrow morning. Since I had no news yet, I volunteered along with the others. 27^th of September also that year, I experienced for the first time how to cover a particular event. I felt not as a simple student that time. It was more like any other journalist whom I admired and who can easily enter anywhere without too much frisking. We sat down at the front seat allotted for the press people. Since we were on our uniforms, other students who were also present in the event were eyeing on us. It was quite annoying on our part for I heard them asking about who we were and why we were seating on those special seats. But when the Vice-President arrived, it was like a totally new world. Josh immediately went in front, near the stage to get a clear shot of the famous personality. Then the program started.

We took notes and listen hardly to every speeches of speakers. It was quite hard for this was also the first time that I had attended events with speeches that I had to listen very attentively for we couldn’t miss any information, we must not miss what they were saying. It was also hard to listen while your surroundings were not quiet. I was sure that my co-writers also couldn’t focus on what they were doing. Then, Vice-President got to his podium and we noted almost all that he said for this would constitute our news. After his speech, he went to the audience seats for photo opportunities and he immediately went off leaving the other visitors. One man introduced us to some of the foreign volunteers and we had nothing to do but to interview them. Thank God that I’m armed with enough English vocabulary that I felt not that hard in talking to them. Since we were not prepared, I just asked her questions like how they feel, how they find the Philippines and other biographical information that lead to my main goal of getting the reason why she like to volunteer for the Gawad Kalinga. After that event, later that day I find myself back in the normal world where I should come to classes, do unfinished homeworks, etc. From this point, I know, it will be the beginning of my life as a “Press”.

At first, we felt hard to produce a paper since we had no office and we had to work on one of our Editor’s place. We chose Gervic’s house and there we finished initial lay-outing overnight while singing, playing, watching some movies and other funny stuffs. There I realized that press work was one of the best works that I had so far. We produced our first issue and that was also one of the most remarkable moments in my life in Adamson.

Days immediately passed. We produced our succeeding issues. Two of our senior members graduated and a change of administration happened under the leadership of Kuya Anthony. Dom Jason Sauro, Michael Jerome Velasquez, Roma Antonio and Erickson Diocares joined our “family” and I assumed the post of Managing Editor. That was also the same time that Edwardian Script was born.

More things happened and as years passed, the paper really improved a lot and the publication became known not only within but also outside the University. Issues also stormed the stories that we wrote. More students also became part of the Chronicle family. And now, I can proudly say that I’m an alumnus of the best organization in my entire life. I’ve been a chronicler inside AdU and will now be a chronicler for majority of the people.

Among the first-time experiences that I encountered in the Organization was when I first rode the plane, first went to places like Bacolod, Bataan, Kawit and Maragondon Cavite, even Fort Santiago, and many more. Inside the org that I also experienced the first time I drank alcohol at the middle of a broad daylight, first time to eat in some of the restaurants that were not my line of place, first time to ride in a ferry boat and many more. It was through the organization that I became open to real world. It was through the organization that I realize what life is all about.

From a simple student who dreamt big to a student who was considered already as “someone” in the University, I am fulfilled that I attained my main goal. I extend and will continuously extend my warmest gratitude to all.

Someone told me that I just can’t move on from the Chronicle. My reply to him was that if you’re in the exact position where I am and with all those treasured moments (good and not so good memories), you would really feel hard to move on with your new life.

I fell in love with my work. I fell in love with The Adamson Chronicle. Of course, it includes the people inside the organization. Thank you and till we meet again…

Post Script:

I don’t expect you to read all of this for this is really time consuming but if you did, a BIG thank you. All I want to say is from these moments that I shared in The Adamson Chronicle that I became a new person, a better one and a big portion of that is due to the Chronicle. Somehow I can say that when I’m in the Chronicle, my comfort zone, I think that I could not ask for more. I also want all the people to know that Bryan – the man behind Edwardian Script – isn’t strong at all. I also have personal issues, problems involving so many things but with the help of TAC, I learned to be brave, I learned to act as another person. I learned to look at life in another perspective. I learned to enjoy the complexities of life.

Like what my favorite song says, “Our lives are made in these small hours, these little wonders, these twists and turns of fate. Time falls away but these small hours, these little wonders still remain.”