english,
Literary (Submission): UPIS Work Program (Decades Ago)
I remember being a features contributor for Ang Aninag back in 4th year high school, but I really cannot recall what I wrote about (it has been more than 3 decades). All I could remember was what I experienced during the writing process. I spent a lot of time behind the desk with a pen and paper thinking of what to write about. Since there were no computers at that time, we had to write our drafts on paper and type the final article using a manual typewriter. You could just imagine what we had to go through without computers wherein editing would mean typing an entire article all over again. Well, the advancement of technology has its pros and cons but of course, this is entirely a different topic to dwell on (perhaps someone from the current Media Center could write about this).
I had slight difficulty when our program adviser would ask me to submit an article in Filipino. Being blessed with a father who was fluent in Tagalog since he grew up in Bulacan, I would always consult him when I came across having to think of Tagalog words to use in an article. Come to think of it, being in this program widened my vocabulary both in English and in Filipino.
Another thing I remember was that during the process of thinking what to write (since thinking took up a lot of time), I have actually mastered the skill of twirling the pen around my fingers, which was a craze during that era. The pen used for twirling wasn’t an ordinary type of pen, it was a one-foot long pen which was a fad back then.
Before: ‘Simple joys, with simple toys’
Now: ‘No budget, no gadget’
As a features writer, one has to think of a topic that is relevant to the times as well as appropriate to the readers of the publication. It has to be strategically structured in such a way that would make the readers read all the way to the end. This is where the style and the creativity of the writers differ from one another and the experience in this program was sort of to kick-start the kind of a writer in us.
Our Work Program back then was the counterpart of the current Senior High School Academic Track program. As it aims to prepare the students for the courses they choose in college, the Work Program had 5 choices, one of which was the Media Center where I belong. Being in this program somehow honed my independence and strengthened the characteristics I needed to work with a team. Every member in a team is given an assignment which has to be accomplished within a given deadline and upon completion of this task, this then has to be shared with the entire team, just like a piece of a puzzle, in order to achieve a common goal. I hope that those who will go through the Academic Track program will see its importance and significance for their future.
The photo below shows the design my sister made for our shirt. I remember asking my big sister to design our shirt since she was at that time a student in fine arts.
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