Feature: A Joyful Summer Spent

9/04/2019 08:40:00 PM Media Center 0 Comments

Gising. Kain. Tulog. Gising. Kain. Tulog. Our summers usually revolve around this humdrum sequence of actions. After all, we deserve to rest after a tiring, demanding year of school requirements.

While it is important that we unwind during the summer, it is also an opportunity for us to engage in activities without the pressures of school. This includes meeting friends, learning new skills, and discovering career potentials. If you want a break from your usual routine and conquer challenges, it is worth a try to apply for the Ateneo de Manila Junior Summer Seminar (AJSS), a special program of Ateneo de Manila University (ADMU).

According to Mrs. Kamille Tabalan, AJSS coordinator, the program "gathers a group of talented and vibrant students". It aims to introduce them to college life in the Ateneo for a month through taking modified college courses & extracurricular activities and learning the magis (the great) culture of the university.

The AJSS is offered without charge to outstanding students from prestigious public and private schools around and outside the country. Those interested in applying should belong to the Top 5 of their class, exemplify great leadership skills, and be recommended by their principals and teachers.

Tabalan added that there are about 500 students who take the qualifying test for the program every year. The examination is an adaptation of the ACET (Ateneo College Entrance Test), which consists of Math, English, and Thinking Ability (Abstract Reasoning, Logical Reasoning, Problem Solving). Only the top 15% (around 75) students are admitted.

According to a student from AJSS Batch 52.2, "You have nothing to lose and everything to gain! AJSS immerses you in a college environment, so no matter where you end up, you'll have an easier time adjusting to the next stages of your life."

The AJSS was first offered as a five-week college preparatory course in March 1967 to top Grade 9 students across the country. Their teachers were mostly Jesuit friars who were experts in English, Math, Physics, and Chemistry, among others. During that time, topics discussed were also conservative in order for the students and teachers to avoid being incriminated by the Marcos regime.

According to Prof. Rox Velasquez, an alumna of one of the earliest batches of AJSS, "N'ung time namin, wala pa 'yung mga sportsfests at outside activities. Konti lang din mga subjects namin – mostly in the applied sciences... nagpapasalamat ako sa AJSS dahil binago niya pananaw ko sa buhay. [During our time, there were no sportsfest and outside activities. We only had few subjects – mostly in the applied sciences... I am grateful for AJSS because it helped me change my view in life.]"

As the years passed, new activities were added to the AJSS program. These include the Sportsfest, the AJSS Night, the Blue Rose, and management camps. In addition, the Ateneo has started offering financial assistance and dormitory slots for students from the province.

Recently, ADMU decided to divide the passers into two groups as a result of the academic calendar shift. The grade level requirement was also adjusted, i.e. participants are now Grade 11 students belonging to the Top 5 of their strands due to the K–12 program.

Whoever is selected to the AJSS will be working with smart, studious people. As mentioned earlier, he/she will also be given a taste of college courses in the Ateneo.

Under the School of Humanities (SOH), there will be courses in English and Philosophy. For the former, students will interpret and write various stories, poems, and creative essays. They will also manage a play as a major project of that course. Meanwhile, the latter will give them a background of basic topics such as insight, phenomenology, etc.

Under the School of Social Sciences (SOSS), the courses History and Psychology will be offered. In History, students will assess historical events in an innovative way, i.e. via collective memory. Meanwhile, they will learn how to empathize in different personalities in the second course. Facis Trisha Reyes from AJSS Batch 50 also added that if time permits, they will take care of an egg as a project.

Under the School of Science and Engineering (SOSE), they will take Math, Biology, Chemistry, and Physics. In the first subject, they will be answering "unsolvable" problems and proving various theories. For the other three subjects, they will be having experiments such as titrations, field investigation, etc. The science subjects vary per year, depending on the availability of the instructors.

Lastly, they will take the core course of the John Gokongwei School of Management (JSOM). Here, they will be making their company and inventing a school-supply product.

In order to pass the requirements of the summer program, one must have a grade of at least D (at least 50 in Math; 60 in Management, and 70 for the other subjects). His/her grades will be summarized via the QPI (Quality Point Index), or the average of all courses.

Throughout the entire seminar, the students will be exposed to the services given by ADMU. Some of the facilities presented include the JSEC, a strip of food stalls managed by students under JGSOM, Gonzaga Hall, the main cafeteria of the Ateneo, and the bookstore of the Manuel V. Pangilinan (MVP) Center for Student Leadership.

Students will also be given a tour of the different student halls in the Ateneo. They will also be given access to the five-story Rizal Library, which contains more than 400,000 volumes as of 2017. In addition, they will be allowed to exercise inside the college covered courts for their PE classes and Sportsfest.

Having a lot of courses does not mean that students will be sitting all day and doing projects. In fact, they will be having weekly team building activities and PE classes. Prestigious athletes from various varsity teams in the Ateneo will be teaching them techniques for the upcoming sportsfest.

In the sportsfest, participants will be assigned to a random team. They will also be playing sports such as basketball, futsal, badminton, volleyball, etc. There will also be relays on the said event.

Another major part of the sportsfest will be the Cheer Dance. Each team has to make a three to five-minute routine and mash up music. Making pompoms, stunts, cartwheels, and other cheerleading techniques are also recommended to give the team an edge.

For the "most fun" part of the program, there will be a fieldtrip. The class will get to choose where they want to go – educational museums, thrilling amusement parks, etc.

For instance, students from the batch-subgroup that graduated recently decided to go to Enchanted Kingdom. Program facis (alumni serving as supervisors) and some alumni came along and joined them in trying the rides and booths offered by the theme park.

The program will culminate with an informal party called AJSS Night. Class officers and different committees will work together to organize the event. There will be mini games, performances, and even awards presented in the event.

An important tradition of the AJSS is celebrated during this event. Here, students will give blue roses to their classmates who they find "special" and dance with them.

A few days after the AJSS Night, the students will graduate from the program. Each participant will receive a certificate showing that he/she was able to complete the program with flying colors.

Upon receiving so, he/she is already qualified for any course of their choice (both honors and non-honors) in ADMU. Valedictorians of their batches get 100% scholarship in the Ateneo, while salutatorians avail 50%. This means that they are already exempted for the ACET.

There will be a graduation reception immediately after the ceremony. Here, students will eat, perform dances, and sing together for the last time. Some may opt writing messages for their classmates as a token of remembrance.

However, the friendships formed should not end after the five-week summer seminar. Despite going back to their respective schools, graduates of the AJSS still devote their time to have reunions and rekindle the moments they had.

According to a student who finished the program, "Being confined to mostly STEM track classmates has left me sort of out of touch with people from other strands, and I'm grateful for the opportunity [given by the Ateneo] to interact with them... overall a really good way to spend my last summer of high school!"

Now that you have been given a sneak peek – the co-curricular & extracurricular activities and facilities of ADMU's special program, you may consider spending five weeks of your summer with this challenging yet life-changing seminar.

If you want to be productive in your vacation months and think you satisfy the requirements of the said program, you may start applying for AJSS Batch 53 in January 2020. Good luck, and have a joyful summer with AJSS! //by James Tolosa